c. 1105–1187 · Pope (1187)
Pope Gregory VIII
Pope for only two months; on news of Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem he issued the bull Audita tremendi in October 1187, proclaiming the Third Crusade.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
Alberto di Morra of Benevento was a canon lawyer and for many years papal chancellor. He was elected pope at Ferrara on 21 October 1187 and, unlike his predecessors' policy of confrontation with the emperor, took a conciliatory stance.
Role in the Crusades
A few days after his election, on 29 October 1187, he issued Audita tremendi, describing the defeat at Hattin and the loss of the True Cross. The bull attributed the disaster to Christian sins, promised full remission to those taking the cross, and called on crusaders to fast and live simply. The pope tried to end the conflict between Pisa and Genoa to ease the participation of the Italian fleets.
Historical significance and source problems
Gregory VIII died at Pisa on 17 December 1187. Despite his short pontificate, Audita tremendi became the founding document of the Third Crusade joined by Barbarossa, Philip Augustus and Richard. Its text is preserved in the Historia de expeditione Friderici and other chronicles.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.