I am Lotario de Conti di Segni, son of Count Trasimund of Segni and nephew of His Holiness Pope Clement III. My father was a member of a famous house that has produced nine Popes, my mother, Claricia, belonged to the noble Roman family of Scotti.
I studied all over Europe; I had my early education in Rome, I studied Theology in Paris, and jurisprudence in Bologna. I recieved my degrees and became quite a capable canon lawyer.
I served in many ecclesiastical offices in my time and was created a Cardinal-Deacon of St. George in Velabro and Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in 1190. A little later I was elevated to Cardinal-Priest of St. Pudentiana.
In 1191 Celestine III came to the Throne of Peter and He, being an Orsini, was an enemy of my family. I spent most of this time in semi-retirement in Anagni. Upon his death the College convened and the day of his burial I was elected Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church.
Throughout my reign I have sought to reassert and extend the secular power of the Holy See. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire vacated by the death of Henry VI in 1197 still had no successor. I took advantage of the confusion to lessen imperial influence in Italy; my first act was the restoration of my own power in Rome. The Prefect of Rome, who reigned over the city as the Emperor's representative, swore allegiance to me. I demanded the restoration to the Church of the Romagna and the March of Ancona from Markward of Anweiler and used my own troops to bring this about. In a similar way, the Duchies of Spoleto, Assisi and the Sora were taken from the German Conrad von Uerslingen and added to the province of the Holy See.
I have used my own papal authority to crush emperors and petty kings. I nullified the Magna Carta, called for the Fourth Crusade, and convened the Fourth Lateran Council.
No age and no pope has ever weilded the authority vested in me by Almighty God, but my thoughts have always been to the spiritual nature. Though caught up in the affairs of the day I always remember what is truly my most important function, that of Spiritual Leader. I know the chocies of my Venerable Successors to repudiate temporal power in favor of spiritual is the right choice for the age. Pax Vobiscum.
