Soffred (died 14 December 1210,

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

) was an Italian cardinal. His name is also given as Soffredo Errico Gaetani, whilst his Christian name is also spelled Soffrido or Goffredo in some sources.

Life

Born in Pistoia, he was made

cardinal deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. C ...

Santa Maria in Via Lata Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso (the ancient Via Lata), in Rome, Italy. It stands diagonal from the church of San Marcello al Corso. It is the stational church for Tuesday in the fifth week of lent. History The first ...

in the 1182 consistory. He took part in the 1185 conclave which elected

pope Urban III Pope Urban III (; died 20 October 1187), born Uberto Crivelli, reigned from 25 November 1185 to his death in 1187. Early career Crivelli was born in Cuggiono, Italy as the son of Guala Crivelli and had four brothers: Pietro, Domenico, Pastor ...

. In 1187 he and cardinal Andrea Bobone were made

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

s to France to mediate between

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

and

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

- the two legates succeeded in sealing a two-year truce between the two kings. He took part in the

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

and

December December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. December's name derives from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in t ...

1187 conclaves which elected

pope Gregory VIII Pope Gregory VIII (; c. 1100/1105 – 17 December 1187), born Alberto di Morra, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for two months in 1187. Becoming Pope after a long diplomatic career as Apostolic Chancellor, he ...

and

pope Clement III Pope Clement III (; 1130 – 20 March 1191), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 December 1187 to his death in 1191. He ended the conflict between the Papacy and the city of Rome, by allowing the electi ...

. He and cardinal

Pietro Diana Pietro Diani (died 1208, Rome) was an Italian cardinal. The name "Diana" is incorrect; he signs himself ''Petrus Dianus''. Life Petrus Diani was born in Piacenza around the middle of the 12th century. He is first noticed as a papal subdeacon i ...

were sent to mediate between

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. He also took part in the 1191 conclave which elected

pope Celestine III Pope Celestine III (; c. 1105 – 8 January 1198), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 March or 10 April 1191 to his death in 1198. He had a tense relationship with several monarchs, including Emperor ...

and that of 1198. During summer 1198 he and cardinal

Pietro Capuano Peter of Capua, Pietro Capuano and Petrus Capuanus may refer to: * Peter of Capua the Elder (died 1214), author and apostolic legate on the Fourth Crusade, cardinal-priest of San Marcello al Corso, uncle of the younger man * Peter of Capua the Youn ...

were chosen as papal legates to follow the crusader army which was about to set out on a new crusade. Despite this Soffredo remained in the curia and Capuano went to Venice to prepare to make the crossing. In 1201 the chapter of the metropolitan cathedral of Ravenna requested him as their archbishop, but the pope chose not to ratify this since he wished to keep the cardinal in his court in Rome. Until the end of May 1202, when he finally set out for the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

, Soffredo remained in the curia and represented the prosecution in several trials. Arriving in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, he moved to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

to end the succession dispute between

Bohemond IV of Antioch Bohemond IV of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the One-Eyed (; 11751233), was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. He was the younger son of Bohemond III of Antioch. The dying Raymond ...

and Leo II of Armenia - a conflict which had held back the crusader forces. The papal delegates spent months trying to resolve the conflict but to no avail. On 16 August 1203 the pope made Soffredo patriarch of Jerusalem, but dismissed him from the post the following year. In autumn 1204 he and Capuano moved to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, which had been in crusader hands since April the same year. Capuano remained there but Soffredo travelled on to the

kingdom of Thessalonica The Kingdom of Thessalonica () was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over conquered Byzantine lands in today's territory of Northern Greece and Thessaly. History Background After the fall of Constantinople to the ...

, ruled over by Boniface I of Monferrato, to thank him for his assistance in establishing the Latin clergy in the new empire. In August 1205 Soffredo returned to the curia and on the following 5 December signed a papal privilege for the first time after his time in the Holy Land. He spent his final years in retirement, probably in Pistoia, performing minor tasks. In 1208 he became cardinal protopresbyter.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1210 deaths 12th-century Italian cardinals People from Pistoia Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem 13th-century Italian cardinals