Pope Honorius III

Pope Honorius III (1150 – 18 March 1227), born as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 18 July 1216 to his death in 1227.

Early work

He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico, a member of the Roman Savelli family.

For a time he was canon at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, then he became Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church in January 1188 and Cardinal Deacon of Santa Lucia in Silice on 20 February 1193. Under Pope Clement III and Pope Celestine III he was treasurer of the Roman Church, notably compiling the Liber Censuum, and served as acting Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church from 1194 until 1198.

In 1197 he became tutor of the future Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who had been given as ward to Pope Innocent III by the Empress-widow Constance of Sicily.

Innocent III raised him to the rank of a Cardinal Priest in 1200, by which he obtained the Titulus of Ss. Ioannis et Pauli. He was dismissed as Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church in 1198, but about the same time he assumed the post of Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

Pope Honorius

Honorius has been the name of four Roman Catholic Popes and one Antipope. The name is of Latin origin, derived from honōrō ("honor, respect").