Soffredo (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 west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

) 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 of Santa Maria in Via Lata in the 1182 consistory. He took part in the 1185 conclave which elected pope Urban III. In 1187 he and cardinal

Andrea Bobone Romano Bobone (died 1189, Rome) was an Italian cardinal. Life His year and place of birth are unknown, but this is presumed to be Rome, where his family was already well-represented in the Roman Curia. He and cardinal Soffredo were made papal lega ...

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, or to some part of the Catholic ...

s to France to mediate between Philip II of France and

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

- 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 and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

and

December December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days. December got its name from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was or ...

1187 conclaves which elected pope Gregory VIII and pope Clement III. 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 in ...

were sent to mediate between

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

and

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' 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 its leaning tower, the cit ...

. He also took part in the 1191 conclave which elected

pope Celestine III Pope Celestine III ( la, Caelestinus III; c. 1106 – 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, ...

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 Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

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

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

, he moved to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

to end the succession dispute between Bohemond IV of Antioch and

Leo II of Armenia Leo II of Armenia may refer to: * Leo II, Prince of Armenia * Leo II, King of Armenia Leo II or Leon II (occasionally numbered Leo III; , ''Levon II''; c. 1236 – 1289) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1269''Cambridg ...

- 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 la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, which had been in crusader hands since April the same year. Capuano remained there but Soffredo travelled on to the kingdom of Thessalonica, ruled over by

Boniface I of Monferrato Boniface I, usually known as Boniface of Montferrat ( it, Bonifacio del Monferrato, link=no; el, Βονιφάτιος Μομφερρατικός, ''Vonifatios Momferratikos'') (c. 1150 – 4 September 1207), was the ninth Marquis of Montferrat ( ...

, 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 Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, th ...

References

External links

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