Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (Italian: Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181.

A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a contested election, but had to spend much of his pontificate outside Rome while several rivals, supported by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, claimed the papacy.

Alexander rejected Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos' offer to end the East–West Schism, sanctioned the Northern Crusades, and held the Third Council of the Lateran.

[14] In 1161, King Géza II of Hungary signed an agreement and recognised Alexander III as the rightful pope and declared that the supreme spiritual leader was the only one who could exercise the rite of investiture.

[4] When news reached him of the death of Victor in 1164, he openly wept, and scolded the cardinals in his company for rejoicing at the end of the rival antipope.

He had created the Archbishopric of Uppsala in Sweden in 1164,[17] probably at the suggestion of his close friend Archbishop Eskil of Lund – exiled in Clairvaux, France, due to a conflict with the Danish king.

In 1171, Alexander became the first pope to address the situation of the Church in Finland, with Finns allegedly harassing priests and only relying on God in time of war.

[18] In the bull Non parum animus noster, in 1171 or 1172, he gave papal sanction to ongoing crusades against pagans in northern Europe,[19] promising remission of sin for those who fought there.

The Byzantine ambassador, the sebastos Jordan relayed that Manuel would end the Great Schism of the eastern and western churches if Alexander would recognize him as emperor.

[citation needed] In 1163 Alexander summoned clergy and prelates from England, France, Italy, and Spain to the Council of Tours to address, among other things, the unlawful division of ecclesiastical benefices, clerical usury, and lay possession of tithes.

Alexander III beatified no one during his papacy but he did canonize ten saints which included notable figures of the age such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Becket.