Born in Milan, Goffredo or Godfrey is often referred to as son of a sister of Pope Urban III, but this claim is without foundation.

Pope Gregory IX made him a cardinal on 18 September 1227[3] with the diocese and benefice of San Marco,[4] and in 1228–29 sent him as legate in Lombardy and Tuscany, where the cities and communes had generally remained true to the Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II.

One group of cardinals favored the ambitious schemes of the Gregorian Reform and aimed to humble Frederick as a papal vassal.

Overtures to Frederick II, however, were met with the impossible demand that if they wished the cardinals in his hands to return to Rome, they must elect as pope Otto of St. Nicholas, an amenable compromise figure.

Matteo Rosso Orsini's candidate, Romano da Porto, who had persecuted scholars at the University of Paris, was considered unacceptable.