renew the legatine authority that Innocent II had granted to King Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois. Celestine also favored the Templars, ordering a general collection for them, as well as the Hospitallers, giving them control of the hospital of Saint Mary Teutonicorum in Jerusalem. The principal act of his papacy was the absolution of Louis VII of France. King Louis had refused to accept the nomination of Pierre de la Chatre as the archbishop of Bourges, who went to see Innocent II to have his nomination confirmed. When Pierre returned to France in 1142, Louis refused him permission to enter his episcopal city, causing Pierre to flee to the court of Count Theobald II of Champagne. Innocent responded by placing France under an interdict. For two years, the various parties remained at loggerheads while Bernard of Clairvaux attempted to mediate the dispute. With the election of Celestine, both Bernard and Theobald appealed to the pope, while Louis sent ambassadors to have the interdict lifted. Louis agreed to accept Pierre as the legitimate archbishop of Bourges, and in return, Celestine removed the sentence of interdict. Celestine died on 8 March 1144 in the monastery of Saint Sebastian on the Palatine hill and was buried in the south transept of the Lateran. Celestine's heraldic badge was a lozengy shield of argent and gules. Celestine II is the first pope listed in the Prophecies of St Malachy. See also List of popes Cardinals created by Celestine II References Sources Thomas, P. C., A Compact History of the Popes, St Pauls BYB, 2007 Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Middle Ages, Vol 9 (1925) 1144 deaths Italian popes People from Città di Castello Popes Year of birth unknown 12th-century popes Burials at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran