The October 1187 papal election was convoked after the death of Pope Urban III. He and the papal court had escaped from the imperial blockade of Verona only the month before, and had taken refuge in Ferrara. The election, held in Ferrara the day after the pope's death, resulted in the election of Cardinal Alberto Sartori di Morra, who took the name of Gregory VIII. He was a partisan of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, whose election delighted him. Gregory VIII reigned only two months.

Pope Gregory VIII, born Alberto di Morra, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for two months in 1187. Becoming Pope after a long diplomatic career as Apostolic Chancellor, he was notable in his brief reign for reconciling the Papacy with the estranged Holy Roman Empire and for initiating the Third Crusade.