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This article is ambiguous, because of pronouns with ambiguous references, and ambiguous verbs.

Quoting "...Innocent III sprang from a noble Lombard family. Opponents of pope Alexander III tried to make him pope in September 1179. Alexander, however, bribed his partisans to give him up, and imprisoned him in the cloister of La Cava in January 1180..."

This leaves me totally confused. Did Alexander bribe Innocent's partisans to betray Innocent? Or did Alexander bribe his own partisans, to take extraordinary action, and capture Innocent? Or, a third alternative, did Alexander bribe the partisans that had captured him, to release Alexander?

It not clear whether the phrase "to give him up" means that Innocent was given up, or if Alexander was given up. This ambiguity arises because "given up" could mean "released," as from captivity, or it could alternatively mean "betray".

Perhaps, as a native speaker of American English, I am reading too much into this passage. However, I must point out that the passage is very confusing.

71.228.181.59 (talk) 19:09, 15 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

His name is spelled both ways in the article. M-1 (talk) 00:51, 8 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]