Papal election, 1159

The Papal election of 4–7 September 1159 followed the death of Pope Adrian IV. It resulted in a double election. A majority of the cardinals elected Cardinal Rolando Bandinelli as Pope Alexander III, but a minority refused to recognize him and elected their own candidate Ottaviano de Monticelli, who took the name Victor IV, creating a schism which lasted until 1178.

Death of Adrian IV

Pope Adrian IV died on September 1, 1159. One of the main events of his pontificate was a Treaty of Benevento in 1156 with the king William I of Sicily, which meant the change of the pro-Imperial policy of the Holy See, cultivated for over thirty years, to pro-Norman and anti-Imperial. In the following years there were growing tensions between the papacy and Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (e.g. a dispute at the diet of Besançon in 1157). Frederick tried – with significant success – to strengthen his influence on the Church in Germany.

One of the main architects of this new policy was papal chancellor Rolando Bandinelli. The change of direction in the papal policy met with some opposition in the College of Cardinals; the group of cardinals led by Cardinal Ottaviano of S. Cecilia wanted to continue the alliance with the Empire. Fearing a possible schism, Adrian IV shortly before his death recommended to the cardinals the election of Cardinal Bernard Luccensis of Porto as his successor. [Robinson, pp. 79–80]

List of participants

There were thirty one cardinals in September 1159. [Robinson, p. 43 and 83] Two of them seem not to have participated in the election, leaving the number of twenty nine electors. [Bolton, Duggan, p. 106. (This source gives the number of twenty eight, but it has certainly omitted one cardinal, adding 22 supporters of Rolando of S. Marco, Rolando himself and 5 supporters of Ottaviano of S. Cecilia, but not Ottaviano himself)] [Salvador Miranda on his website [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/conclave-xii.htm The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Papal elections of the XII Century (1100–1198)] has published a slightly different lists of cardinals in this election, taken from the very old opuscle of Alphonso Chacón, "Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalium", Rome 1677. Chacón included three more cardinals: Rodolfo of S. Lucia in Septisolio among the electors of Alexander III, and cardinal-deacons Gregorio of SS. Vito e Modesto and Guglielmo with unknown deaconry among electors of Victor IV. Rodolfo of S. Lucia may have actually participated and died few days after the election [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/consistories-xii.htm#CelestineII] ; however, his name appears for the last time in the papal bull dated June 12, 1158, over a year before, and it seems likely that he died shortly after that date(Jaffé, p. 659). In any case, he did not subscribed the manifest of October 1159. Cardinal Gregorio of SS. Vito e Modesto and Cardinal Deacon Guglielmo did not subscribe any papal bulls (Jaffé, p. 616, 653, 659 and 827), their names are not mentioned in the manifest of Imperial party of October 1159 (Bolton, Duggan, pp. 105–106), and nothing is known about them except the alleged participation in this election, so it seems doubtful that they were ever promoted to the cardinalate and even that they existed (Cardinal Guglielmo may be a “duplicate” of Cardinal Guglielmo Matengo, whose attitude at the beginning of the schism was ambiguous. See Robinson, p. 475).] :

chism

Both popes sent their legates to the catholic kingdoms in order to secure their recognition. At the council of Pavia in February 1160 Emperor Frederick I declared himself in favour of Victor IV, and the episcopate of the Empire followed him, with the significant exception of archbishop of Salzburg Eberhard I von Hilpolstein-Biburg and his suffragans. [Robinson, pp. 474–475] King Valdemar I of Denmark also gave his support to Victor IV, but the primate of Denmark archbishop Eskil of Lund became partisan of Alexander III. [Angelo Forte, Richard Oram, Frederik Pedersen," Viking empires", Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 382] The rest of Europe, namely France, England, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Hungary, Kingdom of Sicily and Latin territories in Outremer, recognized Alexander III as true Pope, even if in some of these countries there were a significant Victorine minorities in episcopates or among feudal rulers. [Robinson, pp. 475–476] The papal schism in Europe was now a fact.

The unity of the Church had been restored only after eighteen years, when Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III signed a Treaty of Venice (August 1, 1177); shortly thereafter the pro-imperial pope Callistus III (successor of Victor IV) abandoned his claims to the papacy and submitted to Alexander III (August 29, 1178). [Salvador Miranda: [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1164bishops.htm#Struma Antipope Callistus III] ] Victor IV and his successors Paschal III (1164–68) and Callistus III (1168–78) are now regarded as antipopes by the Catholic Church, while Alexander III is recognized as legitimate successor of St. Peter the Apostle.

Notes

ources

*Ian Stuart Robinson, "The Papacy 1073–1198. Continuity and Innovation", Cambridge University Press 1990
*Brenda Bolton, Anne Duggan, "Adrian IV, the English Pope, 1154–1159: Studies and Texts.", Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003
*Dr. Joseph Langen, GESCHICHTE DER RÖMISCHEN KIRCHE VON GREGOR VII. BIS INNOCENZ III, Bonn 1893
*Philipp Jaffé, "Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII", Berlin 1851
*Salvador Miranda: [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/conclave-xii.htm Papal elections of the XII Century (1100–1198)]