Constantine II (antipope)

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Constantine II (* Nepi , Latium; † after 769 in the Cella Nova monastery) was used as a layman by his brother, Duke Toto von Nepi, shortly after the death of Pope Paul I , probably on July 5, 767.

Constantine II is listed as an antipope (pseudopapa, antipapa), although this is actually not the case in his case: An antipope is someone who was appointed during the lifetime of a canonically elected and not resigned pope. However, when Constantine was raised to the rank of Pope, his predecessor Paul I had already died, so the Holy See was vacant. In contrast, this is true of Philip , who was appointed by the Lombards in 768 as antipope - to Constantine II.

The Primicerius Christophorus, leader of the Frank-friendly party in Rome and the opposition to Constantine II, had him arrested with Longobard help in mid-768. The antipope Philip, appointed by him, could only hold office for a short time; After a few days he was driven out by the followers of Constantine. In a canonical election organized by Christophorus for August 1, 768, in which large parts of the Roman citizenry also took part, the church official Stephan , who had already accompanied high posts under Stephan II and Paul I, was elected the new Pope.

In the following days, Constantine II and his followers were persecuted by Stephen's followers and, in some cases, badly mistreated; Constantine himself, hung with heavy weights, was driven through the city on a horse and then imprisoned in the monastery of San Saba . He was officially removed from office on August 6th. After there was a revolt against Stephan III among his supporters. had come, Constantine was blinded and thrown into the streets of Rome, where no one was allowed to come to his aid. The next day he was detained again in the monastery.

On April 12, 769, Stefan opened a Lateran Council , which was mainly attended by Frankish bishops , which dealt among other things with what they considered to be the illegal appointment of Constantine as Pope. Constantine stated that the uprising had taken place against his will; however, someone was needed to solve the problems caused by the death of Paul I. The next day, however, he retracted his confession, as the proceedings in previous papal elections had not been much different from his point of view. In doing so, he referred by name to his predecessors Sergius I and Stephan II , who, like him, should have been classified as lay people by the synod. Enraged by this argument, the council not only upheld Constantine's dismissal and excommunicated him, but also ordered his tongue to be torn out. His records and edicts were burned before the assembled synod. Then Constantine was put back in the monastery; his trace is lost here.

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