Victor IV (Octavian)

Viktor IV. (* 1095 as Octaviano de 'Crescenzi Ottaviani de Monticelli in Tivoli , † April 20, 1164 in Lucca ) was antipope to Alexander III from 1159 to 1164 . He is not to be confused with Viktor IV of the same name (Gregorio Conti von Ceccano), who served as antipope in 1138.

Life

Octaviano de Monticelli came from a sideline of the Crescentier dynasty , which, in the opinion of his contemporaries, was related to the European nobility. In 1138 he was appointed cardinal deacon of San Nicola in Carcere and in 1151 cardinal presbyter of Santa Cecilia .

In the papal election on September 7, 1159, Octaviano was the candidate of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa . After he was defeated in the election of his rival Roland Bandinelli, who was Pope Alexander III. called, he was proclaimed Pope by armed supporters and received papal ordinations on October 4th, 1159 under the protection of the emperor.

Although Alexander III. Subsequently had to flee into exile in France , Viktor did not succeed in gaining recognition outside of the empire ruled by Barbarossa.

Afterlife

Octaviano de Monticelli died in Lucca in 1164 and was buried in Lucca Cathedral. When miracles at his grave were reported, Pope Gregory VIII had the grave broken open in 1187 and personally cleared it of bones. A miraculous antipope disrupted his politics.

However, the schism did not end with the death of the antipope . Rather, the imperial party tried with the opposing popes Paschal III. (1164-1168), Calixt III. (1168–1178) and Innocent III. (1179–1180) their resistance against Alexander III. continue.

Footnotes

^ Christiane Laudage: Struggle for the chair of Petri. The history of the anti-popes . Herder, Freiburg 2012, p. 212. (Chapter papal graves and holy antipopes ).

literature

Knut Görich : Friedrich Barbarossa. A biography. CH Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-59823-4 .
Christiane Laudage: Fight for the chair of Petri. The history of the anti-popes . Herder, Freiburg 2012. ISBN 978-3-451-30402-6 . In it the chapter Viktor IV .: A Special Friend of the Germans , pp. 114–119.
Ernst Pulsfort: Victor IV. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1342-1343. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
Franz Xaver Seppelt : History of the Popes. Volume 3, Kösel Verlag, Munich 1956, pp. 232–248.

personal data
SURNAME	Viktor IV
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Octaviano Crescenzi de Montecello
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Antipope to Pope Alexander III.
DATE OF BIRTH	1095
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tivoli
DATE OF DEATH	April 20, 1164
Place of death	Lucca

[1] Christiane Laudage: Struggle for the chair of Petri. The history of the anti-popes . Herder, Freiburg 2012, p. 212. (Chapter papal graves and holy antipopes ).