Paschal I (antipope)

Paschal I († 692 ) was the antipope from September to December 687 (according to another interpretation until 692) .

After the brief pontificate of Pope Konon , who died on September 21, 687, there were two potential successors. One of them, Theodor II , had already been promoted to (anti) pope by a Roman military party before Konon's pontificate, after the death of John V , but was dropped a few weeks later in favor of Konon. After his death, he again registered his "claim" to the Peter throne.

The archdeacon Paschalis opposed Theodor with not entirely clean means. Even before Konon's death, he bribed the exarch of Ravenna , Johannes Platys , with 100 pounds of gold, so that he ordered his officials in Rome to vote for Paschal.

But Theodor's party was quicker and quickly occupied the inner rooms of the Lateran, while Paschalis and his followers had to stay in the outer rooms. Since neither of the two candidates wanted to give in, they thought, as in the election of Konon, on a third candidate and on December 15, 687 both factions raised the titular priest of St. Susanna, Sergius , to succeed Pope Konon.

The new Pope had the support of the Roman population, who stormed the Lateran and threw out the occupiers. While Theodore accepted his defeat and recognized Sergius' choice, Paschalis insisted on his claim. He tried to bring the exarch of Ravenna to Rome, for which he promised him another 100 gold pounds. In fact, the imperial governor also appeared in Rome, but now spoke out for Sergius and dropped Paschalis. (Sergius now paid him the 100 pounds of gold.)

Completely helpless and penniless, Paschalis did not recognize Sergius' choice and intrigued against him until he was deposed as a deacon, accused of sorcery and banished to a monastery. There he died in 692, insisting on his claim to the successor to Konon until the end.

Paschalis was actually only a few months antipope; However, since he never gave up his claim or resigned, a pontificate of several years (687-692) can be ascribed to him. It is also possible to completely deny him the title of Pope, since his inauguration was incomplete.

literature

• Philippe Levillain: Dictionnaire historique de la Papauté . Fayard, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-213-61857-7
• Bruno W. Häuptli :  Paschalis. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 24, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-247-9 , Sp. 1155-1157.