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Antipope Anacletus II'''Anacletus II''', born '''Pietro Pierleoni''', (died January 25, 1138) was an Antipope who ruled from 1130 to his death, in a Schism (religion)|schism against the contested hasty election of Pope Innocent II.
Pietro, of Jewish descent, was born to the powerful Rome|Roman family of the Pierleoni family|Pierleoni, the son of the Consul Pier Leoni. As a second son with ambitions he was destined for an ecclesiastical career. He studied in Paris and entered the Benedictine Cluny|Abbey of Cluny. Later he went to Rome and occupied several important positions. In 1130, Pope Honorius II lay dying and the cardinals decided that they would entrust the election to a commission of eight men, led by papal chancellor Haimeric, who had his candidate Cardinal Gregory Papareschi hastily elected as Pope Innocent II. He was consecrated on February 14, the day after Honorius' death. On the same day, the other cardinals announced that Innocent had not been canonically elected and chose Cardinal Pietro Pierleoni, a Roman whose family were the enemy of Haimeric's supporters the Frangipani. Anacletus' supporters were a mixture of anyone opposed to Haimeric making him powerful enough to take control of Rome while Innocent was forced to flee North; legally speaking Anacletus was the canonically elected Pope and Innocent was the anti-Pope.
However, north of the Alps, Innocent gained the crucial support of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter the Venerable, and other prominent reformers who personally helped him to gain recognition from European rulers such as Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Lothar III, leaving Anacletus with few patrons. Anacletus had been a relatively acceptable candidate for the Papacy, being well-respected, so rumors centering on his descent from a Jewish convert were spread to blacken his reputation. Among Anacletus' supporters were duke William X of Aquitaine, who decided for Anacletus against the will of his own bishops, and the powerful Roger II of Sicily, whose title of "King of Sicily" Anacletus had approved shortly after his accession. By 1135 Anacletus' position was weak despite their aid, but the schism only ended with his death in 1138, after which Innocent returned to Rome and ruled without opposition. Innocent II quickly convened the Second Lateran Council in 1139 and reinforced the Church's teachings against usury, clerical marriage, and other problems.
Though the Pierleoni family mostly submitted to Innocent and his successors, Anacletus' brother Giordano Pierleoni|Giordano, who was then leader of the Commune of Rome, actively opposed Innocent's successors in the following decade.
External links
- Catholic Encyclopaedia account of Anacletus II
- Stroll, Mary. The Jewish Pope: Ideology and Politics in the Papal Schism of 1130. New York: E.J. Brill, 1987.
Category:Antipopes
Category:Benedictines
Category:1138 deaths
Category:12th-century Christian clergy
Category:12th-century Italian people
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Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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