Antipope Clement III facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Antipope Clement III |
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Antipope Clement III, image from Codex Jenesis Boseq.6 (1157)
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| Papacy began | 25 June 1080 |
| Papacy ended | 8 September 1100 |
| Predecessor | Roman claimant :
Antipapal claimant :
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| Successor | Roman claimant :
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| Opposed to |
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| Other posts | Archbishop of Ravenna |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Guibert (or Wibert) |
| Born | c. 1029 Ravenna |
| Died | 8 September 1100 (aged 70–71) Civita Castellana |
| Other Popes and Antipopes named Clement | |
Guibert (born around 1029, died September 8, 1100) was an important Italian church leader. He was the Archbishop of Ravenna. In 1080, he was chosen as pope by some groups, but he was against the official Pope Gregory VII. Guibert took the name Clement III.
This happened during a big disagreement called the Investiture Controversy. This was a fight over who should choose church leaders: the Pope or the Emperor. Pope Gregory VII believed the Church should decide. Emperor Henry IV and his supporters thought the Emperor should have a say.
Many felt Pope Gregory VII went too far when he removed Emperor Henry IV from the church (called excommunication). So, in 1080, a meeting of church leaders who supported the Emperor decided to remove Gregory. They chose Guibert to be the new pope instead.
Guibert was made Pope Clement III in Rome in March 1084. He had many followers, especially early in his time as pope. He was the rival to four popes chosen by the Church: Gregory VII, Victor III, Urban II, and Paschal II.
After he died in 1100, some people thought he was a saint. But Pope Paschal II and his supporters later ordered that his memory be erased. This included digging up his remains and throwing them into the Tiber River. The Roman Catholic Church considers him an antipope, meaning he was not a true pope.
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Early Life and Career
Guibert was born into a noble family, the Correggio family, likely between 1020 and 1030. His family was connected to powerful rulers in Italy.
In 1058, he became the Imperial Chancellor for Italy. This meant he was a top official for the Emperor in Italy. He held this job until 1063.
Guibert was involved in choosing Pope Nicholas II in 1058. But when Nicholas died in 1061, Guibert supported the Emperor's choice, Cadalous of Parma, to be Antipope Honorius II. This was against the Church's choice, Pope Alexander II. Because of this, Guibert lost his job as chancellor in 1063.
Even after losing his job, Guibert kept his connections with the German Emperor's court. In 1072, Emperor Henry IV named him the Archbishop of Ravenna. Pope Alexander II didn't want to agree to this at first. But Hildebrand (who later became Pope Gregory VII) convinced him to approve it. Guibert then promised loyalty to the Pope and became Archbishop of Ravenna in 1073.
Disagreements with Pope Gregory VII
Soon after, in 1073, Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII. Guibert attended Gregory's first important meetings in Rome in 1074. At these meetings, new rules were made against simony (buying or selling church jobs) and lay investiture (when kings or emperors chose church leaders).
Guibert quickly became a main leader against Pope Gregory's changes. He refused to attend Gregory's next meeting in 1075, even though he had promised to go. Guibert supported the Emperor, whom he had served. By not attending, Guibert showed he was against Pope Gregory VII. So, Gregory suspended him from his duties.
In 1076, Emperor Henry IV began an open conflict with Pope Gregory. At a meeting in Worms, Germany, Henry and his supporters decided to remove Gregory as pope. Guibert likely supported this decision. Because of this, Pope Gregory VII removed Guibert and other bishops from the church.
Later in 1076, Guibert and other bishops who supported the Emperor met in Pavia, Italy. They announced that Pope Gregory VII was removed from the church. In response, Gregory officially removed Guibert from the church by name in 1078.
Becoming the Imperial Opposition Pope
Over the next four years, the Emperor and the Pope continued their fight. Emperor Henry IV threatened to remove Pope Gregory. In June 1080, Henry gathered his supporters at a meeting in Brixen. They again declared Pope Gregory VII removed. Then, they elected Guibert, the excommunicated Archbishop of Ravenna, as the new pope. Guibert took the name Clement III.
Henry promised to take Guibert to Rome and be crowned Emperor by him. After a battle where Henry's enemy was defeated, Henry could focus on Gregory. In 1081, Henry marched to Rome but couldn't get in. He finally entered the city in 1084.
Henry entered Rome on March 21, 1084, and took control of most of the city. Gregory took shelter in a castle. On March 24, Guibert was made pope in a church in Rome as Clement III. On March 31, he crowned Henry IV as Emperor.
However, when news came that an army of Gregory's allies, the Normans, was coming, Henry and Guibert left Rome. Guibert went back to Ravenna. After Henry IV left Italy, Guibert's power was mostly in Ravenna and some parts of Northern Italy. But he still had some support in Rome.
Pope Gregory was freed, but the people of Rome were angry about what his Norman allies had done. So, Gregory had to leave Rome. He went to Monte Cassino and later to Salerno, where he died in 1085.
The German bishops were divided. Some supported Gregory and condemned Guibert. Others supported Henry and approved Guibert as pope. This conflict continued even after Gregory's death. Guibert was still seen as pope by Henry and his supporters during the reigns of Gregory's successors: Victor III, Urban II, and Paschal II.
Victor III, the next pope, had to flee Rome just eight days after his coronation in 1087 because of Guibert's supporters. The next pope, Urban II, spent much of his early time as pope in exile. He slowly gained power in Rome.
By 1089, Clement III was back in Rome. He held a meeting that said the order against Henry was not valid. But by the mid-1090s, his power began to weaken. Most of Rome was captured by an army. Guibert's supporters only held one castle, and even that fell in 1098.
In 1099, after Paschal II became pope, Guibert tried to regain control of Rome. But Norman troops forced him to leave. He died in Civita Castellana on September 8, 1100. His followers chose another antipope, but this person was not a serious threat to the official popes.
See also
- Concordat of Worms
- First Council of the Lateran
- Papal selection before 1059
