An antipope (Latin: antipapa) is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope.[1] Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church itself and secular rulers.
Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish which of two claimants should be called pope and which antipope, as in the case of Pope Leo VIII and Pope Benedict V.[2]
Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he headed a separate group within the Church in Rome against Pope Callixtus I.[3] Hippolytus was reconciled to Callixtus's second successor, Pope Pontian, and both he and Pontian are honoured as saints by the Catholic Church with a shared feast day on 13 August. Whether two or more persons have been confused in this account of Hippolytus[4] and whether Hippolytus actually declared himself to be the Bishop of Rome remains unclear, since no such claim by Hippolytus has been cited in the writings attributed to him.
Eusebius quotes[5] from an unnamed earlier writer the story of Natalius, a 3rd-century priest who accepted the bishopric of the Adoptionists,[6] a heretical group in Rome. Natalius soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus to receive him into communion.[7] [8]
Novatian (d. 258), another third-century figure, certainly claimed the See of Rome in opposition to Pope Cornelius, and if Natalius and Hippolytus were excluded because of the uncertainties concerning them, Novatian could then be said to be the first antipope.
The period in which antipopes were most numerous was during the struggles between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors of the 11th and 12th centuries. The emperors frequently imposed their own nominees to further their own causes. The popes, likewise, sometimes sponsored rival imperial claimants (anti-kings) in Germany to overcome a particular emperor.
The Western Schism – which began in 1378, when the French cardinals, claiming that the election of Pope Urban VI was invalid, elected antipope Clement VII as a rival to the Roman Pope – led eventually to two competing lines of antipopes: the Avignon line as Clement VII moved back to Avignon, and the Pisan line. The Pisan line, which began in 1409, was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, where the (Pisan) council had elected antipope Alexander V as a third claimant. To end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed antipope John XXIII of the Pisan line. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415. In 1417, the council also formally deposed antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon, but he adamantly refused to resign. Afterwards, Pope Martin V was elected and was accepted everywhere except in the small and rapidly diminishing area of influence of Benedict XIII.
The following table gives the names of the antipopes included in the list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio, with the addition of the names of Natalius (in spite of doubts about his historicity) and Antipope Clement VIII (whose following was insignificant).[9] An asterisk marks those who were included in the conventional numbering of later popes who took the same name. More commonly, the antipope is ignored in later papal regnal numbers; for example, there was an Antipope John XXIII, but the new Pope John elected in 1958 was also called John XXIII. For the additional confusion regarding popes named John, see Pope John numbering.
The list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio attaches the following note to the name of Pope Leo VIII (963–965):
At this point, as again in the mid-11th century, we come across elections in which problems of harmonising historical criteria and those of theology and canon law make it impossible to decide clearly which side possessed the legitimacy whose factual existence guarantees the unbroken lawful succession of the successors of Saint Peter. The uncertainty that in some cases results has made it advisable to abandon the assignation of successive numbers in the list of the popes.[10]
Thus, because of the obscurities about mid-11th-century canon law and the historical facts, the Annuario Pontificio lists Sylvester III as a pope, without thereby expressing a judgement on his legitimacy. The Catholic Encyclopedia places him in its List of Popes,[11] but with the annotation: "Considered by some to be an antipope". Other sources classify him as an antipope.[12]
As Celestine II resigned before being consecrated and enthroned in order to avoid a schism, Oxford's A Dictionary of Popes (2010) considers he "...is classified, unfairly, as an antipope",[13] a position historian Salvador Miranda also shares.[14]
Those with asterisks (*) were counted in subsequent papal numbering.
| Pontificate | Common English name | Regnal (Latin) name | Personal name | Place of birth | Age at election/ Death or resigned | Years as antipope (days) | Notes | In opposition to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natalius | Natalius | c. 159 Rome, Roman Empire | 38 / 48 | Later reconciled (see above) | Zephyrinus | |||
| 20 Dec 217 – 28 Sep 235 | Hippolytus | Hippolytus | 45 / 65 (†66) | Later reconciled with Pope Pontian (see above) | Callixtus I | |||
| Urban I | ||||||||
| Pontian | ||||||||
| Mar 251 – Aug 258 | Novatianus | Novatian | 51 / 58 (†93) | Cornelius | ||||
| Lucius I | ||||||||
| Stephen I | ||||||||
| Sixtus II | ||||||||
| 20 Apr 309 – 16 Aug 310 | Heraclius | Heraclius | 45 / 46 | Eusebius | ||||
| 355 – 26 Nov 365 | Felix II | Felix secundus | Felix | 80 / 90 | Liberius | |||
| 1 Oct 366 – 16 Nov 367 | Ursicinus | Ursinus | 66 / 67 | Damasus I | ||||
| 27 Dec 418 – 3 Apr 419 | Eulalius | Eulalius | 38 / 39 (†42) | Boniface I | ||||
| 22 Nov 498 – Aug 506/08 | Laurentius | Lorenzo Celio | 38 / 46 (†48) | Symmachus | ||||
| 22 Sep 530 – 14 Oct 530 | Dioscurus | Dióskoros | 70 / 70 | Boniface II | ||||
| 21 Sep 687 | Theodorus | Theodore | c. 599 Rome, Duchy of Rome | 88 / 88 (†92) | Sergius I | |||
| 21 Sep 687 | Paschalis | Pascale | c. 598 Rome, Duchy of Rome | 89 / 89 (†94) | ||||
| 28 Jun 767 – 6 Aug 768 | Constantinus secundus | Konstantinus | c. 700 Rome, Duchy of Rome | 67 / 68 (†69) | Between Paul I and Stephen III | |||
| 31 Jul 768 | Philippus | Philip | c. 701 Rome, Duchy of Rome | 68 / 68 (†99) | Stephen III | |||
| 25 Jan – 31 May 844 | Joannes octavus | Giovanni | 44 / 44 (†91) | Sergius II | ||||
| Jan 855 – 31 Mar 855 | Anastasius tertius | Anastasius | 45 / 45 (†68) | Benedict III | ||||
| 3 Oct 903 – 27 Jan 904 | Christophorus | Christoforo | 53 / 54 | Between Leo V and Sergius III | ||||
| Jul 974 | Boniface VII | Bonifacius | Franco Ferrucci | 73 / 73 and 84 / 85 | total 364 days (364 days) | Between Benedict VI and Benedict VII | ||
| 20 Aug 984 – 20 Jul 985 | Between John XIV and John XV | |||||||
| Apr 997 – Feb 998 | John XVI | Joannes | John Filagatto | c. 941 Rossano, Calabria, Papal States (Italy) | 56 / 56 (†59) | Gregory V | ||
| Jun 1012 | Gregorius Sextus | Gregorio | 52 / 52 (†60) | Benedict VIII | ||||
| 4 Apr 1058 – 24 Jan 1059 | Benedict X | Benedictus Decimus | c. 1000 Rome, Papal States, | 58 / 59 (†80) | Nicholas II | |||
| July 1061 – 31 May 1064 | Honorius Secundus | Pietro Cadalus | 51 / 54 (†62) | Supported by Agnes, regent of the Holy Roman Empire | Alexander II | |||
| 25 Jun 1080, 21 Mar 1084 – 8 Sep 1100 | Clemens Tertius | Guibert of Ravenna | 51 / 51, 54 / 71 | Gregory VII | ||||
| Victor III | ||||||||
| Urban II | ||||||||
| Paschal II | ||||||||
| 8 Sep 1100 – Jan 1101 | Theodoricus | Theodoro | c. 1030 Rome, Papal States, | 70 / 71 (†72) | Paschal II | |||
| Jan 1101 – Feb 1102 | Adalbertus | Albert | c. 1046 Atella, Campania, Papal States, | 55 / 56 (†85) | Successor to Theodoric | |||
| 8 Nov 1105 – 11 Apr 1111 | Sylvester Quartus | Maginulf | 49 / 55 (†56) | Supported by Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor | ||||
| 10 Mar 1118 – 22 Apr 1121 | Gregorius Octavus | Maurice Burdain | 61 / 65 (†72) | Gelasius II | ||||
| Callixtus II | ||||||||
| 16 Dec 1124 | Cœlestinus Secundus | Teobaldo Boccapecci | 74 / 74 (†86) | Honorius II | ||||
| 14 Feb 1130 – 25 Jan 1138 | Anacletus Secundus | Pietro Pierleoni | 48 / 48 | Innocent II | ||||
| 23 Mar 1138 | Victor Quartus | Gregorio Conti | 81 / 81 (†90) | Successor to Anacletus II | ||||
| 7 Sep 1159 – 20 Apr 1164 | Victor Quartus | Ottavio di Montecelio | 64 / 69 | Alexander III | ||||
| 22 Apr 1164 – 28 Sep 1168 | Paschal III | Paschalis Tertius | Guido di Crema | 54 / 58 | (days) | |||
| Sep 1168 – 29 Aug 1178 | Callixtus III | Callixtus Tertius | Giovanni of Struma | c. 1090 Arezzo, Papal States | 78 / 88 (†90) | (days) | ||
| 29 Sep 1179 – Jan 1180 | Innocentius Tertius | Lanzo of Sezza | 59 / 60 (†63) | (days) | ||||
| 12 May 1328 – 12 Aug 1330 | Nicholas V | Nicolaus Quintus | Pietro Rainalducci | 70 / 74 | (days) | John XXII | ||
| 20 Sep 1378 – 16 Sep 1394 | Clement VII | Clemens | Robert of Geneva | 1342 Annecy, France | 36/52 | (days) | Avignon | Urban VI |
| Boniface IX | ||||||||
| 28 Sep 1394 – 23 May 1423 | Benedict XIII | Benedictus | Pedro de Luna | 25 November 1328 Illueca, Aragon | 65/94 | (days) | Avignon | |
| Innocent VII | ||||||||
| Gregory XII | ||||||||
| Martin V | ||||||||
| 25 Jun 1409 – 3 May 1410 | Alexander V | Alexander | Pietro Philarghi | 70 / 71 | (days) | Pisa | Gregory XII | |
| 25 May 1410 – 29 May 1415 | Ioannes Vicecimus Tertius | Baldassare Cossa | c. 1365 | 45 / 50 (†54) | (days) | Pisa | ||
| 10 Jun 1423 – 26 Jul 1429 | Clemens Octavus | Gil Sánchez Muñoz y Carbón | 52 / 59 (†77) | (days) | Martin V | |||
| 1424–1430 | Benedictus Quartus Decimus | Bernard Garnier | 54 / 59 (†89) | (days) | Claimed successor to Benedict XIII – aka "The hidden pope" | |||
| 1430–1437 | Benedictus Quartus Decimus | Jean Carrier | 59 / 66 | (days) | ||||
| 5 Nov 1439 – 7 Apr 1449 | Felix V | Fœlix | Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy | 4 September 1383 Chambéry, Savoy | 56/65 (†67) | Eugene IV | ||
| Nicholas V | ||||||||
See main article: List of cardinal-nephews. Many antipopes created cardinals, known as quasi-cardinals, and a few created cardinal-nephews, known as quasi-cardinal-nephews.
| Quasi-cardinal | Nephew of | Elevated | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giacomo Alberti | Antipope Nicholas V | 15 May 1328 | Excommunicated by Pope John XXII.[15] | |
| Amedeo Saluzzo | Antipope Clement VII | 23 Dec 1383 | Abandoned Antipope Benedict XIII after having been deposed by him on 21 October 1408; participated in the Council of Pisa, the election of Pope Alexander V (now regarded as an antipope), the Council of Constance, and the conclave of Pope Martin V. | |
| Tommaso Brancaccio | Antipope John XXIII | 6 Jun 1411 | Attended the Council of Constance, and the conclave of Pope Martin V.[16] | |
| Gil Sánchez Muñoz | Antipope Clement VIII | 26 Jul 1429 | Submitted to Pope Martin V after his uncle abdicated.[17] |
Antipopes still exist today, but all are minor claimants, without the support of any Cardinal. Examples include Palmarians, Apostles of Infinite Love Antipopes, and an unknown number of many other Sedevacantist claimants.
As the Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, has historically also held the title of pope, a person who, in opposition to someone who is generally accepted as a legitimate pope of Alexandria, claims to hold that position may also be considered an antipope. Coptic lector Max Michel became an antipope of Alexandria, calling himself Maximos I. His claim to the Alexandrine papacy was dismissed by both the Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III and Pope Theodore II of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria.[18] The Coptic pope of Alexandria and the Greek pope of Alexandria currently view one another, not as antipopes, but rather as successors to differing lines of apostolic succession that formed as a result of christological disputes in the fifth century.
Antipopes have appeared as fictional characters. These may be either in historical fiction, as fictional portraits of well-known historical antipopes or as purely imaginary antipopes.
. Charles William Previté-Orton. The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge University Press. 1975 . 1952. 978-0-5212-0962-5. 1. 477.