Benedict X, Antipope

BENEDICT X, Antipope. - Stephen IX, foreseeing that his end was near, had made the Roman clergy and people swear not to proceed to the election of a new pope before the return of Hildebrand from Germany (St. Peter Damian, Epist., III, 1). But after his death (29 March 1058) the Roman aristocracy, led by Gregory of the counts of Tusculum, by Gerard of Galeria and by the Crescenzi, in agreement for the moment with their old adversaries, taking advantage of the minority of Henry IV, of the weak government of the regent Agnes and of the absence of the leaders of the reform, broke the pledge and elected the Roman Giovanni Mincio, bishop of Velletri, who called himself B. (5 April 1058). He cannot have been altogether unworthy, as St. Peter Damian would suggest (PL 124, 202), if St. Leo IX had made him a cardinal and Frederick of Lorraine, later Stephen IX, had proposed him for the pontificate before he himself was called to that dignity. He was, however, weak, whence the nickname Mincio, that is "simpleton," and in the intention of the electors he was to be the instrument of the Roman aristocracy, hostile to the reform and eager to become once more the arbiter of the election of the popes. Nevertheless the better part of the electors did not recognize him, and among them was St. Peter Damian, cardinal of Ostia. Hildebrand, returning from Germany, gathered the cardinals who had fled from Rome and the representatives of the Roman people and clergy in a synod at Siena, from which Gerard, bishop of Florence, emerged as the elect, having previously been designated by Hildebrand and already accepted by the emperor (18 Dec. 1058). He took the name Nicholas II. Shortly afterwards the Council of Sutri declared B. simoniacal, perjured and an intruder — he had managed to hold out in Rome for a good eight months — and confirmed Nicholas II. After a bitter battle through the streets of the city, B. was driven from Rome (Jan. 1059). He took refuge at Passarano, a possession of the Crescenzi, whence shortly afterwards he moved to Galeria, near Count Gerard. Nicholas II laid siege to the small town, which surrendered only after a year. B., forced to return to Rome, was stripped of the pontifical vestments, suspended from the functions of bishop and priest and excommunicated. He spent his last years forgotten in the hospice of the church of St. Agnes. He died during the pontificate of Gregory VII, who arranged that his funeral should correspond to his former dignity. Regarded for a long time as a legitimate pope, he was included in the catalogues of the popes, and for this reason Nicholas Boccasini in 1303 called himself Benedict XI.