John, Abbot of Strumí

GIOVANNI, abbot of STRUMÍ. - When the imperial antipope Pasquale III died on 20 Sept. 1168, during the struggle between Federico Barbarossa and Alessandro III, the German circles desired the continuation of the arrangement and appointed the abbot G. di S., who assumed the name of Callisto III.
Immediately afterwards, the Emperor made his fifth descent into Italy. There followed the victory of the Lombard League at Legnano and the peace of Venice (1177). The antipope, who had led a wretched life with his small court, being no more than a pawn in Barbarossa’s game, was declared deposed there; he attempted to resist, but the imperial arms themselves turned against him and, besieged in Viterbo by Cristiano di Magonza, he was compelled publicly to submit to Alessandro at Tuscolo, towards the end of Aug. 1178. He owed it to the Pontiff’s benevolence that he was able to end his life as governor in Benevento.