Guibert of Ravenna, Antipope

GUIBERTO di RAVENNA, ANTIPAPA. — He was imperial chancellor for Italy and joined the antipope Cadalus in the election of October 1061; but he eventually recognized Alexander II in 1064 and was appointed archbishop of Ravenna. When Gregory VII began the struggle over investitures, G. immediately supported Henry IV’s cause in Italy, and together with the Roman Cencio and Cardinal Ugo Candido he was the great Pontiff’s most obstinate opponent, succeeding more than anyone else in making precarious for him that earthly foundation necessary for his reforming work. At Pavia he took the initiative in securing his deposition; after Canossa he urged Henry IV against the Pontiff. And when, on 7 March 1080, Gregory deposed and excommunicated the Emperor, on 25 June the Assembly of Brixen set G. up in opposition to him, under the name of Clement III. Protected by German arms and by an Italian imperialist movement, he was allowed to establish his residence, at least intermittently, in Rome, after seizing St Peter’s and Castel Sant’Angelo. The resentment of the Romans over the sack by the Normans, attributed to a summons from Gregory VII, and a strong party among the nobility and even the Roman clergy facilitated his long resistance to his successors, Victor III and Urban II, and his residence in Rome, from which the Pierleoni were able to drive him out only in 1098. G. lived to see the election of a fourth pontiff, Paschal II, before ending, in his final refuge at Civita Castellana, his life, steadfastly devoted to a struggle that was not for the good of the Church, in the autumn of 1100.