OTTAVANO DI MONTICELLI (from MONTECELIO, near Tivoli). - Antipope under the name of VICTOR IV (in reality it should be V). Son of Giovanni Ma- ledetto, of the family of Monticelli, related to the royal families of Spain and France, in 1138 he was made a cardinal of the title of S. Cecilia. Celestine II, in 1143, used him to discuss peace with Roger II in Palermo. When the Pope died during the negotiations, O. was sent by the King to the newly elected Lucius II to induce him to a direct conference.
At the death of Adrian IV (1 Sept. 1159) a minority of the cardinals gathered in conclave elected him pope, against the legitimate Rolando Bandinelli (Alexander III). Imprisoned, with the help of the imperial troops to whose side O. inclined, the legitimate Pope, after a popular uprising, was freed and consecrated at Ninfa on 20 Sept.; while O. had himself consecrated at Farfa on 4 Oct. While almost all the states recognized Alexander III as legitimate, the Empire supported O. The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa therefore convened a synod at Pavia to proclaim his legitimacy. But by the end of the same year even the Roman Senate sided with Alexander, who was able to return to Rome. O. died at Lucca on 20 April 1164.