ANACLETUS II, Antipope. - A member of one of the most famous families of Rome, Pietro Pierleoni, nephew of a Jew converted at the time of Leo IX, went to Paris to study at the end of the 11th century and then to Cluny, where he became a monk. He became a cardinal under Paschal II and greatly assisted this Pontiff and his successors at very grave moments for the Church; he was also legate in France and in England. During the pontificate of Honorius II he remained in the shadows because his rivals, the Frangipane, prevailed, but at the death of that pope the schism long in preparation broke out violently. On 14 February 1130, after Honorius had been provisionally buried, a group of cardinals suddenly elected Gregory of Sant'Angelo in the church of St. Gregory on the Caelian. Enthroned in the Lateran, where he took the name Innocent II, the Pope shut himself up in the fortress of the Frangipane. But Pietro and his friends, considering the appointment illegal, proceeded to a new choice in St. Mark's; present were 24 cardinals, the Roman aristocracy and the people; Pietro was elected and called himself Anacletus II. Riots followed, much gold was distributed by the wealthy Pierleoni, and there was an appeal to the sovereigns by both sides to obtain recognition of legitimacy. The emperor Lothair immediately showed greater sympathy for Innocent, and so Anacletus turned to Roger, duke of Sicily, and promised him the royal crown. For several years discussions, councils and struggles in Rome followed; St. Bernard, an open supporter of Innocent, had great influence. At Lothair's descent into Italy, in the spring of 1133, Anacletus had to go on the defensive, but once the emperor had departed he returned to power and Innocent fled to Pisa; even when he was able to return, St. Peter's and the Lateran remained in the power of the antipope. The death of Anacletus (25 January 1138) resolved the dispute; in fact an attempt to renew the schism with the election of Victor IV failed. The question of legitimacy, which had remained obscure at first even to contemporaries, was clarified by the universal recognition of the Church in favor of Innocent.
Bibliography
Paolo Brezzi