Pope Gelasius II

2025-08-04T08:58:08Z

207.212.26.14:

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1118 to 1119}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Gelasius II
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image = Gelasius-II.jpg
| caption = Posthumous drawing of Gelasius II, 16th century
| birth_name = Giovanni Caetani
| term_start = 24 January 1118
| term_end = 29 January 1119
| predecessor = [[Paschal II]]
| successor = [[Callixtus II]]
| ordination = 9 March 1118
| consecration = 10 March 1118
| cardinal = September 1088
| created_cardinal_by = [[Urban II]]
| rank = Cardinal Deacon (1088 - 1118)
| birth_date = 1060–64
| birth_place = [[Gaeta]], [[Duchy of Gaeta]]
| death_date = 29 January 1119
| death_place = [[Cluny]], [[Duchy of Burgundy]], [[France in the Middle Ages|Kingdom of France]]
| previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Acting Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1088)|[[Santa Maria in Cosmedin|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin]] (1088–1118)|Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1089–1118)}}
| other = Gelasius
}}

'''Pope Gelasius II''' (c. 1060/1064 – 29 January 1119), born '''Giovanni Caetani''' or '''Giovanni da Gaeta''' (also called ''Coniulo''),<ref>{{cite book|first1=John-Peter|last1=Pham|title=Heirs of the Fisherman|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|page=12|isbn=9780195178340}}</ref> was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 24 January 1118 to his death in 1119. A monk of [[Monte Cassino]] and chancellor of [[Pope Paschal II]], Caetani was unanimously elected to succeed him. In doing so, he also inherited the [[investiture controversy|conflict]] with [[Emperor Henry V]] over investiture. Gelasius spent a good part of his brief papacy in exile.

==Biography==
===Early life===
[[File:Campitelli - san Sebastiano al Palatino - memorie 01623.JPG|thumb|Plaque in [[San Sebastiano al Palatino]] marking the election of Caetani as Pope Gelasius II.]]

He was born between 1060 and 1064 at [[Gaeta]] into the [[Pisa]]n branch of the [[Caetani]] family, and he became a monk of [[Monte Cassino]].<ref name=EB1911/> [[Pope Urban II]], who wished to improve the style of papal documents, brought him to Rome and made Caetani a papal [[subdeacon]] (August 1088) and [[cardinal deacon]] of [[Santa Maria in Cosmedin]] (probably on 23 September 1088). As [[chancellor of the Holy Roman Church]] from 1089 to 1118, he drastically reformed the papal administration, establishing a permanent staff of clerks for the papacy, overcoming the previous custom of relying on Roman notaries to write papal documents, and introducing the minuscule [[curial script]]. His tenure also established the precedent of the papal chancellor always being a [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] and holding the office for life or until elected pope.{{cn|date=January 2021}}

===Pontificate===
[[File:Schussenried Klosterkirche Fresken N08 Norbert bei Papst Gelasius II.jpg|thumb|Fresco in Pfarrkirche St. Magnus ([[Bad Schussenried]]) showing [[Norbert of Xanten]] before Pope Gelasius II]]
[[File:Gaetano ciuti, Papa Gelasio II consacra la cattedrale di Pisa (da pietro sorri), su carta, 1800-10 ca. (pisa, opera del duomo).jpg|thumb|Painting of Gelasius II consecrating [[Pisa Cathedral]]]]
Shortly after his [[papal election, 1118|unanimous election]] to succeed [[Pope Paschal II]] in 1118, he was seized by [[Cencio II Frangipane]], a partisan of [[Emperor Henry V]], but was freed by a general uprising of the Romans on his behalf.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06407a.htm Loughlin, James. "Pope Gelasius II." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 25 December 2017</ref><ref name=EB1911/>

Henry V sought to enforce the privilege of investiture conceded (and later revoked in 1112) by the papacy, under duress, by Paschal II. He drove Gelasius II from Rome in March 1118, pronounced his election null and void, and set up Maurice Bourdin, Archbishop of Braga, as antipope under the name of [[Antipope Gregory VIII|Gregory VIII]].<ref name=EB1911/>

Gelasius II fled to Gaeta, where he was ordained a priest on 9 March 1118 and on the following day received episcopal consecration. He at once [[excommunication|excommunicated]] Henry V and the [[antipope]] and, under [[Italo-Normans|Norman]] protection, was able to return to Rome in July. But the disturbances of the imperialist party, especially those of the [[Frangipani family|Frangipani]], who attacked the Pope while celebrating Mass in the church of [[Santa Prassede|St. Prassede]], compelled Gelasius II to go once more into exile. He set out for France, consecrating the cathedral of [[Pisa]] on the way, and arrived at [[Marseille]] in October. He was received with great enthusiasm at [[Avignon]], [[Montpellier]] and other cities, held a synod at [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]] in January 1119, and was planning to hold a general council to settle the investiture contest when he died at the [[Abbey of Cluny]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Gelasius|display=Gelasius s.v. Gelasius II.|inline=1|volume=11|page=554|first=Carlton Joseph Huntley|last=Hayes|author-link=Carlton J. H. Hayes}}</ref>

==See also==

{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of popes]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | author=Barraclough, Geoffrey | author-link=Geoffrey Barraclough | title=The Medieval Papacy | publisher=Thames and Hudson | year=1964 | isbn=978-0-500-33011-1}}
*{{cite book | author=Duffy, Eamon | title=Saints and Sinners. A History of the Popes | publisher=Yale University Press | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-300-07332-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/saintssinnershis00duff }}
*{{cite book
| last = Rudolf Hüls
| author-link =
| title = Kardinäle, Klerus und Kirchen Roms: 1049–1130
| publisher = Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom
| series =
| year = 1977
| doi =
| isbn = 978-3-484-80071-7 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Paschal II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1118–19}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Callixtus II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelasius 2}}
[[Category:1060s births]]
[[Category:1119 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Gaeta]]
[[Category:House of Caetani]]
[[Category:Italian Benedictines]]
[[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Urban II]]
[[Category:Benedictine popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:12th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at Cluny Abbey]]

Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Pope Gelasius II