Pope Gelasius II

Pope Gelasius II
Papacy began	24 January 1118
Papacy ended	29 January 1119
Predecessor	Paschal II
Successor	Callixtus II
Orders
Ordination	9 March 1118
Consecration	10 March 1118
Created Cardinal	September 1088 by Urban II
Personal details
Birth name	Giovanni Caetani
Born	1060–64 Gaeta, Principality of Capua
Died	29 January 1119(1119-01-29) Cluny, Duchy of Burgundy, Kingdom of France
Previous post	Acting Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1088) Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (1088–1118) Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1089–1118)
Other popes named Gelasius

Papal styles of Pope Gelasius II
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	none

Pope Gelasius II (ca. 1060/1064 – 29 January 1119), born Giovanni Caetani or Giovanni da Gaeta (also called Coniulo),^[1] was Pope from 24 January 1118 to his death in 1119.

Biography

Early life

He was born between 1060 and 1064 at Gaeta into the Pisan branch of the Caetani family.

He became a monk of Monte Cassino, was taken to Rome by Pope Urban II, and made 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 and holding the office for life or until elected pope.

Pontificate

Shortly after his unanimous election to succeed Pope Paschal II in 1118, he was seized by Cencio II Frangipane, a partisan of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, but was freed by a general uprising of the Romans on his behalf. Henry V sought to enforce the privilege of investiture to the papacy conceded to the emperor by Paschal II, but then revoked. 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 Gregory VIII.

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 excommunicated Henry V and the antipope and, under Norman protection, was able to return to Rome in July. But the disturbances of the imperialist party, especially those of the Frangipani, who attacked the Pope while celebrating Mass in the church of 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 in January 1119, and was planning to hold a general council to settle the investiture contest when he died at Cluny.

Notes

References

• Barraclough, Geoffrey (1964). The Medieval Papacy. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-33011-5. 
• Duffy, Eamon (1997). Saints and Sinners. A History of the Popes. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07332-1. 
• Rudolf Hüls (1977). Kardinäle, Klerus und Kirchen Roms: 1049–1130. Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom. ISBN 978-3-484-80071-7. 

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gelasius". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Popes of the Catholic Church
List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect
1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337)	Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I
5th–8th centuries Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857)	Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III
9th–12th centuries Papal selection before 1059 Saeculum obscurum (904–964) Crescentii era (974–1012) Tusculan Papacy (1012–1044/1048) Imperial Papacy (1048–1257)	Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III
13th–16th centuries Viterbo (1257–1281) Orvieto (1262–1297) Perugia (1228–1304) Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) Western Schism (1378–1417) Renaissance Papacy (1417–1534) Reformation Papacy (1534–1585) Baroque Papacy (1585–1689)	Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII
17th–20th centuries Revolutionary Papacy (1775–1848) Roman Question (1870–1929) Vatican City (1929–present) World War II (1939–1945) Cold War (1945-1991)	Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II
21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
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