The small mix-up when there were three Popes

Today, the Pope is well known as the unwavering figurehead of the Catholic church. But the Pope’s position of authority hasn’t always been so stable. And the Pope hasn’t always been elected in the most, let’s say, sensible way. Let’s take a look back at that time when there were three Popes all claiming to be the real one at the same time. The truly chaotic part is that this wasn’t even the only time this happened.

00:46 ‘Europe and the Near East at 476AD’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_and_the_Near_East_at_476_AD.png

1:04 Maïtre François, ‘Sack of Rome by Alaric’, c. 1475, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sack_of_Rome_by_Alaric_-sacred_vessels_are_brought_to_a_church_for_safety(2nd_of_2).jpg

1:14 ‘Gregory the Great with the Holy Spirit’, Wikimedia Commons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gregory_the_Great_with_the_Holy_Spirit.jpg

1:17 ‘Pope Gregory preaching to a crowd’, Egerton 745 f. 35v, British Library, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=9865

1:25 ‘Invasions of the Roman Empire’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png

1:37 ‘Lechfeld 1457’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lechfeld1457.jpg

1:42 ‘Holy Roman Empire Crown (Imperial Treasury)’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_Roman_Empire_Crown_(Imperial_Treasury)2.jpg

1:47 ‘Romanesque stained glass depiction of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bas-c%C3%B4t%C3%A9_nord,baie_VI_Otto_II_Rex(dernier_tiers_XIIe).jpg

1:53 ‘Otto II’, c. 985, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VatLat9820_OttoII.jpg

1:58 ‘Holy Roman Emperor Otto III’, c. 1000, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meister_der_Reichenauer_Schule_002.jpg

2:10 ‘Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and Berengar’, before 1177, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Otto_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor_and_Berengar.jpg

2:18 ‘Communal fight in Bologna’, c. 1400, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Communal_fight_in_Bologna_(Sercambi).jpg

2:24 ‘Calixtus as Pope preaching to a congregation’, Additional 17275 f. 169, British Library, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=61479

2:30 ‘Pope Gregory preaching to a crowd’, Egerton 745 f. 33v, British Library, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=9864

2:45 Alexis François Artaud de Montor, ‘Pope Benedict IX’, from The Lives and Times of the Popes (New York: 1911), p. 9, https://archive.org/details/thelivesandtimes00montuoft/page/n23/mode/2up

3:12 ‘City of Rome of crenellated city walls with arched gate enclosing buildings’, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M.158 fol. 8v, c. 1476, http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/15/77241

3:18 ‘Pope Sylvester III of Rome’, c 1045, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pope_Sylvester_III_of_Rome_1045.jpg

4:06 Alexis François Artaud de Montor, ‘Pope Gregory VI’, from The Lives and Times of the Popes (New York: 1911), p. 10, https://archive.org/details/thelivesandtimes00montuoft/page/10/mode/2up

4:28 ‘The pope lands his army’, Egerton 3028 f. 77, British Library, https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=11766

4:56 ‘Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor’, c. 1000, Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heinrich_III..jpg

5:00 ‘Journey of pilgrims over the Alps’, Walters MS W.163, c. 1450, Open Library, https://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0020/Data/WaltersManuscripts/html/W163/description.html

5:20 Alexis François Artaud de Montor, ‘Pope Clement II’, from The Lives and Times of the Popes (New York: 1911), p. 12, https://archive.org/details/thelivesandtimes00montuoft/page/n29/mode/2up

5:30 ‘Council of Sutri’, Wikimedia Commons, c. 1800, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Synod-Sutri-1046.jpg

6:02 Alexis François Artaud de Montor, ‘Pope Demasus II’, from The Lives and Times of the Popes (New York: 1911), p. 12, https://archive.org/details/thelivesandtimes00montuoft/page/n31/mode/2up

6:44 ‘Gregory VII’, c. 1100, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gregor_VII..jpg

6:45 ‘Clement III,’ 1157, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clement_III_-_Antipope.jpg

6:56 ‘Allegorical map of the City of Rome’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BNMsItal81Fol18RomeWidowed.jpg

7:00 ‘Miniature symbolising the Western Schism’, Wikimedia Commons, c. 1370 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grandes_Chroniques_de_Frances_de_Charles_V_-BNF_fr2813_f208(Clercs_se_disputant).jpg