THEODORIC, ANTIPOPE

Pontificate: September 1100 to January 1101; he died in 1102. Theodoric (also Theoderic) was cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata in 1084 and served as antipope Clement III's (1080; 1084–1100) legate in Germany. Clement made him cardinal bishop of Albano, and it is assumed that Theodoric hid Clement when the latter was forced to flee from the Castel Sant' Angelo in 1084. When Clement died, his Roman supporters met secretly in St. Peter's and elected Theodoric as his successor. He was consecrated that night, but he was only able to remain in the city for 105 days, until Paschal II (1099–1118) returned. Theodoric fled Rome, hoping for support from Henry IV (1056–1106), but the emperor was trying to reach an understanding with the legitimate pope. Thus Theodoric was arrested by Paschal's forces in January 1101 and became a monk in Holy Trinity monastery at La Cava near Salerno, which later was the place of confinement for antipopes Gregory VIII, 1118–21, and Innocent III, 1179–80. He died the following year and was buried in the monastery's cemetery.

Bibliography: l. duchesne, ed. Liber Pontificalis (Paris 1886–92; repr. 1955–57) 2.298, 345. p. jaffÉ, Regesta pontificum Romanorum (Leipzig 1885–88; repr. Graz 1956) 1.772. p. kehr, "Zur Geschichte Wiberts von Ravenna (Clemens III)," Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (1921) 980–88. r. hÜls, Kardinäle, Klerus und Kirchen Roms, 1049–1130 (Tubingen 1977) 92–95. c. servatius, Paschalis II (Stuttgart 1979) 42ff, 70–72, 339. j. n. d. kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New York 1986) 161–62. g. tellenbach, The Church in Western Europe from the Tenth to the Early Twelfth Century (Cambridge 1993).

[p. m. savage]