HONORIUS II, ANTIPOPE

Pontificate: Oct. 28, 1061 to May 31, 1064. Known as Peter Cadalus (also Cadalous), he was born 1009 or 1010 into a wealthy family near Verona. He was bursar for the bishop of Verona in the early 1040s and was made bishop of Parma in 1045. He died in 1071 or early 1072. In the midst of the Investiture Controversy, Peter was selected as antipope in a meeting of the royal court in Basle. He was supported by the Empress Agnes, regent for the young Henry IV (1056–1106); various Lombard bishops, under the leadership of guibert of ravenna (later anti-Pope clement iii, 1080–1100); and members of the Roman nobility, who saw this as an opportunity to regain control of the papacy. Peter Cadalus was known as an opponent of the papal reformers and also of the Pataria, a revolutionary movement among the middle and lower classes that sought both sociopolitical reform (the overthrow of the ruling oligarchy) and ecclesiastical reforms (e.g., in 1057 they used arms in an effort to force priests to give up their concubines). His election was meant to challenge that of the reform party's pope, Alexander II (1061–73).

On April 14, 1062 Honorius defeated Alexander's forces and took up residence in Rome, but the city remained divided into warring camps. When Duke Godfrey the Bearded of Lorraine arrived in May with superior forces, he compelled both claimants to leave the city for their former dioceses. Meanwhile the German court would decide who was rightful pope. This left the matter in the hands of Anno, the archbishop of Cologne (1056–75) and new regent. Anno favored Alexander (as did the influential reformer Peter Damian) and the Synods of Augsburg (October 1062) and Rome (Christmas 1062) upheld his decision. Nevertheless, the two rivals excommunicated each other. In May 1063, Honorius again attacked Rome and seized St. Peter's and the Castel Sant' Angelo. While he occupied Sant' Angelo for several months, he was more prisoner than victor. Soon Alexander, with strong Norman support, forced Honorius to flee back to Parma. In May 1064, a synod of German and Italian bishops met at Mantua; it invited both claimants to attend. Honorius asked to preside over the synod and decided to stay away when his request was denied. For his part, Alexander went to Mantua and presided over the synod. His claim as pope was upheld, and Honorius was formally deposed with the agreement of the imperial court under the leadership of Anno of Cologne.

Afterward, Cadalus remained in his diocese and continued to be recognized as bishop of Parma, even though he never formally abandoned his claim to the Holy See. In 1065 and again in 1068 he hoped the German court would rule in his favor, but it never did. He died as bishop of Parma in late 1071 or very early in 1072.

Bibliography: l. duchesne, ed. Liber Pontificalis (Paris 1886–92; repr. 1955–57) 2.281, 284, 336, 358–60. p. jaffÉ, Regesta pontificum Romanorum (Leipzig 1885–88; repr. Graz 1956) 1.530, 566–94. peter damian, Letters 81, 88, 89, and 112, Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani, k. reindel, ed., Monumenta Germaniae historica, Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit (Munich 1983ff); trans. o. blum, The Letters of Peter Damian (Washington, DC 1989ff). See especially reindel 2.534, nn. 23–25 on Cadalus' election. i. m. watterich, Pontificum Romanorum (Leipzig; repr. Aalen 1862) 1.235–90. f. herberhold, "Die Angriffe des Cadalus von Parma (Gegenpapst Honorius II.) auf Rom in den Jahren 1062 und 1063," Studia Gregoriana 2 (1947) 477–503. f. baix, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Paris 1949) 11.53–99. v. cavallari, "Cadalo e gli Erzoni," Studi Storici Veronensi Luigi Simeoni 15 (1965) 59–170. t. schmidt, Alexander II (1061–1073) und die Römische Reformgruppe seiner Zeit (Stuttgart 1972) 104–73 passim. w. ullmann, A Short History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages (London 1972). m. stoller, "Eight Anti-Gregorian Councils," Annuarium historiae conciliorum 17 (1985) 252–321. j. n. d. kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New York 1986) 153–54. t. struve, "Kaisertum und Romgedanke in salischer Zeit," Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters 44 (1988) 424–54. Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Paris 1993) 24.1050.

[p. m. savage]