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| Antipope Paschal III | |
|---|---|
| Name | Paschal III |
| Title | Antipope |
| Birth date | c. 1110s |
| Death date | 20 September 1168 |
| Birth place | Rome |
| Death place | Rome |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Other names | Guido of Crema |
| Occupation | Cleric, Cardinal |
Antipope Paschal III was a 12th-century cleric who claimed the papacy in opposition to Pope Alexander III during the schism that followed the contested papal elections of the 1150s and 1160s. Elected and installed by supporters of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and Roman noble factions, he reigned as an antipope from 1164 until his death in 1168, playing a central role in the struggle between imperial and papal authorities that involved Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, and principalities across Italy and Europe. His career intersected with major figures and institutions such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Becket, the College of Cardinals, and the Second Lateran Council's aftermath.
Born Guido of Crema in Rome or its vicinity, he emerged from the milieu of Roman clerical families active in the Diocese of Rome and the communal politics of the Roman Senate. Early connections linked him to prominent curial figures and to cardinals serving under Pope Eugene III and Pope Hadrian IV, placing him within networks involving the College of Cardinals, the Curia, and monastic reformers such as Bernard of Clairvaux. His career advanced through canonries and curial offices that connected him to major ecclesiastical centers like Cluny, Camaldoli, and the abbeys influenced by the Gregorian Reform. Guido gained the cardinalate, entering the factional disputes that pitted supporters of imperial intervention represented by the Staufen dynasty against adherents of papal autonomy aligned with Norman and Angevin interests.
Amid the disputed papal election of 1159 that produced Pope Alexander III and rival claimants, imperial partisans in Rome and envoys of Emperor Frederick I orchestrated an alternate election, elevating Guido of Crema as Paschal III in 1164. His selection followed earlier schismatic precedents such as the elevations of Antipope Victor IV and Antipope Honorius II, and it reflected Roman noble interventions by families comparable to the Frangipani and Pierleoni. Supported by cardinals sympathetic to the Holy Roman Empire and by imperial legates, he received coronation rites in Rome that invoked liturgical traditions traceable to rites used by Pope Urban II and Pope Gregory VII while deliberately contravening recognitions by Ecumenical Councils favoring Alexander III.
Paschal III's claim intensified the schism with Pope Alexander III, drawing in diplomatic efforts by monarchs such as Louis VII of France, Henry II of England, and rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily under William I of Sicily and later William II of Sicily. His supporters included pro-imperial cardinals, Roman nobility, and clerics opposed to Alexander’s policies, aligning him with the broader contest between the Investiture Controversy legacy and imperial prerogatives. The dispute produced alliances with secular authorities in Germany, principalities in Italy, and factions within the Angevin and Norman spheres, paralleling conflicts faced earlier by Pope Innocent II and Antipope Anacletus II.
Paschal III maintained close relations with Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who used the antipope as an instrument to assert imperial influence over papal elections and ecclesiastical appointments. Frederick’s policies—shaped by imperial chancery practices and Roman expeditionary campaigns—led to military interventions in Rome and negotiations at imperial diets such as those at Pavia and assemblies influenced by the Imperial Diet tradition. The cooperation led to reciprocal acts: imperial recognition and military backing for Paschal, and Paschal’s concessions to imperial claims reminiscent of precedents set by treaties like the Peace of Constance negotiations and attitudes informed by Otto I’s relations with the papacy.
During his pontificate Paschal III issued bulls, made episcopal appointments, and attempted to secure curial legitimacy by confirming supporters to sees and benefices across Italy, Germany, and Burgundy. He promulgated favorable provisions to imperial allies, intervened in disputes involving the Archbishopric of Milan, and contested canonical judgments issued by Alexander III and synods linked to Lateran Councils. Paschal also sought to influence ecclesiastical jurisprudence through chancery letters modeled on papal bulls used since the Gregorian Reform, and he engaged with leading canonists and jurists of the era influenced by the revival of Roman law at the University of Bologna.
Efforts to reconcile the schism involved mediators such as Cardinal Roland of Siena (later Pope Alexander III’s allies), envoys from the Kingdom of France, and ecclesiastical figures like Bernard of Clairvaux who had previously intervened in papal disputes. Negotiations, truces, and councils intermittently reduced Paschal’s support as many secular rulers and bishops shifted recognition back to Alexander III, influenced by papal diplomacy, theological arguments advanced at councils, and the changing fortunes of Frederick I’s Italian campaigns. Military setbacks, waning aristocratic backing in Rome, and defections among cardinals eroded Paschal’s position leading to his political decline by the late 1160s.
Paschal III died on 20 September 1168 in Rome, leaving a contested legacy entwined with the wider struggle between papal primacy advocates and imperial authority proponents. His antipapacy influenced subsequent resolutions of schism, informed later papal elections, and provided case studies cited in canonical collections and historiography by chroniclers such as Otto of Freising and Romuald of Salerno. The episode affected relations between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy, shaping policies pursued by successors including Pope Alexander III and later pontiffs engaged in the reconciliation processes concluded at councils and concordats through the 12th and 13th centuries.
Category:12th-century antipopes Category:People from Rome Category:1168 deaths