Antipope Albert/Adalbert

Albert was elected Pope of the Catholic Church in February 1101, serving a mere 105 days in 1101. This made him 1 of the shortest-lived claimants/”pretenders” to the Chair of St. Peter.

He was a candidate of the Roman party opposed to Pope Paschal II & is today regarded as an antipope. Before his election, he was created a cardinal by the antipope Clement III. He was captured by partisans of Paschal II & forced to live out his days as a monk. The date of his birth is unknown. But he was from the town of Atella in southern Italy.

During the late 11th & 12th centuries, the Catholic Church & the Holy Roman Empire were locked in a struggle for supremacy. The core issue was “lay investiture” – whether secular rulers (like Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV) had the right to appoint & install bishops & popes, or if that power belonged strictly to the Church.

This led to a major schism. Emperor Henry IV refused to recognize the reform-minded popes in Rome, such as Gregory VII & Urban II. Instead, the pro-imperial faction set up their line of “puppet” popes, starting with antipope Clement III.

Albert was an early supporter of Clement III, who rewarded him with the suburbicarian diocese of Silva Candida. He was among 12 cardinals of Clement III who gathered in the Lateran Palace to underwrite papal letters on November 4, 1084.

Albert entered the scene as a loyal member of this imperial faction. He was appointed as a cardinal & the Bishop of Silva Candida by Clement III. He was a deeply committed partisan. Even signing a document in 1098 that condemned the “heresies” of the legitimate reform popes.

Albert can be traced in Rome throughout Clement’s pontificate. He was by the antipope’s side when Clement issued a privilege on January 8, 1089. On August 7, 1098, he was 1 of a group of prelates who presided over a conciliabulum convicted by Clement. The assembly condemned all the “old & new” heresies of the monk Hildebrand, that is, Pope Gregory VII.

It also issued a summons to the “schismatics,” the followers of Gregory’s successor, Urban II, enjoining them to be present in Rome on November 1. Albert’s name is at the top of the list of signatories of this letter, an indication of his importance in the curia of Clement III.

When Clement III died in 1100, the imperial faction in Rome refused to yield to the legitimate Pope, Paschal II. They quickly elected a successor named Theodoric. But Paschal’s forces captured Theodoric within months & dragged him off to a monastery. In February 1101, they gathered at the Basilica of Santi Apostoli & elected Albert.

Albert decided to keep his regal/papal name of Albert. Thus, retaining his baptismal name. His papal mantle (pallium) was hastily made for him. The pallium was hastily made for Albert couldn’t be at St. Peter’s tomb because Clementine’s faction didn’t control it.

However, his faction didn’t actually control St. Peter’s Basilica, meaning he couldn’t be formally enthroned at the traditional site. His election was a direct, defiant challenge to Pope Paschal II, backed implicitly by the distant Holy Roman Emperor.

His election took place in the basilica of Santi Apostoli. The Emperor Henry IV intervened to secure Albert’s nomination. The Annales Romani, the best source of info on Albert’s pontificate, states that he was elected by that part of the clergy & people of Rome who sided with Clement III.

Albert’s 1st public appearance drew a large crowd, and it quickly descended into turmoil. The city went into anti-Albert riots. The situation eventually got so bad that he was forced to take refuge in the Basilica of San Marcello al Corso under the protection of Romano & Giovanni Oddoline. Many clergy who tried to reach the church were beaten & stripped by the mob.

Pope Paschal II realized that fighting through would be messy. So he went with a classic tactic: bribery. Paschal gave Giovanni Oddoline to switch sides. Oddoline took the gold. He quickly handed Albert over to the papal forces.

Albert was stripped of his pallium & handed over to Paschal’s forces. He was tied up & paraded through the streets of Rome behind a horse before being locked away in a tower at the Lateran Palace, where Paschal was residing. He was then imprisoned in a tower.

The Annales Romani & the biography of Paschal in the Liber pontificalis agree that the acceptance of the bribe & the antipope’s imprisonment took place in 1 day.

Albert was banished to the Benedictine Monastery of San Lorenzo in Aversa. This is located just north of Naples in Norman-controlled territory. He spent the rest of his life quietly as a monk. The exact death date & burial site are a mystery.

In 1105, the pro-Imperial party Maginulf as Slyvester IV in opposition to Paschal. But he wasn’t any more successful than his predecessors because he lacked imperial support.

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