The papal election held from 4 to 7 September 1159 following the death of Pope Adrian IV resulted in the election of two rival popes. A majority of the cardinals elected Cardinal Rolando of Siena as Pope Alexander III, but a minority refused to recognize him and elected their own candidate, Ottaviano de Monticelli, who took the name Victor IV, creating a schism that lasted until 1178.
The schism was a result of the growing tensions inside the Sacred College of Cardinals concerning the foreign policy of the Holy See. The Papal States in the 12th century were a buffer between the Holy Roman Empire and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. After the Concordat of Worms in 1122, the Papacy allied with the Empire rather than with the Normans, but during the pontificate of Adrian IV (1154–59) this alliance broke up because Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa did not fulfil the terms of the treaty of Constance (1153) that obliged him to help the Papacy to restore its authority in Rome and in other territories controlled by the king of Sicily.Robinson, pp. 464–465 In these circumstances Adrian IV decided to break the alliance with the Emperor and to make peace with William I of Sicily by signing the Treaty of Benevento (1156). In the following years there were growing tensions between the papacy and Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (e.g. a dispute at the diet of Besançon in 1157). Frederick tried – with significant success – to strengthen his influence on the Church in Germany.Robinson, pp. 388–391 and 464–471 The change of direction of the papal foreign policy resulted in the division of the Sacred College into supporters and opponents of the new policy, who were unable to achieve a compromise after the death of Adrian IV.
The election of 1159 had also significant legal consequences. Up to that time, the election of the new pope required unanimity among the electors, which led to the schism when the existence of factions in the Sacred College made the unanimity impossible.Robinson, p. 57 To avoid such schism in the future, the Third Lateran Council in 1179 promulgated the decree Licet de evitanda discordia, which established the rule that the Pope is elected with a majority of two thirds of the cardinals participating in the election.Robinson, p. 84
Death of Adrian IV Pope Adrian IV died on 1 September 1159. Fearing a possible schism, shortly before his death he recommended to the cardinals the election of Cardinal Bernard of Porto as his successor.Robinson, pp. 79–80
List of participants There were thirty-one cardinals in September 1159.Robinson, p. 43 and 83; Brixius, p. 24; Zenker, p. 198. One of them seems not to have participated in the election, leaving thirty electors:Brixius, p. 24; and Bolton, Duggan, p. 106. (The latter source gives the number of twenty eight, but it has certainly omitted two cardinal, adding Cardinal Rolando of S. Marco, his 22 supporters and 5 supporters of Ottaviano of S. Cecilia, but not Ottaviano himself; besides, it indicates that Alexander III was supported by 22 cardinals, but the true number is 23, see Rahewin: cap. LXIII)Salvador Miranda on his website The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Papal elections of the 12th Century (1100–1198) has published a slightly different lists of cardinals in this election, taken from the very old opuscle of Alphonso Chacón, Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalium, Rome 1677. Chacón included two more cardinal-deacons among electors of Victor IV: Gregorio of SS. Vito e Modesto and Guglielmo, archdeacon of Pavia, with unknown deaconry. However, they did not subscribe any papal bulls (Jaffé, p. 616, 653, 659 and 827), their names are not mentioned in the manifest of Imperial party of October 1159 (Bolton, Duggan, pp. 105–106; Rahewin: cap. LXII)), and nothing is known about them except the alleged participation in this election, so it seems doubtful that they were ever promoted to the cardinalate and even that they existed (Cardinal Guglielmo seems to be a “duplicate” of Cardinal Guglielmo Marengo, who had been archdeacon of Pavia before his promotion to the cardinalate and whose attitude at the beginning of the schism was ambiguous. See Robinson, p. 475). Brixius does not mention them in his work.
Elector FactionCardinalatial title ElevatedDates of promotions according to Zenker, pp. 222–226, and Brixius, passim. Elevator NotesImar, O.S.B. ClunyImperialBishop of Tusculum13 March 1142Innocent IIDean of the Sacred College of CardinalsGregorio della SuburraSicilianBishop of Sabina1 March 1140For the date of his creation see Zenker, pp. 48 and 51. Brixius, pp. 57, says that he was created by Anastasius IV (1153–54) as cardinal-bishop of Sabina, but Zenker has proven that he is identical to cardinal Gregorio of S. Maria in Trastevere created by Innocent II in 1140.Innocent IISub-dean of the Sacred College of CardinalsUbaldo AllucingoliSicilianBishop of Ostia e Velletri16 December 1138Innocent IIFuture Pope Lucius III (1181–85)GiulioneutralBishop of Palestrina19 May 1144Lucius IIBernard, Can.Reg.SicilianBishop of Porto e Santa Rufina22 December 1144Lucius IIArchpriest of the Vatican Basilica; designated by Adrian IV but not electedWalter, Can.Reg.SicilianBishop of Albano19 December 1158Adrian IVUbaldo Caccianemici, Can.Reg.SicilianPriest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme19 May 1144Lucius IIProtopriest of the Sacred College of Cardinals; Cardinal-nephew (?)Ottaviano de MonticelliImperialPriest of S. Cecilia25 February 1138Innocent IIElected Antipope Victor IVAstaldo degli AstallineutralPriest of S. Prisca17 December 1143Celestine IIGuido di CremaImperialPriest of S. Maria in Trastevere21 September 1145Eugenius IIIFuture Antipope Paschal III (1164–68)RolandoSicilianPriest of S. Marco and Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church22 September 1150Eugenius IIIElected Pope Alexander IIIGiovanni Gaderisio, Can.Reg.SicilianPriest of S. Anastasia22 September 1150Eugenius IIIGiovanni da SutrineutralPriest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo21 February 1152Eugenius IIIEnrico Moricotti, O.Cist.neutralPriest of SS. Nereo ed Achilleo21 February 1152Eugenius IIIGiovanni MorroneImperialPriest of SS. Silvestro e Martino23 May 1152Eugenius IIIIldebrando Grassi, Can.Reg.SicilianPriest of SS. XII Apostoli23 May 1152Eugenius IIIBonadies de BonadieneutralPriest of S. Crisogono21 December 1156Adrian IVAlberto di Morra, Can.Reg.Praem.neutralPriest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina21 December 1156Adrian IVFuture Pope Gregory VIII (1187)Guglielmo Marengo, O.Cist.Imperial (?)Priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli14 March 1158Adrian IVOdone BonecaseSicilianDeacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro4 March 1132Innocent IIProtodeacon of the Sacred College of CardinalsRodolfoneutralDeacon of S. Lucia in Septisolio17 December 1143Celestine IIGiacinto BoboneneutralDeacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin22 December 1144Lucius IIFuture Pope Celestine III (1191–98)Ottone da BresciaSicilianDeacon of S. Nicola in Carcere21 February 1152Eugenius IIIArdicio RivoltellaSicilianDeacon of S. Teodoro21 December 1156Adrian IVBoso, Can.Reg.SicilianDeacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano21 December 1156Adrian IVCamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church; prefect of the Castle Sant’AngeloSimeone Borelli, O.S.B.Cas.ImperialDeacon of S. Maria in Domnicaca.1157Adrian IVAbbot of SubiacoCinthius CapellusKartusch, p. 118.Imperial (?)Deacon of S. Adriano14 March 1158Adrian IVnephew of Innocent IIPietro di MisoSicilianDeacon of S. Eustachio14 March 1158Adrian IVRaymond de NimesImperialDeacon of S. Maria in Via Lata14 March 1158Adrian IVGiovanni Conti da AnagnineutralDeacon of S. Maria in Portico19 December 1158Adrian IV
Five electors were created by Pope Innocent II, two by Pope Celestine II, four by Pope Lucius II, eight by Pope Eugenius III and eleven by Pope Adrian IV.
Absentee Elector FactionCardinalatial title Elevated Elevator NotesRainaldo di Collemezzo,A. Chacón includes Rainaldo among participants of the election of Alexander III . However, it seems unlikely because Cardinal Rainaldo was not a resident of Roman Curia, but of the abbey of Montecassino, where he acted as abbot for 29 years (1137–1166). Fact that he did not subscribe to any papal bulls during his long cardinalate (1140–1166) clearly indicates his permanent absence from the papal court (Jaffé, pp. 559, 609, 616, 653, 658–659). Besides, although he certainly joined the obedience of Alexander III, he does not appear among signatories of the manifest of his electors of October 1159 (Rahewin: cap. LXIII). For his absence see also Brixius, p. 24. O.S.B.Cas.neutralPriest of SS. Marcellino e Pietroca.1139–1141Innocent IIAbbot of Montecassino (external cardinal)
Divisions in the Sacred College The College of Cardinals was divided into two factions: the so-called "Sicilian" party and the Imperial faction. The "Sicilian" party, led by chancellor Rolando of Siena and Camerlengo Boso, supported the pro-Sicilian policy of Adrian IV. The Imperial faction was led by Ottaviano of S. Cecilia.
It is known that the "Sicilian" party counted thirteen cardinals. They were chancellor Roland of S. Marco, camerlengo Boso of SS. Cosma e Damiano, cardinal-bishops Bernard of Porto, Ubaldo of Ostia, Walter of Albano and Gregorio of Sabina, as well as cardinals Odone of S. Giorgio, Ubaldo of S. Croce, Ottone of S. Nicola, Ardicio of S. Teodoro, Giovanni of S. Anastasia, Ildebrando of SS. Apostoli and Pietro of S. Eustachio.Robinson, p. 53
The Imperial party may have counted as many as nine cardinals,This number is given in the manifest of the electors of Victor IV, dated October 1159. However, this manifest is signed only by five cardinals and is not believed to be reliable; none of the other sources support the number of nine cardinals in favour of Ottaviano-Victor IV (Bolton, Duggan, p. 106). The Victorine party claimed that among these nine cardinals was Gregorio of Sabina, later bribed by Alexandrines (Langen, p. 454), but cardinal Gregorio is known to have been a "Sicilian" (Robinson, p. 53) but only six can be identified as its members: Ottaviano of S. Cecilia, Giovanni of SS. Silvestro e Martino, Guido of S. Maria in Trastevere, Imar of Tusculum, Raymond of S. Maria in Via Lata and Simeone of S. Maria in DomnicaBolton, Duggan, p. 105 Guglielmo of S. Pietro in Vincoli was probably the seventh one.Langen, p. 454 Perhaps Cardinal Cinzio of S. Adriano also belonged to this faction. The remaining ten cardinals were neutral.Robinson, p. 83
It is believed that both factions made some preparations to the election in the last months of the pontificate of Adrian IV, although these attempts are known only from the hostile accounts produced for the polemical purposes during the subsequent schism and it is impossible to verify their accuracy. Both sides accused each other of illegal conspiracies. The adherents of Victor IV accused "Sicilians" of receiving the bribes from the king William I of Sicily and the anti-Imperial cities of Brescia, Milan and Piacenza. They ostensibly made an oath not to vote for any candidate outside their circle. On the other hand, "Sicilians" accused imperialists of hatching a plot with the imperial envoy Otto von Wittelsbach, who was present at Rome at the time of the election and gave the significant support to Victor IV in taking control over the Patrimony of St. Peter. It is known that the secular adherents of Cardinal Ottaviano de Monticelli, who was related to the powerful family of the counts of Tusculum, were prepared for the armed confrontation in Rome. Evidently, neither party was prepared for compromise.Robinson, p. 81
Proceedings
Election of Alexander III