Pope Victor III
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Victor III | |
---|---|
Birth name | Dauferius |
Papacy began | May 24, 1086 |
Papacy ended | September 16, 1087 |
Predecessor | Gregory VII |
Successor | Urban II |
Born | ca. 1026 Benevento, Italy |
Died | September 16, 1087 Monte Cassino, Italy |
Other popes named Victor |
Styles of Pope Victor III |
|
Reference style | His Holiness |
Spoken style | Your Holiness |
Religious style | Holy Father |
Posthumous style | Blessed |
Pope Victor III (Benevento, 1026? – September 16, 1087), born Dauferius, Pope (May 24, 1086 until his death), was the successor of Pope Gregory VII (1073–85). Son of Prince Landulf V of Benevento, he was born circa 1026; in his thirtieth year he entered monastic life at Monte Cassino, changing his name of Dauferius to Desiderius. He soon became abbot of the monastery, and in 1059 Pope Nicholas II (1059–61) raised him to the cardinalate.
He rendered many important services to Pope Gregory VII, who accordingly, on his deathbed, recommended Desiderius to the Cardinals of south Italy as his worthiest successor. Under pressure from Prince Jordan I of Capua (whom also he had rendered important service), he was elected on May 24, 1086, taking the name of Victor III, but showed genuine reluctance to accept the embarrassing honour thus thrust upon him, and after his tardy consecration, which did not take place until May 9, 1087, he withdrew at once to Monte Cassino. The countess Matilda of Tuscany soon afterwards induced him to return to Rome; but, owing to the presence of the antipope Clement III (1080, 1084–1100), Guibert of Ravenna, who had powerful partisans, Victor III's stay there was short, though with the help of Matilda and Jordan, he took back the Vatican Hill. That August, he held a synod of some importance at Benevento, at which Clement III was excommunicated, lay investiture forbidden, and a kind of crusade proclaimed against the Saracens in Africa. During the synod Victor III fell ill, and withdrew to Monte Cassino, where he died on September 16, 1087. His successor was Pope Urban II (1088–99).
Preceded by Gregory VII |
Pope 1086–87 |
Succeeded by Urban II |