Pope Victor II

Victor II
Birth name	Gebhard
Papacy began	April 13, 1055
Papacy ended	July 28, 1057
Predecessor	Leo IX
Successor	Stephen IX
Born	ca. 1018 Bavaria, Germany
Died	July 28 1057 Arezzo, Italy
Other popes named Victor

Victor II (c. 1018–July 28, 1057), born Gebhard, Count of Calw, Tollenstein, and Hirschberg, Pope from 1055 to 1057, kinsman of Emperor Henry III (1039–56). One of the series of German Popes during the Gregorian Reform reform movement (c. 1050–80), he was consecrated in St. Peter's in Rome on April 13, 1055. His father was a Swabian baron, Count Harwig von Calw, and his own baptismal name was Gebhard. At the insistence of another Gebhard, bishop of Ratisbon and uncle of Henry III, he was appointed at the age of twenty-four as bishop of Eichstätt. In this position, he supported the Emperor's interests and eventually became one of the Henry III's closest advisors. He was nominated to the Papacy by Henry III at Mainz, in September 1054, at the instance of a Roman delegation headed by Hildebrand, later Pope Gregory VII, who likely intended to deprive the empire of one of its most capable advocates. In June 1055, Gebhard, (Pope Victor II) met the Emperor at Florence and held a council, which reinforced Pope Leo IX's (1049–54) condemnation of clerical marriage, simony, and the loss of the church's properties. In the following year, he was summoned to the Emperor's side, and was with Henry III when he died at Botfeld in the Harz on October 5, 1056. As guardian of Henry III's infant son Henry IV (1056–1105) and adviser of the Empress Agnes, Henry IV's mother and regent, Victor II now wielded enormous power, which he used to maintain peace throughout the empire and to strengthen the papacy against the aggressions of the barons. He died shortly after his return to Italy, at Arezzo, on July 28, 1057. Victor II's retinue wished to bring his remains to the cathedral at Eichstätt for burial. Before they reached the city, however, the remains were seized by some citizens of Ravenna and buried there in the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda, the burial place of Theodoric the Great. Although there have been eight German Popes, Victor II is one of only three Popes from the territory of present-day Germany, the others being Pope Clement II (1046–47) and the current Benedict XVI.

References

• adapted from the 9th edition (1888) of the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Catholic Encyclopedia