Antipope Clement III

Antipope Clement III

Guibert or Wibert of Ravenna (c. 1029 – 8 September 1100) was an Italian prelate, archbishop of Ravenna, who was elected pope in 1080 in opposition to Pope Gregory VII and took the name Clement III. Gregory was the leader of the movement in the church which opposed the traditional claim of European monarchs to control ecclesiastical appointments, and this was opposed by supporters of monarchical rights led by the Holy Roman Emperor. This led to the conflict known as the Investiture Controversy. Gregory was felt by many to have gone too far when he excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and supported a rival claimant as emperor, and in 1080 the pro-imperial Synod of Brixen pronounced that Gregory was deposed and replaced as pope by Guibert. Consecrated as Pope Clement III in Rome in March 1084, he commanded a significant following in Rome and elsewhere, especially during the first half of his pontificate, and reigned in opposition to four successive popes in the anti-imperial line: Gregory VII, Victor III, Urban II, and Paschal II. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Antipope Clement III has received more than 186,263 page views. His biography is available in 33 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 32 in 2019). Antipope Clement III is the 127th most popular social activist (down from 93rd in 2019), the 1,163rd most popular biography from Italy (down from 931st in 2019) and the 6th most popular Italian Social Activist.

Clement III was the first pope to be elected by a conclave of cardinals, which was the result of a series of quarrels and violence in Rome. Clement III is most famous for being the first pope to be elected by a conclave of cardinals.