Pope Innocent II

Timeline

1. c. 1100–1130Rome · LazioBorn Gregorio Papareschi of a Roman noble family. Around 1116 he was made cardinal by Pope Paschal II, and under the influence of the Gregorian reform movement actively advanced church renewal. He repeatedly served as papal legate to France and Germany on church affairs, accumulating broad diplomatic experience and contacts across Europe.
2. 1130–1138France · FranceOn 14 February 1130 he was elected pope by a minority of cardinals at the church of St Gregory; the same day Piero Pierleoni (Anacletus II) was elected elsewhere, creating a schism. Innocent II lost power in Rome and was forced to flee to France. With the ardent support of Bernard of Clairvaux he won recognition from most European monarchs of France, England, Germany and others, but Rome and the Norman Sicilians remained under Anacletus II.
3. 1138–1143Rome · LazioAnacletus II died in January 1138, ending the schism, and Innocent II finally held sole control of the Curia. In 1139 he convened the Second Lateran Council, annulling church appointments made during the schism and issuing a series of reform decrees. That same year he was captured by Roger II's forces at the Battle of Galluccio and forced to sign the Treaty of Mignano, recognizing the Kingdom of Sicily and Roger II's royal authority—a major diplomatic failure of his pontificate. He died in Rome on 24 September 1143.