Papacy of Innocent II

Timeline

1. 1131–1135Poitiers, France · FranceAfter Innocent II's election in 1130, Cardinal Pierleone contested him under the name Anacletus II. Most of Rome and southern Italy supported the rival faction, forcing Innocent into exile in France and Germany, relying on Bernard of Cluny's diplomatic mediation and Lothair III's two Italian campaigns to win recognition.
2. 1136–1138Rome · RomeIn 1136–1137, Lothair III led German forces south into Italy, defeated Roger II, and escorted Innocent back to Rome. Anacletus II died in 1138, and his successor as antipope, Victor IV, quickly resigned; the schism effectively ended, paving the way for the 1139 Lateran Council.
3. 1139–1140Lateran Palace · RomeIn 1139, Innocent II presided over the Second Lateran Council, formally ending the schism and issuing canons of church reform. He thereafter continued to contend with Roger II of Sicily and intervened in Northern Crusades and Iberian Reconquista affairs; the papacy's status as Europe's supreme spiritual authority was significantly strengthened by the end of the 1130s.