Editing Pope Honorius II (section)

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1124 to 1130}}
{{distinguish|Antipope Honorius II}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
|type=Pope
|honorific-prefix=[[List of popes|Pope]]
|name=Honorius II
|title= [[Bishop of Rome]]
|church= [[Catholic Church]]
|image=Schussenried_Kloster_Deckengemälde_Treppenhaus_2_detail02.jpg
|caption=Honorius II depicted in a [[fresco]] at the [[Schussenried Abbey]]
|birth_name=Lamberto Scannabecchi
|term_start=21 December 1124
|term_end=13 February 1130
|predecessor=[[Callixtus II]]
|successor=[[Innocent II]]
|consecration=1117
|cardinal=1099
|created_cardinal_by=[[Urban II]]
|birth_date=9 February 1060
|birth_place= Fiagnano, [[Papal States]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
|death_date=13 February 1130 (aged 70)
|death_place=[[Rome]], [[Papal States]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
|previous_post={{unbulleted list|Cardinal-Priest of [[Santa Prassede]] (1099–1117)|[[Bishop of Ostia]] (1117–1124)}}<ref name=cathen />
|other=Honorius}}

'''Pope Honorius II''' (9 February 1060 – 13 February 1130), born '''Lamberto Scannabecchi''',<ref name="Levillain, pg. 731">Levillain, pg. 731</ref> was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130.

Although from a humble background, his obvious intellect and outstanding abilities saw him promoted up through the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Attached to the [[Frangipani family]] of [[Rome]], his [[Papal conclave|election]] as [[pope]] was contested by a rival candidate, [[Antipope Celestine II|Celestine II]], and force was used to guarantee his election.

Honorius's pontificate was concerned with ensuring that the privileges the Roman Catholic Church had obtained through the [[Concordat of Worms]] were preserved and, if possible, extended. He was the first pope to confirm the election of the [[Holy Roman emperor]]. Distrustful of the traditional [[Benedictine]] order, he favoured new monastic orders, such as the [[Augustinians]] and the [[Cistercians]], and sought to exercise more control over the larger monastic centres of [[Monte Cassino]] and [[Cluny Abbey]]. He also approved the new military order of the [[Knights Templar]] in 1128.

Honorius II failed to prevent [[Roger II of Sicily]] from extending his power in southern Italy and was unable to stop [[Louis VI of France]] from interfering in the affairs of the French church. Like his predecessors, he managed the wide-ranging affairs of the church through [[Papal Legate]]s. With his death in 1130, the Church was again thrown into confusion with the election of two rival popes, [[Innocent II]] and the [[antipope Anacletus II]].