Editing Pope Nicholas II

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1059 to 1061}}
{{more citations|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Nicholas II
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image =Robert Guiscard claimed as a Duke (Detail of Nicholas II).jpg

| caption = Portrait of Nicholas II in the Nuova Cronica des Giovanni Villani
| birth_name = Gerard
| term_start = 24 January 1059
| term_end = 27 July 1061
| predecessor = [[Pope Stephen IX|Stephen IX]]
| successor = [[Pope Alexander II|Alexander II]]
| birth_date = between 990 and 995
| birth_place = [[Château de Chevron]], [[Mercury, Savoie|Mercury]], [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles|Kingdom of Burgundy]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 27 July 1061
| death_place = [[Florence]], [[March of Tuscany]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| other = Nicholas
}}
[[File:B Nikolaus II2.jpg|thumb|right|Nicholas II (right) depicted in a fresco in the [[San Clemente al Laterano|Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano]] in Rome {{Circa|12th century}}]]
'''Pope Nicholas II''' ({{langx|la|Nicolaus II}}; c. 990/995 – 27 July 1061), otherwise known as '''Gerard of Burgundy''', was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 24 January 1059 until his death in 27 July 1061. At the time of his election, he was [[bishop of Florence]].<ref>Coulombe, Charles A. ''Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes'', Citadel Press, 2003, p. 210.</ref> During his Papacy, Nicholas II successfully expanded the influence of the papacy in [[Milan]] and [[southern Italy]]. He was also responsible for passing papal election reforms, the most significant of which led to the creation of the [[papal conclave]], which remains in use to this day.

==Early life==
Gerard of Burgundy was born in [[Château de Chevron|Chevron]],<ref>{{cite work|language=Fr|author=François Marius Hudry |title= Histoire des communes savoyardes |publisher= Éditions Horvath |place=Roanne |year=1982|volume= 4 |page=79|isbn=978-2-7171-0263-5}}.<br>- {{cite work|language=Fr|author=Michel Germain|title= Personnages illustres des Savoie|publisher= Autre Vue|place=|year=2007 |pages=144| isbn= 978-2-9156-8815-3 }}.</ref> in what is now [[Savoy]]. He was a [[Canon_(priest)|canon]] at [[Liège]]. In 1045 he became [[bishop of Florence]], where he restored the canonical life among the clergy of numerous churches.<ref> Schwartz, Gerhard. ''Die Besetzung der Bistümer Reichsitaliens unter den sächsischen und salischen Kaisern: mit den Listen der Bischöfe, 951-1122'' (1907) Leipzig: B.G. Teubner. p. 209 (in lang|de)</ref><ref>[http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1877-5888_rpp_SIM_024119 Detlev, Jasper. "Nicholas II, Pope", ''Religion Past and Present''] 2013,
{{ISBN| 9789004146662}}</ref>

==Papacy==
[[Antipope Benedict X|Benedict X]] was elected in 1058, his election having been arranged by the [[count of Tusculum]]. However, several cardinals alleged that the election was irregular and that votes had been bought; these cardinals were forced to flee to [[Rome]]. [[Pope Gregory VII|Hildebrand]], archdeacon of the Roman church, was away on a diplomatic mission to Germany. When he heard of Benedict X's election, he opposed it and obtained support for the election of Gerard of Burgundy instead. In December 1058, those cardinals who had opposed Benedict X's election met at [[Siena]] and elected Gerard as pope instead. He then took the name Nicholas II.<ref name=Weber>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11055a.htm Weber, Nicholas. "Pope Nicholas II." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 24 December 2017</ref>

Nicholas II proceeded towards Rome, along the way holding a synod at [[Sutri]], where, in the presence of the Tuscan ruler [[Godfrey the Bearded]] and the imperial chancellor, Guibert of Parma, he pronounced Benedict X deposed and excommunicated.<ref name=Weber/> The supporters of Nicholas II then gained control of Rome and forced Benedict X to flee to Gerard of Galeria. Having arrived in Rome, Nicholas II then proceeded to wage war against Benedict X and his supporters with [[Normans|Norman]] assistance. At an initial battle in [[Campagna]] in early 1059, Nicholas II was not wholly successful. But later that same year, his forces conquered [[Praeneste]], Tusculum, and [[Mentana|Numentanum]], and in the autumn took Galeria, forcing Benedict X to surrender and renounce the papacy.

Nicholas II died on 27 July 1061, less than three years after becoming Pope.

===Relationship with the Normans===
[[File:Museo nicolaiano, sigillo di papa nicola II, 1059.jpg|thumb|A 1059 bullae seal of Nicholas II]]
To secure his position, Nicholas II at once entered into relations with the Normans. The pope wanted to re-take [[Emirate of Sicily|Sicily]] for Christianity, and he saw the Normans as the perfect force to crush the Muslims.<ref>Bartlett, Professor Robert. "The Normans", episode 3, BBC-TV</ref> The Normans were by this time firmly established in southern Italy, and later in the year 1059 the new alliance was cemented at [[Melfi]], where the pope, accompanied by Hildebrand, Cardinal [[Humbert of Silva Candida|Humbert]], and Abbot [[Pope Victor III|Desiderius]] of [[Monte Cassino]], solemnly invested [[Robert Guiscard]] with the duchies of [[Apulia]], [[Calabria]], and [[Sicily]], and [[Richard of Aversa]] with the [[principality of Capua]], in return for oaths of fealty and the promise of assistance in guarding the rights of the Church. This arrangement, which was based on no firmer foundation than the forged "[[Donation of Constantine]]", was destined to give the papacy independence from both the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern]] and [[Holy Roman Empire|Western Empires]]. Its first substantial result was Norman aid in taking Galeria, where Antipope Benedict X was hiding, and the end of the subordination of the papacy to the Roman nobles.

===Subordination of Milan===
Meanwhile, Nicholas II sent [[Peter Damian]] and Bishop [[Anselm of Lucca]] as legates to [[Milan]], to resolve the conflict between the [[Pataria|Patarenes]] and the archbishop and clergy. The result was a fresh triumph for the papacy. Archbishop [[Guido da Velate|Wido]], facing ruinous ecclesiastical conflict in Milan, submitted to the terms of the legates, which subordinated Milan to Rome. The new relation was advertised by the unwilling attendance of Wido and the other Milanese bishops at the council summoned to the [[Lateran Palace]] in April 1059. This council not only continued the Hildebrandine reforms by sharpening the discipline of the clergy but marked an epoch in the history of the papacy by its famous regulation of future elections to the Holy See.

===Election reform===
{{main|In nomine Domini}}
Previously, [[papal election]]s had effectively been controlled by the Roman aristocracy, unless the [[Holy Roman emperor]] was strong enough to be able to intervene from a distance to impose his will. As a result of the battles with the Antipope Benedict X, Nicholas II wished to reform papal elections. At the synod held in the Lateran at Easter, 1059, Pope Nicholas brought 113 bishops to Rome to consider several reforms, including a change in the election procedure. The electoral reform adopted by that synod amounted to a declaration of independence on the part of the church. Henceforth, popes were to be selected by the cardinals in assembly in Rome.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*The [[Tusculan Papacy]]
*[[History of the papacy (1048–1257)]]
*[[List of popes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Nicholas (popes)|volume=19|pages=649–651}}
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Pope Nicholas II}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Stephen IX|Stephen IX]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1059–61}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Alexander II|Alexander II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}} 
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas 2}}
[[Category:Pope Nicholas II| ]]
[[Category:990s births]]
[[Category:1061 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Savoie]]
[[Category:French popes]]
[[Category:11th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:11th-century French people]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:11th-century popes]]