The papal election of 1061 was held on September 30, 1061 in San Pietro in Vincoli

San Pietro in Vincoli

San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II.-History:...

 ("Saint Peter in Chains") in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, following the death of Pope Nicholas II

Pope Nicholas II

Pope Nicholas II , born Gérard de Bourgogne, Pope from 1059 to July 1061, was at the time of his election the Bishop of Florence.-Antipope Benedict X:...

. In accordance with Nicholas II's bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

, In Nomine Domini

In Nomine Domini

In nomine Domini, named for its Latin incipit , is a papal bull of Pope Nicholas II and canon of the Council of Rome, promulgated on April 13, 1059, establishing cardinal-bishops as the sole electors of the pope, with the consent of cardinal-deacons and cardinal-priests In nomine Domini, named...

, the cardinal bishops were the sole electors of the pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 for the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. Bishop Anselmo de Baggio of Lucca, a non-cardinal and one of the founders of the Pataria

Pataria

The pataria was an eleventh-century religious movement in the Archdiocese of Milan in northern Italy, aimed at reforming the clergy and ecclesiastic government in the province and supportive of Papal sanctions against simony and clerical marriage...

, was elected Pope Alexander II

Pope Alexander II

Pope Alexander II , born Anselmo da Baggio, was Pope from 1061 to 1073.He was born in Milan. As bishop of Lucca he had been an energetic coadjutor with Hildebrand of Sovana in endeavouring to suppress simony, and to enforce the celibacy of the clergy...

 and crowned

Papal Coronation

A papal coronation was the ceremony of the placing of the Papal Tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was that of Pope Celestine II in 1143. Soon after his coronation in 1963, Pope Paul VI abandoned the practice of wearing the tiara. His successors have chosen not to...

 at nightfall on October 1, 1061 in San Pietro in Vincoli Basilica because opposition to the election made a coronation in St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...

 impossible.

Anselmo had the support of his friend Cardinal Hildebrand, a driving force behind the promulgation of In Nomine Domini and the future Pope Gregory VII

Pope Gregory VII

Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...

, Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine

Godfrey III , called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. By inheritance, he was count of Verdun and he became margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of the duke of Lower Lorraine...

, and the Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 forces of Robert Guiscard

Robert Guiscard

Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...

, present at the election in fulment of a security guarantee Guiscard had made to Nicholas II when appointed Duke of Apulia and Calabria. Although Anselmo was well-known and respected within the German court, the assent of the Holy Roman Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

 to the election was not sought.

Displeased with the new process, a group of Roman nobles

Nobility of Italy

The Nobility of Italy consisted of individuals and their families of Italy recognized by sovereigns, such as the Holy Roman Emperor, the Holy See, Kings of Italy or certain other Italian kings and sovereigns as members of a class of persons officially enjoying hereditary privileges which...

 and Lombard

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

s, let by Guibert, the royal chancellor of Italy, beseached Agnes de Poitou

Agnes de Poitou

Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.-Family:...

, empress-regent of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...

, to nominate Bishop Pietro Cadalo to succeed Nicholas II. Cadalo was elected Antipope Honorius II

Antipope Honorius II

Honorius II , born Pietro Cadalus, was an antipope from 1061 to 1072. He was born at Verona and became bishop of Parma in 1046. He died at Parma in 1072....

 at a synod

Synod

A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

 convoked at Basle on October 28, 1061, at which no cardinals were present.

Antipope Honorius II proceeded to march on Rome, defeating Alexander II and taking control of St. Peter's Basilica and its environs on April 14, 1062. The intervention of Godfrey III convinced Honorius II and Alexander II to retire to Parma and Lucca respectively, awaiting mediation between Godfrey III and the Imperial court. However, Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne

Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne

Saint Anno II was Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 to 1075.He was born around 1010, belonging to the Swabian family of the von Steusslingen, and was educated at Bamberg. He became confessor to the Emperor Henry III, who appointed him archbishop of Cologne in 1056...

 had engineered a coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

against the empress regent. As regent, Anno convened the Council of Augsburg (October 1062) and sent Burchard II, Bishop of Halberstadt

Burchard II, Bishop of Halberstadt

Burchard II was a German cleric and statesman, the Bishop of Halberstadt from 1059 until his death, and a nephew of the archbishops Anno II of Cologne and Werner of Magdeburg.In 1057, Burchard became provost of the church of SS Simon and Judas in Goslar...

 as an envoy to Rome. Burchard cleared Alexander II of charges of simony

Simony

Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...

 and recognized him as the new pontiff.

Alexander II excommunicated

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...

 Honorius II in 1063, but after a counter-synod Honorius II was able to establish himself in Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family...

 and wage war against Alexander II for another year before fleeing again to Parma

Parma

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....

. The Synod of Mantua (Pentecost

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

, May 31, 1064) anathemized

Anathema

Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...

 Cadalo and declared Alexander II the rightful pope.

Cardinal electors

In 1061 there were six cardinal-bishops:

Elector	Nationality	Order and title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Bonifazio, O.S.B.	Apulia Apulia Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...	Cardinal-bishop of Albano	before 1054	Leo IX Pope Leo IX Pope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg, was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He was a German aristocrat and as well as being Pope was a powerful secular ruler of central Italy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19...
Pietro		Cardinal-bishop of Tusculum	before 1057	Victor II Pope Victor II Pope Victor II , born Gebhard, Count of Calw, Tollenstein, and Hirschberg, was Pope from 1055 to 1057. He was one of a series of German reform Popes.-Life:...
Giovanni		Cardinal-bishop of Porto	1057	Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX was Pope from August 3, 1057 to March 1058.His baptismal name was Frederick of Lorraine , and he was a younger brother of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who, as Marquis of Tuscany , played a prominent part in the politics of the period.Frederick, who had...
Peter Damian Peter Damian Saint Peter Damian, O.S.B. was a reforming monk in the circle of Pope Gregory VII and a cardinal. In 1823, he was declared a Doctor of the Church... , O.S.B. Order of Saint Benedict The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests... Cam. Camaldolese The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...	Ravenna Ravenna Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...	Cardinal-bishop of Ostia	November 30, 1057	Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX was Pope from August 3, 1057 to March 1058.His baptismal name was Frederick of Lorraine , and he was a younger brother of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who, as Marquis of Tuscany , played a prominent part in the politics of the period.Frederick, who had...	Future Doctor of the Church Doctor of the Church Doctor of the Church is a title given by a variety of Christian churches to individuals whom they recognize as having been of particular importance, particularly regarding their contribution to theology or doctrine.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, this name is given to a saint from whose...
Bernardo da Benevento, O.S.B.Cas.	Benevento Benevento Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...	Cardinal-bishop of Palestrina	1061	Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II , born Gérard de Bourgogne, Pope from 1059 to July 1061, was at the time of his election the Bishop of Florence.-Antipope Benedict X:...
Mainardo of Pomposa, O.S.B.Cas.	Italian	Cardinal-bishop of Silva Candida	May 1061	Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II , born Gérard de Bourgogne, Pope from 1059 to July 1061, was at the time of his election the Bishop of Florence.-Antipope Benedict X:...