Innocent II, Pope

(Gregorio Papareschi), was born at Rome as one of the family of the Guidoni. He became successively abbot of the Benedictine convent of St. Nicholas at Rome, cardinal-deacon in 1118, and was finally elected pope by one party of the cardinals in 1130, as successor of Honorius II.:The other party elected Peter Leonis, under the name of Anacletus II. Innocent fled to France, where Bernard de Clairvaux caused him to be acknowledged as pope by Louis VI and by the Council of Etampes; he was soon after recognized also-by Henry II of England, by Lotharius, king of Germany, and even by the Synod of Pisa in 1134. In 1136 he returned to Rome with the emperor, and, after the death of Anacletus in 1138, was universally acknowledged as pope. He drove Arnold of Brescia out of Italy, and put king Roger under the ban, but, having taken the field against the latter, he was made prisoner at Galleccio in 1139. He was afterwards released by abandoning Sicily, Apulia, and Capua to Roger. He had also some severe conflicts with the king of France, and the Romans, having revolted against his government, re-established the senate, and declared themselves independent. In the midst of these troubles Innocent died, Sept. 23, 1143. See Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s.v.; Fabricius, Bibl. Lat. med. et inf. et. 4, 33; Lannes, Pontificat du Pape Innocent II (Paris, 1741, 8vo);

Mosheim, Ch. Hist. cent. 12, pt. 2, ch. 2; Neander, History of the Christian Religion and Church, 4, 75, 144, 255.