Antipope Victor IV

Who was Antipope Victor IV?

Victor IV was the cardinal priest of Santa Cecilia before he was elected as a Ghibelline antipope in 1159, following the death of Pope Adrian IV and the election of Alexander III. His election was supported by the Emperor Barbarossa. He took the name Victor IV, not accounting for Antipope Victor IV of 1138 because of that antipope's short tenure.

He was described by John of Salisbury as eloquent and refined, but petty and parsimonious. When he was sent with Cardinal Jordan of Santa Susanna as a papal legate to summon Conrad III of Germany to Italy to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor, he quarreled with his co-legate and, in the words of Salisbury, "made the Church a laughingstock."

He died at Lucca on 20 April 1164.