1086 papal election
1086 election of the Catholic pope
The 1086 papal election (held 24 May) ended with the election of Desiderius, abbot of Monte Cassino as Pope Gregory VII's successor after a year-long period of sede vacante.
Death of Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII died in exile in Salerno on 25 May 1085. Before his death, the Pope nominated three canons as his preferred successors. They were the cardinal-bishop of Ostia Odo of Châtillon, Bishop Anselm of Lucca, and Archbishop Hugh of Lyon. Rome was at that time under the control of antipope Clement III, supported by the emperor Henry IV, so almost a year before they proceeded to the election of the successor of Gregory VII.
Cardinal electors
The papal bull In nomine Domini of 1059 changed electoral law to permit only the seven cardinal-bishops of the suburbicarian sees to participate in papal elections. Doubts were harboured about the papal bull had been called into question by the cardinals priests who demanded admission to the election. The antagonism between the cardinal-bishops and cardinal-priests was intensified by the fact that Gregory VII clearly favored the latter. When Antipope Clement III was installed in Rome, he sentenced Gregory VII to exile. Gregory was joined by seven of eighteen so-called "Gregorian" cardinal-priests and only one cardinal bishop.
One of the reasons for the rebellion was that Gregory VII allowed only cardinal-bishops in the circle of advisors for the Holy See.
The public source identifies “1086 papal election” as 1086 election of the Catholic pope. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around papal, election and Catholic.
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