POPES
by Deb McCoy | Jun 12, 2022 | Popes
Guido di Castello, born around 1085, may have been the son of the noble Niccolo di Castello. He was born in either Citta di Castello, in the foothills of the Apennines or in Macerata, in the March of Ancona, a little closer to the Adriatic. I tend to think the first...
by Deb McCoy | May 24, 2022 | Popes
Gregorio Papreschi became Pope Innocent III. He was a Roman from the section of Trestavere. And his family was friends with the notorious, two-faced Frangipani family. Born in 1082, he quickly moved up the ranks from a canon at the Lateran to an abbot to a cardinal...
by Deb McCoy | May 12, 2022 | Popes
Pope Honorius II was born as Lamberto Scannabecchi on 9 February 1060. His family was from a small commune in north central Italy, 19 miles from Bologna. His environment was a humble farming community. At a young age, Lamberto became the archdeacon of Bologna, an...
by Deb McCoy | May 5, 2022 | Popes
Pope Callixtus II was born Guy, or Guido, of Burgundy around 1065. Related to many royal families of western Europe, his father was the eminent Count William I of Burgundy. At a young age, in 1088, Guy became the archbishop of Vienne. The complicated lay investiture...
by Deb McCoy | Apr 30, 2022 | Popes
The antipope Gregory VIII was born Mauritius Burdinus, or, in French, Maurice Bourdin (later used as a play on words since bourdin means donkey). Born around 1065, Maurice lived in Limousin, Occitania, France. This was a semi-autonomous region which composes the...
by Deb McCoy | Apr 24, 2022 | Popes
Pope Gelasius II Probably no pope suffered as many indignities in as short a period of time as Pope Gelasius II. Born Giovanni (John) Caetani (of Gaeta), of noble parents, about 1060/64, the child showed much intelligence. He was sent to Monte Cassino, the famous...
