Papacy of Victor III begins 1086

Following the death of Pope Gregory VII who died on May 25, 1085,  Cardinal Desiderio, abbot of Monte Cassino,  one of the most important monasteries in medieval Europe, was elected Pope Victor III on May 24, 1086.  The election took place at Terracina/Benevento rather than Rome because of safety concerns. With only five cardinals present at the election as travel in Italy at the time was dangerous, and most of the other cardinals were fearful of reprisals from Emperor Henry IV, should they be seen to be opposition to Clement III. Four days later, unwilling to respond with force to the hostility of the imperial prefect of Rome, Victor put aside his pontifical insignias and retired back to Monte Cassino.  Initially resistant to accepting the papacy, he finally agreed to do so during the Synod of Capua, on March 21, 1087. He was finally consecrated in St. Peter's Basilica on May 9.

His papacy which lasted about a year was troubled by political tensions, as he struggled with the power of Antipope Clement III, who had been installed by Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy. Victor III inherited this ongoing struggle of defending the papacy’s spiritual and political independence from secular authority. For a monk who had spent his life in prayer, 1086 meant Desiderius was confronting worldly power, which tested his courage and commitment.  In 1087 he convened a synod at Benevento, condemning simony, clerical concubinage, and lay investiture, continuing Gregory VII’s reforms targetting moral corruption in the clergy, and strengthening monastic life and ecclesiastical discipline.