Pope Alexander II

Alexander II, whose real name is Anselmo da Baggio (c. 1010-1015 Baggio near Milan, † April 21, 1073 in Rome), was Pope from 1061.

In Milan grew and associated from an early age the Curia, Anselmo da Baggio, since 1056 Bishop of Lucca, on September 30, 1061 elected as Alexander II to the Pope and enthroned on the day. His primary sponsor was the Archdeacon Hildebrand, later Pope Gregory VII Alexander II thus belonged to the Reform Party, who also supported him. He was elected probably in the Lateran, and the enthronement of the night of the same day to be held in the Church of St. Peter in Chains at the foot of the Esquiline. The road there, however, was blocked by opponents, which is why you had to create access to the church by force of arms. This was done to him later to reproach: Like a thief in the night, it is said that he had taken possession of the Pope's throne.

Initially raised the Reichsepiskopat the Bishop of Parma Antipope, who took the name of Honorius II, but at the Synod of Mantua in 1064 Alexander II was finally widely recognized.

Under the pontificate of Alexander the church gained political influence. Alexander II favored the policy of William the Conqueror, and in particular its ambitions to the English crown. Of course, were the more his influence grew, the greater the tension the imperial party in Germany, and especially to the young King Henry IV, especially since Alexander the plans of Henry to divorce his wife Bertha, a strict flatly rejected.