Pope Gelasius II

He was often compelled to fly for safety to Benevento, and he died at last little better than a prisoner in the castle of St. Angelo.

End of Section 24 Section 25 of Hildebrand and His Times by William Richard Ward Stevens This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Pamela Nagami Chapter 17 Pontificate of Gelasius II Election of Calixtus II Conference at Strasbourg Council of Reims Conference at Mouzon Council of Vuems The Concordat and End of the Investiture Strife 1118-1123 Part 1 The hopes of peace for the Church and Empire depended mainly on the character of the man who should be elected to succeed Pascal.

Henry's position was most critical.

In Italy, indeed, where most of his time was spent in the castles which had belonged to Matilda, his authority was not openly disputed because it was not very prominently asserted.

The distress was augmented by physical disturbances, earthquakes, tempests, and floods, which were regarded, of course, by many as a divine retribution for the opposition of the Emperor to the rights of the Church.

The cardinals lost no time in making an election.

On the day of Pascal's death, they secretly assembled in the monastery of Santa Maria in Palera on the Palatine and unanimously chose Cardinal John of Gaeta, the papal chancellor, who reluctantly yielded and took the title of Gelasius II.

He immediately experienced the danger of his new position.