the state over the right of investiture for major church
offi ces, but it also saw the initial signs of emancipation
of the church from the state, which Gregory VII had
worked so hard to achieve. Throughout his reign, Pas-
chal had to fi ght on many fronts: against the antipopes,
the German kings, and the Roman nobles. Paschal also
strenuously fostered the crusade movement.
During Paschal’s reign, settlements were made be-
tween Saint Anselm and Henry I of England and with
Philip I of France; but there was a constant struggle with
the German king Henry IV, who persistently encour-
aged and supported the elections of antipopes, in order
to undermine the authority of the legitimately elected
pope. There was a whole succession of antipopes. At
the death of the antipope Guibert of Ravenna (Clement
III) in 1100, Theoderic became antipope after a mock
election in Saint Peter’s (1101–1102); then came the
antipopes Albert (1102) and Sylvester IV (1105–1111).
Henry IV was excommunicated by Paschal in 1302 but
restored himself to the pope’s favor by promising to lead
a crusade, although he never fulfi lled this promise. In
1104, Henry IV’s young son, Henry V, spurred on by
disappointed princes, rebelled against his father. Weary
of the constant struggle with the king, Paschal made
an agreement with his rebellious son. The elder Henry
resigned his power at Ingelheim on 31 December 1105,
and his son was solemnly crowned emperor at Mainz
on 1 February 1106. While the dethroned monarch
was getting ready to fi ght back, he fell ill and died in
August 1106.
The struggle between papacy and empire found no
resolution with Henry V. From the beginning of his
reign, the younger Henry proved just as determined as
his father not to give up the right of investiture. Paschal
II and Henry V met at Sutri in 1110. Initially, Henry
showed willingness to renounce the right to investiture,
while the pope committed himself to giving back all
lands and rights received from the German crown by the
church. However, these conditions were rejected by the
German bishops, who considered that they were being
deprived of all temporal power. Henry V fl ed Rome
and took the pope with him as a prisoner, until Paschal
conceded the right of investiture to the king. Despite the
strong opposition of the Roman curia, Paschal crowned
Henry V emperor in Saint Peter’s on 13 April 1111, as
part of their agreement. In September 1112, the emperor
was excommunicated by the French bishops because
of his capture of the pope and his extortion of the con-
cession regarding investiture. Paschal subsequently
confi rmed the emperor’s excommunication.
While struggling to achieve peace with the empire,
Paschal had to fend off revolts in Rome itself. The Corsi
family supported the third antipope, and Paschal retaliat-
ed by destroying their stronghold on the Capitoline hill.
Soon after his election to the papacy, Paschal, fol-
lowing the lead of his predecessors, congratulated the
crusaders for their successes in Palestine and then urged
bishops and soldiers to hasten to their help.
Although the relationship between papacy and empire
was exceedingly tumultuous during his reign, Paschal’s
diplomatic accomplishments were instrumental in
bringing a conclusion to the investiture controversy; his
pontifi cate opened the way to the concordat that Pope
Calixtus II concluded at Worms in 1122.See also Gregory VII, Pope; Henry I;
Henry IV, Emperor; Urban II, PopeFurther Reading
Cantarella, Glauco Maria. Pasquale II e il suo tempo. Naples:
Liguori, 1997. Enciclopedia Cattolica. Florence: Sansoni,
1950.
Mann, Horace K. The Lives of the Popes in the Middle Ages.
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner; Saint Louis, Mo.:
Herder, 1925.
Morrison, Karl F. Tradition and Authority in the Western Church,
300–1140. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
1969.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. Detroit, Mich.: Thom-
son-Gale, 2003.
Strayer, Joseph R., ed. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. New York:
Scribner, 1983.
Alessandro VettoriPAUL THE DEACON
(c. 720–c. 799)
Paul the Deacon (Paulus Diaconis) was the son of
Warnefrid and was probably born at Cividale in Friuli.
Paul was educated by the grammarian Flavianus, joined
the royal court at Pavia, and became tutor to Adelperga,
a daughter of the last independent Lombard king, Desid-
erius (r. 756–774). When Adelperga’s husband, Arichis,
was made duke of Benevento in 758, Paul became a
part of the literary circle that developed at Benevento.
There, in 763, Paul wrote his fi rst poetic work (dedi-
cated to Adelperga), followed by a prose continuation
(also dedicated to Adelperga) of Eutropius’s Historia
Romanum.
After Charlemagne’s defeat of the Lombards and his
assumption of the Lombard crown in 774, Paul retired
to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, where
he remained until 783. He then left to seek the court of
Charlemagne, ostensibly to plead on behalf of a brother,
Arichis, who had been taken prisoner after participating
in an unsuccessful revolt in northern Italy in 776. Paul
remained at Charlemagne’s court for two or three years
before returning to Monte Cassino, where he continued
to live and write until his death.
Paul is an important fi gure both in Italian letters and
in the early Carolingian renaissance. He wrote in versePASCHAL II, POPE