Antipope Philip (; ) was an

antipope An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...

who held office for just one day, on 31 July 768. In 768, Philip was a priest serving in the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of St. Vitus on the

Esquiline The Esquiline Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' ( Oppian Hill). Etymology The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is that the hill was named after the ...

. Rome was in turmoil following the death of

Pope Paul I Pope Paul I (; 70028 June 767) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the emerging Papal States from 29 May 757 to his death on 28 June 767. He first served as a Roman deacon and was frequently employed by his brother, Pope Stephen II, in negotiat ...

, as rival factions sought to elect a pope to succeed him. The

Primicerius The Latin term ''primicerius'', Hellenized as ''primikērios'' (), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote the heads of various colleg ...

, Christophorus, and his son Sergius, the papal treasurer, had sought Lombard help to depose Pope Constantine II, who was the candidate of the military faction in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The Lombard king,

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. De ...

, agreed to provide troops, and sent a Lombard priest, Waldipert, to act as his representative, with authority to deal with Christophorus and Sergius. Waldipert accompanied Sergius in an attack on Rome that ended Constantine's papacy. When Constantine had been taken captive, Waldipert, without alerting Sergius, and most likely following instructions from Desiderius, collected a number of Romans and entered the Monastery of St. Vitus on the Esquiline on Sunday, 31 July. There they approached Philip, declared that

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

had chosen him as pope, and escorted him to the Lateran Basilica. Here, after having the customary prayers read over him by a bishop found for the occasion, Philip held the traditional feast in the Lateran palace, attended by a number of dignitaries from both Church and State. Christophorus had by now returned to

and was approaching the city gates. Learning of Philip's uncanonical election, he stated to the Romans who had gone out to greet him, that he would not enter Rome until Philip was removed. Philip's election was declared invalid, he was declared guilty of

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

, the pontifical garments were removed from him, and he was forced to return to his monastery.DeCormenin, Louis Marie; Gihon, James L., ''A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth'' (1857), pg. 197 Christophorus entered Rome and oversaw the election of Stephen III. After his deposition and return to the monastery, Philip was never seen nor heard from again, and died in obscurity.

Notes

References

* Mann, Horace K., ''The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. I: The Popes Under the Lombard Rule, Part 2, 657–795'' (1903) {{DEFAULTSORT:Philip, Antipope Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 8th-century antipopes 8th-century Christian clergy

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...