Antelope to Antipope

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: The antelope are a group of herbivorous African animals of the family Bovidae, distinguished by a pair of hollow horns on their heads. These animals are spread relatively evenly throughout the various subfamilies of Bovidae and many are more closely related to cows or goats than each other. There are many different species of antelope, ranging in size from tiny to very big. They typically have a light and elegant figure, slender, graceful limbs, small cloven hoofs, and a short tail. Antelope have powerful hindquarters and when startled they run with a peculiar bounding stride that makes them look as though they are bouncing over the terrain like a giant rabbit. Some species of antelope can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour), making them among the fastest of land animals. : An antipope is one whose claim to being Pope is the result of a disputed or contested election. These antipopes were usually in opposition to a specific person chosen by the papal electors (since the Middle Ages, the College of Cardinals). Some self-appointed leaders of smaller churches are also called "antipopes." : During certain periods of turbulence in the Roman Catholic Church, controversial Papal elections were conducted. Some such elections were considered invalid, either because a large majority of papal electors claimed the election was invalid (such as the election of Felix V), or because they have subsequently been declared invalid (such as Clement VII). : The earliest antipope, Hippolytus, was elected in protest against Pope Callixtus I by a schismatic group in the city of Rome in the 3rd century. Hippolytus was exiled to the mines on the island of Sardinia in the company of Callixtus' successor Pope Pontian, and was reconciled to the Catholic Church before his death and has been canonized by the Church. : The period when antipopes were most numerous was during the struggles between the Popes and the Holy Roman Emperors of the 11th and 12th centuries. The emperors would frequently sponsor antipopes in order to further their cause. (The popes, likewise, frequently sponsored rival imperial claimants in Germany in attempts to disrupt imperial policy.) : The late 14th and early 15th century saw a series of rival popes elected, one line of which is counted by the Roman Catholic Church as popes and the other as antipopes. The scandal of multiple claimants added to the demands for reform that produced the Protestant Reformation at the turn of the 16th century. (See Western Schism, Antipope Benedict XIII.) : It would not necessarily have been evident, during periods when two (or three) rival claimants existed, which was the antipope, and which was the pope, and the clear-cut distinctions made between them in retrospect can give a false sense that certainty existed among their contemporaries. Supporters might offer assistance to a given candidate, but could not know which would be determined to have been an antipope, and which the pope, until events had run their course. : There has not been an antipope since 1449 (unless Sedevacantist antipopes are counted - see below). Other schisms such as the Church of England, the Old Catholic Church and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association began in a rejection of a primary dogma of the papacy. : Today the act of becoming an Antipope is considered a schismatic act by the Roman Catholic Church. This would result in automatic excommunication for the person who became Antipope. : List of antipopes : St. Hippolytus (reconciled with Pope St. Pontian and died as martyr to the church), 217–235 : Novatian, 251–258 : Felix II (confused with a martyr with the same name and thus considered an authentic pope until recently), 355–365 : Ursicinus (Ursinus), 366–367 : Eulalius, 418–419 : Laurentius, 498–499, 501–506 : Dioscorus (legitimate perhaps as opposed to Boniface II but died 22 days after election), 530 : Theodore (II) (opposed to antipope Paschal), 687 : Paschal (I) (opposed to antipope Theodore), 687 : Theofylact, 757 : Constantine II, 767–768 : Philip (replaced antipope Constantine II briefly; reigned for a day and then returned to his monastery), 768 : John VIII, 844 : Anastasius III Bibliothecarius, 855 : Christopher, 903–904 : Boniface VII, 974, 984–985 : John Filagatto (John XVI), 997–998 : Gregory VI, 1012 : Sylvester III, 1045 : John Mincius (Benedict X), 1058–1059 : Pietro Cadalus (Honorius II), 1061–1064 : Guibert of Ravenna (Clement III), 1080 & 1084–1100 : Theodoric, 1100–1101 : Adalbert, 1101 : Maginulf (Sylvester IV), 1105–1111 : Maurice Burdanus (Gregory VIII), 1118–1121 : Thebaldus Buccapecuc (Celestine II) (legitimate but submitted to opposing pope, Honorius II and afterwards considered an antipope), 1124 : Pietro Pierleoni (Anacletus II), 1130–1138 : Gregorio Conti (Victor IV), 1138 : Ottavio di Montecelio (Victor IV), 1159–1164 : Guido di Crema (Paschal III), 1164–1168 : Giovanni of Struma (Callixtus III), 1168–1178 : Lanzo of Sezza (Innocent III), 1179–1180 : Pietro Rainalducci (Nicholas V), antipope in Rome, 1328–1330 : Robert of Geneva (Clement VII), antipope of the Avignon line, 20 September 1378 – 16 September 1394 : Pedro de Luna (Benedict XIII), antipope of the Avignon line, 1394–1423 : Pietro Philarghi Alexander V, antipope of the Pisan line, 1409–1410 : Baldassare Cosa John XXIII, antipope of the Pisan line, 1410–1415 : Gil Sαnchez Muρoz (Clement VIII), antipope of the Avignon line, 1423–1429 : Bernard Garnier (the first Benedict XIV), antipope of the Avignon line, 1425–c. 1429 : Jean Carrier (the second Benedict XIV), antipope of the Avignon line, 1430–1437? : Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy (Felix V), 5 November 1439 – 7 April 1449

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