Double papal election

September 7, 1159

Cardinals in Rome split bitterly between Alexander III and the imperial-backed Victor IV. Barbarossa convened a council at Pavia that ruled for Victor. The resulting schism lasted eighteen years and would drag Germany, Sicily, England, and France into an unwanted theological diplomatic mess. Every Christian kingdom was forced to choose sides, and the alignment of powers around the two claimants shaped European diplomacy for a generation.