c. 1065–1124 · Pope (1119–1124)
Pope Callixtus II
Pope who ended the investiture controversy with the Concordat of Worms in 1122 and, at the First Lateran Council he convened in 1123, confirmed the privileges of crusaders fighting in the East and in Spain.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
From the family of the counts of Burgundy, Guy as archbishop of Vienne defended papal reform against Emperor Henry V. He was elected pope at Cluny in February 1119, taking the name Calixtus II.
Role in the Crusades
The First Lateran Council, held in 1123 and counted as the first ecumenical council in the West, confirmed the remission of sins for those taking the cross for Jerusalem or Spain and church protection of their property. Sanctions were also set for those who took the cross but did not fulfil their vow. Calixtus also supported Venice's sending of naval aid to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Historical significance and source problems
Calixtus's conciliar decrees were an important step in forming the legal framework of crusade privileges and placed the Reconquista in Spain on the same footing as the expeditions to the East. He died in 1124. The council's decrees and papal letters are the main sources.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.