Antipope Constantine II

Antipope Constantine II (died 769?) was an antipope for over a year, from 28 June 767 to 6 August 768. He was overthrown through the intervention of the Lombards and tortured before he was condemned and expelled from the Church during the Lateran Council of 769.

Background and elevation as pope

Constantine was born into a noble Roman family in Nepi near Viterbo. He was one of four brothers, of which the most prominent was Toto of Nepi. Toto, the papal governor and self-styled "Duke" of Nepi, began to position himself to take advantage of the expected death of Pope Paul I, and elevate his own candidate onto the papal throne. Forced by Christophorus, the Primicerius of the notaries to take an oath to respect the traditional clerical method of papal elections, Toto retired to his estates in Nepi. There, with the help of Constantine and his brothers, they collected troops from his duchy and other parts of Tuscany, in addition to arming a group of peasants to swell his numbers.