Antipope Constantine II
[2] Christophorus, the primicerius of the notaries, forced Toto to take an oath to respect the traditional clerical method of papal elections.
[2] Toto, however, having retired to his estates in Nepi, with the help of Constantine and his other brothers collected troops from his duchy and other parts of Tuscany, in addition to arming a group of peasants to swell the numbers.
On 28 June, hearing that Pope Paul was on the verge of dying, Toto and his armed men forced their way into the city through the Gate of St.
[2] With Paul’s death, Toto made his way to the Basilica of the Apostles where the other members of the papal court and Roman nobility were gathering, and there Christophorus had everyone swear that they would all uphold each other’s rights during the upcoming election.
[2] However, as soon as the meeting had broken up, Toto’s armed retainers had assembled in his house at Rome and elected his brother Constantine as pope.
Therefore, accompanied by a group of armed men, he was escorted to the Lateran Palace, where they attempted to force George, the Bishop of Praeneste, to ordain Constantine as a monk.
He begged Pepin to bestow his friendship, promising that he would be even more in his debt than his predecessors were, and to pay no attention to any slanderous accusations regarding him or his election.
Instead of going to the monastery, however, father and son headed straight for Theodicius of Spoleto, who arranged an interview with Desiderius, King of the Lombards.
[3] Desiderius agreed to provide Christophorus and Sergius with troops from Spoleto, and that he would support their march on Rome to overthrow the antipope.
[5] With these troops and a Lombard priest named Waldipert, Sergius returned to the city, helped through the Gate of St. Pancratius on 30 July 768 by supporters within.
[11] The two brothers finally shut themselves within the oratory of St. Cesarius,[3] managing to hide for a few hours before they were discovered and thrown into prison by Roman army officers.
[11] Whilst Constantine was in prison, there was an attempt to install another antipope, Philip, followed by the election of Pope Stephen III.
[12] Constantine was taken from prison, put on a horse and driven through the city on top of a woman’s saddle, with heavy weights attached to his feet, among jeering crowds.
[15] In April 769, Pope Stephen III opened a new Lateran Council; a major topic for discussion was the elevation of Constantine.
