When he was sent with Cardinal Jordan of Santa Susanna as a papal legate to summon Conrad III of Germany to Italy to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor, he quarrelled with his co-legate and, in John of Salisbury's words, "made the Church a laughingstock".
However, five cardinals, the clergy of St. Peter's, and the Roman populace refused to recognize him and elected their own candidate Octaviano on 7 September 1159.
Yet it is not to be assumed that the emperor, busy with the Siege of Crema, had desired his election; Rolando was certainly not agreeable to him, yet neither was it to his interest to have an antipope.
Frederick was at first neutral, but with clerical advice convoked a synod at Pavia in February 1160,[6] which was attended by about fifty archbishops and bishops.
Here Victor was received by the emperor, who, as a sign of humility, helped him to get off the horse and took him by the hand and led him to the altar and kissed his feet.
However, this attempt to secure Victor's recognition was never completely successful in Germany, since Bishop Eberhard of Salzburg was his principal opponent.
[14] Alexander was nevertheless able to gain the support of the rest of western Europe, because since the days of Hildebrand the power of the pope over the church in the various countries had increased so greatly that the kings of France and of England could not view with indifference a revival of such imperial control of the papacy as had been exercised by the Emperor Henry III.
Therefore, France, England, Castile, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Hungary, Sicily, and the Crusader states in Outremer recognized Alexander III as true pope, even if in some of these countries there were significant Victorine minorities in episcopates or among feudal rulers.
When Pope Alexander III learned of the death of his rival, he wept, and reprimanded his cardinals when they showed inappropriate delight.