Pope Victor II (c. 1018 – 28 July 1057), born Gebhard of Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057.

When the emperor agreed, Gebhard, taking the name Victor II, moved to Rome, where, in St. Peter's Basilica on 13 April 1055, he was officially chosen pope by the clergy and hailed by the people; he was immediately enthroned by the cardinals.

On 4 June 1055, the feast of Pentecost, Victor met the emperor at Florence and held a council, attended by some 120 bishops, which reinforced Pope Leo IX's condemnation of clerical marriage, simony, and the loss of the church's properties.

[7] When Henry III returned to Germany, he assigned Pope Victor the powers of Imperial Vicar for Italy, and the task of containing the ambitions of Duke Godfrey of Lorraine, the husband of Beatrice of Tuscany.

Pope Victor, according to the notary who recorded the proceedings, was acting as Sedis Apostolicae praesul Urbis Romae gratia Dei, Italiae egregius universali p. p. regimine successus, Marcam Firmanam et Ducatum Spoletinum.

[12] Later in the summer 1056, the pope travelled to the imperial court again, pro causis papatus, and intending to complain to the emperor because he was being badly treated by the Romans, per Romanos male tractatus.

Godfrey's position had been greatly strengthened by the death of his enemy the Emperor Henry III the previous autumn, and the pope saw the advantages in a close relationship with the brother of his chancellor, Frederick of Lorraine.

Before they reached the city, however, the remains were seized by some citizens of Ravenna and buried there in the Church of Santa Maria Rotonda, the burial place of Theodoric the Great.