The strange case of Deusdedit and Pandulf. Two accounts of Honorius II’s election

The aim of this essay is to illustrate how and why the election of Pope Honorius II (1124-1130) was depicted in two opposing versions, each focusing on elements not found in the other. From Cardinal Deusdedit's letter dated early 1125, it seems nothing worth mentioning happened during the election. Cardinal Pandulf's account included in the Liber Pontificalis in the Tortosa manuscript, written between 1133 and 1138, on the other hand, shows lay violence playing a significant role. The chapter will consider the extent to which Pandulf's involvement in the schism following the death of Honorius and his support for Anacletus II played a part in his hostility towards the dead Pope and why, arguing that Pandulf's text represented an attack on the election of Innocent II, Anacletus's rival.