Antipope Laurentius

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Laurentius (possibly Caelius) was an antipope of the Roman Catholic church, from 498 to 506.

Archpriest of Santa Prassede, Laurence, was elected pope, on 22 November 498, against Symmachus, by a dissenting faction with Byzantine sympathies. Laurence was, in fact, supported by Emperor Anastasius. Laurence, supported by the Gothic King Theodoric the Great, installed in the Lateran Palace as a Pope, starting a schism that lasted four years. Symmachus tried to recompose the fraction, by offering to Laurence the Diocese of Nocera, in Campania, but Laurence's supporters, among whom was Senator Festus, sustained the schism. It was Theodoric, fearing a Byzantine influence on Laurence, who withdrew his support to Laurence, removing him from Rome.

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