Desiderius, Abbot of Monte Cassino
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Pope Blessed Victor III |
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| Papacy began | 24 May 1086 |
| Papacy ended | 16 September 1087 |
| Predecessor | Gregory VII |
| Successor | Urban II |
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| Consecration | 9 May 1087 by Otho de Lagery |
| Created Cardinal | 6 March 1058 by Pope Nicholas II |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Dauferio |
| Born | c. 1026 |
| Died | 16 September 1087 Monte Cassino, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire |
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| Sainthood | |
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| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Title as Saint | Blessed |
| Beatified | 23 July 1887 Rome, Kingdom of Italy by Pope Leo XIII |
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Papal styles of Pope Victor III |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | Blessed |
Pope Victor III (c. 1026 – 16 September 1087), born Dauferio, was Pope from 24 May 1086 to his death in 1087. He was the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his pontificate is far less impressive in history than his time as Desiderius, the great Abbot of Montecassino.
His failing health was the factor that made him so reluctant to accept his pontifical election and his health was so poor that he fell to illness during his papal coronation. The only literary work of his that remains is his "Dialogues" on the miracles performed by Saint Benedict of Nursia and other saints at Montecassino.
Pope Leo XIII beatified him on 23 July 1887.
He was born in 1026 to a branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento as the only son of Prince Landulf V of Benevento.
After his father died in battle with the Normans in 1047, he fled from an arranged marriage and, though brought back by force, eventually fled again. He went to Cava de' Tirreni, where he obtained permission to enter the monastery of S. Sophia at Benevento, where he changed his name from Dauferius to Desiderius. It was a decision that his mother vehemently opposed, owing to his being the only son and the only child. The life at S. Sophia was not strict enough for the young monk, who betook himself first to the island monastery of Tremite San Nicolo in the Adriatic and in 1053 to some hermits at Majella in the Abruzzi. About this time he was brought to the notice of St. Leo IX, and it is probable that the pope employed him at Benevento to negotiate peace with the Normans after the fatal battle of Civitate.
Somewhat later Desiderius attached himself to the court of Pope Victor II at Florence. There he met two monks of the renowned Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino, with whom he returned in 1055. He joined the community and was shortly afterwards appointed superior of the dependent house at Capua. In 1057 Pope Stephen IX, who had retained the abbacy of Monte Cassino, came to visit and at Christmas, believing himself to be dying, ordered the monks to elect a new abbot. Their choice fell on Desiderius. The pope recovered, and, desiring to retain the abbacy during his lifetime, appointed the abbot-designate his legate for Constantinople. It was at Bari, when about to sail for the East, that the news of the pope's death reached Desiderius. Having obtained a safe-conduct from Robert Guiscard, the Norman Count (later Duke) of Apulia, he returned to his monastery and was duly installed by Cardinal Humbert on Easter Day 1058.
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