THE SCENE: Behold! One of the earliest known uses of the word antipope.
THE TEXT: Calixtus had not held the holy see for long before the Romans came to prefer him to Burdinus because of his nobility and generosity. The schismatic Burdinus had been thrust upon them by the emperor; and, while sitting at Sutri, he had even made the clergy genuflect before him as they crossed to the thresholds of the apostles. The romans therefore captured him, held him in prison and, dressing him in a cloak of undressed goatskins reeking with blood, placed this devious antipope, nay antichrist, across the back of that devious animal, the camel. Taking revenge for the shame suffered by the church of God, they led him forth on the royal road through the middle of the city to make the events more widely known. And at the command of the lord pope Calixtus, they condemned him to perpetual imprisonment in the mountains of Camoania near St. Benedict. Then, wanting to keep fresh the memory of their superb revenge, they painted a scene in a room of the papal palace, showing Burdinus being trampled under the feet of the lord pope.
– The Deeds of Louis the Fat, Suger, 12th Century AD
