Popes, Antipopes and the Papal States: A Sourced Chronology
A guide to the official papal succession, with selected dated entries, early uncertainty, antipopes, vacancies and the Papal States.
Last updated October 2026
Contents5
The papal succession is a list of holders of a religious office. Temporal rule over the Papal States and modern Vatican City is a related history with different boundaries. A pope's pontificate is therefore not the same thing as a reign over one unchanged country.
The Holy See's complete pontiff directory records the official succession from Peter onward. The selected pontificates below span early Christianity, the Western Schism and the modern papacy. Some early dates are uncertain. Other institutions appear in the ruler and office directory.
Selected entries in the official succession
| Pope | Beginning | End | Reading note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter | Not recorded | 64 or 67 | End year uncertain |
| Linus | 68 | 79 | Early chronology in the official list |
| Clement | 92 | 99 | Early chronology |
| Gregory I | 3 September 590 | 12 March 604 | Calendar dates in the directory |
| Leo III | 26 December 795 | 12 June 816 | Compare papal office with imperial coronation history |
| Gregory VII | 22 April 1073 | 25 May 1085 | A separate office from the emperor |
| Urban VI | 8 April 1378 | 15 October 1389 | The Roman line during the Western Schism |
| Martin V | 11 November 1417 | 20 February 1431 | A key entry when reading the schism's end |
| Pius IX | 16 June 1846 | 7 February 1878 | Pontificate crosses the end of the Papal States |
| John Paul II | 16 October 1978 | 2 April 2005 | Modern pontificate |
| Benedict XVI | 19 April 2005 | 28 February 2013 | Ended by resignation |
| Francis | 13 March 2013 | 21 April 2025 | Modern pontificate |
| Leo XIV | 8 May 2025 | Current pope | Election date, not inauguration date |
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The dates follow the official directory and Leo XIV's Vatican biography. Leo XIV was elected on 8 May 2025 and inaugurated on 18 May 2025. Election and inauguration are separate events.
Why early dates have alternatives
The Vatican directory gives Peter's end year as 64 or 67. Some early pontificates have uncertain dates, so their entries use years rather than exact days and months.
The directory also uses more than one event date for some later beginnings. Check the column and the person's biography before assuming that election, acceptance and installation occurred together. This is the same kind of distinction explained in the Polish episcopal office reference.
Antipopes and the Western Schism
An antipope is a rival claimant who is not counted in the accepted papal succession. A chronology of claims can include such a person while clearly labelling the claim. It should not quietly number every rival as an additional accepted pope.
The World History Encyclopedia's account of Jan Hus places the Western Schism in 1378-1417. It identifies the Roman Urban VI and the rival Clement VII at Avignon, followed by Gregory XII and Benedict XIII in those respective lines. Its Hussite Wars account also describes the later situation with three competing claimants.
The Roman and Avignon claimants held office at the same time. Their competing claims explain the overlapping dates in a chronology of the schism. The Vatican directory gives the accepted succession as a separate sequence.
Vacancies between pontificates
Sede vacante means that the papal see is vacant. It is an interval between officeholders, not the reign of a person called Sede Vacante. A date calculation must exclude the vacancy if it claims to measure one pope's tenure.
Vatican City's official history describes the temporary handling of state powers during a vacancy. That administrative arrangement is separate from choosing and recording the next pope.
Papal States and Vatican City
The Vatican account of Castel Gandolfo records the end of the Papal States in 1870. Pius IX's pontificate continued after that political change. The modern Vatican City State was created by the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, according to its official history.
The Lateran Treaty text sets out that settlement. Vatican City's legal foundation in 1929 is distinct from the succession of pontiffs that begins with Peter.
Papal office and imperial authority had different successions. Compare royal and sovereign government and the Holy Roman emperors for their institutions. The office dates on this page come from the Vatican directory.