# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/pope-nicholas-ii
# Generated: 2026-09-02T00:26:57.991Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/pope-nicholas-ii"
name: "Pope Nicholas II"
slug: "pope-nicholas-ii"
description: "The pope who rewrote the rules for choosing popes. Nicholas II pulled the election of the Church's leader away from the Roman nobility and clergy, handing it to the cardinals — a shift that still shapes how pontiffs are chosen nearly a thousand years later."
tagline: "Pope"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Robert_Guiscard_claimed_as_a_Duke_(Detail_of_Nicholas_II).jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "France"
  isoCode: "FR"
category:
  name: "Religious Figures"
  slug: "religious-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Religious Figure"
  slug: "religious-figure"
birthDate: "990"
deathDate: "1061-07-27"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           57.72
  momentum:             0
  historical:           23.50372133333333
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Religious Figures"
    slug: "religious-figures"
  - name: "Writer / Author"
    slug: "writer-author"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Religion"
    slug: "religion"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_II"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q117840"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Pope%20Nicholas%20II"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%89"
    title: "نيكولاس التانى"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_II_(%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D1%8B%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96)"
    title: "Мікалай II (Папа Рымскі)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9_II_(%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0)"
    title: "Николай II (папа)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaz_II_(pab)"
    title: "Nikolaz II (pab)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolau_II_(papa)"
    title: "Nicolau II (papa)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1u-hu%C3%B2ng_Nicolaus_2-si%C3%A9"
    title: "Gáu-huòng Nicolaus 2-sié"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikul%C3%A1%C5%A1_II._(pape%C5%BE)"
    title: "Mikuláš II. (papež)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pave_Nikolaus_2."
    title: "Pave Nikolaus 2."
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_II._(Papst)"
    title: "Nikolaus II. (Papst)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_II"
    title: "Nicolaus II"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CE%AC%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%82_%CE%9D%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%BF%CF%82_%CE%92%CE%84"
    title: "Πάπας Νικόλαος Β΄"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolao_la_2-a_(papo)"
    title: "Nikolao la 2-a (papo)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_II_(papa)"
    title: "Nicolás II (papa)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_II"
    title: "Nicolaus II"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolas_II.a"
    title: "Nikolas II.a"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%BE_%D9%86%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3_%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%85"
    title: "پاپ نیکلاس دوم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_II"
    title: "Nikolaus II"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_II_(pape)"
    title: "Nicolas II (pape)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A1pa_Niocl%C3%A1s_II"
    title: "Pápa Nioclás II"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolao_II%2C_papa"
    title: "Nicolao II, papa"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hak.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kau-f%C3%B2ng_Nicolaus_2-s%E1%B9%B3"
    title: "Kau-fòng Nicolaus 2-sṳ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A1_%D7%94%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%99"
    title: "ניקולאוס השני"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Papa_Niccol%C3%B2_II"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0_II"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pous_Nicolaas_II"
    title: "Pous Nicolaas II"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A_(%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7)"
    title: "نيكولاس الثاني (بابا)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Gerard of Burgundy was bishop of Florence when he was elected to the papacy on 24 January 1059. He took the name Nicholas II and immediately set about consolidating papal power in Milan and the kingdom of southern Italy, expanding influence beyond Rome's traditional reach. His most enduring act came through electoral reform: he restricted the selection of future popes to the Cardinal Bishops, cutting the lesser clergy and the Roman nobility out of a process they had long controlled and often corrupted. It was a bureaucratic maneuver that permanently altered the structure of Church governance. He died in office on 27 July 1061, less than three years into his papacy.