Pope Symmachus

Symmachus became bishop of Rome on 22 November 498, but the appointment immediately triggered a schism: a significant portion of the Roman clergy disputed the vote and refused to recognize him. The conflict over his election defined his papacy, turning what should have been spiritual leadership into a drawn-out battle for institutional control. He held the office through fifteen years of internal division, dying on 19 July 514 with the question of legitimacy never fully settled in the eyes of his opponents.