Peter Damian [SEP] position held
Peter Damian
Peter Damian (; or "";  – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073) was a reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of "Paradiso" as a great predecessor of Saint Francis of Assisi and he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828. His feast day is 21 February.
Early life.
Peter was born in Ravenna around 988, the youngest of a large noble, but poor family
to the Margraves of Canossa. A cleric, he was appointed to the Imperial chancellorship for Italy by the Empress Agnes in 1058, which position he held until 1063. In 1058 he participated in the election of Pope Nicholas II but on his death in 1061, he sided with the imperial party to elect Cadalous of Parma as Antipope Honorius II against Pope Alexander II. Owing to the active support of Duke Godfrey of Lorraine, of Archbishop Anno of Cologne, and especially of Peter Damian, Alexander was soon recognized even in Germany