Pope Stephen III
The death of Pope Paul I, on 28 June 767, led to the uncanonical election of two antipopes. Constantine II was a layman who was elevated to the Papal See by his brother Toto of Nepi and a group of Tuscan nobles. He was opposed by another antipope, Philip, who was installed by an envoy of the King of the Lombards, Desiderius, and reigned just for one day, 31 July 768. With the election of Pope Stephen III on 1 August 768, and the forcible removal of the antipopes, Stephen III had sent a request to Pepin the Short, asking for bishops well versed in the Scriptures and in canon law to assist at a synod which would seek to prevent any repeat of the events that led to the elevation of the antipopes. By the time the envoys reached Francia, Pepin was dead. However, they appealed to his sons Charlemagne and Carloman, who agreed to send 12 bishops to Rome. Rome was at the time part of the Byzantine Empire.