Kyle Anjow M.

DeLuna Grade 1 Chronological List of Popes 1st Century St Peter (Simon Peter) Saint Peter is an important figure in Christianity generally and Roman Catholicism specifically. For all Christians, he is regarded as one of Jesus' leading disciples. For Roman Catholics, tradition says that Peter was the first bishop of Rome and therefore also the first pope, thus in theory establishing an unbroken line between the current Catholic leadership and the disciples personally chosen by Jesus. According to the synoptic gospels, Peter was originally a fisherman from the village named Capernaum named Simon and was the first chosen by Jesus to be a disciple. Jesus chosen the name Cephas (or Peter) which means "rock" as a symbolic name for this first of his followers. Capernaum would become an important center of Jesus' ministry - the gospels depict him returning here often. Unlike other disciples in the early church, Peter doesn't appear to have stayed in Jerusalem. Despite his apparently important status there, he traveled around the empire and eventually ended upon in Rome. Unfortunately, nothing it really known about his time there. Roman leader Clement records his trials and Eusebius records that he was crucified. None of that is attested to by any outside sources and it is all that we have. According to tradition, Peter established the line of popes in Rome. In reality, the monarchical episcopate of a single bishop ruling over a diocese doesn't seem to have developed until the second century. Before that - and therefore during the time Peter was there - the Roman church was controlled by a body of presbyter-bishops who worked together. St Linus Not much is known about Pope Linus - any truth to his life and his papacy has been lost in legend and myth by this point. Even the dates of when he might have reigned are uncertain - sources place the beginning of his papacy anywhere between 0064 and 0068 CE, the end anywhere between 0076 and 0079 CE. All of the extant records, however, including those from St. Irenaeus, Julius Africanus, St. Hippolytus, Eusebius, and the Liber Pontificalis, place Linus after St. Peter.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus came from Tuscany, his father's name was Herculanus, he issued a decree that "in conformity with the ordinance of St. Peter", women should cover their heads in church, that he suffered martyrdom, and that he was buried in the Vatican beside St. Peter. There is no independent evidence for any of these assertions. It should be remembered that, at this time, the monarchical episcopate structure did not exist. There was no College of Cardinals electing a pope - the bishop of Rome was responsible only for Rome itself and he was elected by a combination of the Roman clergy and Roman citizenry. St Anacletus Based upon his name, it seems likely that Pope Anacletus was Greek - at the time, because of the Greek influence upon both Rome and Christianity, having a Greek pope would have seemed natural an for a long time there were many Greek popes in the rolls. The word Anecletus (which should technically be Anencletus - the former and more common rendering of the name is an error) means "blameless." Beyond that, though, and perhaps having ordained a number of priests, nothing is really known about him or his reign - indeed, even his exact name is subject to some dispute though all the different versions appear Greek in nature. According to some traditions he was once a slave and he was martyred, but there is no way to know any of that for sure. St Clement I Clement I is the first pope about whom we have much information - indeed, according to early sources he is described as having been ordained by Peter himself and as Peter's immediate successor, not his third successor. A number of early documents were once attributed to him but among them only one seems likely to be legitimate, Epistle to the Corinthians (also known as I Clement). Apparently there was some kind of revolt within the Corinthian Church which he needed to settle - suggesting that he enjoyed a high level of personal prestige.

St Evaristus

Nothing is really known about Pope Evaristus, although his name indicates a Greek origin (it means "pleasing" or "acceptable") making him the second Greek pope after Anacletus. According to the "Liber Pontificalis," Evaristus' father was a Bethlehem Jew, he was responsible for dividing the city into seven diaconias or deaconries, and after he was martyred he was buried near the tomb of St. Peter. 2nd Century St Alexander I Alexander I is perhaps one of the most obscure popes in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. He seems to be in all of the ancient lists of popes, but while a few things are attributed to him, there isn't much evidence that any of it is true.

St Sixtus I Some believe that the name "Sixtus" derives from the fact that he was the sixth pope to reign after Peter - after that, it simply became another traditional papal name and was adopted by several others over the centuries. Alternatively, early documents record his name as Xystus, which is Greek for "shaved" and might have been a reference to the unusual practice of shaving his face or head (during this time, Rome was ruled by emperor Hadrian who brought back the trend of full beards). According to the "Liber Pontificalis," he was responsible for three important ordinances: that only sacred ministers may touch sacred vessels, that bishops summoned to the Holy See should not be received by their diocese when they return unless they have Apostolic letters, and that priests should recite the Sanctus with the people during mass.

St Telesphorus

Telesphorus is a Greek name meaning "accomplishing the goal" or "bringing fruit to perfection," likely an assumed name for the purpose of the office rather than a given name used since birth. Beyond that, though, we really don't know anything about the eighth pope other than he was martyred and, for the first time, his martyrdom may be historically verifiable.

St Hyginus The records indicate a two-year gap between Pope Telesphorus and Pope Hyginus something which may or may not be accurate. It's possible that social conditions prevented the election of a new pope and it's just as possible that the records are inaccurate. The Greek name Hyginus means "sound, healthy, wholesome" and is obviously related to the English word "hygiene." According to the "Liber Pontificalis," Hyginus was from Athens and had a background in philosophy. This is a credible claim and was true of his contemporary, Justin Martyr. Tradition also has it that while Hyginus was pope, the Gnostic leader Valentinus came to Rome and stayed. This, too, is possible - but there is no record of what, if anything, Hyginus did about it. Even at this time Gnosticism was generally considered a heresy and while a complete separation between the Gnostics and others had not quite occurred, it was very much in the works. St Pius I Not a great deal is known about the reign of Pope Pius I who, among the first twelve popes, was only the second to have a Latin name. A couple of extant letters attributed to him are considered spurious and the tradition that he was martyred for his faith is wholly unsupported. It is believed that Pius was the first "true" pope to reign as the sole bishop of Rome with monarchial powers over the Roman Catholic Church. Before this it is believed that the Church was governed by a group of presbyters or presbyter-bishops and those labeled "pope" may simply have been the most prominent members of those groups. For the most part it appears that Pius' reign was relatively peaceful. One of the most significant events to have occurred was probably the need to deal with the growing influence of the Gnostics. During the time of Pius three prominent Gnostics - Valentinius, Cerdo, and Marcion, were active in Rome promoting their perspective on Christianity. It is believed that Pius may have presided over a synod that excommunicated Marcion.

One other thing worth noting is that, according to tradition, Pius was the brother of a former slave named Hermas who wrote a famous visionary work entitled The Shepard. St Anicetus Nothing much is really known about the reign of Pope Anicetus. One thing that is contained in the records is that he debated Polycarp about dating of Easter. In eastern churches the resurrection was celebrated on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, regardless of what day of the Roman week this fell. In Rome, however, the resurrection was celebrated every Sunday - at this point in time there was no regular Easter celebration. Polycarp couldn't convince Anicetus and vice-versa, but they parted amicably. Nevertheless, this incident was a harbinger of conflict between East and West that would continue for centuries. St Soter The name Soter is Greek for "preserver" or "deliverer," but there are some indications in the records that Soter came from Italy rather than Greece. Soter seems to have been responsible for setting a yearly festival to commemorate Easter. Prior to this Christians in the West marked the resurrection of Jesus on every Sunday while in the East celebrated it on the day of Jewish passover, regardless of what day of the week it occured. Soter also developed a reputation for caring for the poor in Rome. St Eleuterus Eleutherius is a Greek name that means "frank, honest, freespirited" and it is believed that prior to becoming pope Eleutherius was a deacon to Pope Anicetus. Eleutherius' reign appears to have been important for something he didn't do rather than for something he did. During his pontificate there was a popular movement known as Montanism. The followers of Montanism were characterized by speaking in tongues and giving prophecies - hallmarks of the early church and the apostles. Montanists believed that they were in direct communication with the Holy Spirit ane hoped to return Christianity to its roots because the end of the world was coming soon. According to Tertullian, a convert to Montanism, Eleutherius was at first favorably inclined to this movement, but in the end he rejected it. As a consequence official Christianity was inclined more towards a

hierarchical structure for its spiritual leadership rather than the statements of individual conscience. St. Victor I Victor I was the first pope from Africa and he is best known for upholding Western, Roman Christian traditions over those form the East. A prime example of this was his insistence that Easter always be held on a Sunday; previous to this decision, Easter might be held on any day of the week. Although decisions like this were indicative of growing power in the papacy, Victor sought to confirm his wishes with various synods held in various places. Most churches ended up agreeing with Victor's wishes, but on the Easter issue for example many in Asia Minor did not. Pope Victor I excommunicated the Asia Minor churches that defied him and they became known as the Quatrodecimans. For a long time they continued to celebrate Easter on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it happened to be. Their excommunication resulted in a rash of protests, even from those who agreed with Victor's desire to hold Easter only on Sundays. Thus, despite the growing belief that the Bishop of Rome was especially important, there were those who objected to what they regarded as the arbitrary abuse of that power. Victor I is venerated as a martyr, but there is no evidence in the historical records that he actually died a martyr's death. In fact, he appears to have been the first pope to have developed close dealings with the imperial household, for example in order to secure the release of imprisoned or enslaved Christians. St. Zephyrinus Although his predecessor, Victor I, became known as an early example of a strong pope, Zephyrinus was almost the complete opposite. He was accused of a wide variety of errors and faults, but everything seemed to come back to his inability to act in defense of orthodoxy and his willingness to allow heresy to continue unchallenged. During his reign heresies such as Adotionism, Montanism, and Sabellianism gained a great deal of ground. His primary critic was Hippolytus, a Roman presbyter. He was also accused of being too much under the control of Callistus, an archdeacon who would succeed Zephyrinus. Upon Callistus' election, Hippolytus was elected pope by a schismatic group and thus became the Catholic Church's very first antipope.

3rd century
Callistus I Pope Callistus I (whose name means "very handsome" in Greek) seems to be something of a contradiction. On the one hand, his name is recorded as the very first martyred pope (after Peter) in the oldest record of church martyrs, Depositio Martyrum (c. 354). At the same time, though, he seems to have had a very unsavory character who was involved in all manner of unethical activities. Stories tell of how, as a slave, he was entrusted with a large sum of money and charged to make a profit through a form of banking. The project failed, possibly because he swindled his Christian customers, and he was imprisoned. He attempted to achieve death by insulting Jews during services at a synagogue, but was sentenced to the mines instead. He was released in a general amnesty for Christians, even though his name was deliberately excluded from the list - he appears to have had a gift for working with people. That gift served him well as he insinuated himself in the good graces of Pope Zephyrinus who, being weak, Callistus was able to control. This outraged many, including the Roman presbyter Hippolytus. When Callistus managed to get himself elected Zephyrinus' successor, Hippolytus got himself elected pope by a schismatic group and thus became the first antipope in the Catholic Church. Pope Urban I Almost nothing is known about Pope Urban I. His pontificate fell during the imperial reign of Alexander Severus, so he didn't have to deal with harsh persecutions of Christians. He is celebrated as a martyr, but there is no evidence that he was actually martyred for his faith. The schism created by antipope Hippolytus continued during his reign, but nothing is known about their relationship.

Pope Pontian The reign of Pope Pontian started out easily enough, but once emperor Alexander Severus was succeeded by Maximus Thrax, everything changed for him and the Christian communities. Thrax instituted a harsh campaign of repression and persecution. He even had Pontian and antipope Hippolytus shipped off to the mines on Sardina, a place from which few evidently managed to return alive.

This resulted in two "firsts" for the papacy. Pontian was the first pope to ever abdicate. Pontian knew that he would almost certainly die on Sardina and didn't want there to be a long-term power vacuum in the church, so he decided that abdication would be the best course of action. Pontian's abdication also gives us the first certain date in the history of papacy: September 28, 235. The only other event for which Pontian's papacy is known is his official approval of the condemnation of church father Origen for heresy. It seems likely that if there was a synod in Rome to hear the charges against Origin, then Pontian would have presided over it. Pope Anterus Just about the only thing that can be said about Pope Anterus is that he was Greek. Not every pope with a Greek name was Greek - it is likely that many were Roman who changed their names in memory of St. Peter whose name was changed to Greek by Jesus. Although the custom continued for a long time and we can find Greek names with popes through the Middle Ages, it has long since fallen out of favor. Some believe that Anterus was martyred, but there is no evidence of that and it is likely that he died of natural causes. He was the first pope to be buried in the new papal crypt in the cemetery of Callistus on the Appian Way. Pope Fabian Not very much is known about Pope Fabian. He is reported to have founded a number of churches and to have taken steps to improve the organizational structure of the growing church. He had the misfortune to be pope when the Decian persecutions began and it was at this time that he was martyred. His grave can still be found in the Callistus catacombs.

Pope Cornelius Cornelius became pope at a very difficult time for the Catholic Church. His predecessor, Fabian, had died more than a year before. The long delay was due the bitter persecutions being suffered under the reign of emperor Decius. Only after Decius left Rome did church leaders feel comfortable enough to risk electing a new pope. In the meantime the affairs of the church had been governed by a committee, not unlike the circumstances during the church's earliest years.

Unfortunately for Cornelius, his election was not unanimously hailed. The spokesman for the committee, Novatian, objected to the choice and felt that he should have been picked instead. Some of the reason may be due to a desire for power, but there were also serious differences over the governing of the church. In particular, Novatian and Cornelius disagreed over how to deal with lapsed Christians - those who renounced their faith during the persecutions. Cornelius advocated readmitting them to the Christian community after a suitable penance but Novatian wanted them shut out permanently. Most sided with Cornelius, but a few agreed with Novatian's harder position and a schismatic movement developed with Novatian as antipope. Eventually all would be excommunicated. Pope Lucius I Not very much is known about Pope Lucius I, but he was caught in the persecutions of Christians under Emperor Trebonianus Gallus and exiled from Rome for a time just after his election. After Gallus died and Valerian became emperor, the situation for Christians improved and many of those who were exiled managed to return, including Lucius. A letter from Cyprian to Lucius suggests that Lucius maintained a tolerant attitude towards Lapsed Christians, those who denied their faith under the threat of persecution. Many, however, wanted to treat them more harshly and this debate led to the rise of an antipope, Novatian, towards whom Lucius apparently made no concessions. Because he was not killed for his faith he was never declared a martyr for the Church. However, he did suffer in exile for his faith and, as a consequence, he is regarded as a Confessor.

Pope Stephen I Not a great deal is known about Pope Stephen I and much of what we do have comes from the writings of Novatus, condemned as a heretic. He is perhaps best known for his involvement in the controversy over what to do with the Lapsed Christians who renounced their faith under the persecutions of Roman Emperor Decius. Many bishops insisted that, if repentant, such people had to be re-baptized because their original baptisms were no longer valid.

Others, however disagreed - and Pope Stephen insisted that this was a matter on which bishops must adhere to his wishes. The leader of those who argued for re-baptism was Cyprian of Carthage but Stephen had his way and saw to it that even bishops who had become lapsed would be let back into the Church without a new baptism. Relations with Cyprian would be healed under Stephen's successor, Sixtus II, who permitted the existence of both practices. Stephen was also active in efforts to promote the power and importance of the bishop of Rome over other bishops in the Christian Church. He claimed to be the direct successor of Peter "upon whom the foundations of the Church were laid" and he made use of the term cathedra Petri, which means "the chair of Peter" to describe the authority of Rome over all others. This made him many rivals and enemies among other bishops who objected to his interference into what they considered their sphere of authority. Pope Sixtus II Sixtus II was martyred in Rome under the persecutions instituted by emperor Valerian. Not too long before Sixtus was elected pope Valerian had decreed that all Christians were required to participate in ceremonies honoring the Roman gods. Sixtus was able to avoid this, but while pope Valerian evidently issued a new decree which condemned all Christian priests, bishops and decons to death. As a result, Sixtus was captures by soldiers while giving a sermon and perhaps beheaded right there. Sixtus was more conciliatory than his predecessor, Stephen I, who had broken off relations witih Cyprian over the question of whether Lapsed Christians should be re-baptized before being allowed back into the Church. Sixtus was willing to let bishops decide what to do in their own areas of control and accepted the existence of both practices. Pope Dionysius Pope Dionysius had a difficult papacy due to the ongoing persecution of the Christian Church. In fact, he couldn't even be elected until news had reached Rome that Emperor Valerian I had died abroad. Under the reign of Emperor Gallienus (260-268), Dionysius was able to reverse some of the official hostility of the government towards Christians and Gallienus eventually issued the edict of toleration. That his efforts met with some success is marked by the fact that Dionysius was the first pope not to become a martyr. Pope Felix I

Not very much is known about Pope Felix I, but he is believed to have given official approval to the practice of saying prayers over the graves of martyrs and other deceased Christians. It is also believed that he wrote a letter to Maximus, bishop of Alexandria, in support of the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation.

Pope Eutychian Not a great deal is known about Pope Eutychian - even the dates of his reign are rather uncertain. The Liber Pontificalis says that he ruled 8 years and 11 months, but according to Eusebius he only ruled 10 months.

Pope Gaius Very little is known about Pope Gaius and what has been found is suspect. All in all, however, it appears that his papacy was relatively quiet and peaceful.

Pope Marcellinus When Marcellinus became pope Diocletian was already emperor but he had no yet begun his infamous persecutions of Christians. Gradually, however, the tolerance turned to intolerance. Christian soldiers were forced out of the army, church property was confiscated, and sacred books were handed over to the authorities for destruction. Eventually Diocletian forced upon Christians the choice between apostasy (denying their faith) or death. Although the reasons are unknown, Marcellinus apparently bowed to imperial command by offering incense to the pagan gods and handing over scriptures for destruction. Some sources claim that he later repented, confessed the Christian faith, and was martyred; nevertheless the damage had been done and he was evidently forced from office at an unknown time for apostasy.

4th century
Pope Marcellus I

Due to confusion and problems resulting from the persecution under emperor Diocletian, there was a four year gap between popes before Marcellus I was elected. Today he is remembered mostly for the role he played in the controversy over what was to be done with lapsed Christians. Marcellus imposed harsh pennances upon thoe lapsed Christians seeking readmittance to the Church and, in response to the turmoil which broke out among Christians over the issue, emperor Maxentius banished him from Rome in 309. Pope Eusebius Pope Eusebius suffered the same problems and the same fate as his predecessor, Pope Marcellus I. Eusebius tried to take a conciliatory attitude towards the lapsed Christians who sought to return to the Church. Unfortunately, not every was willing to be as forgiving as he and his policies resulted in strife and violence among Christians. In order to quell the social unrest, Emperor Maxentius expelled Eusebius from Rome, just as he had done with Marcellus. Pope Miltiades Miltiades was pope when the Roman Emperors Galerius and of Constantine and Licinius published Edicts of Toleration, each marking improvements in the relationship between the Roman government and Christianity. During his pontificate, Emperor Constantine not only returned to Christians and the Chuch all of the land which had been confiscated under previous emperors, but he also donated to the Church the royal palace of empress Fausta - this would become the Lateran Palace (because it sits on the Lateran Hill), the residence of all future popes (except during the years when the papacy had been moved to Avignon, France). Constantine also made the city of Byzantium the official seat of power for Rome, having long-lasting repercussions for both secular Rome and the Catholic Church. For Rome, it meant a long decline in power and prestige. For the Catholic Church, it meant a rival when it came to ecclesiastical power and influence, eventually leading to the schism between the Eastern and Western churches. Had Constantine kept the seat of secular power in Rome, what might be the face of Christianity today? Sylvester I (Silvester I) Not a great deal is known about Pope Sylvester I - the material in the Liber Pontificalis is mostly a record of gifts supposedly conferred by Constantine the Great to the Church. It is strange that the details of his

reign would be so unknown even though the reign itself was relatively long. Apparently he didn't even attend the First Council of Nicea

Pope Mark (Marcus) Pope Mark's pontificate was uneventful - we really don't know much of anything about it except that, perhaps, his reign may have still been affected by the tremors caused by the Council of Nicea the previous decade.

Pope Julius I Pope Julius I was an important defender of the orthodox doctrines established during the Council of Nicea. This was particularly significant because, at this early date, not everyone accepted the Nicene teachings and Julius was required to help and even shelter bishops and other clergy who held to the Nicene position, for example Athanasius of Alexandria who was under fire from supporters of the Arian heresy. To combat the Arians, Pope Julius convened a synod in Rome in June, 341, where the orthodox bishops were cleared of the charges of heresy which teh Arians leveled against them. It is worth noting that Julius did not justify his intereference in the affairs of other diocese by appealing to papal primacy, a reason employed by later popes on a regular basis. Instead, he appealed to the tradition of ecclesiastical collegiality. Pope Liberius Pope Liberius has the dubious distinction of being the first pope ever not to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Evidently he was compromised by some heresy - under pressure from Emperor Constantius II in Constantinople, he agreed to enter into communion with Arians, declared heretics at the Council of Nicea.

Pope Damasus I

The reign Damasus I was plagued with controversy which began immediately with his election. At the time, the Church was not united and a powerful faction supported another person, Ursinus, as pope. Riots led to the deaths over 100 people and it was only through the intervention Emperor Valentinian I that peace was restored and Damasus' hold on power was secured. Later, Damasus was accused of murder and once again the emperor had to step in to rescue him. Damasus worked hard to increase the power of the papacy - although he himself benefited greatly from political support, he realized that reliance upon such support wasn't enough. He also had to defend his claims to power against similar claims from churches in the East, arguing that although the apostles came from the East, their martyrdom in Rome gave that city a superior claim over them - and over inherited spiritual power. These efforts paid off when, on February 28, 380, Emperor Theodosius decreed that everyone was required to follow the religious rules laid down by "the Apostle Peter to the Romans, and now followed by Bishop Damasus and Peter of Alexandria." He also seems to have engaged in a program of converting women in Rome for the purpose of having them, in turn, converting their husbands. To a degree he may have been successful because Christianity became fashionable during his reign, although his charm with the women also lead to accusations of adultery. In 376 Damasus made Jeromeo f Dalmatia his secretary and then had him begin work on a new, authoritative translation of the Old and New Testaments. This helped make Latin the principle language of the Church for centuries to come.

Pope Siricius Pope Siricius was a strong supporter of the doctrine of papal authority. He was the first of the popes to issue decrees in the same style as imperial edicts and the first to use the title "pope" in the modern sense. He commanded that no bishops should be consecrated without the knowledge and approval of the Apostolic See and that both deacons and priests should practice celibacy. Pope Anastasius I Anastasius I is perhaps best known for the fact that he condemned the works of Origen without ever having read or understood them. The reason for his actions seems to have been the fact that he was under great pressure from Jerome and from Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, to act quickly on what they considered heretical ideas.

Anastasius is also known for the fact that his son became his successor on the papal throne, Pope Innocent I.

5th century
Pope Innocent I Pope Innocent I was alleged by his contemporary Jerome to have been the son of Pope Anastasius I, but it is unclear if that is true or not. Regardless of that issue, Innocent I was pope at a time when the power and authority of the papacy had to deal with one of its most difficult challenges: the sack of Rome in 410 by Alaric I, the Visigoth king. Fortunately, Alaric was a Christian and although his forces caused widespread destruction throughout the city, he spared Christian buildings and made an extra effort to attack pagan structures. When Innocent returend to Rome, he embarked upon extensive charity efforts - thus, although this seemed like the end of the world to the people of Rome, it became a great opportunity for the Church to expand its power and influence. Theologically, Innocent made strong claims that all questions and disputes on matters of doctrine should be brought before the pope for a final decision. As a consequence, he was expected to reach such a decision regarding the growing heresy of Pelagianism - something which he was unable to decisively deal with before dying.

Pope Zosimus Pope Zosimus is perhaps best known for his role in the controversy over the heresy of Pelagianism - unfortunately, he didn't deal too well with it and manged to alienate quite a few bishops in Africa who opposed the ideas of Pelagius. Indeed, his temper and temperment had a negative effect on his ability to deal with a number of controversies he face during his reign. Pope Boniface I Contemporaries of each other, Pope Boniface I supported Augustine's fight against Pelagianism and Augustine dedicated a number of his books to Boniface. He did better in the fight against Pelagianism than his predecessor, Zosimus, who had managed to offend the powerful African bishops. Boniface was also a strong poponent of papal authority, asserting at one point that "It has never been lawful for what has once been decided by the apostolic see to be reconsidered."

This principle came be to be known as Roma locuta est; causa finita est, which means "Rome has spoken, the matter is settled." Pope Celestine I Celestine I was a staunch defender of Catholic orthodoxy. He presided over the Council of Ephesus which condemned the teachings of the Nestorians as heretical and he pursued the followers of Pelagius. Celestine is also know for being the pope who send St. Patrick on his evangelistic mission to Ireland.

Pope Sixtus III (Xystus) Theologically speaking, Pope Sixtus III sought to heal divisions between orthodox and heretical believers, especially in the wake of the Council of Ephesus. Sixtus himself, before he became pope, had been sympathetic to the teachings of Pelagius and only with some effort was able to adopt orthodox beliefs on the nature of salvation. This likely encouraged him to try to be more sympathetic to heretics generally - seeing them as honestly misguided rather than deliberately promoting error. He seems to have made great strides when it came to the Alexandrians, the Netorians, and the Antiochenes. Politically, Pope Sixtus III was heavily involved with repairing the damage done to Rome in the wake of the Visigoths who sacked the city in 410. A larger number of buildings still had to be repaired and rebuilt, one of the most famous of which is the Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Marjor). The mosaics here depict the growing influence that the veneration Mary was having on Catholicism. Pope Leo I (the Great) Leo the Great (440 - 461), also known as Leo I, played an important role in the development of the doctrine of papal primacy. Leo argued that popes were direct successors of the original apostles into whose care Jesus had entrusted the care and growth of Christianity. Hence, anyone who rejected papal authority was placed him- or herself outside the "body of Christ." Leo got the name "the Great" because of his political achievements. In 452 he was able to convince Attila the Hun not to take over the city of Rome. Later, in 455, he also negotiated with the Vandal forces which had marched on Rome - although he was not able to get them to stay away this time, they did agree not to burn the city. Pope Hilarius

Hilarius succeeded a very popular and very active pope - not an easy task, but Hilarius had worked closely with Leo and made an effort to model his own papacy after that of his mentor. Hilarius endeavored to spread the doctrine of papal supremacy, interfering in church disputes in Gaul and Spain, writing letters emphasizing this doctrine to church leaders in the East, and combatting heresies wherever he encountered them. By and large, however, the reign of Pope Hilarius was rather uneventful. Pope Simplicius Simplicius was pope at the time that the last Roman emperor of the West, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by the German general Odoacer. This was an important time because the Western Roman Empire disintegrated into several romanized, but non-Roman, provinces. As a consequence, the only centralized authority remaining which migiht have any claim to the legacy of the Roman Empire itself was the Roman Catholic Church with the pope at its head. In reality, however, the power and prestige of the pope was in decline at this time, It was in part due to conflicts with the Eastern Church demanding equivalent status for Constantinople as Rome - but primarily it was due to conflicts over the the Monophysite heresy which was developing in the East.

Felix III Felix III was a very authoritarian pope whose efforts to suppress the Monophysite heresy helped exacerbate the growing schism between East and West, even going so far as to excommunicate the patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius, for appointing a Monophysite bishop to the see of Antioch to replace an orthodox bishop. This particular problem was the first serious breach of unity between East and West, lasting until 519 when the rift was partially healed - although Acacius always just ignored Felix's actions. There is some confusion about his naming and he is commonly referred to as Felix III (II). This is because, at the time of his election, an earlier antipope by the name of Felix II had not yet been removed from the list of genuine popes. Thus, he had to take the name Felix III. However, since then the antipope has been removed and Felix's status is somewhat unusual. Pope Gelasius I Pope Gelasius I (492 - 496), the second pope to come from Africa, was important to the development of papal primacy, arguing that a pope's spiritual power was superior to the authority of any king or emperor. Because the pope derives his authority directly from God,

there can be no appeals for decisions reached by a pope. Thus, kings and emperors are subordinate to popes and must submit to them in any decisions they make. Gelasius was also insistent in his refusal to accept any compromise with church authorities in the East, even going so far as to warn his legate to Constantinople about the trickery of the "Greeks". He aligned himself with the Ostrogoth leader Theodoric, successor to Odoacer, which further underscored the separation from political leaders in Constantinople. One reason for this alliance may, ironically, have been because Theodoric was a heretic. In this position, he allowed Gelasius a great deal of freedom in administering the church and regulating doctrine. Pope Anastasius II Pope Anastasius II came to power at a time when relations between the Eastern and Western churches were at a particularly low point. His predecessor, Pope Gelasius I, was stubborn in his stance towards the Eastern church leaders after his predecessor, Pope Felix III, had excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Acacius, for replacing the orthodox archbishop of Antioch with a monophysite. Pope Anastasius II was distressed by the worsening relations and, as a consequence, tried to take a more conciliatory approach, saying "We do not want the disagreement among the churches to continue any longer" in a letter. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Emperor had reached an agreement with the Ostrogoth king Theodoric according to which the latter's claim the kingship of Italy would be recognized by Constantinople and, in exchange, Anastasius would adopt a softer attitude towards the Monophysites. Matters didn't work out quite so well, however, because Anastasius wasn't consulted on this and, in Rome, the Church and was split sharply between those who were willing to compromise with the Monophysites and those who took a strong stand in defense of orthodoxy. Anastasius died during this crisis and, according to his enemies, it was due to the Wrath of God. Later Church leaders didn't think too much of him either - the author of the Liber Pontificalis criticized him and, because of this, Dante depicted him in Hell. Pope Symmachus A convert from paganism, Symmachus was elected largely because of the support of those who disliked the actions of his predecessor, Anastasius II. It was not, however, a unanimous election. Symmachus was supported by a significant number of clergy, but the Roman Senate and aristocracy threw their support behind Lawrence, elected as an antipope. Theodric, Ostrogoth king of Italy, supported Symmachus over Lawrence and the latter became bishop of Campania.

That wasn't the end of the conflict, though, and Lawrence would become antipope once more, causing the whole of Symmachus' papacy to fall into disrepute. Supporters of the rival popes battled each other in the streets and both were installed in Rome, fighting each other over power over various institutions and sites. Even after Lawrence left for a final time, people remain unhappy with Symmachus and he ever regained the full confidence of those under him.

6th century
Pope Hormisdas Hormisdas is known for his Libellus Hormisidae, a formula of faith sent to a synod at Constantinople which was attempting to resolve the Monophysite heresy. This formula reaffirmed the teachings of the Council of Calcedon (451) that Christ had both a Divine and a Human Nature, "hypostatically" united in one person: The first condition of salvation is to keep the norm of the true faith and in no way to deviate from the established doctrine of the Fathers. For it is impossible that the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church," (Matthew 16:18), should not be verified. And their truth has been proved by the course of history, for in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been kept unsullied. From this hope and faith we by no means desire to be separated and, following the doctrine of the Fathers, we declare anathema all heresies, and, especially, the heretic Nestorius, former bishop of Constantinople, who was condemned by the Council of Ephesus, by Blessed Celestine, bishop of Rome, and by the venerable Cyril, bishop of Alexandria. We likewise condemn and declare to be anathema Eutyches and Dioscoros of Alexandria, who were condemned in the holy Council of Chalcedon, which we follow and endorse. This Council followed the holy Council of Nicaea and preached the apostolic faith. And we condemn the assassin Timothy, surnamed Aelurus and also Peter of Alexandria, his disciple and follower in everything. We also declare anathema their helper and follower, Acacius of Constantinople, a bishop once condemned by the Apostolic See, and all those who remain in contact and company with them. Because this Acacius joined himself to their communion, he deserved to receive a judgment of condemnation similar to theirs. Furthermore, we condemn Peter of Antioch with all his followers together together with the followers of all those mentioned above. Following, as we have said before, the Apostolic See in all things and proclaiming all its decisions, we endorse and approve all the letters which Pope St Leo wrote concerning the Christian religion. And so I hope I may deserve to be associated with you in the one communion which the Apostolic See proclaims, in which the whole, true, and perfect security of the Christian religion resides. I promise that from now on those who are separated from the communion of the Catholic Church, that is, who are not in agreement with the Apostolic See, will not have their names read during the sacred mysteries. But if I attempt even the least deviation from my profession, I admit that, according to my own declaration, I am an

accomplice to those whom I have condemned. I have signed this, my profession, with my own hand, and I have directed it to you, Hormisdas, the holy and venerable pope of Rome. This formula continued to be used for many years as a statement of orthodox doctrine and ended the Acacian Schism, an internal church dispute between East and West over the teachings known as Acacianism. Pope John I Pope John I was the first pope to leave Italy and travel East to Constantinople - but he did not do so willingly. He was forced to make the trip Theodoric, the Gothic King. Theodoric was an Arian and wanted John I to persuade emperor Justin to retract various anti-Arian decrees. Unfortunately for John, he was not entirely successful and so upon his return, Theodoric imprisoned him. He remained in prison until he died. John I is also known because he gave his official approval to the Alexandrian method for computing the date for Easter, a method which later became accepted throught the West.

Pope Felix IV (III) Technically Felix was only the third pope to carry the name Felix; however, there had been an earlier antipope who had adopted the name Felix II in 355 and for a while he remained on the lists of official popes. Thus, this Felix has always been numbered as Felix IV. Felix was the favored papal candidate of the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great - indeed, it was through tremendous pressure from Theodoric that Felix was ever elected in the first place. Because of this favored status Felix took it upon himself to push Theodoric to approve of measures that enhanced and expanded the power of the Church. There were perhaps two significant events during the papacy of Felix IV. The first was his conflict with the semi-Pelagians, a group which modified the original teachings of Pelagius and now argued that while God's grace is necessary for salvation, it nevertheless requires a free act of human will to put a person in the position to receive that grace. Felix relied heavily on the teachings of Augustine, an original opponent of Pelagius, in condemning the semi-Pelagians at the Second Council of Orange. The second important event during Felix's reign was his effort to influence the choice of his successor. Still loyal the Goths, Felix wanted to ensure that whoever followed him on the

papal throne would continue to both to receive their favor and to favor them in return. Thus, while on his deathbed he summoned a group of his supporters and ordered them to elect Boniface, an archdeacon and Gothic supporter, as the next pope. Many outside the Church rejected this attempt to interfere with papal elections but Felix's will was seen through in the end anyway. Pope Boniface II Boniface II was the first German to ever be elected to the papacy, and that was due largely to the influence of the Gothic king Athalaric. The record on his reign is rather mixed, but he is perhaps most remembered for having confirmed the decisions of the Council of Orange. These included the teaching that grace is always necessary for a human being to obtain salvation, contrary to the teachings of some Pelagians.

Pope John II Pope John II seems to have been the first pope since Peter to have undergone a name change - although there is some possibility that earlier popes with Greek names may have changed their names as part of a tradition. When elected he was on good political terms with many different factions, but much of that good will was lost when he bent to the pressure from the Eastern emperor, Justinian I, and issued a decree supporting the Monophysites and contradicting the position taken by his predecessor Pope Hormisdas. Pope Agapitus I (Agapetus) Son of Gordianus, a Roman priest killed during riots in the days of Pope Symmachus by supporters of antipope Lawrence, Agapitus I was from the very beginning embroiled in serious political conflicts with emperor Justinian in Constantinople. Justinian was determined to invade Italy in order to bring it back under the direct control of the Eastern Roman Empire, something Agapitus opposed. He pawned sacred vessels in order to finance a trip to Constantinople to change Justinian's mind, but in that he failed. The trip wasn't a total waste of his time, however. While there he convinced Justinian to depose the patriarch of Constantinople, Anthimus, because of his Monophysite views.

Agapitus then consecrated Mennas as the new patriarch. Agapitus had also earlier taken a more forceful stand than his predecessors against former Arians, especially those located in North Africa, forbidding them from exercising clerical offices. While in Constantinople Agapitus died and his body was brought back to Rome to be buried in St. Peter's. Pope Silverius Pope Silverius, a legitimate son of Pope Hormisdas, did not have an easy reign. He was not the favorite choice of Empress Theodora in Constantinople and he refused to resign quietly. He evidently owed his election to large payments made to the Ostrogothic king Theodotus - then Silverius and the Senate surrendered peacefully to the Gothic army. Theodora charged him with treason and had him deposed and exiled, but Justinian had him returned so that he could stand trial. Silverius' successor, Vigilius, forced Silverius to abdicate and he was exiled a second time. On an island in the Gulf of Gaeta he starved to death. Pope Vigilius Pope Vigilius is widely considered one of lowest points in the papacy. He appears to have designed his entire career around the goal of becoming pope - something he nearly achieved when Pope Boniface II chose him to be his successor. Unfortunately for Vigilius, this decision resulted in a great deal of opposition and the choice had to be rescinded. Boniface's actual successor, Pope Agapetus I, appointed Vigilius to be the papal representative at Constantinople. Here Vigilius met Empress Theodora and the two began to conspire with each other. Theodora was anxious to get revenge for the setbascks suffered by supporters of the monophysite heresy and Vigilius was anxious to eventually become pope. Theodora promised to support his bid to become pope and to provide large sums of money if, in exchange, Vigilius promised to support Theodora's doctrinal causes. After Agapetus died, Vigilius headed to Rome to take what he believed was rightfully his. During this time Silverius had been elected pope due to the influence of the Goths. However, once in Rome, Vigilius and the Byzantine commander Belisarius received letters from Theodora explaining the situation and Belisarius proceeded to use his military forces to depose Silverius. After that, military and Byzantine pressure caused Vigilius to be elected pope. Unfortuantely for Silverius, he was put into Vigilius' care and died due to the harsh treatment he had to endure - but it was only after Silverius' death that Vigilius was universally acknowledged as pope by the Christian clergy.

Unfortunately, Vigilius was faced with a problem. He had promised Theodora to support the Monophysites, but Theodras husband - emperor Justinian - opposed the Monophysites. At different times Vigilius expressed his sympathy and support for both sides, but he couldn't maintain his balancing act forever. Over time, he ended up doing more to deepen the divisions within the Church rather than heal them as he tried so hard to do. Pope Pelagius I Pelagius I had a rather poor start to the papacy - he had been jailed by emperor Justinian as part of an effort to undermine Pope Vigilius and after Vigilius died, Pelagius was sent to Rome as the emperor's candidate of choice. However, no one was interested in electing him and Pelagius was only consecrated because two bishops were forced to perform the ceremony. His assocation with Justinian and rumors about his involvement in the death of Vigilius would haunt his pontificate until the end of his days. This is perhaps unfortunate because Pelagius could have otherwise been kown as a good church reformer and an able administrator. He reorganized papal finances and did a lot to reform clerical and monastic behavior. He also worked hard to restore law and order in Rome and the surrounding regions after a series of wars had devastated the country.

Pope John III Although John III reigned for a fairly long time, not much is known about his pontificate. He was only the second pope to change his name upon election (with the first being John II, coincidentally enough) and appears to have spent much of his time trying to deal with the invasion of Italy by Lombard forces. John's general attitude was very pro-Eastern and when he appealed for help from the East against the Lombards, their unpopularity affected him as well. John eventually left Rome rather than be caught up in the political infighting between Romans and Easterners. Pope Benedict I Pope Benedict I reigned during a time when the Lombards were attacking papal lands and Rome itself from the north. The constant incursions proved to be a strain on the papacy and the Roman government and an army sent by the Eastern emperor to help was able to provide only a short-lived relief. Eventually famine hit Rome and Benedict himself died.

Pope Pelagius II
During the reign Pelagius II, the Lombards were threatening to take control of the papal lands. The Byzantine emperor was not very helpful, so Pelagius II asked for and received help from the Christian Franks who invaded Italy, but they left again after being bribed by the Lombards. Pelagius also came into conflict with Eastern churches when the bishop of Constantinople, Patriarch John IV, began using the title "ecumenical patriarch" in 588. According to Pelagius, this represented an encroachment upon papal authority and papal supremacy and as a consequence refused to endorse the decrees of the synod at which the title was first used.

Pope Gregory I (the Great) Pope Gregory I (590 - 604) was the right man in the right place at the right time. Previously a government official who had sold all of his property in order to become a Benedictine monk, he was elected pope after the death of Pelagius II. Pelagious had gone to great effort to deal with problems like plague, hunger, floods, and advancing Lombard armies. Already an able administrator, Gregory went right to work - one of his most important achievements was to break the power of the Lombards and thereby putting much of Italy under direct papal rule. The lands now controlled by the church became known as the Patrimony of Saint Peter. With these lands providing revenue and power, the office of the pope became the most powerful position in Italy - and one of the most powerful in Europe. Religiously, Gregory increased his control over other bishops although he did not specifically promote papal primacy, he did promote administrative rules which had the same effect. A particular aspect of this was his expansion of the power of religious orders. Gregory gave them some independence from local church officials, making them answerable almost entirely to the pope personally. He was also a strong advocate for the doctrine of celibacy for priests - something which was not commonly accepted at the time, but his efforts helped spread it more widely and gave it the imprimatur of being authoritative.

The later popularity of religious relics owes a lot to Gregory's efforts because he really believed that they were effective for healing of conferring spiritual powers. He was also uncritical when it came to various legends and stories about religious figures. Anything which promoted the Christian faith was fine with him, no matter how improbably or absurd it might sound. Other accomplishments of his included important aspects of the liturgy - for example, he is thought responsible for arranging the "Gregorian" chants which became central pieces of music in religious services. Gregory also advocated allegorical readings of scriptures and, therefore, that theologians should refrain from focusing simply on literal, obvious interpretations. He also promoted the idea that both kings and popes could only legitimately rule so long as they conformed to the standards of behavior which the Christian faith required of them. This would later be used by many other popes to force European rulers to abhere to papal decrees.

7th century
Pope Sabinian Not a great deal is known about the life of Pope Sabinian. He is believed to have been elected during an especially turbulent time when Rome was threatened both by invasion and by plague - but instead of following the example of his predecessor Gregory and giving out free grain to the populace, Sabinian chosen instead to sell it at exhorbitant prices. This made him so unpopular that, when he died, his funeral procession had to go outside the city walls in order to reach St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Boniface III A couple of important things happened during the reign of Pope Boniface III, even though it was particularly short. For one thing, he forbade anyone from discussing the successor to any pope both during that pope's reign and for three days afterwards. The penalty for anyone doing so despite this was to be excommunication. Another event which was very important for the development of the Christian Church was the declaration of emperor Phocas that Rome, as the see of St. Peter, was the head of all Christian Churches - thus the patriarch of Constantinople was no longer permitted to use the title "ecumenical patriarch" and was no longer able to compete for the claim of primacy over Rome.

Pope Boniface IV Pope Boniface IV was a monk before his election and he chose to continue living life as a monk even while serving as pope. Like Gregory the Great, whom he consdered a model, Boniface favored both monasticism and monks thoughout the church.

Pope Deusdedit I Deusdedit I was the first person since John II in 533 who was a priest at the time of election - all others in the interim had been deacons. Deusdedit was known as someone who supported the clergy rather than the monastic orders, unlike his predecessor Boniface IV. Not much is otherwise known about Deusdedit, except that he had to contend with many civil problems in Rome. In August of 618, Rome was hit by an earthquake and not long after plague struck as well. Pope Boniface V Not much is known about Pope Boniface V and the only significant matter in his records is that he took a particular interest in the development of the Christian Church in England.

Pope Honorius I Pope Honorius I is best known for his involvement in the controversy between orthodoxy and the Monophysites. Honorius promoted a view which argued that Christ did not possess both a divine and a human will at the same time; instead, he had only one will which was expressed through both his human and divine natures. This perspective came to be known as Monotheletism, but it was eventually condemned as a heresy by the Third Council of Constantinople in 680. This proved to be something of an embarrassment for later popes and later councils because no one wants to admit that a pope could adopt and promote a fundamentally heretical belief. Pope Severinus Following tradition, envoys were sent to Constantinople to get confirmation of Severinus' election as pope, but the emperor refused to do so until Severinus signed Ecthesis, a Monothelite profession of faith. The

Monothelites argued that Christ had two natures, human and divine, but a single will. This, however, had been deemed heretical and Severinus refused - even though opponents sacked the Lateran palace. Eventually, the emperor went along with Severinus' election but he died just two months later. Pope John IV Pope John IV acted forcefully against the heresy of Monotheletism and tried to defend the reputation of Pope Honorius I, the pope who was largely responsible for the spread of Monotheletism. He also had to act against Pelagianism, a new heresy which was spreading in the Irish Church.

Pope Theodore I Pope Theodore I was one of Greek popes, although he wa born in Jerusalem. He is primarily known for his uncompromising position against Monotheletism.

Pope Martin I Martin I was highly respected for his learning and one of his first acts as pope was to convene a synod at the Lateran palace to address the Monothelite controversy. At this time the Monothelite doctrines and followers were all condemned. Among those condemned were people with a great deal of power and influence in Constantinople - as a result, emperor Constans II ordered Martin arrested and sent back to Constantinople as a prisoner. There Martin suffered through imprisonment and public humiliation, only to be exiled to the Crimea in 655. Although the Western Church abandoned him during his trial, he was later honored and became the last pope to be declared a martyr. Pope Eugene I (Eugenius) The reign of Pope Eugene I was characterized by his great deference towards the secular ruling powers. He only ascended to the papal throne after emperor Constans exiled his predecessor, Pope Martin I, and Eugene displayed no overt acts of defiance against either Constans or against the patriarchs of Constantinople.

Pope Vitalian Pope Vitalian's reign was most concerned with trying to achieve a political and religious reconciliation between Rome and Constantinople over the dispute about Monotheletism. He was not successful, so the conflict continued to divide East and West.

Pope Deusdedit II Pope Adeodatus II was already an elderly man when he was elected pope and, even though he reigned for four years, not a great deal was accomplished during his pontifficate. He did reaffirm the orthodox doctrine that Christ had two wills (human and divine) rather than just one, the Monothelite heresy which had received strong support from political and religious leaders in the imperial capitol of Constantinople (including Constantine I, patriarch of Constantinople). Most records which remain indicate that Adeodatus was known for his generosity, especially when it came to the poor and to pilgrims. Pope Donus Not a great deal is reliably known about Pope Donus, but according to the Liber Pontificalis he was reasponsible for embarking on a number of constructoin and repair projects both in and around Rome. Another accomplishment he is known for is for having convinced the archbishop of Ravenna to cease attempts to break away and become completely independent in terms of governance and appointment of bishops.

Pope Agatho Pope Agatho was finally able to settle the controversy over Monotheletism with Emperor Constantine IV at the Third Council Constantinople, which met from 680 through 681. This greatly relations between the East and West, something demonstrated fact that over the course of the following 16 popes, only four come from Rome - the rest would be Syrian, Greek or Sicilian.

of imporved by the would

Pope Leo II The most important historical aspect of Leo II's reign as pope seem to be his reaffirmation of the condemnation of Pope Honorius I for his position in the Monothelite controversy. It is important to note that Honorius was not accused of heresy in this - instead, he was simply accused of being too permissive with regard to the heresies of others.

Pope Benedict II Pope Benedict II had to wait an entire year after his actual election before he received official approval from the emperor. Because of this, he was able to get the emperor to agree to allow the imperial exarach in Ravenna to approve of papal consecrations in order to shorten the time involved. Pope John V Not much is known about John V and, apparently, one of the reasons is that he really didn't do much while pope due to serious illness at the time. It is known that he represented a predecessor, Pope Agatho, at the Third Council of Constantinople where the Monophysite heresy was declared anathema as a heresy. This decision healed a growing rift between Rome and Constantinople and the resulting relationship was so cordial that of the 16 pople who followed Agatho, only four would come from Rome. Pope Conon Conon was a very elderly man when elected pope. He seems to have been one of those popes who is chosen as a "compromise" candidate that everyone could agree on because he was too old to do much, effectively given the electors a break before having to make a more substantive and long-term choice. His term as pope didn't allow the many rifts in the church to heal - he didn't cause more damage, but he was also unable to forge any compromises himelf. Pope Sergius I Sergius I was ordered by Emperor Justinian to sign the decrees issued by "Trullan Council" of 692. Among these decrees were findings which placed the patriarch of Constantinople on the same level as the pope and decisions which would allow married men to retain their wives after

becoming priests. Sergius refused and Justinian tried to have him arrested, but he was protected by the people who greatly favored him. Today Sergius I is widely remembered for having introduced the singing of Agnus Dei(Lamb of God) to the Mass.

8th century
Pope John VI Pope John VI isn't known for much except that he had to try and maintain a delicate balance between the power of the emperor in Constantinople and Italian leaders who were resisting imperial rule. He ended up having to spend great quantities of money on bribes to keep various armies from invading and looting Rome during these conflicts. Pope John VII Pope John VII was the first pope to have been the son of an imperial official - these imperial ties seem to have been a principle reason why John was able to keep from angering the imperial officials at Constantinople. Although he did not do it always, he did show a great willingness to defer to imperial demands and Byzantine policy - for example, when it came to questions of how churches should be built and decorated. He would, in fact, become known for his building projects and for being a patron of the arts.

Pope Sisinnius Why Sisinnius was elected pope remains something of a mystery to this very day. He was so ill that he died after just twenty days as pope and his gout was so bad that he wasn't even able to feed himself. If he is remembered for anything, it is for not being memorable.
Pope Constantine Pope Constantine managed to heal a long-standing rift between East and West when he met Emperor Justinian II at Nicomedia in 711. Here the emperor kissed the pope's foot as a sign of obedience and Constantine administered communion to Jusitinian as a sign of his readmission to the Church.

Pope Gregory II Gregory II has become known for a variety of political successes and defeats. On the positive side, he managed to stave off Lombard encroachments on Rome by buying them off with 30 pounds of gold. He

then used the relatively peaceful time to expand the reach of Christianity in German lands to the north. On the negative side, he was forced to excommunicate Byzantine emperor Leo III because of his attempts to impose massive taxes on Italy. Leo was also an Iconoclast, a "breaker of images" who opposed the presence of images and statues during Christian worship. He ordered all such images destroyed and tried to force Gregory to agree, but Gregory refused and Italy came to his defense. This in turn led to many years of civil wars and revolts between East and West.

Pope Gregory III Gregory III was the very last pope to try and get the Byzantine exarch in Ravenna (political representative of the Byzantine empire in Italy) to grant approval of the papal consecration. Conflict with the Eastern churches quickly appeared, however, because of his refusal to support the movement towards banning the use of icons in churches (known as iconoclasm), thus leading to the Iconoclastic Controversy.

Pope Zacharias (Zachary) Pope Zacharias is chiefly known for his political acumen - unlike his predecessors, he was able to reach agreements with Lombard rulers, preventing for example the exarchate of Ravenna from coming under Lombard domination. At the same time, he strengthened the papal ties with the Franks, a move which would later secure the papacy and Rome against further Lombard incursions.

Pope Stephen II Stephen II was a popular candidate and he was unanimously elected to succeed Zachary. Unfortunately, Stephen died after just a couple of days and before he could be consecrated. As a consequence, his pontificate was never really considered official. He was not listed into the official Liber Pontificalis and his successor, also named Stephen, is often listed as the second Stephen rather than the third. This has led to inconsistency in the numbering of popes named Stephen because many other sources do include this Stephen in their lists. Pope Stephen III Stephen III reigned at a time when the papacy was under severe pressure Byzantine emperors. Because of this, he turned to Pepin the

short, Mayor of the Palace of the Kingdom of the Franks. Stephen agreed recognized Pepin as king and Pepin proceeded to Childebert III. In exchange. Pepin then invaded Italy to ensure that the papal estates would be safe from the Lombards in the north and the Byzantines in the east. There is some debate as to whether Stephen should be III or II. The original Stephen II died just 3 days after he was elected and before he was consecrated, so some don't regard him as ever having been officially pope. Those who don't number this Stephen as II while those who do number this Stephen as III.

Pope Paul I Pope Paul I, the younger brother of his predecessary Pope Stephen III, had some difficulty in dealing with the growing support of iconoclasm from Constantinople. A council called by emperor Constantine V had denounced the veneration of icons, resulting in a flood of refugees who were welcomed by Paul in the west. Constantine tried to get Pepin to also support iconoclasm, but that effort failed.

Pope Stephen IV Stephen IV is not known for having done much of anything remarkable, except that he crowned and anointed Louis the Pious, successor of Charlemagne. Stephen aligned himself with the Frankish king Louis the Pious, coronating him in October, 816 and ordering the people of Rome to swear fealty to him. This act established as tradition the idea that papal approval was necessary for a ruler to exercise full authority. There is some debate as to whether Stephen should be IV or V. The original Stephen II died just 3 days after he was elected and before he was consecrated, so some don't regard him as ever having been officially pope. Those who don't number this Stephen as IV while those who do number this Stephen as V. Pope Adrian I (Hadrian) Adrian I was beset by numerous political problems, the most immediate of which was when Desiderius, king of the Lombards, invaded the Papal States right after Adrian was elected. Adrian called upon Charlemagne for aid and he did come to Italy and destroyed the Lombard kingdom. After this security was established, Adrian moved to confirm the judgement of the Second Council of Nicaea which condemned iconoclasm. Charlemagne was not happy with this because it meant an easing of relations between East and West (and perhaps because he had not been invited when it was convened), but he reconciled

himself to it eventually. Adrian was also instrumental in combatting the heresy of Adoptionism which had been spreading through Spain at the time. Adrian remains today one of the longest reigning popes ever, surpassed by only four others in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Leo III Leo III has been known to history as "Charlemagne's Pope." He came from the lower classes and, as a result, the aristocrats who formed the bulk of the Vatican hierarchy always resented him. Although he was unanimously elected, just a few years afterwards a conspiracy lead by some members of his predecessor's family (including Paschalis, a nephew of Pope Hadriam) attacked him just as he was about to say mass in St. Peter's Cathedral in 799. They tried to blind him and cut out his tongue - but he recovered and sought refuge with Charlemagne. On Christmas day, 800, Leo crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor. This solidified the imperial protection of the papacy which meant that things proceeded peacefully for Leo, but he never forgot that he had made himself something of a subject to Charlemagne and he never seemed to be entirely happy about it. Leo did manage to resist Charlemagne's efforts to have the word filioque ("and the son") added to the Nicene Creed, but the two worked together to fight the heresy of Adoptionism. This direct alliance to the political rulers of the West became an important stepping stone towards the ultimate schism between the Eastern and Western churches. After Charlegmagne died in 814, Leo III lost a lot of his political protection, but by that time he had learned to exercise such power himself and he had conspirators against him executed. Theologically, he fought against the spread of the doctrine of adoptionism but with the issue of filioque he was more cautious - allowing its use, but not requiring it.

9th century
Pope Stephen V Church and state were further intertwined during the reign of Stephen V, the first pope to ever anoint an emperor: Louis the Pious. In the past imperial approval had been necessary for church leaders to exercise their power, but this act represented an important shift. Louis and Stephen appear to have started on a close working relationship, but Stephen died shortly after crowning Louis so not much came of it.

Pope Paschal I

Paschal I chief concern as pope was the relationship between the Church and Charlemagne's son and successor, Louis I the Pious. Louis was a very busy ruler, both working to expand the empire and to reform and better organize the Church. Through careful negotiations, Paschal was able to get Louis to agree to political independence of the Roman see and surrounding territories. In 823 he crowned Louis' son, Lothair I, as co-emperor - this symbolic act represented a new stage in the relationship between church and state. Through it, the pope was giving the emperor the temporal power to suppress evil and combat the worldly enemies of Christianity. Pope Eugene II (Eugenius) Pope Eugene II was, probably more than any other pope before him, under the control of the Western Roman Emperor. Eugene even went so far as to swear an oath of allegiance to emperor Louis and agree that all future popes should do the same. On theological matters, though Eugene sought to hold on to some measure of independence. He refused, for example, to agree to Louis' request that he compromise with the East on the question of iconoclasm.

Pope Valentine Pope Valentine reigned for less than a month and, as a consequence, didn't do anything of consequence. At the time popes were still elected jointly by the people of Rome, the clergy, and the nobility. Valentine was chosen unanimously, which was no small feat, but that's about all we know of him.

Pope Gregory IV Gregory IV was elected largely through the support of the Roman nobility and the Western emperor, upon whom Gregory would remain very dependent throughout his papacy. Although he had a relatively long papacy, on the whole he doesn't seem to have done much. The only thing he is really known for is his involvement in the political struggles between emperor Louis the Pious and his son, Lothair.

Pope Sergius II Sergius II encountered early opposition from Emperor Lothair, but through smooth diplomatic handing he was able to crown Lothair without also

being forced to swear fealty to him. Matters did not go quite so well internally as Sergius caused wide displeasure through simony, dubious administrative practices and an expensive building program. People considered him so corrupt that, when Muslim pirates managed to plunder Ostia, St. Peter's and St. Paul's Cathedrals, this was widely regarded as acts of divine retribution.

Pope Leo IV Pope Leo IV was embattled politically on both sides. Like his predecessor, Pope Sergius II, he was under pressure from king Lothair to be submissive to the political leadership in the north - but also like Sergius, Leo was determined to assert papal independence, starting immediately by not seeking Lothair's approval to be consecrated pope. Part of the reason for this may have been a lack of time, not just the desire for independence from political leaders. Under the reign of Sergius II, Muslim forces had invaded Italy and even gone so far as to plunder Ostia, Rome's port city, something everyone interpreted as a sign of God's displeasure with the way things were being run. Leo IV went to great lengths to protect Rome from further incursions, building a 40-foot high wall surrounding St. Peter's and much of the Vatican, along with other fortifications and defenses for the city generally. The fortifications immeidately around the Vatican came to be known as the "Leonine City." Leo IV was not simply interested in defense measures, though. He organized a large military alliance among various Greek and Italian cities, launching an attack upon the Muslims as they gathered outside of Ostia in preparation for an attack on Rome. He was also on the attack against Lothair, for example executing three imperial agents for the murder of a papal representative. Pope Benedict III Pope Benedict III, like his predecessors Leo IV and Sergius II, was almost immediately embroiled in conflict with king Lothair who insisted on retaining the right to give approval to the election of any new pope; also like his predecessors, Benedict was determined to assert the independence of the papacy and deny Lothair that right. As a consequence, Lothair appointed an antipope, Anastasius Bibliothecarius, but popular support was firmly behind Benedict and this conflict did not last long. It did, however, help firmly estalblish the split between church and state, with the church generally and the papacy specifically becoming ever more free from political control.

Although Anastasius was initially reduced to lay status and confined to a monastery, he would return under the next three popes to become an important papal advisor and, eventually, librarian of the Roman church (hence the name Bibliothecarius, Anastasius the Librarian). In some of the medieval accounts of Pope Joan, a woman who allegedly ascended to the papal throne without anyone realizing her true gender, was the actual successor to Leo IV, not Benedict III. Going under the name Pope John Anglicus, he is believed by some to have reigned for two years, seven months, and four days. Her true identity was only revealed when she gave birth to a child while riding in a procession between St. Peter's Cathedral and the Lateran Palace. Pope Nicholas II Pope Nicholas I expended a lot of effort to assert the authority and primacy of the bishop of Rome, even going so far as to deposing two archbishops over a conflict of policy. He also asserted his authority over churches in the East, something which those churches refused to accept. This lead to him and Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, excommunicating each other - events which played an important role in the eventual schism bewteen Eastern and Western Christianity, known as the Great Schism. Pope Adrian II (Hadrian) Adrian II is generally considered to have been a very weak pope, throwing away many of the political gains achieved by his predecessors. The most important thing which occurred during his papacy was the Fourth Council of Constantinople which decided that in matters of religious authority, Constantinople came second to Rome.

Pope John VIII Pope John VIII's reign was characterized by political intrigue and many believe that he was murdered by conspirators involved in a plot of local politics.

Pope Marinus I Marinus I was a long time servant of the papal throne, having been employed by his three predecessors as an envoy to Constantinople in order to ease relations which had been strained over the controversy surrounding Photius, patriarch of Constantinople. His diplomatic skills

were carried over when he himself was elected pope and Marinus endeavored to avoid causing offense. One controversy about his papacy was the fact that, when elected bishop of Rome, he was already bishop of another diocese. This was in violation of the the rules set down by the First Nicea Council.

Pope Adrian III (Hadrian) Not much is know about Pope Adrian III except that his pontificate was apparently characterized by violence and that he himself may have been murdered. Curiously, he was apparently a strong supporter of Pope John VIII, one of the few other popes to have been assassinated as well.

Pope Stephen VI (V) Stephen was elected unanimously but emperor Charles had not been consulted; as a result, Stephen faced the very real possibility of being deposed. Fortunately for him, Charlemagne's empire was falling apart and Charles was in no position to do anything about Stephen. Once Charles died, Stephen tried to rely on the support of various and weak princes to protect Rome. They proved too unreliable, though, so Stephen turned to Constantinople - especially once the Saracen raids increased. When it came to internal church matters, Stephen made the fatal mistake of forbidding the Slavs to use a Slavonic liturgy during their services. This infuriated them and, as a result, they were driven towards the Eastern Church and Eastern Orthodox Christianity rather than Western Roman Catholicism. Pope Formosus Pope Formosus (whose name means "good looking") was unusually controversial - although many of the problems occurred after his death. Six months after he had died, his successor Stephen VI had his body dug up and put on trial; found guilty, it was stripped of the papal vestments and the fingers used by Formosus to bless others were removed. The body was drug through the streets and dumped in the Tiber river. Pope Sergius III later confirmed the decisions reached by this "Cadaver Synod," but Pope John XI reinstated Formosus about 40 years after his posthumous deposition. Pope Boniface VI

To call Pope Bonfiace VI "unsavory" would be an understatement. He was defrocked twice by Pope John VIII (himself rather unsavory) for immorality, the first and only pope to have gone through that. He was elected quickly after Formosus and died almost as quickly. A synod in 898 deplored his election and ordered that nothing like that ever happen again.

Pope Stephen VII (VI) Stephen is among the more infamous popes. He is perhaps best known for having had the corpse of Pope Formosus exhumed and put on trial for alleged offenses committed during his reign. This "Cadaver Synod" was probably inspired by a fanatical hatred of Formosus and, naturally, resulted in a conviction. Unfortunately for Stephen, his obsession with Formosus led to his own arrest and execution via strangulation.

Pope Romanus Almost nothing is known of Pope Romanus. Unlike Pope Stephen VII, he was a supporter of Pope Formosus but Romanus doesn't seem to have done much of anything in defense of him.

Pope Theodore II The exact length of the reign of Pope Theodore II is uncertain, but we know that he didn't last out the month of November, 897. Although he wasn't in office long, he did manage to convene a synod to condemn the Cadaver Synod held earlier in the year. At that time the corpse of Pope Formosus had been dug up and put on trial, but Theodore had Formosus rehabilitated. The body was dug up yet again from the private grave it was in, clothed in papal vestments, and reburied again in the original grave located in St. Peter's.

Pope John XIX John was the older brother of the man he succeeded, Pope Benedict. This was the first and only time something like this occurred. Like his brother, he was still a layman when he was chosen - and the only reason he was chosen was that he had enough money to bribe the

right people. Naturally the move from layman to pope in a single day outraged the people of Rome, but there wasn't much they could do about it. John XIX was not a respected pope. Conrad II, an emperor he himself crowned, ordered and pushed him around. The Byzantine emperor did much the same. The only positive thing to come out of his papacy may have been his support for the reformist abbey at Cluny.

Pope Benedict IV Not much is known about the reign of Pope Benedict IV. Rome continued to be divided by conflicts over the late Pope Formosus and few records remain of this time period. Benedict appears to have been a supporter of Formosus, but much more than that is simply not known. Some reports suggest that he was murdered, but this isn't clear.

10th century
Pope Leo V Leo V was an outsider and possibly elected as a compromise candidate - at this time period, most popes were elected out of the Roman clergy. Unfortunately for him, he was overthrown by an antipope named Christopher who reigned in his place until he, in turn, was overthrown by Sergius. Both were murdered in prison around the same time.

Pope Sergius III Sergius III had a violent start to a violent papacy. He had technically been elected back in 897, but he had to step aside in favor of John IX who had greater imperial favor. Serguis not only regarded John IX as an antipope, but also his legitimate successor, Leo V. The violent occasion which perciptated Sergius' final rise to the papacy was, however, an actual antipope - Christopher. Christopher had taken Leo prisoner and threw him into prison. Sergius led an armed force against Christopher and had both him and Leo strangled to death, finally winning the papal throne for himself.

Once pope. Sergius was determined to undo everything which had been done by the three preceeding occupants of the papacy. He forced the clergy under him to attend a synod which nullified all of the decrees and synods which occurred during the reigns of those interlopers. Moreover, he reaffirmed the conclusions of the infamus "Cadaver Synod, " a synod which exumed the body of Pope Formosus, put it on trial, and declared all of his ordinations invalid. Not only were the bishops he ordained not really bishops, but this had the domino effect of invalidating all of the ordinations of priests performed by those now-illegitimate bishops. This, obviously enough, threw the Church into a state of mass confusion - no one quite knew who was legitiamte and who wasn't. This should have led to rebellion against Sergius, but he support among the noble families was too strong. It is reputed that he even had a son with Marozia, the fifteen-year-old daughter of a wife of one of his supporters - a son who would go on to become Pope John XI. Sergius began an era of such corruption and debauchery and the decades after his reign have come to be called the "pornocracy" of the papacy. Pope Anastasius III The pontificate of Anastasius III was quite uneventful. He appears to have been dominated by the powerful Theophylact family in Rome. Otherwise, nothing is really known.

Pope Lando (Landus) Lando had powerful friends that helped him become pope, but aside from that nothing is really known about his pontificate. It was one of the shortest on record and perhaps one of the most undistinguished as well.

Pope John X Pope John X faced terrible Saracen invasions that were devastating Italy and one of his chief tasks was to create a united front amongst the aristocracy in order properly meet the threat. In August, 915 the Italians defeated Saracen invaders and kept them out for a long time to come. At the same time, though, he managed to make a lot of enemies - enemies powerful enough to have him imprisoned in 928. It's not clear that he was properly deposed; if not, then his two successors (Leo & Stephen) were not properly elected and therefore not genuine popes. Pope Leo VI

Leo VI was an elderly man when he was elected, but the validity of his election is open to question. At the time, his predecessor John X was still alive and in prison. If John's removal from office was not valid, then Leo's election could not be valid and he wasn't a genuine pope. Very little remains in the way of records of his papacy.

Pope Stephen VIII (VII) The validity of Stephen's papacy is subject to question. Like his predecessory, Leo VI, he was elected while Pope John X was still alive and in prison. Thus, if John's removal from office was invalid, then neither the election of Leo nor of Stephen was valid and they weren't genuine popes. Stephen's reign was brief and few records remain. Pope John XI Many believe that Pope John XI was the illegitimate son of Pope Sergius III and Marozia, a high-ranking woman in Rome. Whether that was true or not, it does seem to be the case that he was elected through the influence of Marozia. He also left office because of her - when she married the king of Italy (her own brother-in-law) it caused such a scandal that both the king and the pope were kidnapped by mobs in Rome and imprisoned. Instigator of the rioting mobs was Alberic II, Marozia's son from her first marriage and later absolute ruler of Rome - he would become responsible for the election of numerous popes himself. Pope Leo VII Leo VII only became pope because Alberic II, absolute ruler of Rome, wanted him to be pope. Alberic wanted to be able use the influence of the papacy whenever he wanted and otherwise restricted Leo to purely ecclesiastical matters. Both Leo and Alberic agreed on the importance of monasticism and as a consequence they worked together to promote monastic reforms. Pope Stephen IX (VIII) Stephen was elected at a time of great discord between ecclesiastical and secular rulers. Stephen was, in fact, restricted to nothing but ecclesiastical matters and shut out of political affairs entirely by Alberic II, the ruler of Rome and the man who got Stephen elected in the first place. Unfortunately, Alberic may also be the one who took Stephen out of office - reports suggest that he was kidnapped, tortured, mutilated, and died of his wounds. Pope Marinus II

Evidently, Marinus II wasn't much of a pope. Like his two predecessors, Marinus II owed his position to the power and good will of Alberic II, absolute ruler or Rome. As a consequence Marinus was expected to do anything and everything Alberic wanted. He left almost nothing in the way of official records or acts and not much is known about him personally or professionally.

Pope Agapitus II (Agapetus) Elected due to the influence of Alberic II, absolute ruler of Rome, Pope Agapitus II signed an agreement to ensure tha Alberic's son Octavian would be Agapitus' successor - a violation of a decree issued by Pope Symmachus in 499. Octavian then became Pope John XII - the third pope in the history of the church to change his name on election. Pope John XII Pope John XII was just 18 years old when he was elected pope on the orders of Duke Alberic II of Spoleto, ruler Rome and his father. This was very much a scandal, something made even worse by the fact that he was such a womanizer that the papal palace came to be described as a brothel. This, however, did not affect his popularity and standing outside Italy. John XII was only the second pope in history to have changed his name from that which he was born with, Octavian. When he crowned the German king Otto I, he restored the Holy Roman Empire - this, in turn, allowed Otto and his successors to exert secular influence over future papal elections. More than that, Otto managed to convene a Roman synod which deposed John on December 4, 963. He, however, managed to depose his successor and returned to the papacy. It is believed that he later died in the arms of a mistress.

Benedict V
Benedict V was elected pope in very unusual circumstances. Emperor Otto I had deposed Pope John XII after having found him to be unworthy and forcibly installed Leo VII as his successor. The people of Rome, however, did not like this new pope and expelled him from the city as soon as they were able. The continued to regard John XII as the proper pope and, after he died, they elected the Cardinal-Deacon Benedict as the new pope, Benedict V. Otto was furious that the Romans had elected someone in place of his chosen pope, so he marched on Rome, reinstated Leo VII, and took Benedict V back to Germany with him. He died in Germany and his remains were eventually taken back to Rome.

Because of the confusion over succession, it is not entirely clear who qualifies as a valid pope and who is an antipope. If Otto's elimination of John XII was valid, then Leo VII was pope and Benedict V was the antipope. However, if the elimination was not valid, then Leo was an antipope and the popularly acclaimed Benedict was the real pope.

Pope Leo VIII The pontificate of Leo VIII has at times been in serious question because the deposition of his predecessor was of questionable legitimacy. Nevertheless, official records show overlapping pontificates without suggesting a problem. He was an able administrator, but he wasn't even a priest when he was elected. After the election, he had to be rushed through several orders of consecration before he could officially become pope, something which was very unpopular with the Roman people - people who were already unhappy with the deposition of John XII. Pope John XIII Pope John XIII was, for the most part, a embarrassment to the Roman Catholic Church and remains so even to this day. His pursuit of women was so extensive and unashamed that the Latern Palace came to be known as a little more than a brothel. His handling of political disagreements was disasterous, forcing him to ask German leader Otto for help. Otto was able to restore order in Northern Italy and, in return, John crowned him Emperor in the West on Februrary 2, 962. John, however, didn't even handle this situation very well because after Otto left, John started to conspire with the son of the King of Italy, Berengar, with whom Otto was at war. This naturally infuriated Otto, who promptly returned to Rome, deposed John, and had Pope Leo VIII installed in his pace. So who was John's legitimate successor, Leo VIII or Benedict V? Who was simply an antipope? That is an open question. When John died, the Roman people disregarded Leo and ensured the election of Benedict, and today he is treated as the legitimate successor of John. Pope Benedict VI Not much is known about Pope Benedict VI except that he came to a violent end. When his protector, Emperor Otto the Great, died, the Roman citizens rebelled against Benedict and he was strangled by a priest on the orders of Crescentius, a brother of the late Pope John XIII and the son of the Theodora.

Boniface Franco, a deacon who helped Crescentius, was made pope and called himself Boniface VII. Pope Benedict VII The papacy of Benedict VII was plagued by the efforts of antipope Boniface VII, always seeking to undermine Benedict's authority and take his place. Benedict had Boniface excommunicated, but it didn't do any good - in fact, Boniface launched an insurrection and forced Benedict to flee Rome. Benedict was forced to rely heavily on the emperor for protection; in exchange, Benedict was expected to do just what the emperor wanted. Pope John XIV John XIV was caught up in very unfortunate circumstances. He was chosen by emperor Otto II, without consultation with anyone else, and this meant that Otto was his only friend or supporter in the world. Otto died not long into John's papacy and this left John all alone. Antipope Boniface moved quickly and had John imprisoned. Reports suggest that he died of starvation after several months in jail.

Pope John XV Hated by much of the Roman clergy because of his greed and nepotism, Pope John XV is today perhaps best known for being the first pope to canonize a saint: Ulric of Augusburg in 993. At the time he managed rather well in the political sphere, negotiating a peace treaty between Normandy and England in 991, for example.

Pope Gregory V Pope Gregory V is either the first or the second German pope, depending upon how you judge matters. Boniface II, who had reigned from 530-532, had Gothic origins and many people consider that to be sufficiently Germanic to call him the first German pope. Others, however, consider Gregory V the first German pope because of his specifically Germanic origins - his cousin was German king Otto III. Unfortunately, Gregory V made enemies both in Rome and at home, alienating his powerful cousin. He was forced to flee Rome and had to take up residence in Lombardy, allowing his many enemies to unite and elect an antipope, John XVI. He was eventually restored to power through the military force of his cousin and after that he reluctantly accepted imperial policies and crowned Otto emperor in 996.

Sylvester II (Silvester II) The first Frenchman to become pope, Gerbert of Aurillac Sylvester II because the first Sylvester was a pope known for his close working relationship with the emperor. Sylvester became a staunch defender of papal prerogatives, but he also worked closely with Otto III to reform the many abuses occurring in the church - including simony, nepotism, and clerical marriage. In February, 1001, citizens of Rome revolted against their domination by foreign powers, particularly Germans, forcing both Otto III and his chosen pope, Sylvester II, to flee the city. Otto died the following year, unable to reestablish control over Rome, and Sylvester was only allowed to return provided he rmain under close supervision by Romans and restrict his work to spiritual and religious activities. Prior to being elected pope, Sylvester was renowned for his learning and scholarship in fields like logic, mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy. A number of his writings on logic and mathematics survive today.

11th century
Pope John XVII John XVII is one of the most obscure popes in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Technically he should have been Pope John XVI, because the previous John was XV, but there had also been an antipope who adopted the name John XVI and he didn't want there to be any confusion. It is known that he was a married man before his ordination and fathered three children. It is believed that his election to the papacy was engineered by the powerful Crescentii family in Rome. Pope John XVIII John became pope because of the influence of the Crescentii family in Rome and he was beholden to them throughout his pontificate. Not much is known about the details of his reign but it is believed that he may have abdicated before he died and spent his last days in a monastery. Pope Sergius IV Pope Sergius IV was the second pope to change his name on election the reason being that he didn't want to reign under the name of Peter, the first pope.

Pope Benedict VIII

The family of Pope Benedict VIII was heavily involved in Roman political intrigues, and one of the results of this was the election of an antipope, Gregory VI, in 1012 - but when German king Henry II recognized Benedict as pope Gregory quickly disappeared. Benedict then crowned Henry II as emperor in 1014. Benedict was heavily involved in ecclesiastical reforms, attempting to improve clerical discipline, but he was even more heavily involved in military ventures, even participating in a battle at sea against Saracen forces in 1016. Pope John XIX John was the older brother of the man he succeeded, Pope Benedict. This was the first and only time something like this occurred. Like his brother, he was still a layman when he was chosen - and the only reason he was chosen was that he had enough money to bribe the right people. Naturally the move from layman to pope in a single day outraged the people of Rome, but there wasn't much they could do about it. John XIX was not a respected pope. Conrad II, an emperor he himself crowned, ordered and pushed him around. The Byzantine emperor did much the same. The only positive thing to come out of his papacy may have been his support for the reformist abbey at Cluny. Pope Benedict IX Pope Benedict IX was the nephew of his predecessor, Pope John XIX, and some records suggest that he was only twelve years old when he assumed the papacy. On matters of theology he was evidently quite orthodox, but his personal life and political positions cause him no end of trouble. During a riot in 1045 he was replaced with Pope Sylvester III - but this didn't last long and forces still loyal to Benedict returned the following year and restored him to the papal throne. Soon after that Benedict seems to have tired of the office and sold it to his godfather, who took the name Gregory VI. Unfortunately, Benedict regretted this move and returned to have Gregory removed. In the end, Germany king Henry II grew tired of Benedict's antics and called the Synod of Sutri to settle matters, having Benedict deposed and a new pope, Damasus II, installed in his place. Benedict was also charged with simony and, when he failed to appear for judgment, he was excommunicated. Pope Sylvester III (Silvester III) Sylvester became pope only because his predecessor, Benedict IX, led such a disreputably life that people just couldn't stand him. Benedict was the nephew

of his own predecessor, John XIX, and both papacies were filled with scandal. Sylvester didn't last long, though, and Benedict was soon back in power.

Pope Benedict IX Pope Benedict IX was the nephew of his predecessor, Pope John XIX, and some records suggest that he was only twelve years old when he assumed the papacy. On matters of theology he was evidently quite orthodox, but his personal life and political positions cause him no end of trouble. During a riot in 1045 he was replaced with Pope Sylvester III - but this didn't last long and forces still loyal to Benedict returned the following year and restored him to the papal throne. Soon after that Benedict seems to have tired of the office and sold it to his godfather, who took the name Gregory VI. Unfortunately, Benedict regretted this move and returned to have Gregory removed. In the end, Germany king Henry II grew tired of Benedict's antics and called the Synod of Sutri to settle matters, having Benedict deposed and a new pope, Damasus II, installed in his place. Benedict was also charged with simony and, when he failed to appear for judgment, he was excommunicated. Pope Gregory VI Gregory VI purchased the papacy from Pope Benedict IX for what is believed to be an enormous sum of money - and he must have been rich because he also seems to have paid off antipope Sylvester III in order to maintain his control of the papal throne. Ultimately, however, Gregory was forced to resign because of the scandals.

Pope Clement II Clement II was appointed to the papacy by Emperor Henry III in the hopes of removing the papal throne from the currents of infighting among the Roman nobility and Clement did, indeed, embark upon a program of reform. He even convened a council which enacted various decrees against simony and other abuses of clerical power. Unfortunately he did not live long and, upon his death, a combination of bribery and popular support led to the reinstatement of Benedict IX who had been expelled due to personal and political scandals. Henry III would appoint three more German popes as part of his effort to reform the papacy.

Pope Benedict IX

Pope Benedict IX was the nephew of his predecessor, Pope John XIX, and some records suggest that he was only twelve years old when he assumed the papacy. On matters of theology he was evidently quite orthodox, but his personal life and political positions cause him no end of trouble. During a riot in 1045 he was replaced with Pope Sylvester III - but this didn't last long and forces still loyal to Benedict returned the following year and restored him to the papal throne. Soon after that Benedict seems to have tired of the office and sold it to his godfather, who took the name Gregory VI. Unfortunately, Benedict regretted this move and returned to have Gregory removed. In the end, Germany king Henry II grew tired of Benedict's antics and called the Synod of Sutri to settle matters, having Benedict deposed and a new pope, Damasus II, installed in his place. Benedict was also charged with simony and, when he failed to appear for judgment, he was excommunicated. Pope Damasus II The reign Damasus II was one of the shortest on record - so short, in fact, that there were rumors that he had been poisoned; it is more likley, however, that he died of malaria. Damasus had previously been the bishop of Brixen and after being raised to Bishop of Romen and Pope he retained his diocese at Brixen - just the second pope in history to do so. Damasus was also the second of a total of Germans nominated to the papacy by Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX was elected in Worms, but he conditioned his acceptance of the papacy that he be canonically elected by the clergy and people in Rome. He travelled to Rome as a pilgrim and was greeted well, thus leading to his consecration. As pope, he pursued a number of ecclesiastical reforms, renewing the emphasis on clerical celibacy and arguing against the practice of simony. He also worked hard to promote the doctrine of papal supremacy, disrupting relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church to a degree which led, not long after his death, to a permanent schism. Pope Victor II Victor II was the first pope after the Western and Eastern churches split - at the time, however, this was regarded as simply one more division in a long line of disagreements, so it wasn't perceived as being as decisive and final as later historians saw it. As a result, it was not very high on Victor's list of things to worry about. The fourth and last of the German popes nominated by Henry III, he had more pressing matters to concern himself with - including the threat of the Normans to take over Rome and the papal lands. Pope Stephen X (IX)

The reign of Stephen IX was short, but he was a strong backer of church reforms, something which garnered him quite a bit of opposition from other powerful forces. When he was elected pope he was already abbot of the Monte Cassino, a position which he never gave up.

Pope Nicholas II Nicholas II saw as one of his most important tasks the reform of how popes were to be elected. To that end he called for a synod at the Lateran palace in 1059. This meeting arrived at a number of decisions which were designed to ensure that papal elections were in the hands of cardinals and removed from the influence of secular rulers and Roman mobs. Other decisions reached by the synod included the prohibition of paying for religious offices, the prohibition of lay investiture, and priests from assisting at mass if he was living with a concubine. Pope Alexander II Pope Alexander II came to power in a Rome divided by intense power struggles. Alexander wanted to reform the Roman curia and the papacy, but he was opposed by powerful interests that sought their own enrichment. Especially problematic was the fact that the elector cardinals failed to get the support of the German imperial court, leading to the nomination of a rival pope in Honorius II. Eventually a German court ruled in favor of Alexander, but the divisions remained and his papacy was always under a cloud. Pope Gregory VII Gregory VII was a reform-minded pope who issues decrees forbidding practices like clerical marriage (and concubinage) and simony - demonstrating that even at this date such activity was still quite common. He is most famous, however, for the role he played in the Investiture Constroversy with Henry IV. Henry rallied nobles across Germany against Gregory's insistence that lay rulers could not invest abbots and bishops and as a result, Gregory excommunicated him in 1076. Henry found himself unable to oppose the pope and was forced to humble himself before Gregory at Canossa 1077. During a civil war in Germany, however, Gregory once again opposed Henry and declared him deposed. Unfortunately for Gregory, Henry won the war and then proceeded to march on Rome with an antipope, Guibert of Ravenna (Clement III). The Romans rebelled against Gregory but he was rescued by the Normons with whom he fled south. He eventually died in exile in Salerno.

Pope Victor III Victor III was not eager to become pope and was evidently embarrassed that the cardinals had elected him. In fact, after election he abandoned Rome for Monte Cassino (where he was abbot) - it was not until the spring of 1087 that people were able to convince him to return to Rome and receive his consecration. He did not rule very long and among his accomplishments were declarations against lay investiture, the excommunication of Clement II, and a call for a crusade against Muslims in Africa. The entire time he was troubled by the pressures put upon him by Henry IV, who opposed Martin's position on lay investiture, and Clement III, the antipope set up by Henry. Pope Urban II Pope Urban II was a strong supporter of church reforms, particularly those advocated by his predecessor, Pope Gregory VII. He issued decrees against simony, clerical marriage, and many other transgressions. He had an especially hard time with the German leader Henry IV over the question of lay investiture. As part of his efforts at reform he established the Roman Curia. The most famous aspect of his pontificate was his call in 1095 at the Council of Clermont for a Crusade to free Jerusalem and the Holy Lands from the Muslims. Jerusalem was actually captured by the Christian armies two weeks before Urban II died, but the news reached Rome too late for him to learn of it. Pope Paschal II Paschal II's mark in history lies primarily with his involvement in the Investiture Conflict with various European rulers. Although he managed to reach an accord with Henry I of England and Philip I of France, matters were not nearly so peaceful with Henry IV and Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire. Pope Paschal II hoped to solve the conflict over lay investiture by convincing Henry IV's son to rebel. The rebellion was successful and Henry V took the throne - but the resolution was not and this Henry proved to be even more of a problem than his father. When Henry moved with his armies towards Italy in order to be crowned, Paschal offered the compromise whereby the Church would give up all lands received from the empire since the time of Charlemagne in return for Henry giving up the right to lay investiture. Henry was amenable to this deal, but the citizens of Rome rose up in revolt against it. Henry V went so far as to imprison Paschal in 1111 until he agreed to Henry's demands, but Paschal repudiated his agreement in 1118.

12th century
Pope Gelasius II Pope Gelasius II was elected unanimously, but that didn't help him with the fact that German emperor Henry V was still furious with Gelasius' predecessor over his intransigence over the conflict about lay investiture. One of Henry's supporters in Rome, Cencius Frangipane, had Gelasius imprisoned but Gelasius was later freed by a popular uprising among the Roman citizens. Nevertheless, Henry managed to drive Galasisus from Rome, declared his election null and void, and Burdinus, archbishop of Braga installed as Pope Gregory VIII. This election has always been considered invalid and Braga regarded as an antipope according to Church records. Gelasius excommunicated both Henry and Braga and, while under Norman protection, reentered Rome. Unfortunately his stay didn't last long and he once again had to flee, this to France where he died in exile. Callistus II Callistus II is best known for having finally settled the Investiture Controversy with Henry V. The two reached a mutal agreement with the Concordat of Worms. It probably helped that Callistus had powerful royal connections across Europe - by blood or marriage he was related to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Henry I of England, Louis VI of France, and Alfonso VII of Castile. In March 1123 Callistus called the ninth ecumenical council, known as the the First Lateran Council. Here the bishops not only confirmed the Concordat of Worms, but also passed a number of new reforms. Among the most important was a new standards regarding the marriage of priests. Previously, the marriage of a priest was regarded as valid, even if it was also sinful. Now, however, such marriages were declared null and void. The women who were involved in these relationships were left to their own devices and given no consideration. Pope Honorius II Pope Honorius II was elected in unusual circumstances. Celestine II had actually been elected validly, but the aristocratic Frangipani family objected and prevented Celestine from being consecrated, thus keeping him from becoming a genuine pope. In exchange, they brought their own candidate forward and ensured that Honorius II became pope.

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II's election was marred by the fact that he was chosen by only a minority of cardinals - most had opted for Pietro Pierleoni, who took the

name Anacletus II. Innocent, however, had friends more powerful than the attending cardinals. He fled to France where he enlisted the aid of King Lothair who, two years later, invaded Italy and reinstated Innocent on the papal throne. In return, Innocent crowned Lothair Holy Roman Emperor. Anacletus still had supporters (including most of the Roman citizens), however, and after he died on January 25, 1138, a successor was elected - but in 1138, St. Bernard of Clairvaux persuaded that successor to resign and at the Latern Council held the following year the schism was formally ended. Bernard's early and active support for Innocent may in part have been due to his high esteem of Innocent's life and, in part, because Anaceltus was descended from Jews. In return, at the Council of Sens in 1140 Innocent supported the condemnation of Peter Abelard, theological opponent of Bernard. Pope Celestine II Once a student of Peter Abelard, Pope Celestine II's most important action was to provide absolution to King Louis VII of France and remove the interdict under which France had suffered for the previous three years.

Pope Lucius II Pope Lucius II was involved in serious political struggles with Roger of Sicily. Lucius refused to accept Roger's demands regarding the division of political and religious power, but Lucius was eventually forced to concede by Roger's superior force of arms. Lucius was also in great difficulties with the Roman senate and found himself leading a small army against the Senate in order to restore papal power, but Lucius lost the fight and was wounded so seriously that he died a few days later. Pope Eugene III (Eugenius) A Cistercian abbot, Pope Eugene III became particularly well known for the failure of the Second Crusade which he himself had originally called for In a bull sent to French King, Louis VII, and which he vigorously supported with the help of Bernard of Clairvaux. Eugene III had political problems due to the great popularity of Arnold of Brescia. Arnold was a fierce opponent of the temporal power wielded by the popes, arguing that the position should be one of purely religious and spiritual authority. In 1148 Eugene finally excommunicated Arnold for his heretical views and entered into a pact with Frederick of Barbarossa, Western emperor, in order to rid Rome of Arnold and his followers. Pope Anastasius IV

A local man with close connections to politicians and aristocrats, Anastasius IV was an old man when he was unanimously elected. Aside from reestablishing good relations with locals as well as European powers, nothing much occurred during his brief pontificate.

Pope Hadrian IV (Adrian) At one time an abbot with a zeal for reforms, Hadrian IV was the only pope to ever come from England. His efforts at reform attracted the ire of some in the Roman Catholic Church, but it also attracted positive attention - in particular from Pope Eugene III, who elevated him to the position of cardinal bishop of Albano. Hadrian suffered through many conflicts with Romans who were opposed to papal power. His crowning of emperor Frederick Barbarossa on June 18, 1155, lead to such violence that he actually had to flee Rome. His relationship with Frederick was not always peaceful either and, in 1156, Hadrian was forced to side with the Normans of Sicily against Frederick. Pope Alexander III Alexander III's papacy was marred by the fact that a minority of cardinals at his election chose instead to go with Cardinal Octavian, who adopted the papal name Victor IV. This resulted in a new line of antipopes, with Paschal III (11641168) and Calixtus III (1168-1178) succeeding him. These antipopes had the direct support of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, a ruler whom Alexander had actively opposed while he was still a cardinal. It was not until the Peace of Venice in 1177 that Frederick finally accepted the papacy of Alexander, allowing Alexander to return to Rome where, in 1179, he convened the Third Lateran Council. Alexander wanted to use this Council to enact a number of important reforms and among its decisions was that no pope could be elected without receiving at least two-thirds of the cardinals' ballots. Pope Lucius III Pope Lucius III is known for having formally declared the Waldenses to be heretics in 1184 at a synod which was convened to act against a variety of heretical positions which had been growing in popularity. Unfortunately for him, the Roman citizenry didn't like him and his policies very much and most of his reign was spent outside of Rome. Pope Urban III

Pope Urban III was fiercely independent - so much so that his papacy was marked by problems and fighting with the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. As a result, Frederick had his son invade the Papal States and isolate the pope physically from his few remaining supporters. Urban III was forced to capitulate and died shortly before he could exact his own revenge of excommunicating Frederick. Pope Gregory VIII Gregory VIII seems to have been elected due to his good relations with political leaders. He had hoped to reform the clergy and the Curia, but his reign was much too short for him to accomplish anything. During his short time as pope he received word that Muslim forces under Saladin had capture Jerusalem. This led him to raise the call for a new Crusade and he believed the sins of Christians had caused them to lose their recent gains in the Holy Lands. Pope Clement III Clement III was very well connected among Roman aristocracy, thus making his election to pope much easier. This, in turn, allowed him to cooperate closely with the secular leaders of Rome and heal a number of rifts between the papacy and Roman citizens. He continued Gregory's call for the Third Crusade, although not very much came from it. Pope Celestine III Pope Celestine III reigned for a surprising long time, considering that he was 85 years old when he was elected. He had a rocky relationship with German emperor Henry IV. He crowned Henry emperor just days after his own consecration, but then he later excommunicated Henry for wrongfully imprisoning Richard the Lionhearted. The relationship continued to be strained because neither was ever willing to give in to the demands of the other, but both also needed the other for their own agendas. Pope Innocent III Shortly after his election, Pope Innocent III took advantage of a power vacuum in Germany to reassert papal authority in Rome and take control away from the German government. This expansion of authority was not pursued simply on a political level, but also on a religious level as Innocent vigorously fought various forms of heresy.

He eliminated the Manicheans in the Papal States and then turned his eyes towards France where the Albigenses were growing in numbers and strength. Innocent called for a crusade against them in 1208 and sent Simon of Montfort to lead a campaign to eliminate the Albigenses heresy and restore Southern France to Catholic control. This lead to the formal legitimization of the Inquisition in 1233 for use against suspected heresy in Europe. Pope Innocent III did not see himself merely as a spiritual leader, but also as a temporal ruler. He envisioned a true papal monarchy where the pope served not simply as the Vicar of Christ but also as king with bishops serving under his direct control. Innocent declared the Catholic Church to be a genuine state and, hence, heresy became a crime against the state which could be punished accordingly - both for the spiritual good of the individual as well as the preservation of the Church. In August 1198, he flexed his temporal authority by issuing a decree calling for what would become the Fourth Crusade. He called out not just to kings but also to barons and individual cities to participate in a crusade to end the Muslim threat to the Eastern churches. Unfortunately, little went right with this endeavor. He hoped for it to start on March 1199, but no one left. It wasn't until November 1199 that enough rulers committed enough troops to comprise an actual army. Then, there were transportation issues. Only the Venetians could build and provide enough ships to transport a crusading army East - but the Venetians weren't very interested in a religious crusade. The Venetian relationship with Constantinople had long been in decline and now they saw an opportunity to increase their power and acquire territory. So, they redirected the crusading armies by simply transporting them to a new location, having them sack Zara in 1202 and Constantinople itself in 1204. Naturally this was a devastating blow to the relations between the Eastern and Western Churches, despite the fact that Innocent immediately excommunicated the Venetians for what they did. It would play a significant role in the eventual schism between East and West. Pope Innocent III was also responsible for calling the Fourth Lateran Council, the 12th ecumenical council and perhaps the most widely attended of all the medieval councils.

13th century
Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III was old and in poor health when he was elected, but nevertheless he reigned for almost eleven years and managed to accomplish quite a lot during that time. His two main goal were to maintain papal authority over lands in Italy and to resist the incursions of heresy throughout Christendom.

The former was made difficult by the desires of Frederick, crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Honorius on the condition that he participate in the Fifth Crusade. Frederick was reluctant to do so, however, because he was more interested in establishing his own control over Italy. With regards to the suppression of heresy, he approved the rules and creation of religious orders like the Dominicans, Franciscans and Carmelites. These groups had a two-fold purpose for Honorius: on the one hand, they could be used to chase after heretics and, on the other hand, they could be used as an outlet for reformist tendencies which might otherwise lead a person towards heretical groups. Outright combat against heresy was initiated when Honorius launched a crusade against the Albigensians in 1218. Pope Gregory IX Gregory IX was a compromise candidate who quickly made use of his power by placing Emperor Frederic under the ban of the church on the 29th of September, 1227 for failing to fulfill his oath to set out on a crusade to the Holy Land. Frederick, in turn, instigated a conspiracy against Gregory who only narrowly escaped. Eventually Frederick did undertake his crusade and had himself crowned king of Jerusalem on March 18, 1229. Gregory canonized a number of people who were important in the history of the Catholic Church, including Elizabeth, Dominic and Anthony of Padua, and also Francis of Assisi, who had been a personal friend. Pope Celestine IV Celestine was already old and infirm when he was elected. The cardinals had been locked in a conclave for two months when they finally chose him as a compromise candidate. At the time there were only 10 cardinals available to meet in conclave and they were evenly divided: half approved of anti-imperial policies of Gregory IX and half wanted to reach some sort of accommodation with the emperor. One cardinal died during the conclave and another fell seriously ill. It's uncertain whether Celestine was even consecrated bishop before he himself died. Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV inherited a plethora of political troubles between the papacy and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick had so often delayed setting out on a crusade that Pope Gregory IX had excommunicated him and even went so far as to depose him as king in Germany. Innocent entered into negotiations to try and ease tensions, but the talks ultimately failed and Innocent was forced to flee to Lyons where he convened a general council.

This council was designed to find Federick guilty of a number of offenses, including heresy, perjury and sacrilege - and the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Frederick denied the authority of the pope to pronounce such a declaration, but he died before anything could come of this challenged.

Pope Alexander IV A nephew of Pope Gregory IX, Alexander IV made a number of serious political blunders which ensured him the enmity of several important European rulers. On the other hand, he did show favor towards the mendicant orders. He gathered together several groups of monks adhereing to the Rule of St. Augustine, founding the Augustinian Hermits and he canonized Clare or Assisi, the woman who founded the Poor Clares. He also launched the Inquisition in France. Pope Urban IV Urban IV was elected in a conclave that included just eight cardinals, and even then he was only elected after bitter fighting among them. He himself was an outsider of this group - at the time he had been patriarch of Jerusalem and only visiting Italy on business. The first thing Urban did was increase the College of Cardinals to 14 and shortly thereafter he worked to increase the amount of funds available to the Vatican. Pope Clement IV Before, became a priest in 1256 (when his wife died), Gui Folques was a respected jurist under King Louis IX. After his ordination, he quickly climbed the Church hierarchy and was appointed bishop in 1257. A position as archbishop came two years later and cardinal another two years after that. As pope, Clement IV had the opportunity to end the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity. Emperor Michael Palaeologus had declared a willingness to bring about a reunification of the Western and Eastern churches and to accept papal supremacy, but Clement demanded grovelling submission, a price too high to pay. Clement may have also been influenced by the desire of Charles of Anjou to take Constantinople by force and make it a Latin Christian city. Closer to home Clement reinforced papal authority by issuing the papal bull Licet ecclesiasrum which declared that all benefices were papal appointments. A benefice is an ecclesiastical office which comes with the power to collect money in order to support the goals of that office. In this way the power and influence of local secular rulers over Church leaders was to be curtailed.

After Clement died, the cardinals required nearly three years to elect a successor. The people were so outraged over the repeated and inexcusable delays that they finally had to lock the cardinals in the papal palace, remove the roof (thus exposing them to the elements) and threaten to withhold food until they finally produced a new pontiff.

Pope Gregory X The election of Gregory X occured while he, as archeacon of Liege, was a pilgrimage to Saint Jean d'Acre during a crusade with Prince Edward of England. As a result, he was not consecrated until the next year; the date of his consecration is often used as the beginning of his pontificate. This pontificate began very auspiciously when a council with both Eastern and Western representatives agreed to use a creed in use in the West and accept the authority of the pope over the Universal Church, thus healing a rift which had lingered for over two centuries. Gregory further strengthened his position by issuing decrees to reform church abuses and to prevent protacted elections like the one whcih preceeded his own rise to the papal throne. Pope Innocent V Innocent V was the first Dominican monk to ever rise to the papacy. Because the Dominican habit was white, Innocent also started the traditionof the pope wearing a white cassock. Innocent was also well known as a scholar, having worked closely with such figures as Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Bonaveture. Indeed, he was such close friends with the latter that he spoke at Bonaveture's funeral. Innocent also put in some effort to try and heal the schism between the Eastern and Western churches. Unfortunately, he also owed no small measure of allegiance to secular rulers who had him use phrasings and expressions which were certain to upset Eastern Church leaders and ensure that the rift continued. Pope Adrian V (Hadrian) Adrian V occupies an interesting position in the history of the papacy. Because of how brief his "reign" was, he was never ordained a priest (he was only a deacon at the time of his election). This, in turn, meant that he was never actually consecrated and crowned as pope. Theologically speaking, then, he could not legitimately be pope - at the time, though, a successful election was sufficient to make one a pope, so he remains on the canonical list. He may be the only pope who was never a priest.

Pope John XXI The only Portugese pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, John XXI also happens to be the only pope which Dante depicted as residing in Paradise. His reign was characterized by attempts to promote peace and justice - for example, he admonished papal tax collectors who abused their positions and power. Technically, John should have bee named John XX and not John XXI because there had only been nineteen pontiffs before him who had taken the name John. However, a mistake in the counting was made and he was designated John XXI. John was first and foremost a scholar - he had been a practising physician and published a number of books dealing with philosophy and medicine. He was so engrossed in scholarship, in fact, that he left the day-to-day administration of the Church to Cardinal Orsini, who would become Pope Nicholas III. Orsini succeeded John after John died from injuries sustained when the ceiling of his observatory collapsed upon him. Pope Nicholas III Nicholas III's papacy was largely involved with political machinations arranged marriages, arranged negotiations between different European rulers, and arranged political offices. He decreed that no outside prince could be permitted to become a senator in Rome without papal approval and, out the same time, had himself named senator for life. He also engaged in a major renovation of St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Palace, which he made his official residence. Like many pope of the time, Nicholas III engaged in repeated nepotism something which caused Dante to depict him in hell in his work The Divine Comedy. Pope Martin IV Pope Martin IV owed his election to Charles of Anjou and, partially as a result of that, Martin was unabashedly pro-French in his policies and in his appointements. Perhaps because of his political connections the people of Rome refused to receive him; Martin had to be consecrated Orvieto and he spent most of his time as pope in that city. When Sicily successfully revolted against French rule the rebels wrote to Martin asking for his support. Martin not only refused, he offered Charles every possible assistance to recover control over the island. Under the influence of Charles he also excommunicated the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1281, nullifying a union between the Eastern and Western churches which had been in place in the Second Council of Lyons since 1274. This was unfortunate because Michael had gone to great efforts to preserve the union and compromise with Rome's demands.

Technically Martin was only the second pope with that name. In the official lists popes Marinus I and II were incorrectly listed as popes Martin II and III.

Pope Honorius IV The grandnephew of Pope Honorius III, Pope Honorius IV was elderly and fail when elected, leading an undistinguished and unremarkable pontifficate. He was popular with the people of Rome and he was a staunch supporter of religious orders, in particular the Dominicans and and the Franciscans. He also worked, unsuccessfully, to achieve some measure of reunification between the Western and Eastern churches. Pope Nicholas IV The first Franciscan to ever sit on the papal throne, Nicholas IV at first refused the office but was later convinced to reconsider and eventually accept the papacy. His political policies were not always those which engendered widespread support. In order to ensure the security of the papacy, he would forge political ties which only served to upset someone else. For example, he gave a great deal of support to the Colonnas family in Rome, something which lead to dissent by much of the Roman populace. The one action of Nicholas' which did not create dissatisfaction seems to have been the establishment of the Catholic Church in China for the first time. Pope Celestine V Celestine V inherited a troubled papacy which was largely under the thumb of Charles II of Sicily. Through his reign Celestine was unable to do much of anything without approval and support from Charles - something Celestine himself recognized. This was probably the reason why he abdicated his position after only 5 months. Pope Boniface VIII Boniface VIII made strong claims to both religious and political power, something which did not sit well with other rulers in Europe. In 1302 he issued the Papal Bull Unam Sanctam ("One Holy") which was one of the boldest statements of papal supremacy ever issued: By our faith we are compelled to believe and sustain on holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. This We firmly believe, and We make simple confession that outside the Church

there is no salvation or remission of sins. ...Therefore, We declare, affirm and define as a truth necessary for salvation that every human being is subject to the Roman pontiff. Such declarations of power were naturally unwelcome among secular authorities. Boniface was apparently blind to the growing power of secular nationalism which was spreacing across Europe. Most opposed to Boniface VIII was King Philip ("the Fair") IV of France, whom Boniface actually excommunicated in 1303. In response, Philip took him prisoner in Anagni, Italy and held for three days before townspeople rescued him. However, the stress took its toll and he died shortly after. Not even that stopped Philip's pursuit and in 1310 he forced Pope Clement V to initiate proceedings to determine that Boniface was heretical (they were eventually dropped). Boniface did a lot to help improve the Vatican - he reorganized the archives, had the library cataloged, founded the Univesity of Rome (the Sapienza) in 1303, and patronized various artists and sculptors. Less appealing was his ruthless support of the interestes of his family and some of his finanical policies. Boniface is known for having established the tradition of jubilees, sources of not only money but also scandal for the Church. Partly because of this Dante depicted him in Hell.

14th century
Pope Benedict XI A Domician who was born to a working-class family, Pope Benedict XI has become known in history as having had an especially weak papacy. In particular, he proved unable to stand up to the demands of King Philip IV (the Fair) of France. Philip continued to fight against the memory of Pope Boniface VIII, the pope who had excommunicated him and whom Philip had imprisoned as a consequence. It is worth noting that Boccasino took the name Benedict XI, even though Benedict X is currently regarded as having been an antipope. This demonstrates that those who are today treated as antipopes were not always regarded as having been invalid. Pope Clement V Clement V was the first pope of the so-called "Babylonian Captivity," also known as the "Avignon Exile" because the seat of the papacy was set in Avignon, France instead of Rome. Indeed, Clement never even set foot in Rome - he spent all of his time in France. Both the popes and thy general church structure were largely under the control of the French monarchy and French interests. Clement even went so far as to publish a bull praising King Philip of France for this fervor and hostility towards Pope Boniface VIII on account of the latter's unfavorable actions towards France. It is also believed that Clement's actions against the Knights Templar would not have occurred without pressure from Philip.

On matters not French, Clement V excommunicated Robert the Bruce of Scotland because he had a rival of his, John Comyn, murdered in church during mass. He also founded a number of universities and important teaching posts at other institutions.

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII is known for centralizing church power (through the appointment of bishops) and centralizing church finances (through the imposition of papal taxes). Because of his desire to gain greater power and autonomy for the Catholic Church, he predictably was also characterized by regular conflict with the dominant secular authority at the time, emperor Louis of Bavaria. His quest for power also brought him into doctrinal conflict with the Spiritual Franciscans, a within the Franciscan order which placed a special emphasis on Francis' original goals of poverty and humility - two things which contradicted increasing papal power and taxation. This particular conflict became ironic when his successor condemned Pope John XXII's opinion that saints would not see God until after the Final Judgment. The Spiritual Franciscans turned to German King Louis IV for help because Louis was already alienated from the pope - John had not supported Louis' claim to the crown. In January 1328, Louis entered Rome at the head of his army, had himself crowned, and named an antipope: Nicholas V. Unfortunately, once Louis left Rome Nicholas did not have enough support to say and he fled to Avignon, where he submitted himself to John (who was merciful enough to allow him to live out his life comfortably). Pope Benedict XII A Cistercian monk, Pope Benedict XII focused himself on ways to reform aspects of the church, in particular some of the luxuries enjoyed by the monastic orders and the ways in which clergy were failing to live up to the standards set for them. Unfortunately, these efforts largely failed. The papacy at this time was situated in Avignon and, although Benedict wanted to return to Rome, the chaotic political and social situation prevented him and he began construction of the massive Avignon papal palace. Pope Clement VI Clement VI would become the most "French" of the popes ruling from Avignon, appointing mostly Frenchmen to the position of cardinal when openings occurred. He also "ruled" in a very secular manner, holding a richly

ordained court in a vastly enlarged palace. His efforts to calm other secular rulers was not very successful, however, and the Hundred Years War raged around him without pause. In 1343 he issued the papal bull Unigenitus ("Unbegotten"), declaring that the accumulated merit of the Catholic Church, won by Christ and the Saints, could be drawn upon by the faithful through something known as Indulgendces. This doctrine was later challenged by Martin Luther and was an important factor in the development of the Protestant Reformation. On the positive side, he went out of his way to help persecuted Jews. In 1348 the Black Death was sweeping across Europe and three-quarters of the population of Avignon died. As happened so often, the Jews were blamed for this and might have been slaughtered, were it not for the personal efforts of Clement to protect and shield them. He also issued bulls commanding others to work to protect Jews from similar danger elsewhere. Pope Innocent VI One of the popes who ruled from Avignon, Innocent VI was a reform-minded administrator who tried to reverse some of the excesses of his predecessor, Clement VI, and reign in financial extravagance. He even sold off various paintings and jewelry in order to raise funds. Powerful cardinals who were interested in becoming even more powerful opposed his reforms - an, in fact, records indicate that Innocent had agreed to allow the cardinals wide latitude in action during the conclave which elected him. However, once he was pope, he began his reforms and rejected the protests. One of the objects of his reforms was the monastic group known as Spiritual Franciscans. He was especially hard on them, causing Bridget of Sweden to withdraw her support for the pope, accusing him of persecuting "Christ's flock". Externally, however, Innocent was unable to assert his power very effectively. For example, although he crowned Charles IV of Bohemia as Holy Roman Emperor in 1355 and maintained amicable relations with him, Charles insisted on issuing his "Golden Bull". This was basically a restatement of an earlier decree from Louis IV, declaring that the election of an imperial candidate did not require papal approval. Because the Hundred Years War was ongoing and the papal residence was still in Avignon, the security of the pope was continually in question. The city was frequently attacked by wandering soldiers and Innocent had to spent great amounts of money to maintain and improve fortifications for both the city and the papal palace. He had hoped to move the papal residence back to Rome, where the political struggles seemed mild in comparison, but he died before he could see his plans through. Pope Urban V

A Benedictine monk who once taught theology, Urban V, was something of disciplinarian who eschewed the pomp and festival which other popes seemed to enjoyed. One important facet of his reign was his efforts to move the papacy from Avignon back to Rome. Although by this time the Lateran palace was practically uninhabitable by this time, Urban went ahead anyway. Unfortunately, political strife in Rome forced Urban to return to Avignon in 1370 and the papacy would again be under French domination. Pope Gregory XI The election of Gregory XI was the last time anyone from France would hold the papal throne. He could be considered a "hopeful" pope - he hoped to move the papal residence from Avignon back to Rome, he hoped to reunite the Western Latin and Eastern Orthodox Churches, and he hoped to launch a Crusade against the Turks. On the first, the return of the papacy to Rome agains the protests of powerful French cardinals, was actually successful. Gregory XI also exerted himself against various heresies which had begun to spread around Europe, in particular those of John Wycliffe in England. Much of this effort was through the institution of the Inquisition - an organization which had become ruthless over the years. Pope Urban VI (Naples, Italy) Urban VI was elected by French Cardinals at the behest of a Roman populace which demanded that an Italian once again sit on Peter's throne. This would not prove to be a good choice for them because Urban really wanted to reform the clergy - in particular, he wanted to limit the extravagant lifestyles which the cardinals had come to enjoy. Unfortunately, he did not go about these reforms with much tact and his insults and abuse of the cardinals caused them to elect an antipope, Clement VII - this inaugurated the Great Schism of the West. This would last for some 60 years, with one set of popes settled in the Lateran Palace in the Vatican and a second line of popes based in Avignon. Urban launched upon a program of violence against those he thought to have been conspiring against him, imprisoning people at will and mistreating them brutally. Later historians have considered seriously that he might have been insane. Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX was the second pope during the Great Western Schism and his failure to do much to end this rift causes most to regard his papacy as something of a failure. He was popular in Rome, perhaps because his personality was more appealing than that of his predecessors, but that

popularity dropped significantly when his authoritarian tendencies took hold and his abolished Rome's republican government.

15th century
Pope Innocent VII Pope Innocent VII reigned during the Great Schism of the West and it is partly because of him that this schism continued as long as it had. Before his election (with only eight cardinals), he had agreed to abdicate his position on the condition that the antipope Benedict XIII do the same - but after his election, Innocent generally ignored Benedict and decided to go his own way. Innocent XIII wasn't very popular with the people of Rome and he was forced to get the aid of the King of Naples to suppress the people - but only on the condition that Innocent continue his refusal to reach any accomodation with Benedict in Avignon because that, in turn, could threaten King Ladislas' claim over Naples. Ladislas wasn't entirely successful in keeping the Roman citizens in line and, in order to try and restore order, the pope's nephew murdered eleven of the ring leaders. The people assumed that Innocent was himself responsible and the danger to him became so great that he had to flee to Viterbo. Pope Gregory XII Gregory XII reigned during the Great Schism of the West and had, before his election, promised to abdicate as long as the antipope Benedict XIII agreed to do the same. Unfortunately, matters did not go well and disagreements over where they would meet resulted in an obstinate refusal on both sides to meet at all. In the end, however, Gregory was able to help end the schism. Although the antipope John XXIII was the one to originally convene the Council of Constance, it made significant advances and eventually deposed John XXIII. Gregory agreed to go along with the council, but only if he were permitted to formally convene it himself because he did not acknowledge John's authority for having done so earlier. The Council agreed and Gregory convened the Council in July. This united the cardinals in both the Roman and Avignon lines and Martin V would be elected the new, valid pope. Pope Martin V

The election of Martin V served to end the Great Schism of the West there had been three rival popes and, after the Council of Constance, there was only one: Martin V. Because the previous years had created such a scandal about the Church, Martin immediately proceeded to reestablish papal authority. He decreed that no one could appeal to any body or person over the pope in matters pertaining to faith, thus emphasizing the fact that a pope was superior to any council or synod. Martin also made extensive use of both diplomacy and military might to reestablish papal authority over the Papal States, successfully putting and end to the extensive brigandage which had become entrenched while there were multiple popes fighting amongst each other. Martin was not, however, successful in reaching a greater accomodation with Constantinople or in suppressing the followers of John Hus in Bohemia (Hus had been burned to death at Constance, during the same council which brought Martin to power). Pope Eugene IV (Eugenius) An Augustinian monk and a nephew of Pope Gregory XII, Eugene IV was chosen by the cardinals in large part because they were looking for someone who would treat them less as servants of the papacy and more as partners when it came to adminstering the Church and making decisions about theology and doctrine. Martin V had been too authoritarian for the tastes of many, so they were looking for a change. Unfortunately the didn't quite get what they were looking for - in part because Eugene believed in papal supremacy and in part because Eugene seems to have been naive about how his decisions would be treated. Although Eugene had published a bull immediately after his election which committed him to an agenda of reform and collaboration, he didn't pay much attention to it. For example, he summarily dismissed the Council of Basel, an act which shocked everyone involved - but Eugene was himself surprised to find that most of those involved simply ignored his order and pressed ahead. According to them, general church councils were superior to the pope and, as such, could not be commanded in such a manner. The Council of Basel had been called for the purpose of reforms and the people attending were committed to finding and enacting those reforms, regardless of what Eugene thought. In 1435, the Council declared an end to papal taxes (annates) and sharp limitations on the power of the pope and the Curia, decisions which Eugene would condemn the following year. In 1437 the Council was moved to Ferrara, Italy, where it was joined by a large delegation from Constantinople; in 1438 the entire group was moved again to Florence - apparently, Eugene had promised to pay for all of the costs of the 700+ eastern delgation and he was behind on his payments. John VIII Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor, agreed to an act of reunification between the Eastern and Western churches - not out of any desire to heal the

religious rift bur rather because Constantinople was threatened by Turkish invasion and John needed help from the West. This agreement, entitled Laetentur coeli, stipulated that the Eastern churches acknowledge the primacy of the pope, the existence of Purgatory, the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist, and the use of filioque in the Nicene Creed. This agreement would not prove to be very substantive and it was eventually ignored by all concerned. Meanwhile, a number of church delegates had remained in Basel and even went so far as to depose Eugene IV. In his place they elected Amadeus VIII, the duke of Savoy, as antipope. Amadeus took the name Felix V, but he was only accepted as legitimate in those few areas where he had previously held secular influence. Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V was the first of the Renaissance popes and is known as a Humanist Pope because of the resources he devoted to scholarship and learning. He founded the Vatican Library and invested considerable sums for the translation of Greek literature. He was more politically astute that many of his predecessors and he was able to make peace with a number of political rivals. One, Frederick III, was crowned emperor in St. Peter's in 1451, the last time such a coronation occurred there. For Nicholas, the worst aspect of his reign seems to have been the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. He described this as "a second death" for Homer and Plato and called for a Crusade to be launched for the purpose of retaking the city. Callistus III Callistus III was born into the infamous Borgia family and one of the nephews which he named as cardinal would himself later become pope and take the name Pope Alexander VI. The only reason that Callistus appears to have been elected in the first place was that he was so old and feeble that all of the cardinals considered him a safe compromise. He didn't really do much and, in fact, spent much of his reign in bed, sick. Just about the only thing he did do was call for a Crusade against the Turks who had captured Constantinople in 1453, but this didn't amount to much because he was unable to find any Christian rulers who were interested in such an expidition. All that happened was that a small fleet sailed up and down the coast of Asia for three years, capturing a couple of islands. In 1456 Calllistus had the case of Joan of Arc reopened and eventually had her cleared of the charges of heresy and witchcraft - 25 years after she had been burned at the stake. That same year he also placed increased emphasis on a number of anti-Jewish laws.

Pope Pius II Pius II was an enthusiastic supporter of crusades against the Turks - he called for a new one in 1458, but his political alliances caused France to refuse to participate; this effectively ended any hopes for a new military expedition to the Holy Lands. He tried once again in 1463 and was even determined to lead it himself, but he fell ill with a fever in Ancona and died. Pope Paul II Himself a beneficiary of nepotism because his uncle, Pope Eugenius IV, Pope Paul II, promised to end the practice during his reign - along with other reforms which were designed to improve the morals and administration of the Vatican. Unfortunately, he also inherited political problems from his predecessor, Pius II, particularly a conflict with the Turks. In 1470 the last Venetian outpost in Greece, Euboea, was finally overrun and Paul tried to call for a crusade, but nothing much came of it. Like some other Renaissance popes, Paul II was a great lover of shows and spectacles. He spent large sums of money collecting silk clothing and jewelry and had the Palazzo di Venezia built in Rome. He also declared that Jubilee Years should be held four times every century instead of the traditional two in order to satisfy his love of shows. He was not, however, popular among the humanists because of his repression of scholars and suppression of the Roman academy. Pope Sixtus IV One of the first acts of Sixtus IV after being elected was to encourage the leaders of France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Poland to pursue a new crusade against the Turks - but the crusade accomplished little in the end. Sixtus was probably aware of the plot involving his nephew, Cardinal Rafael Riario, but lead by the Pazzi family to overthrow the Medici and bring Florence under the Riarii. His attempts to quell a popular uprising against the plotters lead to a twoyear war with Florence, with the pope encouraging the Venetians to take part on his side. Other Italian states, however, sided with Florence and forced the pope to make peace. A Franciscan originally, Sixtus was very supportive of the mendicant order in the Catholic Church and he was responsible for the canonization of the Franciscan scholar Bonaventure. Sixtus was also responsible for transforming Rome from a medieval city into a Renaissance city, for example by having the Sistine chapel built and establishing the Vatican archives. Streets were widened and paved, dilapidated buildings were torn down and replaced, hospitals were established, new chapels were built, and a new bridge (now called the Ponte Sisto after him) was put across the Tiber.

Although Sixtus took measures to repress heresy, for example with the Waldenses, he objected to what he perceived to be abuses committed in the name of the Spanish Inquisition (which he created at the request of of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile). Despite this he was not able to do much to counteract the abuses because King Ferdinand threatened to withdraw his military support of Sixtus took action to stop the Inquisition. The most Sixtus could do was issue a brief reprimanding inquisitors for over-zealousness in the treatment of alleged heretics. Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII was not aptly named - his papacy was one of the most worldly and corrupt on record. Matters started out badly enough because his election was due in large part to the scheming of Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere. Nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, Della Rovere wanted the papacy for himself but knew that he didn't have enough votes; he thus chose instead to fight for the election of someone he thought he could control. He was successful. Innocent VIII was himself far from innocent. Even before his election as pope he had three illegitimate children, all of whom he openly acknowledged once his position was secure. Financial insolvency was the order of the day for Innocent - he had no money but insisted on living like a rich prince. Everyone at the papal court lived in grand style, much like the courts all around Europe. Many new offices were created solely in order to sell them to the highest bidder. At one point Innocent was even reduced to pawning the papal tiara to a Roman merchant. Politically, Pope Innocent VII hoped to launch a crusade against the Turks; instead, he ended up in negotiations with them and signed a very good treaty. Not only would a large sum of money be paid to the pope every year, but Innocent also received the Holy Lance, believed to have been the lance that pierced the side of Christ at the crucifixion. This would have been the same lance found by the first Crusaders. Pope Alexander VI Alexander VI's maternal uncle was Callixtus III, who quickly made Rodrigo bishop, cardinal and vice-chancellor of the church. Despite such nepotism, he served five different popes and proved to be a capable administrator. His private life was something else, however, and he had many mistresses. Among his (at least) four children were Lucrezia Borgia and Cesare Borgia, idol of Machiavelli. There is some speculation that he achieved the office of pope through simony, in other words that he paid for it. However, there appears to be no way to prove such charges. Once he was elected pope, he started out normal enough, but he quickly involved himself with the nepotism which has proven so helpful to him earlier in his career. Even in comparison to other Renaissance popes, his rule was considered especially lavish and immoral.

At the same time, Alexander was a staunch supporter of the arts and culture. He was the patron for Michelangelo's Pieta and had the papal apartments refurbished. It was under his auspices that the "papal line of demarcation" divided responsibility for administration of the New World between Spain and Portugal.

16th century
Pope Pius III Pius III was the nephew of Pope Pius II and, as such, was warmly welcomed into the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Unlike many in similar positions, however, he seems to have had a strong sense of personal integrity and, as a result, became a good candidate for the papacy - all sides trusted him. As a man of integrity, he was anxious to reform various abuses in the Church and made significant moves in that direction by drawing up new regulations, reducing papal expenditures and seeking to convene a general Council. Unfortuantely, his poor health got worse and he died just 10 days after he was formally coronated. Pope Julius II Pope Julius II was the nephew of Pope Sixtus IV and, because of this family connection, he moved around among a lot of different positions of power and authority within the Roman Catholic Church - eventually holding some eight bishoprics in total and then later serving as papal legate to France. Once he became pope, Julius had to content with an Italy which was beset with dissent and conflict - but he was not interested in calm negotiations. Instead, he simply went to war against the troublemakers, even donning full armor himself and leading the papal armies against Venice. The Fifth Lateran Council was called by Julius and convened in 1512, but it was only attended mainly by Italian bishops. It from 1512 through 1517 and was used to establish peaceful relationships among Christian rulers while also calling for more vigorous military efforts against the Turks. Julius also used it to move against a number of cardinals who were threatening to defect and start a new schism. At the same time, Julius was big patron of the arts, supporting the work of people like Michaelangelo and Raphael. The combination of violence and art resulted in a mixed legacy - even when people referred to him as "Julius the Terrible," they had to acknowledge his incredible contributions to art and architecture. Pope Leo X

Pope Leo X will forever be known as the pope of the beginning of Protestant Reformation. It was during his reign that Martin Luther felt forced to react to certain church excesses - in particular, excesses for which Leo himself was responsible. Leo engaged is massive construction campaigns, expensive military campaigns, and huge personal extravagance, all of which led the Church into deep debt. As a result, Leo felt forced to find a great deal of new revenue, and he decided to increase the sale of both ecclesiastical offices and of indulgences, both of which were protested by many different reformers throughout Europe. People were growing increasingly tired of the corruption, scandals and excesses of the Church. This, then, was the social and religious context which produced the likes of Martin Luther. Pope Adrian VI Once a Head Inquisitor for the Inquisition, Adrian VI was a reform-minded pope, trying to improve matters within the Church by attacking the various abuses of power one-by-one. Among the abuses he hoped to change was the large sums of money given to artists - not something which endeared him to the increasingly humanist population of Rome which appreciated the artistry which the Church sponsored. Adrian was the only Dutchman ever elected pope and another non-Italian pope would not be elected until 1978: John Paul II. Pope Clement VII A member of the powerful Medici family, Clement VII possessed great political and diplomatic skills - but he lacked the understanding of the age necessary to cope with the political and religious changes he faced. His relationship with Emperor Charles V was so bad that, in May 1527, Charles invaded Italy and sacked Rome. Imprisoned, Clement was forced into a humiliating compromise which forced him to give up a great deal of secular and religious power. Because of this strife, it became impossible for the forces of orthodoxy and establishment to properly respond to the challenges posed by the growing Protestant Reformation. The pope and the emperor simply could not agree on what to do and how to react - Charles even asked Clement to call a church council, but Clement simply refused (perhaps in an attempt to avoid looking like he was under the emperor's control any more than he already was). In an effort to appease Charles, however, Clement refused to grant King Henry VIII of England a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, who happened to be Charles' aunt. This, in turn, allowed the English Reformation to develop. Thus, political and religious dissent in both England and Germany developed and spread more readily because of Clement's failed political policies.

Pope Paul III Paul III was the first pope of the Counter Reformation, inaugurating the Council of Trent on December 13, 1547. Paul was generally reform-minded, but he was also a strong supporter of the Jesuits, an organization which worked diligently to enforce orthodoxy within the Catholic Church, and formally recognized them in the bull Regimini militantis ecclesiae. As part of the effort to fight Protestantism, he excommunicated Henry VIII of England in 1538 because of the later's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, a key event in the English Reformation. He also encouraged Charles V in his war against the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of German Protestants who were fighting for their right to separate themselves from the Roman Catholic Church. Although he chastised others for their cruelty towards Protestants and on the other hand, he also established the Index of Forbidden Books as part of the effort to shield Catholics from heretical views. He also formally established the Congregation of the Roman Inquisition, officially known as the Holy Office, which was given wide powers of both censorship and prosecution. Despite such excesses, Paul was a strong supporter of the arts. He commissioned Michelangelo to paint his famous Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel and to supervise architectural work on the new St. Peter's Basilica. He was also, unfortunately, a strong supporter of nepotism. Even after he declared that the college of cardinals had to be reformed, he promoted two of his grandsons to cardinals - one was 14 years old and the was 16 years old. Curiously, extravagant support of the arts and extravagant nepotism were characteristic of many renaissance popes. Pope Julius III Early on Julius III was persuaded by emperor Charles V to recall the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1548. During its six sessions Protestant theologians attended and conferred with Catholics, but nothing ultimately came of it. Julius was, however, successful in strengthening the Church internally. He confirmed the constitution of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1550 and founded the Collegium Germanicum for the training of German priests. Eventually, matters deteriorated even on this level. Julius began to devote himself to living a life of luxury and ease, schoking others at the way he behaved at entertainments. The first cardinal he ever created

was a boy just sixteen years old, merely because of the youth's courage when bitten by the pope's pet monkey.

Pope Marcellus II Pope Marcellus II has the unfortunate distinction of having had one of the shortest papal reigns in the entire history of the Roman Catholic Church. He is also one of only two to have retained his original name after election. He had evidently planned on initiating an ambitious program for reform and hoped to work against abuses such as nepotism and excessively lifestyles of church officials - but he suffered a stroke before anything could be done. Pope Paul IV Responsible for reorganizing the Inquisition in Italy while archbishop of Naples, many were surprised that such a rigid and uncompromising person would be selected to become pope. While in office, Paul IV used his position both to promote Italian nationalism and to further strengthen the powers of the Inquisition. When German Catholics and Protestants finally worked out an agreement to end their fighting by agreeing that cuius regio, eius religio (the ruler of the state shall determine the religion), Paul condemned the agreement because he thought that it hurt the Church. As was typical of Renaissance popes, Paul IV also used his office to enrich his family. He made his nephew Carlo Caraffa a cardinal and gave other relatives benefices and estates taken from those who supported Spain. Paul had an almost irrational hatred of Spain and conspired with the French government to drive the Spanish out of Italy, but he was defeated in battle in 1557. He was ultimately so upopular that, after he died, a mob stormed the Inquisition and tore down his statue. Pope Pius IV One of the most important actions taken by Pope Pius IV was to reconvene the Council of Trent on January 18, 1562, which had been suspended ten years earlier. Once the Council had reached its final decisions in 1563, Pius then worked to make sure that its decrees were spread across the Catholic world. Pope Pius V A member of the Dominican order, Pius V worked hard to improve the position of the papacy. Internally, he cut expenditures and externally, he

increased the power and effectiveness of the Inquistion and expanded the use of the Index of Forbidden Books. Heresy virtually disappeared from Italy and, for his efforts, he was canonized 150 years later.

Pope Gregory XIII Gregory XIII (1502-1585) served as pope from 1572 through 1585. He played an important role at Council of Trent (1545, 1559-63) and was a vociferous critic of German Protestants. As part of his effort to combat the heresy of Protestantism, he founded numerous colleges and seminaries in Europe for the purpose of teaching and promoting the "true" Christian faith. He has been sharply criticized for holding a public thanksgiving at Rome for the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. He is perhaps best known for creating the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar still in use in the West today. According to the Julian calendar, the year is 365 days 6 hr, a bit long. By the 16th century all of this accumulated time had moved the vernal equinox to March 11 from March 21. So, in 1582 Gregory simply "deleted" 10 days from the new calendar, which now included "leap days" in order to make up for more accumulated time in the future. By 1585, it had replaced the older Julian calendar in most Catholic countries. Protestant countries adopted it only gradually and some Eastern Orthodox countries did not do so until the 20th century. Pope Sixtus V While still a preist, Perettie was a fiery opponent of the Protestant Reformation and his work was directly supported by powerful figures in the Church, including Cardinal Carafa (later Pope Paul IV), Cardinal Ghislieri (later Pope Pius V), and St. Ignatius of Loyola. As pope, he continued his efforts to defeat Protestantism by sanctioning Philip II of Spain's plans to invade England and restore it to Catholicism, but that endeavor ended in a humiliating defeat for the Spanish Armada. Other work by Sixtus was, however, more successful. Though is methods were violent, he did manage to bring peace to the Papal States by eliminating groups of bandits (and by executing thousands of them). He greatly enlarged the teasury by collecting new taxes and selling various offices, he built or refurbished numerous churches throughout Rome, rebuilt the Lateran palace, finished construction of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, and he erected many new monuments and buildings. His administrative reforms were also signifiant. He set the maximum number of cardinals at 70, a number which did not change until the pontificate of John XXIII. He also reorganized the Curia and those changes were not amended until Second Vatican Council.

Pope Urban VII Urban VII has the unfortunate distinction of being one of being one of the shortest-lived popes ever - he died just 12 days after his election (apparently of malaria) and before he could even be coronated. Pope Gregory XIV Gregory XIV had a relatively short and unsuccessful pontificate. Weak and invalid even from the start, he would eventually die due to a large gallstone - reportedly 70 grams. Gregory's reign was particularly marred by the fact that he appointed his nephew as cardinal-secretary and Rome was suffering from both food shortages and an outbreak of the plague. Gregory also abandoned the policy of his predecessors in trying to maintain a balance between Spain and France, coming down solidly on the side of Spanish interests - in part because he was elected due to the influence of Spanish cardinals. Pope Innocent IX Pope Innocent IX reigned only a very short period of time and, during that time, he doesn't seem to have had a chance to do very much.

Pope Clement VIII The most important political event during Clement VIII's papacy was his reconciliation with Henry IV of France when Clement recognized the latter as King of France in 1595 - despite the Edict of Nantes (1598) which had recognized the right of French Protestants (Hugenots) freedom of conscience and worship. The papacy had long sided with Spain against the interests of France but Spain had also developed a dictatorial control over the pope, something which Celement hoped to reverse by switching sides to France. Although he accepted the fact that French Protestants had religious freedom, this did not mean that the simply accepted the existence of Protestantism. He expanded the Index of

Forbidden Books and he used the Inquisition to condemn and execute controversial philosopher Giordano Bruno.

17th century
Pope Leo XI Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici was already seventy years old and rather frail when he was elected, so he didn't last very long. This is perhaps unfortunate - while he was a Cardinal, Alessandro was a very religious man who worked hard to push forward Tridentien reforms and support discipline in France. Pope Paul V Paul V was considered an ideal candidate for the papacy because he was not attached to any particular political faction within the Church or Roman society. Politically, however, he made few friends. In 1606 the city of Venice attempted to put two clerics on trial in a secular rather than in an ecclesiastical court. In response, Paul placed the entire city under interdict - but the city refused to acknowledge his authority in this matter and simply expelled any representative of the papacy who tried to enforce the ruling. Internally he had a greater impact by beatifying (one step towards canonization) a number of important individuals, including Ignatius Loyola and Teresa of Avila. Pope Gregory XV Gregory XV, the first pope to be educated by Jesuits, hoped to support Catholic forces who were fighting Protestants in Germany, but was able to achieve little aside from reinstating the dominance of Catholicism in Bohemia. He did, however, reinforce traditional Catholicism by canonizing important Church figures in the battle against Protestantism and in support of the authority of the Church: St. Theresa of Avila, Francis Xavier, Ignatius Loyola, and Philip Neri. Gregory also played an important role in the development of new rules governing the election of future popes, something which grew out of his background in law. The basics of the rules he helped develop are still in use by the Roman Catholic Church today. Pope Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII is known for a number of things, not least of which was his nepotism. Historians have even gone so far as to label his actions "reckless nepotism" because he went so much further than other popes. A brother and two nephews were made cardinals and many other members of his family were advanced in the Church hierarchy. Urban VIII is also known for some rather unorthodox beliefs. His fears of others caused him to turn to magicians for protection, even having them perform a ceremony to ward off evil spirits. He also had horoscopes draw up for important figures so as to know exactly when they would die. Despite his own penchant for such unorthodox ideas, he did not hesitate to condemn the ideas of Galileo or of censuring a book by Conelius Janesen. Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X switched the papal favor from France to Spain, leading to widespread political repercussions. Not all papal actions, however, were taken quite so seriously. When the Thirty Years' War ended, Innocent condemned the peace treaty as detrimental to the Catholic faith and declared it invalid - but no one paid any attention to him. Of unusual significance was the influence his sister-in-law, Olympia Maidalchini-Pamfili, had upon him. She visited him regularly, sold offices and benefices which he would be responsible for, and had her son made a cardinal. Pope Alexander VII The reign of Pope Alexander VII was defined most of all by his conflicts with France. Most of these conflicts he lost and more than once he had to submit in one way or another to the Franch king, Louis XIV. Louis, in turn, actively supported the pope's rivals in Rome and refused to help with a crusade against the Turks. Alexander VII had a bit more success when it came to theological matters. He declared, for example, that Jesuit missionaries in China could use Chinese in rites and Chinese priests didn't have to pray the Divine Office in Latin. He condemned the Cornelius Jansen's teachings, partially at the behest of the French king. Alexander VII was also a great patron of the arts. In particular, he paid for a number of important works by Bernini. The most famous of these is probably the free-standing colonnade surrounding St. Peter's square in Rome. The colonnade was designed to help enclose the large crowds that appear every year at Easter without also creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. Bernini even created Alexander's tomb. Pope Clement IX

Clement IX's reign as pope was relatively unremarkable, but he did have the unusual characteristic of being a librettist of several operas. In fact, he created the very genre of sacred opera and wrote libretti for some of the earliest comic operas. Politically he worked to try and help France and Spain peacefully resolve their disputes, but he was not nearly so successful in this as he was in his poetic writing. Pope Clement X Clement X was elected as a compromise candidate after a very difficult conclave lasting 5 months. He was already 80 years old when chosen and would be a very weak pope. His cardinal-nephew, Cardinal Paluzzi degli Albertoni took over much of the day-to-day affairs of the papacy. Albertoni was a corrupt politician who abused his position to enrich his family and reduce the powers of other officials. Politically, Clement X was faced with a growing Turkish threat. He was aided by the successful military campaigns of John Sobieski, a Polish national hero who saved Poland from invasion and became king. The French king, Louis XIV, took money from the church to fund an invasion of Holland, thus diverting funds Clement X had hoped to use against the Turks. Pope Innocent XI Odescalchi was originally expected to succeed Clement IX, but King Louis XIV of France used his power to prevent that from happening. Much the same thing nearly happened again after the death of Clement X, but by that point Odescalchi was too popular and Louis had to accept his election. Taking the name Innocent XI in memory of Innocent X, from whom he received his appointment as Cardinal-Deacon in 1645, his earliest actions were attempts to reform the administration of the Vatican. He sought to reduce expenses, eliminate nepotism, and streamline decision-making. Much of his reign was marred by his conflicts with the King of France who, at this time, was seeking to drastically expand his power and influence. In 1682, Louis convinced the French clergy to publish the divisive document Gallican Articles. This text denied that the pope had any authority in secular matters and that the was subordinate to the power of general councils. Innocent, naturally enough, denounced these articles. Louis, for his part, tried to win over Innocent XI by pretending to be a zealous Catholic - for example, he revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and engaged in widespread persecution of French Protestants (Huguenots). Innocent XI's relationship with the French never entirely healed and, in fact, the conflict nearly lead to a church schism. French clergy continued to hold a grudge against him until

long after he died and even halted the process of his canonization in 1744. It was not until 1956 that he was finally granted that status of "Blessed". Pope Alexander VIII Alexander VIII had extensive experience with church administration, having served not only in the Curia but also as head of the Roman Inquisition in Malta. The latter position in particular allowed him to take firm control of the Church and work to enforce orthodoxy. He condemned variously doctrines of the Jansenists, the Quietists, and even the Jesuits. Politically, Alexander worked to achieve some measure of reconcilation with Louis XIV of France. To some extent he was successful, getting Louis to remove military forces from Avignon and Venaissin; in exchange, Alexander agreed to accept a French ambassador in Rome and a French bishop was made a cardinal. This reconciliation did not go very far, however, and the two continued to be at odds over the Gallican Articles published by a group of French clergymen. Pope Innocent XII Innocent XII was a compromise candidate, elected only after the conclave had lasted 5 months. There were fierce divisions at the time among the cardinals that prevented an easy choice from being made. Pignatelli chose to name himself after Innocent XI, a hero of his and whose reign he hoped to emulate. As a result he was a reform pope, cracking down especially hard against the age-old practice of papal nepotism. He established numerous charitable institutions, reformed the papal budget, and even eased tensions with the French monarchy. Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI's reign was consumed by numerous political and religious problems. For one, he was faced with dissent from the Jansenist priests and in the papal bull Unigentius Dei Filius, published in September, 1713, Clement condemned Jansenism and excommunicated many of its followers. Clement also had to intervene in a dispute between Jesuits and Dominicans in China. The Jesuits had insisted on accomodating Catholicism to the native Chinese culture - for example, by conducting Catholic rites in Chinese and by paying honor to Confucius or the ancestors of the emperors of China. Clement opposed both and ruled in 1715 that such practices could not continue. As a consequence, the Chinese authorities embarked upon extensive persecution of Chinese Christians and closed down many of the missions throughout the country. The ban on rites in Chinese was not lifted by untili 1939 by Pius XII.

18th century
Pope Innocent XIII Pope Innocent XIII was very reform-oriented, imposing new standards of frugality on the papal court and abolishing a great deal of excessive spending. He also took steps to finally end the practice of nepotism by issuing a decree which forbade future popes from granting land, offices or income to any relatives whatsoever - something which was opposed by many cardinals who evidently hoped that they might one day become pope and benefit their own families. Pope Benedict XIII A Dominican monk who continued to live as a friar even after his election, Pope Benedict XIII was the last pope to ever hold two diocese at the same time (Rome and Benevento). Perhaps one of the reasons why this has never occurred since is that Benedict's associates from Benevento formed a tight-knit group around him, engaging in corrupt practices and generally ruining Benedict's reputation and papacy. One in particular, Niccolo Coscia, made a great deal of money in selling church offices and taking bribes. He and his associates had little interest in anything other than enriching themselves. By all accounts, however, Benedict himself was personally beyond reproach. He was more frugal than any of his predecessors and, as a friar, continued throughout his papacy to visit the sick and dying and minister to the poor. It is a pity that someone who could personally exemplify many of the best Christian ideals even when exalted to such a position of power and temptation could nevertheless surround himself with such corrupted and low associates. At the same time, Benedict was also rather naive and tactless when it came to political affairs. For example, he caused an international incident when he made a point to proclaim a Feast Day for St. Gregory VII. Gregory had deposed the Holy Roman Emeror, an act which was still a sore spot for many through Europe. Benedict's poor understanding of how to handle secular leaders, when combined with the poor reputation of his associates, led to him developing and increasingly bad reputation and a general weakening of papal interests in areas like Siciliy and Sardina.

Pope Clement XII

Pope Clement XII appears to have been a cynical choice. Seventy nine years old at the time of his election, he was frequently bed ridden with the gout and had been completely blind since 1732. He may have been picked because the cardinals were unable to agree on any better choice, but instead of quickly fading away and allowing the cardinals to meet and try again, Clement XII managed to hold on for 10 years. Because of his blindness and illness, Clement XII relied heavily on others, especially his nephew Cardinal Corsini. Together they worked hard to eliminate corruption but most of their efforts failed. Clement did manage to use his family's considerable wealth to create improvements around Rome. Among the most famous are the Trevi Fountain and the eastern facade on the St. John Lateran. In addition to being unable to stem the corruption in the Vatican administration, Clement and his advisors were also unable to stop the slide in papal power over secular matters. Just about every time he tried to intervene in secular affairs or even just mediate disputes, he failed to have any real impact. Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV had a very active pontifficate because he had many important political matters that had plagued his predecessors and that he was determined to finish off once and for all. Unfortunately, while he was able to settle many things, he often did so at great political cost and with little sense of actual victory. In concordats with Spain, Naples, and others, Benedict conceded the authority of secular leaders to appoint bishops while retaining some measure of influence; however, various political moves also led to his alienating Austria and seriously damaging Church interests there. Benedict had better luck with internal Church matters - financial strains were eased, reformed the education of priests, condemned Jansenism once again, and revised the calendar of feasts. Less popular was his decision, promulgated in two papal bulls (Ex quo singulari and Omnium solicitudinum) that missionaries should not use Christian terminology to describe the ideas and practices of native cultures. As a consequence, many native converts abandoned Catholicism in favor of the traditional beliefs of their cultures. Pope Clement XIII Clement XIII's papacy was almost entirey caught up with scandals involving the Jesuits. Josephy I of Portugal became convinced that the Jesuits had conspired to assassinate him and exiled them in 1759. He was encouraged to take this course of action by his prime minister, the Marquis de Pombal, who had come to hate the Jesuits over their intereference with Portugal's political and economic goals in South America. The banishment of the Jesuits not only

eliminated that source of interference, but it also allowed the government to confiscate their assets both in Portugal and in the colonies, providing quite a financial windfall. Clement, of course, hotly protested this act and as a consequence, Portugal expelled his nuncio and broke off all diplomatic ties with the Vatican - a situation that would persist for a decade. Other countries were emboldened by Portugals radical actions and soon followed suit. Both France and Spain kicked them out over the coming years; when many tried to settle in Corsica, they were banished from there as well. Pope Clement XIV Originally a Franciscan friar, Clement XIV was elected by a conclave which was beset by pressure from various Catholic sovereigns who were anxious that no one who supported the Jesuits be chosen. On August 16, 1773 he issued the papal bullDominus ac Redemptor noster, suppressing them and they were not revived again until 1814 by Pope Pius VII. There is still some question today as to whether or not Clement acted out of personal conviction that the Jesuits were a problem or rather out of subservience to Catholic political leaders. At one point in the bull he offered a reason he may have wished were true, stating that the Jesuits "can no longer bring forth the abundant fruits or be of the usefulness for which it was founded." Later, however, he wrote what was probably a more genuine reason, stating that so long as the Jesuits continued to exist, "it is hardly, if at all, possible to restore a true and lasting peace to the Church." Pope Pius VI Pius VI was elected pope at a time when secular power was growing throughout Europe, edging aside the traditional powers of religious institutions. During his pontificate, Pius not only proved unable to stem this tide, but in fact it grew worse at an increasing pace. One problem was the development of Febronianism. According to some, all bishops are equal and the popes lay claim to many powers and privileges which they neither get from Christ nor were exercised by the early church. Secular leaders found this philosophy very appealing and it led for some to call for the nationalization of the Catholic churches and more tolerance of differences among Christian denominations. Another serious issue which Pius had to face was the French Revolution. At first Pius didn't object when Catholic priests were made employees of the state; however, when they were forced to swear loyalty to the state instead of the church, Pius condemned the actions of the French government and the Rights of Man document.

Pope Pius VII The first new pope of the 19th century, Pius VII had a long reign for someone who wasn't really the first choice of any of those who elected him. Pius was a compromise candidate, chosen to break a stalemate among cardinals who were divided into nationalistic factions. A Benedictine monk, Pius was one of the few popes who had to endure imprisonment at the hands of a secular leader who sought greater control over the Church; in this case it was Napolean who held Pius captive at Savona, near Genoa. Napolean was a Catholic, but he kept his personal faith separate from his political goals and he realized that control over the Church meant greater control over society. After Napolean had the Papal States occupied, Pius excommunicated him. Napolean responded by having the pope imprisoned until 1814 when he first fell from power. After his release, Pius reinstated both the Inquisition and the Index of Prohibited Books, brought back the Jesuits, and condemned the Protestant Bible Societies, making him the first modern pope to expressing condemn and fight against modern developments in politics, religion and philosophy.

19th century
Pope Leo XII Leo XII was very much a reactionary pope, who was elected through the efforts of very conservative cardinals. He opposed modern ideas in both religion and politics, causing him to become a very unpopular figure. With religion, he condemned religious freedom, religious toleration, and Freemasonry. With politics, he restored feudal aristocracy in the Papal States, restricted Jews to ghettos, and engaged in surveillance over all aspects of daily life. When it came to Catholics, however, he insisted on equitable treatment and objected whenever foreign governments engaged in the slightest discrimination against its Catholic citizens. Pope Pius VIII Pius VIII struggled with declining Church power and growing social problems, like many popes before and after him. Pius was certain that the cause of such problems were partly the responsibility of Catholic indifference, partly the responsibility of Protestant missionary work, and partly the responsibility of a conspiracy of groups like Freemasons. Thus, he worked to combat all three in the hopes of restoring both social order and papal authority over Christendom.

Pope Gregory XVI Gregory XVI came from an aristocratic family and was the last monk to be pope; prior to assuming the papal throne he was a Camadolese monk and had been the Vicar-general of the Camaldolese order. Gregory was known as a strong reactionary, opposing all aspects of modernism and liberalism whether they were in matters of religion, philosophy or politics. He even banned railroads within his region of authority because he regarded them as a dangerous invention of modernity. Before he became pope, Pius had actively defended the principles of both papal sovereignty and papal infallibility. He did not permit internal dissent when it came to orthodoxy and punished H.F.R de Lammenais, a French priest who started the newspaperL'Avenir (The Future) which promoted ideas like the separation of church and state, religious liberty and the freedom of the press. He resisted attempts by others to introduct reforms in the papal governments and, instead, worked to further centralize authority. Gregory was not entirely successful when it came to dealing with the political sphere. His policies and style of administration helped push the Papal States into open revolt, something which was only suppressed with the aid of the Austrian military. With regards to foreign policy, he came into conflict with the governments of Spain, Portugal and Switzerland when they passed laws he thought were anti-clerical. Pope Pius IX The longest reigning pope to date, Pius IX ruled during a time of growing nationalism througout Europe and increasing political upheaval. One consequence of these forces was the creation of the Roman Republic in 1849 with Rome as its capital, thus eliminating the temporal papal estates except for the Vatican and it's immediate surroundings - a situation which has continued through today. This changed the papacy back to a solely religious / spiritual office, much as it was at the beginning. As desirable as that might sound today, it was not what Pius wanted and he was personally offended by the anti-clerical undertones he saw in the Italian political unification. Out of spite towards the leaders, he declared himself their prisoner and confined himself to the Vatican from 1871 until he died. Part of his problem was that his popularity among the Italian people had pretty much disappeared. Italy and Austria had been at odds with each other and Pius refused to take sides in what was a nationalistic dispute - this effort at neutrality cost him dearly, forcing him actually flee Rome in 1850. Italians came to regard the papal estates and the papacy itself as direct obstacles to Italian national unification - these estates straddled the peninsula, preventing a geographic and, hence, political union between northern and southern Italy. Pius felt personally betrayed and refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Italian state; he even

prohibited Italian Catholics from participating in state politics, lest that give the government legitimacy. Ironically, even as Pius experienced problems with the growing centralization of power in secular governments, he worked to centralize power within the Catholic hierarchy. As part of his effort to combat unorthodox beliefs, he published his infamous Syllabus of Errors in 1864, a document condemning all manner of modern and liberal beliefs like religious freedom and free speech. It even rejected modernity itself, condeming those who argue that "the Roman pontiff can and should reconcile and harmonize himself with progress, with liberalism, and with recent civilization." In 1869 Pius summoned the First Vatican Council which would condemn various forms of materialism and atheism. The most famous - or infamous - result of this Council was, however, the declaration of Papal Infallibility. This represented a victory for conservatives who had long been promoting ultramontanism as an antidote for the ills of modernity and liberalism. Not all Catholics accepted Pius' new status. Austria renounced its concordat with the Vatican and a number of diocese broke away completely to form the Old Catholic Church. In Germany it unleashed the church-state dispute known as the Kulturkampf("battle of cultures"). Anti-church liberals joined with Catholic liberals and conservative chancellor Otto von Bismark in an assault on the power of the Catholic Church in matters like education and marriage. One other important church dogma which came out of Pius' reign as pope was that of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, something he defined on his own authority in 1854. It provided significant support to the Marian movement in the church and formed a basis for Marian devotion throughout the twentieth century. Pope Leo XIII Leo XIII was the first pope to make an effort to bring the Roman Catholic Church into harmony with the modern world. For example, he offered some support to democratic reforms and opened up the Vatican archives to outside scholars. He also issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum ("Of New Things") which supported the rights of workers and of the poor - despite his general opposition to both socialism and communism in their various guises. This is generally regarded as the first major document expressing modern Church teachings. Politically, Leo continued the efforts of his predecessor Pius IX to gain independence for the Vatican from the kingdom of Italy. Because the pope had lost all real political and temporal power, other world leaders began to regard him as a netural observer and, hence, as someone who could mediate in international disputes.

Leo expanded the influence of the Catholic Church, created 248 new episcopal or archiepiscopal sees, looking forward to a time when all of Christianity would be united under papal leadership. This vision was not always expressed positively, as withApostolicae Curae (1896) which condemned Anglican orders and declared them "absolutely null and utterly void."

20th century
Pope Pius X Pius X followed his predecessors' efforts to maintain church authority against the growing power of secular governments. For example, his policies lead to a breakdown in relationships with France when that government repudiated the 1801 concordat which had granted the Vatican particular authority over French clergy. At issue here and in other nations where similar breakdowns were narrowly averted was the separation of church and state secular governments sought to be independent of religion while Pius believed that the Roman Catholic Church should continue to retain what influence it had. Pius was not, however, blindly wedded to tradition. He introduced changes and reforms on a number of levels when he thought they would either improve the Church or expand the Church's influence. For the former, he had canon law revised, reformed seminaries and improved the Curia. For the latter, he encouraged Catholics to form political action groups which would incorporate basic Catholic teachings in the pursuit of political goals (but not those which sought to harmonize Catholicism with modern political philosophies, like communism). Pius' opposition to modern philosophies and political movements garnered him a reputation as being a fundamentally anti-modernist pope. He believed that a wide variety of modern cultural developments were incompatible with Catholic faith, leading him to oppose even democratic reforms and democratic institutions on the basis of the idea that they threatened to give too many rights and privileges to erroneous beliefs and doctrines. He even created a secret network of informers who reported on the activities of priests, scholars and theologians who advocated "dangerous" ideas. Reports from these informers lead to the dismissal of many from their teaching positions. Pope Benedict XV Benedict XV was pope during the period of World War I, an conflict which produced unheard of death and devastation in Europe and which fundamentally shattered many people's faith in modern science, rationality and modernity in general. Benedict himself was rendered largely inconsequential during the war - although he pursued neutrality even while he condemned atrocities, his peace proposals were generally rejected and when the final peace settlement was being negotiated, he was given no role at all.

In fact, his efforts to remain completely neutral resulted in both sides of the conflict regarding him as being complicit with the other. He had established a "missing persons" agency to help people displaced during the war become reunited with each other but he was forced to close it down because various government grew suspicious that it was being used for espionage. Benedict was also active in the effort to unify all of Christianity under a single leadership (namely, the pope's). To that end, he established the Congregation for the Oriental Church and the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in 1917 as part of the long-standing Catholic desire to bring the Eastern Orthodox churches under Roman control. Pope Pius XI Pius XI assumed the position of pope shortly after the end of World War I, a time when many were still recovering from the devastation and a few still seemed hungry for further conflict. As a result, one of the tasks he set before himself was the development of a "Pax Christiana," a peace and soothing of tensions based upon Christian notions of love and brotherhood. He vastly increased the numbers of missionaries and priests throughout South and Southeast Asia in order to spread the message of Catholicism (the total number of missionaries around the world doubled during his pontificate), something which was not always welcome and which continues today to exacerbate tensions between Christianity and other religions. Pius XI also did not always manage to ease tensions among different Christian groups. He encouraged Eastern Orthodox churches to unite once again with Rome - but of course on the terms dictated by Catholicism, something which could hardly endear him with Eastern Orthodox leaders. He also rejected many of the efforts of ecumenical groups, declaring in 1928 that Christ's Church does not consist of many different, independent organizations which believe and teach different doctrines. There were also a number of efforts to bring the Church into greater harmony with the modern world. In 1931 he installed the first radio in Vatican city and in 1936 he founded the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. On the political front, he made an important advancement when he signed the Lateran Treaty on February 11, 1929. With this document the Holy See recognized the existence of the kingdom of Italy and the Vatican was recognized as an independent state. Less successful was his concordat with Hitler in 1933 - Pius XI regarded communism as a much more serious threat to the Catholic Church than Nazism, thus sought to appease Hitler in the effort to protect the rights of Catholics in Germany. Pius' fundamental fear of modernism, something he shared with his predecessors, lead him to support Franco, the leader of fascism in Spain. According to Pius' way of thinking, it was better to have a repressive fascist in power who also supported traditional social structures than a democratically elected leader who might undermine traditional social structures. It was not

until 1937, when he issued the encyclical Mit brenneder Sorge, that he condemned aspects of Nazism. Pope Pius XII Pius XII was pope during the period of World War II, forcing him to address issues and problems which few popes have had to deal with. Although he did make some efforts to halt the coming hostilities (by calling for a peace conference, for example), many believe that his appeasement of Hitler before the war only helped to encourage Hitler's efforts. Even during the war, he refrained from condemning German atrocities directly and in unequivocal terms. Pius XII was the first pope to address the world at large through television and radio, something which helped him to develop a generally positive reputation. His addresses were aided by his impressive ability to learn languages - he could speak Latin, Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portugese, Dutch, Slovak, and Hungarian. It is even reported that he was able to learn enough Portugese in just a few weeks to allow him to address the Brazilian parliament. Pius also played an important role in the continuing development of Catholic devotion to Mary. He declared 1950 to be a "Marian Year" and helped define the nature of the "Assumption" (the belief that Mary was taken bodily up into heaven). In doing so, he invoked the doctrine of papal infallability to underscore the importance of this particular belief. This was the last time, so far, that papal infallibility has been used. On the one hand, Pius adopted a moderate attitude with regards to the Church's relationship with modernity in general. But, on the other hand, he did not take seriously any efforts to develop better, more ecumenical relationships with non-Catholics. New theological ideas which incorporated greater engagement with the modern world were either ignored or condemned outright. Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII held office for only 5 years, but he remains one of the most popularly beloved popes in the history of the Roman Catholic Church - not only by Catholics but also by non-Catholics. He had spent 25 years as a papal diplomat for Bulgaria, Turkey and France, and six years as archbishop of Venice, not being elected pope until he was 77. Pope John XXIII is perhaps best known for convening the second ecumencial council at the Vatican, known as Vatican II. What is particularly important to remember about Vatican II is that it differed from previous councils in a very important manner. Whereas earlier councils were typically convened in order to correct some doctrinal error which was becoming too popular, John XXIII specifically rejected this as his purpose. According to him, "Nowadays men are condemning [errors] of their own accord."

Instead, he envisaged a council which would postive instead of negative. He wanted a council which promoted mercy, faith and the pastoral role of the church rather than simply strict adherence to a new statement of orthodoxy. As a consequence, it was also fundamentally ecumenical in nature - John reached out to representatives of other Christian groups (for example, he also created a Secretariat for Christian Unity in 1960). This ecumenical effort was an important reason why he became so popular among non-Catholics. He even went so far as to label Vatican II a "new Pentecost," which not only communicated his vision of it as a new beginning, but also represented the role which the Holy Spirit played in his religious life and in his religious style. For John, Christianity was not simply a matter of legalisms and doctrines but rather a way of living in communion with the love of God. This was an important reason for why he became so popular among Catholics. A primary purpose of Vatican II was the goal of updating Catholic doctrines and practices to achieve more harmony with the various discoveries and advancements which had occurred during the previous centuries. He saw the Holy Spirit at work in things like the end of colonialism and the growing rights of the working class, and he wanted to be sure that the Catholic Church was not left behind due to inappropriate adherence to outdated ideas. This would require a "change in mentalities, ways of thinking and prejudices" - something which has not even yet been fully achieved, but nevertheless something which John felt the Catholic Church fully capable of. However, even though he realized that Vatican II would require fundamental changes in how people thought, he still encountered more opposition than he actually expected. He gave his full approval of the early, draft texts prepared for the council. Despite this, traditionalists managed to effect major changes which drastically reduced the progressive nature of what was being considered. Important to the development of a stronger ecumencial atmosphere was the defeat of a very traditional notion that "error has no rights." This belief had long been a major stumbling block not only to Catholic participation in ecumenical efforts, but also support of religious rights and political democracy. John XXIII also made an unusual foray into contemporary politics during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. With the United States an the Soviet Union on the brink of nuclear war, John mad an impassioned plea over the Vatican Radio: "We beg all rulers not to be deaf to the cry of humanity." This may have played a role in Nikita Krushchev's decision to back down, because it could have allowed him to do so without entirely losing face. On September 23, 1962, an X-ray revealed that John XXIII was suffering from an advanced case of stomach cancer, an illness which would take his life the following year. This information was not revealed to the public because John still hoped to continue guiding the Vatican II council for as long as possible.

Pope Paul VI Paul VI was responsible for continuing with the Second Vatican Council and thereafter implementing its decrees. Ironically, he would never have called that Council himself and did not entirely agree with its reform efforts. One of the most memorable features of his reign has been, unfortuantely, his encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) on birth control. Paul did not consult the Vatican Council on this and the pontifical commission set up to study the issue had its recommendations ignored. Paul VI became the first pope to ever travel by airplane and, as a result, visit countries great distances from Rome. A number of these travels were designed to improve relations with non-Christians, for example his trip to India where he was welcomed as a holy man. Paul also tried to heal rifts between Rome and other Christian churches - for example, he twice traveled to visit the patriarch of Constantinople and the excommuniation of the Easter churches from 1054 was lifted and communion became the basis for referring to churches in the East as "sister churches." Pope John Paul I John Paul I was an unusual pope for a number of things, not all of them good. The worst was the fact that his tenure as pope was one of the shortest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church - just 33 days. He was the first pope born from working-class parents. He was the first pope ever to adopt two names after his election, a tradition continued by his successor, John Paul II. The reason for Luciani's decision was an effort to honor both of his predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI, and to demonstrate an interest in supporting both the progressiveness of John and the traditionalism of Paul. He was also unusual in that he did not hold any high-ranking office in the Vatican government, something common for many of his predecessors. Although not well known to the outside world, Luciani had made a name for himself within the church itself. He was, for example, very active in the Vatican Council of 1962. As a result of his popularity he became archbishop of Venice in 1969 and then a cardinal in 1973. Despite being a critic of communism and socialism, he nevertheless believed that, to one degree or another, wealth should be redistributed and great disparities of wealth discouraged; on a practical level, this meant advocating that richer churches help out poorer churches financially. He eschewed lavishness and in fact refused to be coronated like a traditional sovereign - instead, he only allowed himself to be to be invested with a simple palladium, worn around the neck as a symbol of the archbishop's pastoral duties, and a miter. A great deal of confusion surrounds his death and, as a result, numerous conspiracy theories have grown up around the possibility that he was murdered, either because he was

getting too close to some scandal or because conservative feared his progressive inclinations. Whether true or not, the Vatican has itself partly to blame because of its bungling of the matter. In the first place, the Vatican lied about who found the body of John Paul I - originally, the Vatican claimed that he was discovered by his Irish priest-secretary, which was false. In fact, he was discovered by his housekeeper, Sister Vincenza. Secondly, the Vatican claimed that the last thing he was reading was The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis. This, too, was false and was only told for its public relations benefit. The most probable truth is that John Paul I was suffering from serious health problems which he failed to seek treatment for. As a result, the most likely lesson of his death is not the corruption of religious institutions, but rather the more prosaic fact that people should watch their health better - perhaps a more important lesson, but not nearly exciting enough for conspiracy theories. Pope John Paul II John Paul II was only the second pope to ever choose two names, following his predecessor. The reason for this was to both honor John Paul I and to indicate that he would not be making any major policy shifts. Wojtyla was also the first non-Italian to be chosen for this office in over 400 years (the previous was Hadrian VI in 1563, a Dutchman) and reports indicate that the election of a non-Italian pope may have been pushed by the growing influence of Catholics from outside of Europe. At just 58, he was also the youngest pope since Pius IX in 1846. During most of his youth Wojtyla lived in a free Poland, but that changed when the Nazis invaded in 1939. Although he initially fled with his family, he returned after the Russian liberation and began his studies as a priest. In part because of his experiences with political oppression with the Nazis, Wojtyla also encouraged resistance to the various forms of oppression experienced under Russian domination. Wojtyla made a name for himself within the Polish Catholic Church because of his constant agitation for religious freedom under an oppressive regime and he was eventually made archbishop of Krakow in 1963. Along the way he had become an impressive scholar. He has received two doctorates (one in mystical theology and a second in philosophy) and he learned how to speak several languages fluently (including Latin, unusual even among Catholic priests). John Paul II was a big traveller during his reign, visiting more than 120 countries and always drawing huge crowds. His efforts to go out and personally meet as many people as possible, especially young people, probably played an important role in his ever growing popularity. Even when large numbers of Catholics disagreed with the pope on his doctrinal positions, they nevertheless tended to retain a positive image of him as a person and as a

leader. His travels also aided John Paul in his efforts to develop more understanding and tolerance between Christians, Jews and Muslims. Pope John Paul II worked to promote greater understanding within Christianity itself. Coming from Poland, he was sympathetic to the traditions and practices of Eastern churches, lamenting the many years of separation and fighting. He made Cyril and Methodius coequal patron saints of Europe, alongside St. Benedict. In his words, he felt that Europe needed to breathe with two lungs in other words, he felt that the legalistic tradition of the West (symbolized by Benedict) needed to be balanced with the mystical tradition of the East (symbolized by Cyril and Methodius). On May 13, 1981 Pope John Paul II was shot and severely wounded in an assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca. Although wounded badly, he made a quick recovery and soon thereafter resumed his travel schedule. The attack did give birth to the infamous Pope Mobile, a modified Range Rover with the back converted to a large box made of bulletproof glass which allows him to ride along, but also stand up and wave to the crowds. In 1983 he visited his would-be assassin in jail where they spoke together for some twenty minutes. John Paul II attributed claims that he escaped death in the assassination attempt due to a miracle worked by the Blessed Virgin of Fatima. What slowed John Paul down most was been increasingly serious health problems. He survived a bout with cancer and hip and knee ailments took their toll through the 1990s, but his Parkinsons Disease had the most obvious impact upon his activities. It was the symptoms of Parkinsons which finally ended his hikes in the Italian Alps and even caused him to use cargo lifts to get on and off planes. Because of John Paul's health problems there were occasional discussions about the possibility of him resigning. There is no real precedent for a pope resigning due to health problems popes usually either die in office or are removed due to political conflict. There is no procedure for the College of Cardinals removing a pope in ill health; therefore, if Pope John Paul II had resigned, it would have been of his own accord because he considered himself unable to continue fulfilling his obligations. Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger)

Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope on April 19, 2005, and adopted the name Benedict XVI. At 78 years old, he became the 265th pope according to the official lists. Ratzinger was formerly Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the organization once known as the Inquisition. Joseph Ratzinger was long known as one of the most powerful forces for conservatism in the Vatican.