85. John VI, 701-705. A skilful diplomat he saved the life of Theophylact, the Imperial Exarch who had come to Rome to avenge the treatment of Zacharias. In 702 the Lombards invaded Campania and John spent enormous sums ransoming prisoners. Wilfid of York came on his third visit to Rome to appeal to the Pope for justice. At a four month long Synod held in Rome in 704 he was finally vindicated and the Pope wrote a letter to the kings of Northumbria and Mercia directing that Beorthweald, whom he had confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury, would see that the matter was settled. Greek.
86. John VII, 705-707. The first Pope to be the son of a Byzantine official. Eloquent, learned, and artistic, he was afraid of the Emperor Justinian (restored in 705) who offered a compromise on the decrees which Sergius had refused to sign. Notable for his great devotion to our Lady (he called himself her servant) he was more of a patron of the arts than a diplomat, and throughout his Pontificate he tended to defer to the Imperial Court - too much in the estimation of his contemporaries. Greek.
87. Sisinnius, January-February 708. He was already old, and crippled (he could not use his hands to feel himself) when elected. Greatly respected and considered as a resolute priest he showed genuine concern for the poor, and was loved in return. His only recorded papal act was the consecration of a Bishop for Corsica. Syrian.
88. Constantine, 708-715. Described by biographers as 'exceedingly gentle'. When the Emperor invited him to return to Constantinople to discuss the differences between Rome and the Empire, he surprised everybody by going and the visit was a huge success. He got back to Rome on October 24, 711. Soon after he left in 710 the Exarch for reasons difficult to assess executed some of the Pope's senior officials, and a fortnight after the Pope got back home Justinian was murdered. The peace was shattered, and the new Emperor was a Monothelite. He lasted only two years and his successor Anastasius II was an orthodox Catholic who hastened to reassure the Pope of this. Cenred, King of Mercia and Offa, son of the King of the East Saxons, came to Rome, and exchanged their crowns to become monks. Both remained in Rome until their deaths. Syrian.
89. St Gregory II, 715-731. The outstanding Pope of the eighth century. First Roman to be elected after seven Popes of Greek or Syrian origin. Immensely popular, he was a skilful diplomat. He resisted strenuously all efforts of the Emperor Leo to ban images; rejected iconoclasm as a heresy and warned Leo that dogma was the business of priests not princes. Duke Theodo of Bavaria (in 716) and Ine, ex-king of Wessex, (in 726) came to Rome as pilgrims to Peter's tomb. He formulated with Thedo a plan for the eventual creation of an ecclesiastical Province in Bavaria and encouraged the missionary work of St Wynfrith (whom he renamed Boniface) (680-754) throughout Germany. Having come to Rome from 718 from England, Wynfrith left with a letter dated May 15, 719 from the Pope commissioning him to evangelise the people of Frisia. Roman.
90. St Gregory III, 731-741. Popular with Romans, skilful in diplomacy he continued his predecessor's opposition to the Imperial ban on images, despite the extreme violence with which Leo retaliated. The Pope remained loyal to the Emperor despite numerous injustices. He gave support to St Boniface, consecrated him Archbishop, commissioned him as 'Legate of the Apostolic See' to organize the Church in Bavaria, Alemannia, Hesse and Thuringia. He also strengthened relations between Rome and the English by sending the pallium to Egbert of York. When Tatwine of Canterbury visited Rome in 734 he not only gave him the pallium, but appointed him Papal Vicar for all England. Syrian.
91. St Zacharias, 741-752. The last of the Greek Popes, he was much admired for his compassion and gentle bearing. By seeking reconciliation with the Lombards, he recovered all the captured towns and prisoners, and signed a twenty-year truce with the Lombard King. He saved Ravenna twice, and kept on good terms with the Empire. He encouraged the work of Boniface, and the Frankish Church, which in 747 made a remarkable statement of loyalty to the Pope. In 750, after an embassy sent to Rome by Pepin had requested a statement, he declared, momentously, that it were better for the title 'king' to belong to one who could rule effectively, than to one who could not. As a result, King Childeric III, last of the weak Merovingian kings was deposed and Pepin was elected King and anointed by St Boniface in November 751. This transference of power to the Carolingen dynasty by Zacharias was to have far-reaching consequences for the rest of European history. He was a just and wise administrator. Greek.
Stephen II, 23rd-25th of March 752. An elderly priest, he had a stroke three days after his election.
92. Stephen III, 752-757. During his reign we see the effectual removal of the Holy See from Byzantine influence, and the formationv of what were to be known as the papal States. When the Lombards again attacked Rome, Stephen appealed to Pepin and not forgetful of the debt he owed the Church, Pepin responded favourably. The King sent Bishop Chrodegang of Metz and his own brother-in-law Autcar as escorts for the Pope to visit France. Stephen was the first Pope to cross the Alps (by the great St Bernard pass) on November 15, 753. Pepin and his sons swore to protect the Church of Rome and the prerogatives of St Peter. Despite being seriously ill, Stephen anointed Pepin, his wife and sons thus sealing forever the legitimacy of their dynasty. Pepin twice attacked the Lombards and defeated them and handed Ravenna and all occupied territories over to the Pope. When Stephen reached Rome the reception he got was ecstatic. The Byzantine Emperor protested that the territories belonged to the Empire, to which Pepin replied that he had taken up arms out of love for St Peter and to obtain forgiveness for his sins and would hand over his conquests to none but the Apostle. Roman.
93. St Paul I, 757-767. Brother to his predecessor. Had a high conception of the Pope's office, and maintained good relations with Pepin, tried to halt the growth of iconoclasm and welcomed the crowds of refugee Catholics from the eastern Empire. With the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem he protested at the persecution of Catholics who revered images. He called himself the 'mediator between God and men, the searcher of souls' and his zeal in helping paupers and prisoners was legendary. Roman.
94. Stephen III, 768-772. Religiously a wise Pope, he was a bureaucrat who was, however, out of his depth with the machinations of the Lombards and Franks. By the end of his reign Charlemagne, Pepin's sons, was the master of the Franks, but the Lombards had grown in influence in Rome. Sicilian.
95. Hadrian I, 772-795. A stronger Pope than Stephen, Hadrian grasped the nettle of Lombard influence in Rome, and threatened Desiderius, the Lombard King, with excommunication if he dared attack Rome. Charlemagne came to the rescue, captured Pavia the Lombard capital, and restored all captured cities and lands to the Holy See. At Easter 774 Charlemagne visited Rome, and on April 6 he and the Pope had a momentous meeting in St Peter's, giving three-fourths of Italy to St Peter. In 787 the Second Council of Nicaea was held to condemn iconoclasm and restore the veneration of images. He and Charlemagne had their differences, but on his death Charlemagne and Alcuin, the English monk, composed an epitaph that was inscribed on marble and is still to be seen today in the Portico of St Peter's in Rome. Roman.
86. John VII, 705-707. The first Pope to be the son of a Byzantine official. Eloquent, learned, and artistic, he was afraid of the Emperor Justinian (restored in 705) who offered a compromise on the decrees which Sergius had refused to sign. Notable for his great devotion to our Lady (he called himself her servant) he was more of a patron of the arts than a diplomat, and throughout his Pontificate he tended to defer to the Imperial Court - too much in the estimation of his contemporaries. Greek.
87. Sisinnius, January-February 708. He was already old, and crippled (he could not use his hands to feel himself) when elected. Greatly respected and considered as a resolute priest he showed genuine concern for the poor, and was loved in return. His only recorded papal act was the consecration of a Bishop for Corsica. Syrian.
88. Constantine, 708-715. Described by biographers as 'exceedingly gentle'. When the Emperor invited him to return to Constantinople to discuss the differences between Rome and the Empire, he surprised everybody by going and the visit was a huge success. He got back to Rome on October 24, 711. Soon after he left in 710 the Exarch for reasons difficult to assess executed some of the Pope's senior officials, and a fortnight after the Pope got back home Justinian was murdered. The peace was shattered, and the new Emperor was a Monothelite. He lasted only two years and his successor Anastasius II was an orthodox Catholic who hastened to reassure the Pope of this. Cenred, King of Mercia and Offa, son of the King of the East Saxons, came to Rome, and exchanged their crowns to become monks. Both remained in Rome until their deaths. Syrian.
89. St Gregory II, 715-731. The outstanding Pope of the eighth century. First Roman to be elected after seven Popes of Greek or Syrian origin. Immensely popular, he was a skilful diplomat. He resisted strenuously all efforts of the Emperor Leo to ban images; rejected iconoclasm as a heresy and warned Leo that dogma was the business of priests not princes. Duke Theodo of Bavaria (in 716) and Ine, ex-king of Wessex, (in 726) came to Rome as pilgrims to Peter's tomb. He formulated with Thedo a plan for the eventual creation of an ecclesiastical Province in Bavaria and encouraged the missionary work of St Wynfrith (whom he renamed Boniface) (680-754) throughout Germany. Having come to Rome from 718 from England, Wynfrith left with a letter dated May 15, 719 from the Pope commissioning him to evangelise the people of Frisia. Roman.
90. St Gregory III, 731-741. Popular with Romans, skilful in diplomacy he continued his predecessor's opposition to the Imperial ban on images, despite the extreme violence with which Leo retaliated. The Pope remained loyal to the Emperor despite numerous injustices. He gave support to St Boniface, consecrated him Archbishop, commissioned him as 'Legate of the Apostolic See' to organize the Church in Bavaria, Alemannia, Hesse and Thuringia. He also strengthened relations between Rome and the English by sending the pallium to Egbert of York. When Tatwine of Canterbury visited Rome in 734 he not only gave him the pallium, but appointed him Papal Vicar for all England. Syrian.
91. St Zacharias, 741-752. The last of the Greek Popes, he was much admired for his compassion and gentle bearing. By seeking reconciliation with the Lombards, he recovered all the captured towns and prisoners, and signed a twenty-year truce with the Lombard King. He saved Ravenna twice, and kept on good terms with the Empire. He encouraged the work of Boniface, and the Frankish Church, which in 747 made a remarkable statement of loyalty to the Pope. In 750, after an embassy sent to Rome by Pepin had requested a statement, he declared, momentously, that it were better for the title 'king' to belong to one who could rule effectively, than to one who could not. As a result, King Childeric III, last of the weak Merovingian kings was deposed and Pepin was elected King and anointed by St Boniface in November 751. This transference of power to the Carolingen dynasty by Zacharias was to have far-reaching consequences for the rest of European history. He was a just and wise administrator. Greek.
Stephen II, 23rd-25th of March 752. An elderly priest, he had a stroke three days after his election.
92. Stephen III, 752-757. During his reign we see the effectual removal of the Holy See from Byzantine influence, and the formationv of what were to be known as the papal States. When the Lombards again attacked Rome, Stephen appealed to Pepin and not forgetful of the debt he owed the Church, Pepin responded favourably. The King sent Bishop Chrodegang of Metz and his own brother-in-law Autcar as escorts for the Pope to visit France. Stephen was the first Pope to cross the Alps (by the great St Bernard pass) on November 15, 753. Pepin and his sons swore to protect the Church of Rome and the prerogatives of St Peter. Despite being seriously ill, Stephen anointed Pepin, his wife and sons thus sealing forever the legitimacy of their dynasty. Pepin twice attacked the Lombards and defeated them and handed Ravenna and all occupied territories over to the Pope. When Stephen reached Rome the reception he got was ecstatic. The Byzantine Emperor protested that the territories belonged to the Empire, to which Pepin replied that he had taken up arms out of love for St Peter and to obtain forgiveness for his sins and would hand over his conquests to none but the Apostle. Roman.
93. St Paul I, 757-767. Brother to his predecessor. Had a high conception of the Pope's office, and maintained good relations with Pepin, tried to halt the growth of iconoclasm and welcomed the crowds of refugee Catholics from the eastern Empire. With the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem he protested at the persecution of Catholics who revered images. He called himself the 'mediator between God and men, the searcher of souls' and his zeal in helping paupers and prisoners was legendary. Roman.
94. Stephen III, 768-772. Religiously a wise Pope, he was a bureaucrat who was, however, out of his depth with the machinations of the Lombards and Franks. By the end of his reign Charlemagne, Pepin's sons, was the master of the Franks, but the Lombards had grown in influence in Rome. Sicilian.
95. Hadrian I, 772-795. A stronger Pope than Stephen, Hadrian grasped the nettle of Lombard influence in Rome, and threatened Desiderius, the Lombard King, with excommunication if he dared attack Rome. Charlemagne came to the rescue, captured Pavia the Lombard capital, and restored all captured cities and lands to the Holy See. At Easter 774 Charlemagne visited Rome, and on April 6 he and the Pope had a momentous meeting in St Peter's, giving three-fourths of Italy to St Peter. In 787 the Second Council of Nicaea was held to condemn iconoclasm and restore the veneration of images. He and Charlemagne had their differences, but on his death Charlemagne and Alcuin, the English monk, composed an epitaph that was inscribed on marble and is still to be seen today in the Portico of St Peter's in Rome. Roman.
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