Alphabetical list of Popes

The Popes, in chronological order

AD 700-800

85. John VI. b. Ephesus; elected  30 Oct, 701; d.11 Jan, 705. He had to contend with aftershocks from the attack on Rome of Justinian's army and later to defend the city (and ransom prisoners) from an invasion by Gisulf, one of the dukes of Lombard who were establishing their authority in  regions of Italy from which the Byzantines had been loosening their hold. The pope tried to resolve the long-standing dispute between the English archbishops of York and Canterbury, which had been exacerbated by the growing influence of Greek clergy among whom was the archbishop of Canterbury.

86. John VII. b. Calabria; elected 1 March 705; d. 18 Oct, 707. Son of a highly-placed Byzantine church  official named Plato. He was a patron of the arts and a prolific builder. of churchs and other buildings, including a new papal palace.  John repaired rerlations with the Lombards, managing to win back some of the papal estates which had been usurped by an earlier king. Emperor Justinian II, restored to the throne, badgered John to approve the anti-Roman canons that Pope Sergius had rejected but John tried to stay neutral which  subsequently his biographer in LP interpreted as cowardice.
8th c. mosaic, St Peter's.

87. Sisinnius. b. Syria; elected 15 Jan, 708; d. 4 Feb, 708. Though highly respected, he was old and sick when elected and died after three weeks in office but not before  ordering Rome's walls to be strengthened and consecrating a Corsican bishop.

88. Constantine.  b. Syria; elected 25 March 708; d. 9 April, 715. Described by his biographer as "extremely gentle", he initially became involved in a jurisdictional power struggle with Felix, the newly elected  archbishop of Ravenna, until the latter was tortured and exiled by Justinian II.  Doggedly pursuing his personal interpretation of Christianity, the emperor then summoned the pope to Constantinople where due to the skills of the deacon Gregory (later Pope Gregory II) disputes were resolved amicably.  Justinian, however, was murdered soon afterwards to be succeeded by the monothelite emperor Philippiccus. Within  two years he, in turn, was overthrown and succeeded by the more amenable Anastasius II.

89. St Gregory II.  b. Rome; elected 19 May, 715; d. 11 Feb 731. The first Roman pope after a string of Greeks and Syrians, Gregory  was a librarian and church archivist who despatched missionaries (especially Boniface to Germany) and fostered the Benedictines. Gregory staved off the depredations of the Lombard king Liutprand and "brought him to such remorse" that the king ended his siege and left tributes at the Tomb of the Apostle. Gregory battled with Emperor Leo III over the latter's moves to ban sacred images (iconoclasm). "We can only address you in rough and uneducated style" wrote pope to emperor, " because you yourself are rough and uneducated". The papal territories were under pressure, being threatened by both Lombards and Saracens, and Leo strengthened Rome's city walls. He also restored churches and monasteries and built San Gregorio Magno in  honor of his namesake. He was "a great man by any standards and quickly revered as a saint" (tP).

90. St Gregory III. b. Syria; elected 18 March 731; d. 28 March 741. Although he sought the emperor's ratification of his election (the last pope to do so), he was soon calling a council to brand  Leo as  "a wicked heretic" (PRW) over the emperor's  iconoclasm edict, and threatened to excommunicate anybody who embraced it.  Leo responded by sending a fleet to attack Italy and, when this invasion collapsed, by removing Sicily and Calabria from papal authority, confiscating their papal patrimonies--which provided much of the pope's income--and placing them under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. Aware of the continuing threat from Lombardy's King Liutprand (whose 32-year-rule lasted until 744), he sought alliances with the king's enemies including  the Franks and the Duke of Spoleto. ODP says Gregory beautified Rome and its churches "on an unprecedented scale" and supported both old and new monasteries.

91. St Zacharias. b. Calabria; elected 10 Dec, 741; d. 22 March, 752. The last Greek pope, he met and negotiated with  King Liutprand, signing a 20-year  peace pact, which was broken after Liutprand died, by the new Lombard king Aistulf who captured Ravenna. The new emperor, Constantine, and the pope agreed to disagree over iconoclasm. Following up the success of Boniface's mission to Germany,  the pope strengthened ties with the Frankish kingdom (what is now western Germany) anointing Pepin  as King of the Franks, being the first  Roman pope to consecrate a sovereign. Zacharias rebuilt the Lateran palace and translated Gregory I's Dialogues  (concerning the miracles of Italian saints)  into his native Greek.

92 and 93. Stephen II. The first Stephen died within three days of being elected (March 23, 752) and before being consecrated. His namesake was elected 26 March, 752; d. April 757. The Lombard king Aistulf, previous treaties notwithstanding,  attempted to subject Rome to his rule but was eventually repulsed (twice) by the papacy's new allies, the Franks under King Pepin, who handed over Ravenna and other territories to form the first papal state. At their initial meeting (says S&S), Pepin demonstrated his  "ostentatious humility by walking alongside  the mounted pope leading Stephen's horse like a groom". LVR quotes a contemporary chronicler explaining Pepin's  expulsion of the Lombards: "That for no favor of man he entered the strife, but from veneration of St Peter alone and in the hope of obtaining forgiveness for his sins". LP credits Stephen, an iconoclast like his predecessor, with working hard with God's blessing "to enlarge the republic" and tP describes him as "unusually charitable".He was largely instrumental in creating the papal state.  The Donation of Constantine, ostensibly handed down from the first Christian emperor and which granted the pope supreme authority, appeared about this time and, although  a clever forgery, it became widely accepted at least for the remainder of the century.

94. St Paul I. b. Rome; elected  29 May, 757; d. 28 June, 767. He was Stephen's younger brother and had been his chief negotiator. With the continuance of an alliance with the Frankish king Pepin, the pope now found himself in contest with the new Lombard king, Desiderius, and his erstwhile ally the Emperor Constantine who was once again persecuting those who worshipped images.  The result, says tP, was "an uneasy peace". Pope Paul visited the prisons,  freed  debtors, restored Roman churches, all of which actions prompted LP to extoll him as "a courageous champion of the orthodox faith" although his "harsh rule and reliance on the ecclesiastical bureaucracy had incensed the lay aristocracy for (whom) it was important to have a pope they could influence" (ODP).
    Paul deputed Roman cardinal priests and a few others to oversee papal elections. On his death, Duke Toto of Nepi, recognizing the value of the lands (and revenues) of the newly-enhanced papacy, established his brother Constantine as pope by force. But the Lombards under King Desiderius invaded, imprisoned Constantine and briefly set up a Roman priest, Philip, as pope. He too was soon removed with the aid of the powerful chief notary Christopher. The papacy, says S&S, "was sucked into a sordid whirlpool of internecine violence and betrayal, punctuated by blindings, torture and judicial murder".

anti-pope  Constantine II  (767-769)
anti-pope  Philip  (768)        

95. Stephen III b. Sicily; elected 7 Aug, 768; d. 24 Jan, 772. Seeking to undo the confusion and damage wrought by previous events, Stephen called a synod at which it was agreed that the laity should have no part in electing a pope who in future could be chosen only from the higher echelons of the church. Still battling with the Lombard king Desiderius, Stephen first sought alliances with the Franks and then abandoned them. Pope Stephen  described women as "vessels of Satan", forbade a Frankish prince to marry on pain of burning in hell, and is alleged to have presided over the torture of rival claimants to the papacy. In 771, Pepin's son Charlemagne emerged, a man who was to exert a great influence on imperial affairs affecting the papacy.

96. Hadrian I. b. Rome; elected 9 Feb, 772; d. 25 Dec, 795. Appointed a deacon by his predecessor, Hadrian quickly allied himself with the new king of the Franks, Charlemagne, who responded by beating Desiderius and taking over the Lombard kingdom.  Charlemagne restored the papal estates, although retaining control of them; endorsed the 787 Nicean Council which condemned iconoclasm and in 794 held a synod of his own at Frankfurt which condemned the age-old heresy of adoptionism (which maintained that Jesus had been transformed from an "ordinary man" after his baptism). To the emperor's insistence on the filioque  phrase ("from the son") over the Greek preference ("through the Son") regarding the status of the Holy Spirit,  Hadrian ("a tough-minded and devout aristocrat"--S&S) ruled that either would do, and although pope and emperor were in amity about many matters, they disagreed about the extent of Charlemagne's intervention in papal territory. The pope restored Rome's walls and many ancient churches and acqueducts and enlarged the city's welfare system.

97. St Leo III. b. Rome; elected  27 Dec, 795; d. 12 June, 816. Beset by opposing factions (led by a relative of his papal predecessor named Paschalis) because of his "personality and methods" (ODP) he was kidnapped,  tortured and accused of perjury and adultery. He enlisted Charlemagne's  help, traveling 12 miles from the city to meet him, and who escorted him back to Rome. Later he held a tribunal to consider Paschalis' charges. After Leo took an oath of purgation (swearing on "scripture and holy relics of martyrs and saints") he was cleared, and two days later at Christmas 800 the pope  crowned Charlemagne emperor, initiating the Holy Roman Empire. "My task, assisted by the divine piety, is to defend the Church of Christ..." Charlemagne told Leo. "Let the sanctity of your life and words be a shining example to us all".  Leo founded the forerunner of the University of Paris and acted as peacemaker in disputes  between the English archbishops.
8th c. mosaic in St John Lateran