Pope Agapetus I
Eastern Roman Empire | |
---|---|
Sainthood | |
Feast day | 20 September (West) 17 April[1] (East) |
Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
Other popes named Agapetus |
Pope Agapetus I (489/490 – 22 April 536) was the
In 536, Agapetus traveled to Constantinople at the behest of King Theodahad of the Ostrogoths and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Emperor Justinian I to call off a Byzantine invasion of the Ostrogoth kingdom. While in Constantinople, Agapetus also deposed the patriarch Anthimus I and personally consecrated his successor who is
Agapetus was canonized in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions; his feast day is 20 September in the former and 22 April in the latter.
Family
Agapetus was born in Rome, although his exact date of birth is unknown. He was the son of Gordianus, a Roman priest who had been slain during the riots in the days of Pope Symmachus (term 498–514).[2] The name of his father might point to a familial relation with popes: Felix III (483–492) and Gregory I (590–604).[3]
Pontificate
Jeffrey Richards describes him as "the last survivor of the
Agapetus assisted
Meanwhile, the
The occupant of the Byzantine patriarchal see was
Shortly afterwards, Agapetus fell ill and died on 22 April 536,[5] after a reign of just ten months. His remains were brought in a lead coffin to Rome and deposited in St. Peter's Basilica. On the Clivus Scauri the archeological remains known as the 'apsidal Hall of the Library of Pope Agapitus I' is located near the ancient Church of St. Andrew on the Caelian Hill.[9]
Veneration
Agapetus I has been canonised by both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. His memory is kept on 20 September in the Catholic Church. The Eastern churches commemorate him on 22 April, the day of his death.
See also
References
- ^ (in Greek) Άγιος Αγαπητός πάπας Ρώμης Ορθόδοξος Συναξαριστής
- ^ a b c Loughlin, James Francis (1907). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), p. 23
- ^ Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p. 127
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89-141110-9
- ^ Breviarium S. Liberati, ap. Mansi, Concilia, vol. ix. p. 695
- ^ Smith, William, ed. (1870). . Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. pp. 59–60.
- ^ Mansi, Concilia, viii. pp. 846–850
- ^ "The Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore: Church of Saint Andrew on Caelian Hill" Vatican website Retrieved 20 December 2017.
Bibliography
- Dudden, Frederick H. (1905), Gregory the Great, London: Longmans, Green, and Co
- Louise Ropes Loomis, The Book of Popes (Liber Pontificalis). Merchantville, New Jersey: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 1-889758-86-8(Reprint of the 1916 edition. English translation with scholarly footnotes, and illustrations).
- Martindale, John R.; Jones, A.H.M.; Morris, John (1992), The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: AD 527–641, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-20160-5
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz (1975). "AGAPET I.". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 1. Hamm: Bautz. col. 52. ISBN 3-88309-013-1.