Pope Gregory IV
Bishop of Rome | |
---|---|
Church | Catholic Church |
Papacy began | October 827 |
Papacy ended | 25 January 844 |
Predecessor | Valentine |
Successor | Sergius II |
Orders | |
Created cardinal | 797 by Leo III |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Died | Rome, Papal States | 25 January 844
Other popes named Gregory |
Pope Gregory IV (
Rise to papacy
The son of a
Gregory's consecration was delayed until 29 March 828, when he received notice of the Emperor Louis the Pious’ approval of his election. This delay was enforced by the imperial envoys, who insisted that the Constitution of 824 expressly forbid the consecration of any pope-elect until the emperor had satisfied himself of the validity of the election.[7] It was said that the emperor reprimanded Gregory for attempting to have himself consecrated before receiving the approval of the emperor.[8] Gregory complied with these demands of imperial supremacy, and in 828 and 829, the pope sent embassies to Louis for unspecified discussions.
In January 829, Gregory was involved in a dispute with Farfa Abbey over the ownership of local monastic land by the Roman church. In a court run by a bishop and a representative of the emperor, and in the presence of Gregory, Abbot Ingoald of Farfa claimed that the Frankish emperors had granted them the lands, and that Popes Adrian I and Leo III had taken possession of the land illegally.[9] The imperial representative made a ruling in favour of the abbey, and that the lands were to be restored to the monastery.[10] Although Gregory refused to accept the ruling, there is no evidence that he managed to get the decision overturned.[11]
Carolingian quarrels
In 817, by a solemn deed, confirmed by Paschal I, Louis had made a division of the empire in favour of his three sons from his first marriage: the future emperor
When the war between father and sons resumed in
”You professed to have felt delighted when you heard of my arrival, thinking that it would have been of great advantage for the emperor and the people; you added that you would have obeyed my summons had not a previous intimation of the emperor prevented you. But you ought to have regarded an order from the Apostolic See as not less weighty than one from the emperor. ...The government of souls, which belongs to bishops, is more important than the imperial, which is only concerned with the temporal. Your assertion that I have only come to blindly excommunicate is shameless, and your offer to give me an honourable reception if I should have come exactly in the way the emperor wanted me to is contemptuous. With regards to the oaths I have taken to the emperor, I will avoid perjury by pointing out to the emperor what he has done against the unity and peace of the Church and his kingdom. With regards to the bishops, in opposing my efforts in behalf of peace, what they threaten has not been done, from the beginning of the Church.”[16]
Regardless of this claim, the vast bulk of the Frankish bishops maintained that the pope had no business interfering in the internal affairs of the kingdom, or in expecting the Frankish clergy to follow his lead in such matters. Their position was clear, that the equality of all the bishops outranked the leadership of the pope.[17]
The armies of Louis and two of his sons met at Rotfeld, near Colmar, on 24 June 833. The sons persuaded Gregory to go to Louis's camp to negotiate, and initially Louis refused to treat Gregory with any honour. However, Gregory managed to convince Louis of his good faith, and returned to Lothair to arrange a peace.[18] However, Gregory soon learned that he had been deceived by Lothair. Gregory was prevented from returning to the emperor, while Louis was deserted by his supporters and was forced to surrender unconditionally; Louis was deposed and humiliated at the Campus Mendacii, and Lothair was proclaimed emperor.[19] Following these events, Gregory returned to Rome. A second fraternal quarrel resulted in Louis being restored in 834, but his position was sufficiently weakened that Lothair retained the Kingdom of Italy.
The emperor then sent a delegation to see Gregory, headed by Archbishop
In 836, Lothair, in his role as
Building activities and religious issues
Gregory repaired the
Gregory contributed to the architectural development of Rome. In 833, Gregory completely rebuilt
Gregory’s pontificate witnessed the end of the
Gregory was also asked to arbitrate during his journey to Francia in 833 the case against Aldric of Le Mans, who was being forced out of his see by partisans of Lothair.[36] On 8 July 833 Gregory wrote to the bishops of “Gaul, Europe and Germany” declaring that Aldric had every right to appeal to the pope, and that until the pope had issued a judgement one way or the other, no-one could pass a sentence against him. Further, that this mandate had to be obeyed in order to remain in communion with the Roman church.[37] The letter together with the restoration of Louis allowed Aldric to remain in his see for some time.[38]
Gregory was also asked by emperor Louis’s representative,
On 25 January 844 Gregory IV died,[6] and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica. He was succeeded by Sergius II.
Notes
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ Mann, pg. 190; DeCormenin, pg. 218
- ^ Mann, pg. 189
- ^ Mann, pg. 190
- ^ Hughes, Philip, History of the Church, Vol II (1948), pg. 183
- ^ a b Levillain, pg. 644
- ^ Levillain, pg. 644; Mann, pg. 191
- ^ DeCormenin, pg. 218
- ^ Mann, pgs. 191-192
- ^ DeCormenin, pg. 219
- ^ Mann, pg. 192
- ^ Mann, pg. 194
- ^ Mann, pgs. 195-196
- ^ Mann, pgs. 197-198
- ^ Mann, pgs. 199-200; DeCormenin, pg. 219
- ^ Mann, pgs. 201-202
- ^ Noble, Thomas, The Papacy in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries, in The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 1 (1995), pg. 584
- ^ Mann, pgs. 202-203
- ^ Mann, pg. 203
- ^ DeCormenin, pg. 220
- ^ Levillain, pg. 644; Mann, pgs. 204-205
- ^ Mann, pgs. 205-206
- ^ Mann, pg. 207
- ^ Mann, pgs. 207-208
- ^ Mann, pg. 217
- ^ Mann, pg. 216; DeCormenin, pg. 219
- ^ Levillain, pg. 644; Mann, pgs. 217-218
- ^ Mann, pgs. 189-190
- ^ Goodson, Caroline, The Rome of Pope Paschal I (2010), pg. 278
- ^ Mann, pg. 218
- ^ Mann, pgs. 212-213
- ^ Mann, pg. 230
- ^ Mann, pgs. 219-220
- ^ Mann, pgs. 222-223
- ^ Mann, pg. 224
- ^ Mann, pg. 226
- ^ Mann, pg. 227
- ^ Mann, pgs. 227-228
- ^ Mann, pgs. 228-229
References
- Levillain, Philippe, The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies, Routledge (2002)
- Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. II: The Popes During the Carolingian Empire, 795-858 (1906)
- DeCormenin, Louis Marie; Gihon, James L., A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth (1857)