Pope Sisinnius

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bishop of Rome
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began15 January 708
Papacy ended4 February 708
PredecessorJohn VII
SuccessorConstantine
Personal details
Died(708-02-04)4 February 708
Rome
BuriedOld St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

Pope Sisinnius (died 4 February 708) was the

consecrated a bishop for Corsica and ordered the reinforcement of the walls surrounding the papal capital of Rome. On his death, Sisinnius was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica. He was succeeded by Pope Constantine
.

Background

Religious

Further information: Acacian schism and Byzantine Papacy

In the late fifth century, the churches of the East and West were divided over the

Exarch at Ravenna [the Byzantine representative in the Italian Peninsula] being empowered to issue the necessary mandate".[4]

The role of the pope in the time of Sisinnius, and the first millennium as a whole, was limited to that of a mediator. As the theologian

canonize saints or convene ecumenical councils.[5]

Political

Further information: Gothic War (535–554)

The centuries preceding the reign of Sisinnius were characterized by external intervention in the selection of the pope. The eastern

Roman senate as an institution as senatorial families were either executed or fled to the East.[8] During the Ostrogothic kingdom's rule over Rome from the late-fifth to the mid-sixth century, the senate held major sway over the selection of new popes, but following the imperial reconquest, control over the papal throne was no longer in its hands. Instead, the election of the pope was left to the clergy of Rome, the city's people, and the Imperial military garrison.[9] Richards argues that before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and after the rise of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy in 752, the "prestige, power and influence" of the pope was augmented under the protection of the imperial powers, and notes the papacy's growth in power during the sixth and seventh centuries.[10]

Sisinnius' predecessor, John VII (r. 705–707) was installed as the bishop of Rome the same year that the Byzantine emperor Justinian II (r. 685–695, 705–711) was restored to his throne.[11] Shortly after regaining power, the latter sent several decrees of canon law from the 692 Quinisext Council to John, any of which he could approve or reject. Out of worry of displeasing the Emperor, the Pope sent the decrees back to Justinian unchanged.[12] The issue of the Quinisext canons continued into the reign of Sisinnius' successor, Constantine, who travelled to Constantinople in 711 to negotiate with the East over the matter.[13]

Life and papacy

The Duchy of Rome (numbered 3) within the Byzantine Empire in Sisinnius' time

Little information about Sisinnius before his election to the papal throne is extant.

biographies.[15] The historian Jean Durliat stated that "[t]he concision of his biography may be interpreted as the result of aversion to him on the part of the Roman clergy, or perhaps a reflection of the absence of anomaly in an ecclesiastical career that led naturally to the pontificate".[15] By birth, Sisinnius was Syrian and his father was named John.[16] Sisinnius was respected for his upright, moral disposition and concern for the people of Rome, politically and militarily part of the Exarchate of Ravenna.[14][16] Like many of his immediate predecessors, he was likely not a member of the upper class, as indicated by the paucity of donations of gold and silver during his pontificate and the pontificates of the popes between him and Pope Honorius I in the seventh century.[17]

Sisinnius was elected to become the bishop of Rome, likely in October 707, and was

medieval popes who were elderly,[14][18] which Richards explains by saying that "[o]ld age in the popes generally also betokened experience" in either administrative or spiritual tasks, which the electorate would have taken into consideration when choosing a new pope.[18] During his reign, Sisinnius consecrated a bishop for Corsica. He also ordered the preparation of lime so that the walls surrounding the city of Rome, which by then were in poor condition due to past attacks, could be reinforced.[14] The task was never executed, as Sisinnius died in Rome on 4 February after a reign of twenty days.[16] He was buried in the left nave of Old St. Peter's Basilica; his tomb was destroyed in the 17th century during the Basilica's demolition.[19] The next pope elected was Constantine, another Syrian,[14][16] who was consecrated on 25 March 708.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ Most were from Greece, Syria, or Palestine.[7]

References

  1. ^ Duffy 1997, pp. 37–38.
  2. ^ Duffy 1997, p. 38.
  3. ^ Duffy 1997, pp. 60–61.
  4. ^ Duffy 1997, p. 61.
  5. ^ McBrien 2006, pp. 4–5.
  6. ^ Richards 1979, p. 243.
  7. ^ a b Richards 1979, p. 244.
  8. ^ Richards 1979, pp. 246–248.
  9. ^ Richards 1979, p. 248.
  10. ^ Richards 1979, pp. 1–2.
  11. ^ Richards 1979, p. 211.
  12. ^ Richards 1979, p. 212.
  13. ^ Richards 1979, pp. 213–214.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Kelly & Walsh 1988, p. 85.
  15. ^ a b Durliat 2002a, p. 1428.
  16. ^ a b c d e McBrien 2000, p. 117.
  17. ^ Richards 1979, p. 213.
  18. ^ a b Richards 1979, p. 250.
  19. ^ Reardon 2004, p. 58.
  20. ^ Durliat 2002b, p. 420.

Sources

  • ISBN 978-0-30-007332-4
    .
  • Durliat, Jean (2002a). "Sisinnius". In Levillain, Phillipe (ed.). The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 3.[1]
  • Durliat, Jean (2002b). "Constantine I". In Levillain, Phillipe (ed.). The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1.[2]
  • OCLC 59172482
    .
  • OCLC 47237751
    .
  • Levillain, Philippe, ed. (2002d). The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York City: Routledge.
    OCLC 47237751
    .
  • OCLC 43458291
    .
  • McBrien, Richard P. (2006). The Pocket Guide to the Popes. San Francisco: HarperCollins.
    ISBN 0061137731
    .
  • Reardon, Wendy J. (2004). The Deaths of the Popes. Jefferson, North Carolina:
    OCLC 55845524
    .
  • OCLC 4952990
    .
Catholic Church titles
Vacant
Title last held by
John VII 		Pope
708 		Vacant
Title next held by
Constantine
  1. ^ Levillain 2002c.
  2. ^ Levillain 2002d.
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