Pope Benedict III
| Pope Benedict III | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
| Papal seal of Pope Benedict III
Papal seal of Pope Benedict III
| |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 29 September 855 |
| Papacy ended | 17 April 858 |
| Predecessor | Leo IV |
| Successor | Nicholas I |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rome, Papal States |
| Died | 17 April 858 |
| Other popes named Benedict | |
Pope Benedict III (Latin: Benedictus III; died 17 April 858) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 29 September 855 to his death on 17 April 858.[1]
Early career
Little is known of Benedict's life before his papacy. His father was named Peter.[1] Benedict was educated, and lived in Rome and was appointed by Pope Leo IV as cardinal-priest of the church of San Callisto.[2] Benedict had a reputation for learning and piety.
Pontificate
Benedict III was elected upon the refusal of Adrian, the initial choice of the clergy and people. Arsenius, bishop of Orte, intercepted the legates sent to advise the emperor of the election and persuaded them to betray Benedict and convince the emperor name the bishop's nephew Anastasius instead. Anastasius had previously been excommunicated by Leo IV. The legates returned with the imperial envoys and had Benedict's election disavowed and Anastasius installed. Anastasius took his place at the Lateran and Benedict was imprisoned. However, local popular opinion was so strong that the Franks recognized Benedict's consecration. Benedict treated Anastasius and his adherents leniently.[3] The schism helped to weaken the hold of the emperors upon the popes, especially upon their elections.
Benedict intervened in the conflict between Lothair II of Lotharingia, Louis II of Italy, and Charles of Provence on the death of their father, Emperor Lothair I. He wrote to the Frankish bishops, rebuking them for remaining silent in the face of the disorder affecting the Carolingian realms.[3]
Æthelwulf of Wessex and his son, the future king Alfred the Great, visited Rome in Benedict's reign. The Schola Anglorum, which was destroyed by fire in 847, was restored by Benedict.[1]
A medieval tradition claimed that Pope Joan, a woman disguised as a man, was Benedict's immediate predecessor. The legendary Joan is generally believed to be fictitious.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Benedict III — Date of birth unknown; d. 17 April, 858. The election of the learned and ascetic Roman, Benedict, the son of Peter, was a troubled one. On the death of Leo IV (17 July, 855) Benedict was chosen to succeed him, and envoys were despatched to secure the ratification of the decree of election by the Emperors Lothaire and Louis II. But the legates betrayed their trust and allowed themselves to be influenced in favour of the ambitious and excommunicated Cardinal Anastasius. The imperial missi, gained over in turn by them, endeavoured to force Anastasius on the Roman Church. Benedict was insulted and imprisoned. Most of the clergy and people, however, remained true to him, and the missi had to yield. Benedict was accordingly consecrated on the 29th of September, or 6th of October, 855, and though his rival was condemned by a synod, he admitted him to lay communion. Owing to dissensions and attacks from without, the kingdom of the Franks was in disorder, and the Church within its borders was oppressed. Benedict wrote to the Frankish bishops, attributing much of the misery in the empire to their silence (cf. "Capitularia regum Francorum", ed. Boretius, II, 424); and to lessen its internal evils endeavoured to curb the powerful subdeacon Hubert (Ep. Bened., in Mon. Germ. Epp., V, 612), who was the brother-in-law of Lothaire II, King of Lorraine, and defied the laws of God and man till he was slain, in 864. In an appeal made to Benedict from the East, he held the balance fair between St. Ignatius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Gregory, Bishop of Syracuse. He was visited by the Ango-Saxon King Ethelwulf with his famous son Alfred, and completed the restoration of the Schola Anglorum, destroyed by fire in 847. He continued the work of repairing the damage done to the churches in Rome by the Saracen raid of 846. He was buried near the principal gate of St. Peter's. One of his coins proves there was no Pope Joan between Leo IV and himself [Garampi, "De nummo argenteo Bened. III" (Rome, 1749)].
The most important source for the history of the first nine popes who bore the name of Benedict is the biographies in the Liber Pontificalis, of which the most useful edition is that of Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis (Paris, 1886-92), and the latest that of Mommsen, Gesta Pontif. Roman. (to the end of the reign of Constantine only, Berlin, 1898). Jaffé, Regesta Pont. Rom. (2d ed., Leipzig, 1885), gives a summary of the letters of each pope and tells where they may be read at length. Modern accounts of these popes will be found in any large Church history, or history of the City of Rome. The fullest account in English of most of them is to be read in Mann, Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages (London, 1902, passim).
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Benedict III". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Back to citation J. N. D. Kelly, "Benedict III" in The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, (2006).
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Brusher S.J., Joseph S., "Benedict III", Popes Through the Ages, Neff-Kane; 3rd edition (1980, ISBN 978-0891411109
Bibliography
- Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th edition (1880s)
- Baix, F. (1935). "Benoît III pape", in: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, VIII (Paris 1935), pp 14–27. (in French)
- Cheetham, Nicolas, Keepers of the Keys, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983. ISBN 0-684-17863-X
- Davis, Raymond (1995). The Lives of the Ninth-century Popes (Liber Pontificalis): The Ancient Biographies of Ten Popes from A.D. 817-891. Liverpool University Press. pp. 161–188. ISBN 978-0-85323-479-1.
- Duchesne, Louis (1892). Le Liber Pontificalis (in Latin and French). Vol. Tome II. Paris: E. Thorin. pp. 140–150.
- Gregorovius, Ferdinand (1903). Hamilton, Annie (ed.). History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages. Vol. III (second revised ed.). London: G. Bell & sons. pp. 115–120.
- Mann, Horace Kinder (1906). The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages. Vol. II. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner. pp. 308–328.
External links
- Bertolini, Ottorino (1966), "Benedetto III, papa", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 8 (1966) (in Italian)
- Benedictus III, Opera Omnia, published by J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, with analytical indexes