Pope John VI
| Pope John VI | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
| |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 30 October 701 |
| Papacy ended | 11 January 705 |
| Predecessor | Sergius I |
| Successor | John VII |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 655 Ephesus, Thracesian Theme, Eastern Roman Empire |
| Died | 11 January 705 (aged 49–50) Rome, Italy, Eastern Roman Empire |
| Other popes named John | |
Pope John VI (Latin: Ioannes VI; 655 – 11 January 705) was the bishop of Rome from 30 October 701 to his death on 11 January 705. John VI was a Greek from Ephesus who reigned during the Byzantine Papacy. His papacy was noted for military and political breakthroughs on the Italian Peninsula. He was succeeded by Pope John VII after a vacancy of less than two months.[1] The body of the pope was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica.
Greek papacy
A Greek from Ephesus, John VI succeeded Sergius I. His selection occurred after a vacancy of less than seven weeks.
John assisted Exarch Theophylactos, who had been sent to Italy by Emperor Tiberius III,[2] and prevented him from using violence against the Romans.[3] John VI's interventions prevented Theophylactos from being injured, having come to Rome to "cause trouble for the pontiff".[4]
In 704, after being expelled, yet again, from his see, the elderly Bishop Wilfrid of York went to Rome and pleaded his case "before the apostolic Pope John [VI]".[5] Wilfrid had visited Rome in 654 and 679 and witnessed the progressive transformation of the Church administration to a Greek-dominated hierarchy. Because of this, John VI convened a synod of Greek-speaking bishops to hear Wilfrid's cause, a linguistic hurdle that much perturbed Wilfrid.[5] Nonetheless, the synod exonerated Wilfrid, restored him to his see, which he occupied until his death in 709, and sent him back with letters for King Æthelred of Mercia for papal mandates to be implemented.[5] John also sent the pallium to Berhtwald, whom Sergius I had confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury.[6]
Relations with Lombards
John succeeded in inducing Duke Gisulf I of Benevento to withdraw from the territories of the empire through tactics of persuasion and bribery.[3] According to some sources, he "single-handedly convinced the Lombard duke Gisulf of Benevento to withdraw his forces and return home" after the duke had devastated the neighboring Campanian countryside and constructed an encampment within sight of the city walls of Rome.[7] Distressed at the sufferings of the people, Pope John sent a number of priests furnished with money into the camp of the Lombard duke to ransom all the captives whom Gisulf had taken.[6]
Other significant events during John VI's pontificate include the Lombard king Aripert II returning the Cottian Alps to their former status as a papal patrimony.[7] Numerous construction projects also occurred, including a new ambon in the Basilica of St. Andrew the Apostle, a new altar cloth for San Marco, and "suspended diaphonous white veils between the columns on either side of the altar in San Paolo."[7] John VI also promoted easterners within the episcopal hierarchy, including Boniface, the papal counselor.[5]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope John VI — (701-705).
A Greek, the date of whose birth is unknown; d. 11 January, 705. He ascended the papal throne 30 October, 701. Some time during his reign there came to Rome from Sicily Theophylactus, "chamberlain, patricius, and exarch of Italy". After the treatment which some of his predecessors in the exarchate had meted out to the popes, the Italian people suspected that his visit boded no good to John VI. Accordingly, from all parts the local militias hurriedly marched to Rome, and, encamping without the walls, made manifest their dislike of the exarch. To avoid bloodshed, John sent a number of priests to them, and succeeded in pacifying them; as far at least as the exarch himself was concerned. Before the militias would disband, however, they insisted that certain informers, whose denunciations had put the wealth of some of the citizens into the hands of the grasping officials, should be handed over to them for punishment. Taking advantage of this want of harmony between the exarch and the native Italians attached to the pope, the Lombards renewed their attacks on such parts of Italy as had hitherto resisted them. Several towns belonging to the Duchy of Rome were seized, Gisulf advanced as far as "Horrea" Puteoli - or perhaps the "fundus Horrea" at the fifth milestone on the Via Latina. As "there was no one who had power to resist him by force of arms", the pope, distressed at the sufferings of the people, sent a number of priests furnished with money into the camp of the Lombard duke. Not only did they ransom all the captives whom Gisulf had taken, but they persuaded him to retire to his own territories. John VI was one of the popes before whom St. Wilfrid of York carried his appeals. Pointing out that the action of the Apostolic See was wont to be consistent, the saint adjured him to confirm in his behalf the decisions of his predecessors (704). This John did, and sent him back to England with letters for King Ethelred and others. It was not, however, till the following year that the papal mandates were obeyed. John sent the pallium to Brithwald, whom "he confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury". He was buried in St. Peter's.
Liber Pontificalis, I, 383 sq.; Eddius, Vita S. Wilfridi, xlvi sqq.; Bede, Hist. eccl., V, 19; Montalembert, Monks of the West, IV (Edinburgh and London, 1879), 323 sqq.; Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, VI (Oxford, 1895), 336, 363 sq.; Mann, Lives of the Popes, vol. I, pt. II, p.105 sqq.
References
- Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 246.
- Back to citation M. Benedik: Papeži od Petra do Janeza Pavla II., Mohorjeva družba Celje 1989. Page 69.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John VI.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 434.
- Back to citation Ekonomou, 2007, p. 270.
- Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Back to citation occurrence 5.2 Back to citation occurrence 5.3 Ekonomou, 2007, p. 245.
- Back to citation occurrence 6.0 Back to citation occurrence 6.1 Mann, Horace. "Pope John VI." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 25 October 2017
- Back to citation occurrence 7.0 Back to citation occurrence 7.1 Back to citation occurrence 7.2 Ekonomou, 2007, p. 248.
Bibliography
- Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Lexington Books.