Pope Stephen IV

Pope Saint Stephen IV
Pope Stephen IV (standing first on the right) crowns the emperor Louis the Pious
Papacy began	22 June 816
Papacy ended	24 January 817
Predecessor	Leo III
Successor	Paschal I
Personal details
Birth name	Stephanus
Born	c. 770 Rome, Byzantine empire
Died	24 January 817(817-01-24) Rome, Papal States
Other popes named Stephen

Pope Stephen IV (Latin: Stephanus IV; c. 770 – 24 January 817) was Pope from June 816 to his death in 817.^[1]

Biography

The son of a Roman noble called Marinus, Stephen IV belonged to the same family which also produced the Popes Sergius II and Adrian II.^[2] At a young age he was raised at the Lateran Palace during the pontificate of Pope Adrian I, and it was under Stephen's predecessor Pope Leo III that he was first ordained a Subdeacon before he was subsequently made a Deacon. Very popular among the Roman people,^[3] within ten days of Leo III’s death, he was escorted to Saint Peter’s Basilica and consecrated Bishop of Rome on 22 June 816. It has been conjectured that his rapid election was an attempt by the Roman clergy to ensure that the Roman emperor could not interfere in the election.^[3]

Immediately after his consecration he ordered the Roman people to swear fidelity to the Frankish king and Roman emperor Louis the Pious, after which Stephen sent envoys to the emperor notifying him of his election, and to arrange a meeting between the two at the emperor’s convenience.^[4] With Louis’ invitation, Stephen left Rome in August 816, crossing the Alps together with Bernard, the King of the Lombards, who was ordered to accompany Stephen to the emperor.^[5] In early October, the Pope and Emperor met at Rheims, where Louis prostrated himself three times before Stephen.^[6] At Mass on Sunday, 5 October 816, Stephen consecrated and anointed Louis as emperor, placing a crown on his head that was claimed to belong to Constantine the Great.^[7] At the same time he also crowned Louis’ wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, and saluted her as Augusta.^[8] This event has been seen as an attempt by the Papacy to establish a role in the creation of an emperor, which had been placed in doubt by Louis' self-coronation in 813.^[9]

While with Louis, the emperor gave Stephen a number of presents, including an estate of land (most likely at Vendeuvre-sur-Barse) granted to the Roman church.^[10] They also renewed the pact between the Popes and the kings of the Franks, confirming the privileges of the Roman church, and the continued existence of the recently emerged Papal States.^[11] Stephen also raised Bishop Theodulf of Orléans to the rank of Archbishop, and had Louis release from their exile all political prisoners originally from Rome who had been held by the emperor resulting from the conflict that plagued the early part of Pope Leo III’s reign.^[12] It is also believed that Stephen asked Louis to enforce reforms for the clergy who lived under the Rule of Chrodegang. This included ensuring that the men and women who lived there were to stay in separate convents, and that they were to hold the houses under a title of common property. He also regulated how much food and wine they could consume.^[13]

After visiting Ravenna on his way back from Rheims, Stephen returned to Rome before the end of November 816.^[14] Here, he apparently discontinued Leo III’s policies of favouring clergy over lay aristocracy. After holding the traditional ordination of priests and bishops in December and confirming Farfa Abbey’s possessions on condition that every day the monks would recite one hundred “Kyrie Eleisons” as well as a yearly payment to the Roman Church of ten golden solidi, Stephen died on 24 January 817.^[15] He was buried at St. Peter’s, and was succeeded by Pope Paschal I. At some point, Stephen was canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church.^[16]

See also

• List of Catholic saints
• List of popes

Notes

1. ↑  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Stephen (IV) V". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
2. ↑ Mann, pgs. 111–112
3. 1 2 Mann, pg. 112
4. ↑ Mann, pgs. 112–113
5. ↑ Mann, pgs. 113–114
6. ↑ Mann, pg. 114
7. ↑ Duffy, pg. 77
8. ↑ Mann, pg. 115
9. ↑ Duffy, pg. 78
10. ↑ Mann, pg. 117–118
11. ↑ Mann, pg. 118
12. ↑ Mann, pgs. 118–119
13. ↑ Louis Marie DeCormenin; James L. Gihon, A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth, (1857) pg. 212
14. ↑ Mann, pg. 119
15. ↑ Mann, pgs. 119–120
16. ↑ Artaud de Montor, The lives and times of the Roman Pontiffs, from St. Peter to Pius IX Volume 1 (1867), pg. 94

References

• Duffy, Eamon, Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, Yale University Press (1997)
• Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. II: The Popes During the Carolingian Empire, 795–858 (1906)
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Stephen (Popes)". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

•  "Pope Stephen (IV) V". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. 

Popes of the Catholic Church
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1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337)	Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I
5th–8th centuries Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857)	Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III
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13th–16th centuries Viterbo (1257–1281) Orvieto (1262–1297) Perugia (1228–1304) Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) Western Schism (1378–1417) Renaissance Papacy (1417–1534) Reformation Papacy (1534–1585) Baroque Papacy (1585–1689)	Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII
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21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
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