Pope Adrian II

Adrian (792 - 872; shown here in a detail from a fresco in the San Clemente basilica in Rome) was a member of a noble Roman family, related to two popes: Stephen IV and Sergius II. He married a woman named Stephania and had a daughter.

Later in life he decided to become a priest. The subject of priests getting married had been quashed by popes centuries earlier, but an already married man joining the priesthood turned out to be something of an allowable loophole. He was known to be a gentle and amiable man, respected by all. After Pope Nicholas I died on 13 November 867, Adrian was chosen to replace him on 14 December, becoming Pope Adrian II (also called Hadrian II).

He did not want the position—perhaps partially out of humility, but also likely because he was 75 years old and it was a demanding job—but was pressured into it as an obligation. He moved into the Lateran Palace with his wife and daughter. Other popes had been married, but none were married at the time they became pope.

Nicholas had been a very forceful leader of the papacy, but Adrian was not as strong-willed. King Lothair II of Lotharingia died in 869 and Adrian was asked to mediate between claimants to the succession which contributed to chaos. Charles the Bald of France ignored the pope. Adrian's legates to Constantinople at the council that condemned Photios failed to bring jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Church under Rome.

Louis II, descendant of Charlemagne and emperor of the Carolingian Empire, distrusted Adrian and kept him "under surveillance" by a trusted advisor, Bishop Arsenius of Orte (Central Italy). Arsenius' nephew was Anastasius Bibliothecarius, the papal archivist. Arsenius' son, Eleutherius, married Adrian and Stephania's daughter, but this seems purely a calculated political move to cause trouble for Adrian.

Why do we think this? Because Eleutherius was already engaged. In 868, Stephania and the daughter were kidnapped, removed from the Lateran, and killed. Eleutherius was condemned to death. Anastasius was accused of being part of his cousin's plot, and excommunicated.

Adrian died on 14 December 872, five years exactly after becoming pope, which I'm sure he wished he had refused more firmly.

But how about this Anastasius, who had a privileged position in the papacy? What was he like, and how did he get to be appointed to manage the papal archives? Let me tell you about his life and career tomorrow.

Fourth Council of Constantinople

Technically, there were two of these synods, both held in Constantinople. One of them was called by Emperor Basil I, with the cooperation of Pope Adrian II, whose support Basil wanted after his recent coup (he had assassinated the previous emperor, Michael III).  So although it was held in Constantinople, it is considered a council of the Roman Catholic Church, not of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The catalyst for calling this council (October 869 - February 870) was to depose Patriarch Photios I, who was appointed inappropriately by Michael III, and to reinstate his predecessor, Ignatios. Clergy who were supporters of Photios were defrocked. Photios himself was incarcerated in a monastery.

There were over two dozen other decisions laid down as canons from this council that carried great weight doctrinally, even thought it was poorly attended; the first meeting had only 12 bishops, and the total in the few months it was held barely exceeded 100 clerics. The council was held in the Hagia Sophia (the illustration is a 16th century depiction by Cesare Nebbia). 

One of its statements was a re-affirmation of the Second Council of Nicaea's support of the use of icons and holy images. It even declared that an image of Jesus was to be venerated equally as the Gospel itself:

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them. For what speech conveys in words, pictures announce and bring out in colors.

It went further to declare that holy images of subjects other than Jesus were also considered worthy of veneration:

The image of his all-pure Mother and the images of the holy angels as well as the images of all the saints are equally the object of our homage and veneration.

The Roman Catholic popes were pleased to have the Eastern Orthodox Church looking to it for guidance, and Pope Adrian II got the credit, though he was not a particularly powerful pope, serving exactly five years. I'll tell you more about him tomorrow and his good luck with family connections and his bad luck with temporal authority.

Pope John VIII

John VIII was a Roman who, as a young man, witnessed the 846 CE raid against Rome by Muslims. According to the Liber Pontificalis ("Book of the Popes"), the raiders were Saracens from Africa, although other records offer other origins. These would have been Aghlabids from Ifriqiya, who started with the conquest of Sicily a couple decades earlier. They plundered the suburbs of Rome but were prevented from entering the city thanks to the walls, which were damaged but not breached.

When he became pope on 14 December 872 (after the death of Adrian II), John commenced to push back on the presence of Muslims in and around Italy. He considered the Muslim successes the result of bad Christians. He requested aid from Charles the Bald and others, but aid was not forthcoming, not even from local Christian leaders.

The incoming Muslims had, in some cases, settled in and made arrangements with local Christians to live peaceably near each other. He decided to declare a ban on forming alliances, but no one was buying it. This was seen simply as a ploy to increase the reach and power of the Papal States.

In 876 he himself traveled to the cities of Salerno, Capua, Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi to form an alliance against the Saracens. He reinforced the walls of the city. The 846 raid had plundered the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (which was its name, not just a description of its location). He fortified the basilica, the connected monastery, and even the nearby houses. He also formed a papal fleet.

John's predecessor, Adrian, had condemned Photios I, the patriarch of Constantinople. John reinstated him, hoping to appease the Byzantines and gain their support.

Unfortunately for John, his attempts to strengthen Rome drained the papal treasury. This is assumed to be the reason that, almost exactly one decade after the start of his pontificate, he was poisoned and then clubbed to death by his own clergy, on 16 December 882.

"Taking out the boss" was not the usual way to end the pontificate of a pope, but it was effectively employed more than once in the history of the Liber Pontificalis, especially in the 10th century starting with John. There were another half-dozen "eliminations" that are certain, and then maybe a further half-dozen papal deaths that were, let's say, a little bit suspicious.

But as tempting a topic that is, I've realized that Charles the Bald keeps getting mentioned, going back 12 years, and hasn't really been given his own entry, despite being the descendant and ancestor of those who have been highlighted. Time to put Charles in the spotlight and find out if he really was bald, or if that was a reference to some other characteristic. See you tomorrow.