Stephen V (816-817) 99th Pope
He was renowned for his generosity to the poor
He was the first to administer the oath of allegiance to the emperor
St. Paschal I (817-824) 100th Pope
He commissioned the evangelization of Denmark
The emperor in the east reverted to iconoclasm and renewed his persecution
He helped in the discovery and preservation of the catacombs
Eugene II (824-827) 101st Pope
He was very forceful in protecting and preserving the rights of the Church
A clerical group and an imperial leaning group sought their influence to name a pope
He and the emperor developed principals of the relationship between the pope and the emperor
Those under Papal or Imperial protection were inviolable and were to be obeyed
Church property was not be plundered after the death of a pope
Only those who were permitted, cardinals, could participate in papal elections
He established schools at cathedral
He deposed ignorant of illiterate preists
He is attributed to the institution of seminaries
He put into effect canons and law, becoming the origin present Roman Curia
Valentine (827) 102nd Pope
He was capable at reconciling all parties
He was loved by the people
Gregory IV (827-844) 103rd Pope
He was known by his piety.
He made himself known through his work for the poor.
Imperial concerns would dominate his pontificate.
Viking raids increased.
Muslims took Siciliy and intervened in Southern Italy.
He appointed Nov. 1 as Feast of All Saints.
The Gregorian Chant spread through Europe.
Sergius II (844-847) 104th Pope
He suffered physical pain and gout
The Muslims came very close to seizing Rome
He carried out improvements on churches and aqueducts
St. Leo IV (847-855) 105th Pope
He sought to strengthen the defenses of Rome against the Muslims
He built up the walls around Rome
He repaired and beautified St. Peter’s
He was the first pope to put the date on official documents
Benedict III (855-858) 106th Pope
The Frankish Church suffered from squabbles between the Carolingians
Many of these bishops were fearful to speak out against evils
St. Nicholas I (858-867) 107th Pope
Both secular rulers and archbishops sought to run Church affairs as their own
He was known for his fearlessness and piety
He faced difficult resistance among the secular rulers
The schism between east and west begin during this time
The Slavic alphabet “Cyrillic” is invented to teach Christianity to the Slavs
He encourages the missionary activity of the Church
He rebuilt and endowed several churhes
He constantly encourage religious vocations
He appointed August 15 as Feast of the Assumption
Adrian II (867-872) 108th Pope
He tried to settle the deep quarrels among the catholic people
He crowned the first sovereign blessed English king
The governance of the Church fell into the hands of a clique of unscrupulous clerics
John VIII (872-882) 109th Pope
He could not clean out corruption in Church affairs for fear of reprisal
He later eventually moved to clean up the Roman administration
He excommunicated a Church official in exchange for return of land to the Latin Church
He was defeated by the Arabs
The Christians were slowly were reconquering Spain from the Muslims
Marinus (882-884) 110th Pope
He tried to end the factionalism in Rome
He sought to take action against the schism in the east
St. Adrian III (884-885) 111st Pope
Rome was beset with a famine
Stephen VI (885-891) 112nd Pope
A plague of locusts reduced Rome to
starvation
He used his father’s fortune to buy food, free prisoners, and to repair churches
He forbade trial by fire or water
Formosus (891-896) 113th Pope
The Vikings besieged Paris
The French decided to have a king of their own
The Bulgarians were converted to Christianity
Boniface VI (896) 114th Pope
The papacy was at the mercy of the great feudal families of Italy
Stephen VII (896-897) 115th Pope
He had the pope’s body thrown into the Tiber river after a mock trial
He incorrectly declared that Formosus’ sacramental acts as invalid
Romanus (897) 116th Pope
He had a reputation of virtue
He help rehabilitated the memory of Formosus
Theodore II (897) 117th Pope
He restored full pontifical honors to Formosus
He reinstated clerics deposed by Stephen
He declared Formosus’ sacramental acts as valid
John IX (898-900) 118th Pope
He sought to eliminate the anarchy that overwhelmed Rome and Italy because of factionalism and the breakdown of the empire
He restored the clerics deposed by Stephen
He ordered an end to the plunder of the papal states
He reaffirmed the supremacy of the Church over Rome and its territories
He reestablished the right of imperial intervention in the consecration of popes