April 1, 1282: Birth of Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV. Part I.

Tags

Bishop of Rome, Duke of Upper Bavaria, Friedrich the Fair of Habsburg, Golden Bull, Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Empire, Imperial Elector, Johann of Bohemia, Pope John XXII

Ludwig IV (April 1, 1282 – October 11, 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.

Ludwig was born in Munich, the son of Ludwig II, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, and his third wife Matilda of Habsburg, a daughter of Rudolph I of Habsburg, King of Germany and Gertrude of Hohenberg.

Ludwig IV was Duke of Upper Bavaria from 1294 to 1301 together with his elder brother Rudolf I, andvwas Margrave of Brandenburg until 1323, and Count Palatine of the Rhine until 1329, and became Duke of Lower Bavaria in 1340. He became Count of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland in 1345 when his wife Margaret inherited those domains.

Election as German King and conflict with Habsburg

The death of Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VII in August 1313 necessitated the election of a successor. Heinrich VII’s son Johann, King of Bohemia since 1310, was considered by many prince-electors to be too young, and by others to be already too powerful.

Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Upper Bavaria

One alternative was Friedrich the Fair, the son of Henry’s predecessor, Albrecht I, of the House of Habsburg. In reaction, the pro-Luxembourg party among the prince electors settled on Ludwig of Bavaria as its candidate to prevent Friedrich’s election.

On October 19, 1314, Archbishop Heinrich II of Cologne chaired an assembly of four electors at Sachsenhausen, south of Frankfurt. Participants were Ludwig’s brother, Rudolph I of the Palatinate, who objected to the election of his younger brother, Duke Rudolph I of Saxe-Wittenberg, and Heinrich of Carinthia, whom the Luxembourgs had deposed as King of Bohemia. These four electors chose Friedrich the Fair of Habsburg as the new German King.

The Luxembourg party did not accept this election and the next day a second election was held. Upon the instigation of Peter of Aspelt, Archbishop of Mainz, five different electors convened at Frankfurt and elected Ludwig as King.

These electors were Archbishop Peter himself, Archbishop Baldwin of Trier and King Johann of Bohemia – both of the House of Luxembourg – Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg and Duke Johann II of Saxe-Lauenburg, who contested Rudolph of Wittenberg’s claim to the electoral vote.

This double election was quickly followed by two coronations: Ludwig was crowned at Aachen – the customary site of coronations – by Archbishop Peter of Mainz, while the Archbishop of Cologne, who by custom had the right to crown the new king, crowned Friedrich at Bonn. In the following conflict between the kings, Ludwig recognized in 1316 the independence of Switzerland from the Habsburg dynasty.

Friedrich the Fair of Habsburg

After several years of bloody war, victory finally seemed within the grasp of Friedrich, who was strongly supported by his brother Leopold. However, Friedrich’s army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Mühldorf on September 28, 1322 on the Ampfing Heath, where Friedrich and 1300 nobles from Austria and Salzburg were captured.

Ludwig IV held Friedrich captive in Trausnitz Castle (Schwandorf) for three years, but the determined resistance by Friedrich’s brother Leopold, the retreat of Johann of Bohemia from his alliance, and a ban by Pope John XXII, who excommunicated Ludwig in 1324, induced Ludwig to release Friedrich in the Treaty of Trausnitz of 13 March 1325.

In this agreement, Friedrich recognized Ludwig as legitimate ruler and undertook to return to captivity should he not succeed in convincing his brothers to submit to Ludwig IV.

Golden Bull of Ludwig IV 1328

As he did not manage to overcome Leopold’s obstinacy, Friedrich returned to Munich as a prisoner, even though the Pope had released him from his oath. Ludwig IV, who was impressed by such nobility, renewed the old friendship with Friedrich, and they agreed to rule the Empire jointly.

Since the Pope and the electors strongly objected to this agreement, another treaty was signed at Ulm on January 7, 1326, according to which Friedrich would administer Germany as King of the Romans, while Ludwig would be crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in Italy. However, after Leopold’s death in 1326, Friedrich withdrew from the regency of the Empire and returned to rule only Austria where he died on January 13, 1330.

March 7, 1550: Death of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria

Tags

Albrecht V of Bavaria, Bishop of Rome, Counter Reformation, Duke Ludwig X of Bavaria, Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III, House of Wittelsbach, Philipp of Baden, Pope Clement VII

Wilhelm IV (November 13, 1493 – March 7, 1550) was Duke of Bavaria from 1508 to 1550, until 1545 together with his younger brother Ludwig X, Duke of Bavaria. He was born in Munich to Albrecht IV and Archduchess Kunigunde of Austria, a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III and his wife Infanta Eleanor of Portugal.

Though his father had determined the everlasting succession of the firstborn prince in 1506, his younger brother Ludwig refused a spiritual career with the argument that he was born before the edict became valid.

With support of his mother and the States-General, Ludwig forced Wilhelm to accept him as co-regent in 1516. Ludwig then ruled the districts of Landshut and Straubing, in general in concord with his brother.

Wilhelm initially sympathized with the Reformation but changed his mind as it grew more popular in Bavaria.

In 1522 Wilhelm issued the first Bavarian religion mandate, banning the promulgation of Martin Luther’s works. After an agreement with Pope Clement VII in 1524 Wilhelm became a political leader of the German Counter Reformation, although he remained in opposition to the Habsburgs since his brother Ludwig X claimed the Bohemian crown.

Both dukes also suppressed the peasant uprising in South Germany in an alliance with the archbishop of Salzburg in 1525.

The conflict with the Habsburgs ended in 1534 when both dukes reached an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I in Linz. Wilheln then supported Charles V in his war against the Schmalkaldic League in 1546, but however he did not succeed in preserving the Palatine electoral dignity. Wilhelm’s chancellor for 35 years was the forceful Leonhard von Eck.

On April 23, 1516, before a committee consisting of gentry and knights in Ingolstadt, Wilhelm issued his famous purity regulation for the brewing of Bavarian Beer, stating that only barley, hops, and water could be used. This regulation remained in force until it was abolished as a binding obligation in 1986 by Paneuropean regulations of the European Union.

In 1522 Wilhelm IV married his cousin Princess Maria Jacobäa of Baden,(1507–1580), a daughter of Margrave Philipp I of Baden and his consort Princess Elisabeth of the Palatinate. Princess Elizabeth of the Palatinate was a daughter of the elector Philipp (1448–1508) from his marriage to Margaret of Bavaria (1456–1501), daughter of Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut.

In 1523 with the appointment of Ludwig Senfl began the rise of the Bavarian State Orchestra. Of particular importance is the Eckbibel Johann Eck wrote on behalf of Wilhelm, a biblical translation from 1537, which is theologically directly against Luther and therefore belongs to the Catholic correction bibles. It is also significant in terms of linguistics because it is not written in the East German Saxon, but in Bavarian Upper German.

Wilhelm IV was a significant collector and commissioner of art. Among other works he commissioned an important suite of paintings from various artists, including the Battle of Issus by Albrecht Altdorfer.

This, like most of Wilhelm IV’s collection, is now housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. With his order to expand the Neuveste with the so-called Rundstubenbau and to set up the first Court Garden began the history of the Munich Residenz as a representative palace.

To the history cycle of the garden pavilion belonged Albrecht Altdorfer’s painting. In 1546, he and his son Albrecht V ordered the construction of Dachau Palace from a Gothic ruin into a Renaissance style four-winged palace with a court garden which later became the favored residence of the rulers of Bavaria.

Wilhelm IV died in 1550 in Munich and was succeeded by his son Albrecht V. He is buried in the Frauenkirche in Munich.

January 27, 1343: Pope Clement VI issues the Papal Bull Unigenitus Dei filius

Tags

Bishop of Rome, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Indulgences, Martin Luther, Papal Bull, Pope Clement VI, Protestant Reformation, Roman Catholic Church, Unigenitus Dei filius

Pope Clement VI (1291 – December 6, 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1348–1350), during which he granted remission of sins to all who died of the plague.

Pope Clement VI

Roger steadfastly resisted temporal encroachments on the Church’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction and, as Clement VI, entrenched French dominance of the Church and opened its coffers to enhance the regal splendour of the Papacy. He recruited composers and music theorists for his court, including figures associated with the then-innovative Ars Nova style of France and the Low Countries.

Like his immediate predecessors, Clement VI was devoted to France, and he demonstrated his French sympathies by refusing a solemn invitation to return to Rome from the city’s people, as well as from the poet Petrarch.

To placate the Romans, however, Clement VI issued the bull Unigenitus Dei filius on January 27, 1343, reducing the interval between one Great Jubilee and the next from 100 years to 50 years. In the document he elaborated for the first time the power of the pope in the use of indulgences.

In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (Latin: indulgentia, from indulgeo, ‘permit’) is “a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes an indulgence as “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and all of the saints”.

Martin Luther

This document would later be used by Cardinal Cajetan in the examination of Martin Luther and his 95 Theses in his trial at Augsburg in 1518. By then, Unigenitus was firmly fixed in Canon Law, having been added in the collection called Extravagantes.

Indulgences were, from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, a target of attacks by Martin Luther and other Protestant theologians.

Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences.

Luther began by criticising the sale of indulgences, insisting that the Pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Treasury of Merit had no foundation in the Bible. The Reformation developed further to include a distinction between Law and Gospel, a complete reliance on Scripture as the only source of proper doctrine (sola scriptura) and the belief that faith in Jesus is the only way to receive God’s pardon for sin (sola fide) rather than good works.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain

Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor.

The Reformation was the start of Protestantism and the split of the Western Church into Protestantism and what is now the Roman Catholic Church. It is also considered to be one of the events that signify the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period in Europe.

Eventually the Catholic Counter-Reformation curbed the excesses, but indulgences continue to play a role in modern Catholic religious life.

1590-1591: The Reign of Three Popes.

Tags

Bishop of Rome, Cardinal, French Wars of Religion, King Philip II of Spain, Pope Clement VIII, Pope Gregory XIII, Pope Gregory XIV, Pope Innocent IX, Pope Sixtus V, Pope Urban VII

From The Emperor’s Desk: Between September 15, 1590 to December 30, 1591, a time period lasting 1 year, 3 months, 15 days, saw three Pope’s reign over the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Urban VII ( August 4, 1521 – September 27, 1590), born Giovanni Battista Castagna, was head of the Catholic Church, and ruler of the Papal States from September, 15 to 27 1590. His twelve-day papacy was the shortest in history.

Giovanni Battista Castagna was born in Rome in 1521 to a noble family as the son of Cosimo Castagna of Genoa and Costanza Ricci Giacobazzi of Rome.

Castagna studied in universities all across Italy and obtained a doctorate in civil law and canon law when he finished his studies at the University of Bologna. He served as a constitutional lawyer and entered the Roman Curia during the pontificate of Pope Julius III as the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura.

Castagna was chosen to be the new Archbishop of Rossano on March 1, 1553, and he would quickly receive all the minor and major orders culminating in his ordination to the priesthood on 30 March 30, 1553 in Rome. Pope Gregory XIII elevated him to the cardinalate on 12 December 1583 and he was appointed as the Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello.

After the death of Pope Sixtus V a conclave was convoked to elect a successor. Castagna, a seasoned diplomat of moderation and proven rectitude was elected as pope on September 15, 1590 and selected the pontifical name of “Urban VII”.

Activities

Urban VII was known for his charity to the poor. He subsidized Roman bakers so they could sell bread under cost, and restricted the spending on luxury items for members of his court. He also subsidized public works projects throughout the Papal States. Urban VII was strictly against nepotism and he forbade it within the Roman Curia.

Death

Urban VII died in Rome on September 27, 1590, shortly before midnight, of malaria. He was buried in the Vatican. The funeral oration was delivered by Pompeo Ugonio. His remains were later transferred to the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, on 21 September 1606.

Pope Gregory XIV (February 11, 1535 – October 16, 1591), born Niccolò Sfondrato or Sfondrati, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from December 5, 1590 to his death in 1591.

Niccolò Sfondrati was born at Somma Lombardo, then part of the Duchy of Milan, in the highest stratum of Milanese society. His mother, of the house of Visconti, died in childbirth. His father Francesco Sfondrati, a senator of the ancient comune of Milan, was created Cardinal-Priest by Pope Paul III in 1544.

In his youth he was known for his modest lifestyle and stringent piety. He studied law at Perugia and Padua, was ordained a priest and swiftly appointed Bishop of Cremona, in 1560, in time to participate in the sessions of the Council of Trent from 1561 to 1563. Pope Gregory XIII made him a Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere on 12 December 12, 1583.

After the death of Pope Urban VII on September 27, 1590, the Spanish ambassador Olivares presented the conclave a list of the seven cardinals who would be acceptable to his master King Felipe II of Spain. On December 5, 1590, after two months of deadlock, Sfondrati, one of Felipe II’s seven candidates but who had not aspired to the office, was elected pope. Alessandro Cardinal Montalto came to Sfondrati’s cell to inform him that the Sacred College had agreed on his election and found him kneeling in prayer before a crucifix.

On the day after he was elected Pope, Gregory XIV burst into tears and said to the cardinals: “God forgive you! What have you done?” In his bull of March 21, 1591, Cogit nos, he forbade under pain of excommunication all betting concerning the election of a Pope, the duration of a pontificate, or the creation of new cardinals.

Papacy

Gregory XIV’s brief pontificate was marked by vigorous intervention in favour of the Catholic party in the French Wars of Religion. Instigated by King Felipe II of Spain and the Duke of Mayenne, he excommunicated Henri IV of France on March 1, 1591, reiterating the 1585 declaration of Pope Sixtus V that as a heretic (Protestant) Henri was ineligible to succeed to the throne of Catholic France and ordered the clergy, nobles, judicial functionaries, and the Third Estate of France to renounce him.

Gregory XIV levied an army for the invasion of France, and dispatched his nephew Ercole Sfondrati to France at its head. He also sent a monthly subsidy of 15,000 scudi to Paris to reinforce the Catholic League. By coming down solidly on the side of Spanish interests, in part because Gregory XIV was elected due to the influence of the Spanish cardinals, the recent papal policy of trying to maintain a balance between Spain and France was abandoned.

Gregory XIV created five cardinals, among whom was his nephew Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, his Secretary of State. The biographers mention that Pope Gregory XIV had a nervous tendency to laughter, which occasionally became irresistible and even manifested itself at his coronation. Gregory XIV, who was in poor health before his election to the papacy, died due to a large gallstone.

Pope Innocent IX ( July 20, 1519 – December 30, 1591), born Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from October 29 to December 30, 1591.

Prior to his short papacy, he had been a canon lawyer, diplomat, and chief administrator during the reign of Pope Gregory XIV (r. 1590–1591).

Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, whose family came from Crodo, in the diocese of Novara, northern Italy, was born in Bologna on July 20, 1519. He was the son of Antonio Facchinetti and Francesca Cini. He studied at the University of Bologna – which was pre-eminent in jurisprudence — where he obtained a doctorate in both civil and canon law in 1544. He was later ordained to the priesthood on March 11, 1544 and was appointed a canon of the church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio of Domodossola in 1547.

He travelled to Rome and he became the secretary to Cardinal Nicolò Ardinghelli before entering the service of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, brother of the Duke of Parma and grandson of Pope Paul III (1534–1549), one of the great patrons of the time.

Pope Gregory XIII made him a cardinal on December 12 ,1583 as the Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quattro Coronati and he was to receive the red hat and title on January 9,1584. Pope Gregory XIV made him the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in 1591.

Papacy

Even before Pope Gregory XIV died, Spanish and anti-Spanish factions were electioneering for the next pope. Felipe II of Spain’s (r. 1556–1598) high-handed interference at the previous conclave was not forgotten: he had barred all but seven cardinals. This time the Spanish party in the College of Cardinals did not go so far, but they still controlled a majority, and after a quick conclave they raised Facchinetti to the papal chair as Pope Innocent IX.

It took three ballots to elect him as pope. Facchinetti received 24 votes on October 28 but was not successful in that ballot to be elected as pope. He received 28 votes on October 29 in the second ballot while the third saw him prevail.

The cardinal protodeacon Andreas von Austria crowned Innocent IX as pontiff on November 3, 1591. He elevated two cardinals to the cardinalate in the only papal consistory of his papacy on December 18, 1591.

Mindful of the origin of his success, Innocent IX supported, during his two months’ pontificate, the cause of Felipe II and the Catholic League against Henri IV of France (r. 1589–1610) in the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598), where a papal army was in the field. His death, however, prevented the realisation of Innocent IX’s schemes.

Death

On December 18, the pope made a pilgrimage of Rome’s seven pilgrimage churches, despite being ill, and caught a cold as a result. This became a heavy cough combined with a fever that led to his death.

Innocent IX died in the early morning of December 30, 1591. He was buried in the Vatican grottoes in a simple tomb.

Pope Innocent IX was succeeded by Pope Clement VIII who’s pontificate lasted for 13 years.

Emperor Otto I and the Papacy

Tags

Archbishop Adaldag of Hamburg-Bremen, Bishop of Rome, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, Holy Roman Empire, Pope Benedict V, Pope John XII, Pope Leo VIII, Rome, Theatre of Marcellus

Pope Benedict V ( died July 4, 965) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from May 22 to June 23, 964, in opposition to Leo VIII. He was overthrown by Emperor Otto I. His brief pontificate occurred at the end of a period known as the Saeculum obscurum.

Early career

Benedict was the son of a Roman called John, and was born and raised in Rome around the vicinity of the Theatre of Marcellus. As cardinal-deacon, Benedict was renowned for his learning, for which his contemporaries gave him the additional name of Grammaticus. He was also notarius and took part in the deposition of Pope John XII by the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, and the subsequent election of Otto’s candidate, Pope Leo VIII.

Election

The Roman people, unhappy with the election of Leo VIII as pope, recalled John XII. John convened a synod which condemned Leo, in which Benedict took part. However, with John’s death, the Roman people again rejected Leo, who fled from Rome and joined Emperor at Rieti in central Italy. After a violent struggle between rival factions, the Romans elected Benedict instead, who was acclaimed Pope Benedict V by the city militia.

Prior to his coronation as pope, envoys were sent to Otto, informing them of their decision. The emperor rejected their decision out of hand and warned them not to proceed. Returning to Rome, they decided to ignore Otto; Benedict V was consecrated bishop and crowned pope on May 22, 964. The Romans swore an oath to Benedict V that they would not abandon him and would protect him against Otto.

Emperor Otto however, upon hearing the news, resolved to restore his candidate as pope. He marched and proceeded to besiege Rome, blockading it so that no one was able to leave the city. The result was famine, as the land around the city was ravaged, and a single modius of bran cost thirty denarii. Although Benedict tried to bolster morale by encouraging the defenders from the walls of the city, as well as threatening to excommunicate the emperor and his army, the Romans soon decided to capitulate. Opening the gates to Otto, they handed Benedict over to him on June 23, 964.

Overthrow

Together with his clerical and lay supporters, and clad in his pontifical robes, Benedict V was brought before a synod which Leo had convened. Benedict was asked by the archdeacon how he dared to assume the chair of Saint Peter while Leo was still alive. He was also accused of having broken his oath to the emperor, where he promised never to elect a pope without the emperor’s consent. Benedict responded: “If I have sinned, have mercy on me.” Having received a promise from the emperor that his life would be spared if he submitted, Benedict threw himself at Leo’s feet and acknowledged his guilt.

The synod revoked his episcopal consecration, his pallium was torn from him, and his pastoral staff was broken over him by Leo. However, through the intercession of Otto, he was allowed to retain the rank of deacon. Otto left Rome sometime after June 29, 964, taking Benedict with him. After some delay, he was taken to Germany in early 965. The ex-Pope was moved to Hamburg and placed under the care of Adaldag, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. His period of exile was brief; Adam of Bremen noted:

”The archbishop [Adaldag] kept him with great honour till his death; for he is said to have been both holy and learned and worthy of the Apostolic See. . . . And so living a holy life with us, and teaching others how to live well, he at length died a happy death just when the Romans had come to ask the emperor that he might be restored.”

Although he was treated well by Archbishop Adaldag, many others considered him an antipope, and attempted to keep him ostracised. Archbishop Libentius I (the successor of Adaldag) commented:

”When the Lord Pope Benedict was an exile in these parts, I sought him out; and though every effort was made to prevent my going to him, I would never allow myself to be influenced against the Pope. But, as long as he lived, I closely adhered to him.”

Death

Benedict died on July 4, 965 and was buried in the cathedral in Hamburg. Then sometime before the year 988, his remains were transferred to Rome, but where they were interred is unknown.

September 28, 235: Pope Pontian resigns.

Tags

Abdication, Antipope Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, Emperor Maximinius, Pope, Pope Demetrius, Pope Fabian, Pope Pontian, Resignation, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Emperor Serverus Alexander, Roman Empire

Pope Pontian (died October 235) was the Bishop of Rome from July 21, 230 to September 28, 235. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pontian was arrested and sent to the island of Sardinia.

Pope Pontian resigned to make the election of a new pope possible. When Pontian resigned on September 28, 235, he was the first pope to do so. It allowed an orderly transition in the Church of Rome and so ended a schism that had existed in the Church for eighteen years.

Life

A little more is known of Pontian than his predecessors, apparently from a lost papal chronicle that was available to the compiler of the Liberian Catalogue of the bishops of Rome, written in the 4th century. The Liber Pontificalis states that he was a Roman citizen and that his father’s name was Calpurnius. Early church historian Eusebius wrote that his pontificate lasted six years.

Pontian’s pontificate was initially relatively peaceful under the reign of the tolerant Roman Emperor Severus Alexander. He presided over the Roman synod which approved Origen’s expulsion and deposition by Pope Demetrius I of Alexandria in 230 or 231.

According to Eusebius, the next emperor, Maximinus, overturned his predecessor’s policy of tolerance towards Christianity. Both Pope Pontian and the Antipope Hippolytus of Rome were arrested and exiled to labor in the mines of Sardinia, generally regarded as a death sentence.

In light of his sentence, Pontian resigned, the first pope to do so, so as to allow an orderly transition in the Church of Rome, on September 28, 235. This date was recorded in the Liberian Catalogue and is notable for being the first full date of a papal reign given by contemporaries.

This action ended a schism that had existed in the Church for eighteen years. Pontian was beaten to death with sticks. Neither Hippolytus nor Pontian survived, possibly reconciling with one another there or in Rome before their deaths. Pontian died in October 235.

Veneration

Pope Fabian had the bodies of both Pontian and Hippolytus brought back to Rome in 236 or 237, and the former buried in the papal crypt in the Catacomb of Callixtus on the Appian Way. The slab covering his tomb was discovered in 1909. On it is inscribed in Greek: Ποντιανός Επίσκ (Pontianus Episk; in English Pontianus Bish). The inscription “Μάρτυρ”, “MARTUR” had been added in another hand.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church and the General Roman Calendar of 1969, Pontian and Hippolytus are commemorated jointly on August 13. In those Catholic communities which use a historical calendar such as the General Roman Calendar of 1960, Pontian’s feast day is celebrated on November, 19.

Pope Francis

Tags

Bishop of Rome, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, Papal Election, Pope, Pope Francis I

Habemus Papam!!!

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected Pope! There has never beena Pope named Francis before. I do like the name but I do not know much about him. He is 76 years old and that is older than many expected. Many were looking for a younger man who could lead the Church into the 21st Century. Who knows?! He may do exactly that!

Not only is the name an historical first, Pope Francis is also the first Pope, Bishop of Rome, that has come from the “New World” meaning outside of Europe.

Here is the Wikipedia article about him!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Bergoglio

Edit: He is called Francis with no ordinal number. John-Paul I was the only Pope to call himself the First. Otherwise it follows the British system where Francis will not get an ordinal until there is a Francis II.