One Hundred Fourth Pope: Benedict III & One Hundred Fifth Pope: Nicholas I - 1 comments

Pope #104 had a hard time getting elected; a rival clergyman was selected first, but then removed. Politics, people! Incidentally, Benedict III ruled during the time that the mythical "Pope Joan," the female pope, is said to have held the position.

He was followed by Nicholas I, who ran into some political problems of his own. He refused to grant an annulment to Lothar II, who wanted to marry his mistress Woldrada. I promise you, I am not making these names up.

Triple Dose! One-hundred First, Second, and Third Popes - 1 comments

A triple dose of popes starts us off for the next hundred popes. Here's a quick review:

101: Gregory IV was pope from 827-844. He supported Louis the Pious, a son of Charlemagne, as Holy Roman Emperor. Louis was fighting among his brothers for supremacy of his dad's realm at the time. After he died, Gregory supported his son Lothair.

102: Sergius II had a shaky reign from 844-847. He ran into some initial power struggles with Lothair; at the time both the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope were claiming spiritual and political supremacy. Sergius was also involved in quite a bit of dirty fundraising (especially simony). He later watched as Islamic Saracens raided Rome, robbing famous Catholic churches. Don't hate them too much, though - they still invented ice cream, after all.

103: Leo IV reigned from 847-855. He also had Saracen trouble, which led him to build walls around St. Peter's. That area is still known as Civitas Leonina.

! One Hundredth Pope ! Valentine - 2 comments

Whoohoo! Pope #100 only served for thirty or forty days.

Ninety-Ninth Pope: Eugene II - 0 comments

Ninety-eighth Pope: Paschal I - 0 comments

Ninety-seventh Pope: Stephen IV - 0 comments

Ninety-sixth Pope: Leo III - 1 comments

While it looks like Leo III is conjuring a spirit of himself . . . it was really more of a sketching accident.

Ninety-fifth Pope: Adrian I - 0 comments

Pope Adrian I was famous for his pony collection.

Ninety-third Pope: Paul I & Ninety-fourth Pope: Stephen III - 0 comments

Ninety-second Pope: Stephen II - 0 comments

Ninety-first Pope: Zachary - 0 comments

Yes, that shaky mosaic reads "papa" on the left. It's medieval latinish for Pope. Trust me on this.

Ninetieth Pope: Gregory III - 0 comments

aka Gregory III (IV).

Eighty-ninth Pope: Gregory II (III) - 0 comments

Sometimes called Gregory III; there's an ongoing number problem with the Gregories. The original Gregory I was elected pope, but died before taking up the office. He therefore doesn't really count, but all the Gregories after him get numbers like II (III)

Eighty-eighth Pope: Constantine - 0 comments

Eighty-seventh Pope: Sisinnius - 0 comments

Sisinnius is in the Top Ten Shortest-Reigning Popes. He died only three weeks into his papacy.

Eighty-sixth Pope: John VII - 1 comments

John VII ruled for about two years as pope. This drawing is from a mosaic in the Pinacoteca Vaticana.

Eighty-fifth Pope: John VI - 0 comments

John VI: pope from 701-705. Our first eighth-century pope!

Eighty-fourth Pope: Sergius I - 1 comments

Historians are fairly certain that Sergius I did not wear a neon green mitre.

Eighty-third Pope: Conon - 0 comments

Conon was a compromise pope, elected because he offended neither of the dominating parties of his day.

Eighty-second Pope: John V - 1 comments

John V spent most of his pontificate ill, in bed. He held the position for little more than a year before he died.

Eighty-first Pope: Benedict II - 0 comments

Benedict II was pope from 684-685.

Eightieth Pope: Leo II - 0 comments

Leo II was known for helping the poor, and his interest in music. Here he's shown rocking the keyboards.

Seventy-ninth Pope: Agatho - 0 comments

History is a little uncertain about Agatho. He might have been born in 577; he was definitely elected pope in 678; and he might have been 104 when he died in 681. Not a bad run for a seventh-century Sicilian!

Seventy-eighth Pope: Donus - 1 comments

Donus did some good church-building work in Rome. He also looked suspiciously like a young Vladamir Putin.

Seventy-seventh Pope: Adeodatus II - 0 comments

Don't be confused: Adeodatus II is sometimes simply referred to as Adeodatus. Why? Because Adeodatus I is also known as Deusdedit, which would make our current pope the first of that name.

Seventy-sixth Pope: Vitalian - 0 comments

Pope Vitalian tried to heal the rift between Rome and Constantinople, although he was mostly unsuccessful. He was Pope from 657 to 672, a relatively long stretch for the times.

Seventy-fifth Pope: Eugene I - 1 comments

After Martin's removal, Rome was pope-less for about a year. Eugene was elected, with the help of the emperor, and reigned for three years.

Seventy-fourth Pope: Martin I - 0 comments

Martin ruled as pope for nearly six years. He angered the current Emperor, who had him removed, exiled, and imprisoned in the Crimea.

Seventy-second Pope: John IV / Seventy-third Pope: Theodore I - 0 comments

Double dose!


Both John IV and Theodore I spent much of their time combating the Monothelites.

No internet, no popes! - 0 comments

Wow! Long time no Pope.

Why? Here's why: an earthquake in Taiwan cut our Internet cables! We've been with shaky internet access for over week now, and it's hard to get blogger and mattkirkland.com working at the same time. I think we're back in business however, so the we'll make up for lost time. Here come the popes!