Pope Benedict IV
Pope Benedict IV (; died 30 July 903) was Pope from 1 February 900 to his death in 903. The tenth-century historian Flodoard, who nicknamed him "the Great", commended his noble birth and public generosity. He succeeded Pope John IX (898–900) and was followed by Pope Leo V (903).
Late Middle Ages
Avignon was the seat of the papacy from 1309 to 1376. With the return of the Pope to Rome in 1378, the Papal State developed into a major secular power, culminating in the morally corrupt papacy of Alexander VI. Florence grew to prominence amongst the Italian city-states through financial business, and the dominant Medici family became important promoters of the Renaissance through their patronage of the arts. Other city states in northern Italy also expanded their territories and consolidated their power, primarily Milan and Venice. The War of the Sicilian Vespers had by the early 14th century divided southern Italy into an Aragon Kingdom of Sicily and an Anjou Kingdom of Naples. In 1442, the two kingdoms were effectively united under Aragonese control.
Dudum siquidem
Dudum siquidem (Latin for "A short while ago") is a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on , one of the Bulls of Donation addressed to the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon which supplemented the bull "Inter caetera" and purported to grant to them "all islands and mainlands whatsoever, found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, that are or may be or may seem to be in the route of navigation or travel towards the west or south, whether they be in western parts, or in the regions of the south and east and of India".
Pope Marcellus I
Pope Marcellus I (6 January 255 – 16 January 309) was the Bishop of Rome or Pope from May or June 308 to his death in 309. He succeeded Pope Marcellinus after a considerable interval. Under Maxentius, he was banished from Rome in 309, on account of the tumult caused by the severity of the penances he had imposed on Christians who had lapsed under the recent persecution. He died the same year, being succeeded by Pope Eusebius. His relics are under the altar of San Marcello al Corso in Rome. His third-class feast day is kept on January 16.
Pope Urban I
Pope Urban I () was Bishop of Rome or Pope from 222 to 23 May 230. He was born in Rome and succeeded Pope Callixtus I, who had been martyred. It was previously believed for centuries that Urban I was also martyred. However, recent historical discoveries now lead scholars to believe that he died of natural causes.
Middle Ages
During the tumultuous 14th century, disputes within the leadership of the Church led to the Avignon Papacy of 1305–78, also called the "Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy" (a reference to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews), and then to the Great Schism, lasting from 1378 to 1418, when there were two and later three rival popes, each supported by several states. Ecclesiastical officials convened at the Council of Constance in 1414, and in the following year the council deposed one of the rival popes, leaving only two claimants. Further depositions followed, and in November 1417 the council elected Martin V (pope 1417–31) as pope.
John, King of England
When the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, died on 13 July 1205, John became involved in a dispute with Pope Innocent III that would lead to the king's excommunication. The Norman and Angevin kings had traditionally exercised a great deal of power over the church within their territories. From the 1040s onwards, however, successive popes had put forward a reforming message that emphasised the importance of the church being "governed more coherently and more hierarchically from the centre" and established "its own sphere of authority and jurisdiction, separate from and independent of that of the lay ruler", in the words of historian Richard Huscroft. After the 1140s, these principles had been largely accepted within the English church, albeit with an element of concern about centralising authority in Rome. These changes brought the customary rights of lay rulers such as John over ecclesiastical appointments into question. Pope Innocent was, according to historian Ralph Turner, an "ambitious and aggressive" religious leader, insistent on his rights and responsibilities within the church.
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X (11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521), born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was Pope from 9 March 1513 to his death in 1521.
Saint
On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a ``saint ''from outside the diocese of Rome: on the petition of the German ruler, he had canonized Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg. Before that time, the popular`` cults'', or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous and were confirmed by the local bishop. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs. Pope Benedict VIII later declared the Armenian hermit Symeon to be a saint, but it was not until the pontificate of Pope Innocent III that the Popes reserved to themselves the exclusive authority to canonize saints, so that local bishops needed the confirmation of the Pope. Walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope: Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, in so far as the Latin Church was concerned.
Late Middle Ages
The French crown's increasing dominance over the Papacy culminated in the transference of the Holy See to Avignon in 1309. When the Pope returned to Rome in 1377, this led to the election of different popes in Avignon and Rome, resulting in the Papal Schism (1378–1417). The Schism divided Europe along political lines; while France, her ally Scotland and the Spanish kingdoms supported the Avignon Papacy, France's enemy England stood behind the Pope in Rome, together with Portugal, Scandinavia and most of the German princes.
Synod of Rome (732)
The Synod of Rome (732) was a synod held in Rome in the year 732 under the authority of Pope Gregory III.
Elephant and Obelisk
It turned out to be the last commission Pope Alexander VII would ask of Bernini, as he died in May 1667. He was succeeded by Pope Clement IX.
Pope Alexander VI
On 25 January 1494, Ferdinand I died and was succeeded by his son Alfonso II (1494–1495). Charles VIII of France now advanced formal claims on the Kingdom of Naples. Alexander authorised him to pass through Rome, ostensibly on a crusade against the Ottoman Empire, without mentioning Naples. But when the French invasion became a reality Pope Alexander VI became alarmed, recognised Alfonso II as king of Naples, and concluded an alliance with him in exchange for various fiefs for his sons (July 1494). A military response to the French threat was set in motion: a Neapolitan army was to advance through the Romagna and attack Milan, while the fleet was to seize Genoa. Both expeditions were badly conducted and failed, and on 8 September Charles VIII crossed the Alps and joined Ludovico il Moro at Milan. The Papal States were in turmoil, and the powerful Colonna faction seized Ostia in the name of France. Charles VIII rapidly advanced southward, and after a short stay in Florence, set out for Rome (November 1494).
Avignon Papacy
Clement V declined to move to Rome, remaining in France, and in 1309, he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. The absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the ``Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy ''. A total of seven popes reigned at Avignon; all were French, and they increasingly fell under the influence of the French Crown. On September 13, 1376, Gregory XI abandoned Avignon and moved his court to Rome (arriving on January 17, 1377), ending the Avignon Papacy.
Cardinal (Catholic Church)
Pope Sixtus V limited the number of cardinals to 70, comprising six cardinal bishops, 50 cardinal priests, and 14 cardinal deacons. Starting in the pontificate of Pope John XXIII, that limit has been exceeded. At the start of 1971, Pope Paul VI set the number of cardinal electors at a maximum of 120, but set no limit on the number of cardinals generally. He also established a maximum age of eighty years for electors. His action deprived twenty-five living cardinals, including the three living cardinals elevated by Pope Pius XI, of the right to participate in a conclave.[citation needed] Popes can dispense from church laws and have sometimes brought the number of cardinals under the age of 80 to more than 120. Pope Paul VI also increased the number of cardinal bishops by giving that rank to patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Ubaldo Caccianemici
Ubaldo Caccianemici (died 1171) was an Italian cardinal and cardinal-nephew of Pope Lucius II, his cousin who elevated him in May or June 1144.
Antipope Ursicinus
Ursicinus, also known as Ursinus, was elected pope in a violently contested election in 366 as a rival to Pope Damasus I. He ruled in Rome for several months in 366–367, was afterwards declared antipope, and died after 381.
Wars of Castro
The Wars of Castro were a series of conflicts during the mid-17th century revolving around the ancient city of Castro (located in present-day Lazio, Italy), which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on 2 September 1649. The conflict was a result of a power struggle between the papacy – represented by members of two deeply entrenched Roman families and their popes, the Barberini and Pope Urban VIII and the Pamphili and Pope Innocent X – and the Farnese dukes of Parma, who controlled Castro and its surrounding territories as the Duchy of Castro.
Pope Marcellinus
Pope Marcellinus (died 304) was the Bishop of Rome or Pope from 30 June 296 to his death in 304. According to the "Liberian Catalogue", he was a Roman, the son of a certain Projectus. His predecessor was Pope Caius.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936) is the 266th and current Pope and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.
In what year did the Pope return from Avignon to the city where the author of Inter Caetera lived until his death?
Inter caetera >> author
Alexander VI
What city did Pope #1 live when he died?
Rome
In what year did the Pope return to #2 from Avignon?
1377