Pope Zachary ( la, Zacharias; 679 – March 752) was the

bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

from 28 November 741 to his death. He was the last

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

of the

Byzantine Papacy The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the Roman papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the '' apocrisiarii'' (liaisons ...

. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of slaves in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, negotiated peace with the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

, and sanctioned

Pepin the Short the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king. The younger was the son of ...

's usurpation of the Frankish throne from Childeric III. Zachary is regarded as a capable administrator and a skillful and subtle diplomat in a dangerous time.

Early career

Zachary was born into a family of Greek origin, in the

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n town of Santa Severina. He was most probably a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

of the Roman Church and as such signed the decrees of the Roman council of 732. He was selected to succeed Gregory III as

on 3 December or 5 December 741.

Pontificate

Gregory III's alliance with the Lombard

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto (, ) was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard '' dux'' Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards had invaded Italy in 568 AD and conquered much of it, establishi ...

put papal cities at risk when the dukes of Spoleto and

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

rebelled. Zachary turned to King

Liutprand the Lombard Liutprand was the king of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his multiple phases of law-giving, in fifteen separate sessions from 713 to 735 inclusive, and his long reign, which brought him into a series of conflicts, mo ...

directly. Out of respect for Zachary the king restored to the church of Rome all the territory seized by the Lombards and sent back the captives without ransom. The contemporary history (''

Liber pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (86 ...

'') dwells chiefly on Zachary's personal influence with Liutprand, and with his successor

Ratchis RatchisAlso spelled ''Rachis'', ''Raditschs'', ''Radics'', ''Radiks''. (died after 757) was the Duke of Friuli (739–744) and then King of the Lombards (744–749). Ratchis was the son of Duke Pemmo of Friuli and the nephew of the Lombard ki ...

. At the request of the

Exarchate of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

, Zachary persuaded Liutprand to abandon a planned attack on Ravenna and to restore territory seized from the city. Zachary corresponded with Archbishop Boniface of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, counseling him about dealing with disreputable prelates such as Milo, bishop of Reims and Trier. "As for Milo and his like, who are doing great injury to the church of God, preach in season and out of season, according to the word of the Apostle, that they cease from their evil ways." At Boniface's request, Zachary confirmed three newly established bishoprics of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

, Büraburg, and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

. In 742 he appointed Boniface as papal legate to the

Concilium Germanicum The Concilium Germanicum was the first major Church synod to be held in the eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms. It was called by Carloman on 21 April 742/743 at an unknown location, and presided over by Boniface, who was solidified in his posi ...

, hosted by Carloman, one of the Frankish mayors of the Palace. In a later letter Zachary confirmed the metropolitans appointed by Boniface to

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

, and

Sens Sens () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a sub-prefecture and the second city of the department, the sixth in the region. It is crossed by the Yonne an ...

. In 745 Zachary convened a synod in Rome to discourage a tendency toward the worship of angels. Zachary corresponded with temporal rulers as well. Answering a question from the Frankish Mayor of the Palace

, who planned to usurp the Frankish throne from the puppet-king Childeric III, Zachary rendered the opinion that it was better that he should be king who had the royal power than he who had not. Shortly thereafter, the Frankish nobles decided to abandon Childeric, the last

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

king, in favor of Pepin. Zachary remonstrated with the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...

Constantine V Copronymus on his iconoclastic policies. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva over an ancient temple to

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

near the

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. He also restored the decaying

Lateran Palace The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome. Located on St. ...

, moving the relic of the head of

Saint George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

to the church of

San Giorgio al Velabro San Giorgio in Velabro is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. George. The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built wh ...

. After Venetian merchants bought many slaves in Rome to sell to the Muslims of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, Zachary forbade such traffic and then paid the merchants their price, giving the slaves their freedom.

Death and legacy

Pope Zachary died around 15 March 752 (it may also have been the 12th or 14th) and was buried in St. Peter's Basilica. His elected successor, Stephen, died within days, and Zachary was finally succeeded by Stephen II. The letters and decrees of Zachary are published in Jacques Paul Migne, '' Patrolog. lat.'' lxxxix. p. 917–960. Church historian Johann Peter Kirsch said of Zachary: "In a troubled era Zachary proved himself to be an excellent, capable, vigorous, and charitable successor of Peter."

Peter Partner Peter David Partner (15 July 1924 – 17 January 2015) was a British historian, particularly of medieval Rome and the Middle East. Life Peter Partner was born 15 July 1924 to David and Bertha Partridge Partner in Little Heath, Hertfordshire. His f ...

called Zachary a skilled diplomat, "perhaps the most subtle and able of all the Roman pontiffs, in this dark corridor in which the Roman See hovered just inside the doors of the Byzantine world."Partner, Peter. ''The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance'', University of California Press, 1972, p. 17

Early career

Pontificate

Death and legacy

References

Further reading