Agapitus II.

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Agapitus II, depiction in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Agapitus II. , Also Agapet II. , (* In Rome ; † November 8, 955 ibid) was Pope from May 10, 946 until his death. His pontificate fell at the time when Alberic II , the son of Marozia , ruled the independent republic of Rome under the title of Prince and Senator of the Romans . Agapitus II was the fourth pope to be elected to the chair of Peter on the orders of the overpowering ruler .

Agapitus, a man with a strong character, did his best to stop the decline of the papacy, into which the so-called pornocracy (Greek porneia, fornication, rule of whores), which since Sergius III. 904 until the deposition of John XII. 963 lasted, had brought the office of head of the church. During his pontificate he granted the Archdiocese of Hamburg the right to mission in the north , and a mission center was set up in the Diocese of Halberstadt .

After his return in January 945 during the pontificate of Pope Marinus II , Margrave Berengar II of Ivrea succeeded in removing the tyrannical King of Italy, Hugo of Arles , taking advantage of the general discontent in 946. Hugo then fled back to Provence , leaving his son and co-regent Lothar , the opposite of his dreaded father's character, in Italy. Berengar probably let him remain king in gratitude for his warning, albeit as a powerless one. The real power was Margrave Berengar. Hugo tried of Burgundy from Italy recapture, but this eventually defeated his death on April 10, 947 in Arles . A few years later, on November 22nd, 950, Lothar also died in Turin , perhaps poisoned. On December 15, 950 to Berengar was in Pavia the Italian king and his son Adalbert to co-regent crown. Fearing his rival Adelheid of Burgundy , the widow of King Lothar, and to exclude her claims to power, Berengar imprisoned her on April 20, 951 and had her mistreated there. His wife Willa was also involved in the torture. On August 20, 951, Adelheid was able to escape the ordeal after four months and place himself under the protection of the German King Otto I when he appeared in Italy. King Otto moved into Pavia on September 23, 951, declared himself King of Italy without a coronation, and in December 951 married Adelheid of Burgundy. Now he also demanded the imperial crown for himself, but Prince Alberich and the Pope refused. Otto went back to Germany with his wife - for the time being - and left Berengar and Adalbert as fief kings. They immediately tried again to create independent positions of power.

When Prince Alberich was dying, he swore by oath to the Pope and the Roman nobility to elect his 16-year-old son Octavian of Spoleto as Prince of Rome and, after Agapit's death, as Pope . As the second Count of Tusculum on the papal throne and one of the most pathetic figures to have ever played a role in the history of Rome and the Church , he had a double power base that he could abuse in any form. Prince Alberich died on August 31, 954. His grave is in the Lateran basilica behind the apse .

literature

Web links

Commons : Agapitus II.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia names August 956 as the time of death.
  2. ↑ Peter de Rosa : Papal Pornocracy. Via Regia - Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, archived from the original on October 7, 2007 ; accessed on June 7, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Martin Marker: Agapet II. Vatican-History, February 13, 2005, accessed June 7, 2018 .
predecessor Office successor
Marinus II. Pope
946-955 		John XII.
personal data
SURNAME Agapitus II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Agapet II.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pope (946–955)
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century or 10th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 955
Place of death Rome