Pelagius I.

Pelagius I, depiction in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Pelagius I († March 3rd (4th?) 561 in Rome ) was Bishop of Rome from April 16, 556 until his death. He came from a Roman noble family.

Since he had joined the imperial condemnation of the "three chapters" in the three chapters dispute - with his predecessor Vigilius - he was rejected by the western clergy . His installation against the will of the majority of the Roman clergy was only possible with the help of the Byzantine rulers.

He was blamed for the death of his predecessor Vigilius. To be purified, he had to take an oath of the cross and the gospel in the Church .

In the period that followed, he succeeded in gaining recognition from the Romans through reconstruction work on the city, which had fallen down after the conquest by the Goths . However, he could not prevent the separation of the northern Italian bishoprics ( three-chapter schism ).

literature

• Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia , Robert Appleton Company, New York 1913.
• Wilhelm Kohl :  Pelagius I. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 166-167.
• Florian Battistella: Pelagius I and the primacy of Rome. A contribution to the three-chapter dispute and the papal history of the 6th century (= Mainzer Ancient History Studies. Volume 7). Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-8300-9740-2 .

Web links

Commons : Pelagius I  - collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Vigilius	Pope 556-561	John III