Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/638

 PAUL

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PAUL

some time before, at the time of his second victory over the Lombard King Aistulf. If Paul would not do this, Desiderius threatened to go to war with him. The pope was in great straits. He found it diffi- cult oven to get the Frankish king informed of his position. He gave two letters to Bishop George of Ostia and the Roman priest Stephen, his ambassadors to Pepin, who made the journey with the Frankish messenger Huodpertus. In the one letter that was to secure the en\oys a safe passage through Lombard territory, he agreed to the demands of Desiderius and begged Pepin to accede to the wishes of the Lombards by making a treaty of peace and returning the hos- tages. At the same time the envoys were to give the Frankish king a second secret letter, in which the pope communicated to him the latest occurrences, in- formed him of the agreement of Desiderius with the Byzantines for the conquest of Ravenna, and im- plored Pepin to come to the aid of the pope, to punish the Lombard king, and to force him to yield the towns retained by him. Towards the close of 759 another envoy was sent to Pepin. Early in 760 two Frankish envoys. Bishop Remidius of Rouen, brother to Pepin, and Duke Antschar, came to Desiderius, who prom- ised to return its patrimony to the Roman Church in April, and also to yield the towns demanded by the pope. But he again refused to carry out his promises, dallied, and even forced his way into Roman territory. Once more Paul implored the Frankish king's help. The position of affairs was made even more threaten- ing by Byzantine action. Georgios had gone from southern Italy to the court of Pepin and had here won over a papal envoy, Marinus. With all his efforts Georgios could not move Pepin. In 700 a report spread through Italy that a large Byzantine fleet was under sail for Rome and the Frankish kingdom. Later it was reported that the Byzantines intended to send an army to Rome and Ravenna. The Archbishop Sergius of Ravenna received a letter from the Byzan- tine emperor, in which the latter sought to obtain the voluntary submission of the inhabitants of Ravenna. The same attempt was also made in Venice. Sergius sent the letter of the emperor to the pope, and the pope notified Pepin. In case of a war with the Eastern Empire it w-as important to make sure of the support of the Lombards, consequently Pepin desired to come to an agreement with Desiderius. Thereupon the Lombard king showed more complaisance in the ques- tion of the Roman patrimony included in the Lom- bard territory, and when he visited Rome in 765, the boundarj' disputes between him and the pope were ar- ranged. The Frankish king now directed Desiderius to aid the pope in recovering the Roman patrimony in the regions in southern Italy under Byzantine rule, and to support the ecclesiastical rights of the pope against the bishops of these districts. Paul's opposi- tion to the schemes of the Emperor Constantino Copronymus had no real political basis. The pope's aim was to defend ecclesiastical orthodoxy regarding the doctrine of the Trinity and the veneration of images against the Eastern emperor. Paul repeat- edly dispatched legates and letters in regard to the veneration of images to the emperor at Byzantium. Constantino sent envoys to western Europe who in coming to King Pepin did not disguise their intention to negotiate with him concerning dogmatic questions, also about the submission of t he Exarchate of Ravenna to Byzantine suzerainty. Papal legates also came to Pepin in regard to these matters. On their return the legates were able to reassure the pope as to the views of the Frankish ruler, who kept two of the papal envoys, Bishop George and the priest Peter, near him. In 767 a Frankish synod was held at Gentilly, near Paris, at which the Church doctrines concerning the Trinity and the veneration of images were maintained. Paul showed great activity and zeal in encouraging re- ligious life at Rome. He turned his paternal home

into a monastery, and near it built the church of San Silvestro in Capite. The founding of this church led to his holding a synod at Rome in 761. To this church and other churches of Rome, Paul transferred the bones of numerous martyrs from the decayed sanc- tuaries in the catacombs devastated by the Loinliarda in 756. He transferred the relics of St. Petronilla (q. V.) from the catacomb of St. Domitilla to a chapel in St. Peter's erected by his predecessor for this pur- pose. The legend of St. Petronilla caused her at that era to be regarded as a daughter of St. Peter, and as such she became the special Roman patroness of the Frankish rulers. Paul also built an oratory of the Blfssi'd \irgin in St. Peter's, and a church in honour of the Ape I.St les on the Via Sacra beyond the Roman Forum. He died near the church of San Paolo fuori le mura, where he had gone during the heat of sum- mer. He was buried in this church, but after three months his body was transferreil to St. Peter's. The "Liber Pontificalis " also praises the Christian charity and benevolence of the pope which he united with firmness. Paul is venerated as a saint. His feast is celebrated on the twenty-eighth of June.

Liber Pontificalis, ed. Ddchesne, I. 463-467; Liber Carolines, ed. Mon, Germ. Hint.: Epist,, III. 507 sqq.: Kehr in Nachrichten der Gesetlschaft der Wiss. zu Gdttingen (1896), 103 sqq.; jAFn6. Regesta Rom. Pont., I, 277 sqq.; Lanoen. Geschichte der rOmischen Kirche, II (Bonn, 1885), 668 sqq.; Hefele, Komiliengeschichte, 2nd ed., Ill, 431 sqq., 602; Schnurer, Die Bntstehung des Kirchen- staates (Cologne, 1S94) ; Ditchesne, Les premiers temps de VEtat pontifical C2nd ed., Paris, 1904); de Rosbi, Insigni scoperte nel cimitero de Domitilla in Bull, di archeol. crist., ser. II. an. VI (1875), 5 aqq., 45 sqq.; Idem, Sepolcro di S. Petronilla nelta basilica in via Ardeatina e sua traslazione al Vaticano, ibid,, ser. Ill, an. Ill (1878), 125 sqq.; an. IV (1879), 5 sqq., 139 sqq.; Marocchi, Basi- liques et iglises de Rome (2nd ed., Rome, 1909); Mann, Lives of the Popes (London, 1902).

J. P. KiRSCH.

Paul II, Pope (Pietro Barbo), b. at Venice, 1417; elected 30 August, 1464; d. 26 July, 1471; son of Niecolo Barbo and Polixena Condulmer, sister of

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Eugene IV. Although he studied for a business career he received an excellent religious education and, at the elevation of his uncle to the papacy, entered the ecclesiastical state. He became Archdeacon of Bo- logna, Bishop of Cervia and of Vicenza, and in 1440 cardinal-deacon. Noted for his generosity and im- posing appearance, the Cardinal of Venice, as he was called, was very influential under Eugene IV, Nicho- las V, and Catixtus III, less so under Pius II. He be- came the latter's successor, and owed his election partly to the dissatisfaction of some of the cardinals with the policy of his predecessor. To this could be traced the oath which Barbo swore to at the conclave, but which he rightfully set aside after election, since it was ojjpo.sed to the monarchial constitution of the Church. Paul II delighted in display. He intro-