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LEO prophecies; and several poems and moral orations. He also completed and published the Basilica, or Greek compilation of the laws of the empire commenced by his father.—J. T.  LEO I., called the Great, and Saint, bishop or pope of Rome, was born about 390. His father's name was Quintianus. "It is commonly believed," says Dupin, "that he was a Tuscan; but Father Quesnel rather supposes that he was a Roman, because he speaks to that effect in his twenty-seventh Epistle. St. Prosper says the same thing in his Chronicle. It is true that in the ordinary editions of the Liber Pontificalis he is said to have been a Tuscan; but there are two MSS. which make him a Roman. However it be, he was brought up and educated at Rome." Leo first appears in history under Zosimus, who sent him into Africa with the letters by which Pelagius and Cælestius were condemned. This was in 418, and he was then an acolyte. Under Celestine he was a deacon, and employed in important affairs; and at his suggestion Cassian wrote against the Nestorians the work De Incarnatione Christi. Under Sixtus III. Leo still continued to exercise his influence, especially in opposition to heresy, as the Pelagians had good reason to remember. Valentinian III. sent him into Gaul to attempt the reconciliation of Aëtius and Albinus; and during his absence Sixtus died. Leo was at once fixed upon as his successor, and on his return was appointed to the Roman see. His election, which appears to have been very popular, took place in 440. Till that period he had been a simple deacon. Leo lost no time in using the power which had fallen to him, and exerted himself in every way to promote the objects dearest to him—among which, there can be no doubt, we must include the establishment of the supremacy of the Roman see. The dissensions which distracted the church, and the terror of barbarian hordes which spread far and wide, were alike favourable to him. His own energy and decision of character, combined with a spirit of towering ambition, seemed to point him out as the man for the time. Amid the confusion caused by Arians and Pelagians, by Nestorians and Manichæans, and minor parties divided on secondary questions, it was no wonder if many were willing to obey him and to rally round him. He dealt summarily with heretics, as a single example is enough to show. Many Manichæans had been discovered at Rome through his vigilance. He therefore had them brought out and exposed to public infamy; he compelled them to make known and anathematize their erroneous doctrines, and seized and burnt every vestige of their writings which could be detected. This example had a powerful effect; for while it struck terror into heretics of all sorts, it animated many bishops to similar undertakings. But however obsequious many were to Leo, there were not a few who resisted his encroachments; and he owed it rather to the imperial authority of Valentinian, than to his own, that he imposed the yoke of Rome upon the West. The East was still more obstinate; and the struggles with Eutyches and his followers, while they seemed to favour his designs, perhaps really prevented their realization. Probably it is to Eutyches that the Eastern world is indebted for never being compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of the popes. The council of Chalcedon in 451 called against Eutyches, decided the question for ever, by fixing the powers of the bishop of Constantinople. In 452 Rome was threatened by Attila, and Leo headed an embassy to gain his clemency. His success was such that the barbarian not only spared Rome, but evacuated Italy. In 455 Rome was menaced by the Vandals. Leo again went forth to conciliate the enemy, and was again successful so far as to prevent the destruction of the city and its inhabitants, although he could not prevent its pillage. Leo added considerably to the ecclesiastical machinery which he found. He instituted fasts and other observances, and augmented the splendour of the services. His writings are numerous, consisting of ninety-six sermons, one hundred and seventy-three epistles, and some tracts. The death of Leo took place on the 10th of November, 461. It has been correctly said of him that "he sustained his dignity with so much splendour, vigilance, and authority, that he made himself more celebrated in the church than any of his predecessors."—B. H. C.  LEO II., according to some a Sicilian, but most probably born in the Abruzzi, is said to have been a studious and accomplished man, and is celebrated for his eloquence and piety. He succeeded Agatho in 682, called a council to approve the acts of a synod at Constantinople, and anathematized Pope Honorius. These were the principal acts of his brief pontificate, which lasted less than two years, as he died in 684. A few of his letters have been preserved.—B. H. C.  LEO III. was a native of Rome, and succeeded Adrian I. in 795. Originally leader of the choir at St. John's Lateran, he afterwards became a benedictine monk; and at the time of his election was a cardinal priest. Zonaras describes him as a man who deserved to be revered, and was very honourable; but his account of some of the transactions mentioned below does not altogether accord with what we find elsewhere. One fact, however, is clear enough, that from the time of Leo's appointment Rome came under the power of the Franks; and it is equally clear that while Leo was the prime agent in bringing about the change, it was the principal cause of his troubles. As soon as he was elected, we find him sending to Charlemagne the keys of St. Peter's and the city banner, with other gifts, and a request that some one might be sent to take the oath of fidelity from the Romans. Charlemagne showed no reluctance to accept the guardianship of the city, and the project of Leo seemed to prosper; but before long some of the chief men of Rome conspired against him. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him of his pontifical robes, and threw him into prison. At the same time they proposed to deprive him of his eyes and tongue, and the cruel design was frustrated only by the unwonted compassion of the ruffians to whom its execution was intrusted. He escaped from his confinement and fled to Charlemagne, before whom his accusers also made their appeal: sentence was deferred, but Leo was escorted back to Rome to await the arrival of Charlemagne, who promised to institute an inquiry. His jurisdiction was objected to; but as Leo swore that he was innocent, he was pronounced to be so. It seems to have been after and not before this that the pope, who owed so much to the French king, crowned him emperor of the Romans, by which act the imperial dignity was restored to the West. This event occurred on the festival of Christmas in the year 800. Immediately after the conspirators against Leo were tried; and to use the words of Gibbon, "his enemies were silenced, and the sacrilegious attempt against his life was punished by the mild and insufficient penalty of exile." It proves either the weakness of the Greek emperors, or the authority of the popes, that Leo was able to transfer his allegiance, and to nominate and crown a new emperor. But even the coronation of the emperor was not all; Leo also anointed Pepin, the third son of Charlemagne, and pronounced him king of Italy by a solemn decree. Pepin was already the recognized king of Lombardy. Some time after the pope paid another visit to France, apparently on some matters of religion, but most likely its object was political. In 809 a council was called at Aix-la-Chapelle, to consider and decide upon the filioque clause of the creed—whether it should be retained, or whether the creed should stand in its original form. The Spanish and French, who had favoured the interpolation of this expression, were anxious to have it stand. The popes had found it convenient not to pronounce either way, and affected moderation and neutrality. Leo was appealed to by the emperor, and urged to express an opinion. "The missi or legates of Charlemagne pressed him to declare that all who rejected the filioque, or at least the doctrine, must be damned." The pope declined to do this, and advised that the words should be left out. The French, however, triumphed. Another conspiracy against Leo followed the death of Charlemagne; but it was found out, and the culprits were put to death by the pope, which was regarded as a great stretch of authority. Leo died in 816. His only writings appear to have been a few letters: the Enchiridion is not his.—B. H. C.  LEO IV. was elected and consecrated in 847, after the death of Sergius II., without waiting for the consent of the emperor, as the law required; "porrectis etiam ad oscula pedibus," says one historian. The reason for the irregularity was the fear the Romans had of the Saracens, who had landed in Italy and plundered St. Peter's. Lotharius appears to have acquiesced in the election, and Leo at once proceeded to hostile measures against the Saracens; he raised troops and marched with them to Ostia, where an engagement was fought in which the enemies were defeated. To protect the Vatican against future incursions, he surrounded it with a wall, and called that portion of the city Leonina. a name which it still retains. This latter work was completed in four years, by means of gifts from the emperor, contributions from various places, and a tax levied upon property in the duchy of Rome. When completed, it was solemnly 