Pope Stephen VIII (; died October 942) was the

bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

and nominal ruler of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

from 14 July 939 to his death. His pontificate occurred during the ''

Saeculum obscurum (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Rule of the Harlots or the Pornocracy, was a period in the history of the papacy during the first two thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896, which ...

'', when the power of

popes The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

was diminished by the ambitious

counts of Tusculum The counts of Tusculum or Tuscolo, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and antipopes during the 11th centur ...

, and was marked by the conflict between his patron, Alberic II of Spoleto, and King

Hugh of Italy Hugh of Italy ( 880/885 – April 10, 948), known as Hugh of Arles or Hugh of Provence, was the king of Italy from 926 until 947, and regent in Lower Burgundy and Provence from 911 to 933. He belonged to the Bosonid family. During his reign in ...

Background

Stephen VIII was born of a Roman family, and prior to becoming pope was attached to the church of Saints Silvester and Martin.

Pontificate

Frankish conflicts

After becoming

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, Stephen gave his attention to the situation in

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

. In early 940, Stephen intervened on behalf of

Louis IV of France Louis IV (920/921 – 10 September 954), called ''d'Outremer'' or ''Transmarinus'' ("From overseas"), reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son of king Charles the Simple and his s ...

, who had been trying to bring to heel his rebellious vassals,

Hugh the Great Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. He was the most powerful magnate in France. Son of King Robert I of France, Hugh was Margrave of Neustria. He played an active role in bringing King Louis IV of France ...

and Herbert II of Vermandois, both of whom had appealed for support from King Otto I of Germany. Stephen dispatched a

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

to the Frankish nobles, instructing them to acknowledge Louis, and to cease their rebellious actions against him, under threat of

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

. Although the embassy did not achieve its stated objective, it did have the effect of removing the support of the Frankish bishops who had been backing Hugh and Herbert. Emboldened, Stephen sought to break up the alliance against Louis by offering Herbert's son, Hugh of Vermandois, the office of

archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims or Rheims (; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by Sixtus of Reims, the diocese w ...

. Along with the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...

, Stephen sent another legate, with instructions to the Frankish nobility, insisting that they submit to Louis. This time they were informed that if the pope had not received their embassies by

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, notifying him of their intent to submit to the king, they would be excommunicated. This time, there was a shift in support to Louis, as a number of the more important nobles declared for him, and by the end of 942, all of the nobility had affirmed their loyalty to Louis, and notified the pope of their intent.

Domestic difficulties

The continuing domination of the

was evident throughout Stephen's pontificate, and the period is thus known as ''

''. Although Stephen was subject to Alberic II of Spoleto and did not in reality rule the

, Stephen himself was not a member of that family, nor had he any relationship with Alberic's mother,

Marozia Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza ( 890 – 937), was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles ''senatrix'' ("senatoress") and ''patricia'' of Rome by Po ...

, who had dominated Roman and papal politics during the preceding decades. Stephen was, however, caught up in the ongoing conflict between Alberic and King

, with Hugh besieging Rome in 940. After a failed attempt to assassinate him, which involved a number of bishops, Alberic cracked down on any potential dissent in Rome, with his enemies either scourged, beheaded or imprisoned. If there is any truth to

Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...

’s account of the torture and maiming of Stephen VIII by supporters of Alberic, it must have occurred at this juncture, in the aftermath of the conspiracy, and just prior to Stephen's death. On 17 August 942, Alberic summoned a council in Rome, where he demonstrated his control over the papacy by making use of various papal officials, such as the

primicerius The Latin term ''primicerius'', Hellenized as ''primikērios'' (), was a title applied in the later Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to the heads of administrative departments, and also used by the Church to denote the heads of various colleg ...

, the secundicerius of the notaries, and the vestararius. Stephen died during October 942, and was succeeded by Marinus II.

Historiography

According to the late 13th century chronicler

, Stephen VIII was described as being a German, who was elected pope due to the power and influence of relative Otto I. Martin states that Otto ignored the will of the cardinals in imposing Stephen upon them, and because Stephen was hated for being a German, he was taken by supporters of Alberic II, who proceeded to maim and disfigure him to such an extent that Stephen was unable to appear in public again. This version of events has largely been discredited; contemporary and near-contemporary catalogues state that Stephen was a Roman. Further, Otto's intervention in and influence over Italian affairs was still over a decade away, and during this period Otto was still trying to consolidate his hold on power in Germany, with major rebellions by the German dukes. Consequently, Otto would have been too preoccupied to concern himself over the papal succession at this juncture. Finally, Stephen's intervention on behalf of the Frankish king Louis IV (who was in conflict with Otto) would not have occurred had Stephen been a relative of the German king, and had Stephen received the papal throne through Otto's intervention. The maiming of Stephen may have occurred, however, in the aftermath of the conspiracy against Alberic in the middle of 942.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen 08 Popes Italian popes 942 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century popes Burials at St. Peter's Basilica