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Pope Urban I (), also known as Saint Urban (175?–230), 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 ...
from 222 to 23 May 230.Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope Urban I" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. He was born in
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and succeeded Callixtus I, who had been martyred. It was believed for centuries that Urban I was also martyred. However, recent historical discoveries now lead scholars to believe that he died of natural causes.


Pontificate

Much of Urban's life is shrouded in mystery, leading to many myths and misconceptions. Despite the lack of sources, he is the first
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 ...
whose reign can be definitely dated. Two prominent sources exist for Urban's pontificate:
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
's
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
of the early Church and an inscription in the '' Coemeterium Callisti'' that names the Pope. Urban ascended to the papacy in 222, the year of Emperor
Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( ) and Heliogabalus ( ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short r ...
's assassination, and served during the reign of
Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – March 235), also known as Alexander Severus, was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. Alexander took power in 222, when he succeeded his slain co ...
. It is believed that Urban's pontificate took place during a peaceful time for Christians in the
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since Severus did not promote the persecution of Christianity. It is believed that the schismatic Hippolytus was still leading a rival Christian congregation in Rome and that he published the '' Philosophumena'', an attack on Urban's predecessor, Callixtus I. Urban is said to have maintained the hostile policy of Callixtus when dealing with the schismatic party. Due to the relative freedoms the Christian community had during Severus's reign, the Church in Rome grew, which led to the belief that Urban was a skilled converter. A papal decree concerning the donations of the faithful at
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
is attributed to Pope Urban:
The gifts of the faithful that are offered to the Lord can only be used for ecclesiastical purposes, for the common good of the Christian community, and for the poor; for they are the consecrated gifts of the faithful, the atonement offering of sinners, and the patrimony of the needy.


Tomb

It was believed that Urban was buried in the Coemetarium Praetextati where a tomb was inscribed with his name. However, when excavating the Catacomb of Callixtus Italian archaeologist Giovanni de Rossi uncovered the lid of a sarcophagus which suggested that Urban was in fact buried there. De Rossi also found a list of martyrs and confessors who were buried at St. Callistus's, which contained Urban's name. De Rossi therefore concluded that the Urban buried in the Coemetarium Praetextati was another bishop and Pope Urban was located in Catacomb of St. Callistus. While many historians accept this opinion, doubt remains since Pope Sixtus III's list of saints buried in St. Callistus's Catacomb does not include Urban in the succession of popes but rather in a list of foreign bishops. Therefore, it is possible that Pope Urban is indeed buried in the Coemetarium Praetextati. Urban is a saint of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
. A relic from his body is located in
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in the Monok Roman Catholic Church. In 1773,
Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...
donated it to the Andrássy family.


Legends and myths

As no contemporary accounts of Urban's pontificate exist there have been many legends and acts attributed to him which are fictitious or difficult to ascertain the factual nature of. The legendary Acts of St. Cecilia and the ''
Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...
'' contain information on Urban although their reliability is doubtful. Chaucer made him a character in " The Second Nun's Tale" of ''
The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...
''. A story that was once included in the Catholic Church's
Breviary A breviary () is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such as Aberdeen Breviar ...
states that Urban had many converts among whom were Tiburtius and his brother Valerianus, the husband of
Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for g ...
. Tradition credits Urban with the miracle of toppling an idol through prayer. This event is believed to have led to Urban being beaten and tortured before being sentenced to death by beheading. A further belief, now known as an invention from the 6th century, was that Urban had ordered the making of silver liturgical vessels and the
paten A paten or diskos is a small plate used for the celebration of the Eucharist (as in a mass). It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Wes ...
s for twenty-five titular churches of his own time.


Art

Urban is found in various pieces of artwork usually in one of two forms. He is often found sitting wearing the
papal tiara The papal tiara is a crown that was worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign. The name ''tiara'' refers t ...
, papal robes and holding a sword pointed towards the ground. Otherwise, he may be portrayed wearing papal garb and a bishop's mitre while he holds a
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and a
bunch of grapes In viticulture, the grape cluster (also bunch of grapes) is a fertilized inflorescence of the grapevine, the primary part of this plant used for food (grape leaves are also used in some culinary traditions). The size of the grape bunch greatly va ...
. An image of Urban is on a 12th-century fresco at Chalivoy-Milon in the Berry Art Gallery.Image of Pope Saint Urbanus
Other less common depictions of Pope Urban are: *after his beheading, with the papal tiara near him. *as idols fall from a column while he is beheaded; *scourged at the stake; *seated in a landscape as a young man (Saint Valerian) kneels before him and a priest holds a book.


See also

*
List of Catholic saints This is an incomplete list of humans and angels whom the Catholic Church has Canonization, canonized as saints. According to Catholic theology, all saints enjoy the beatific vision. Many of the saints listed here are found in the General Roman C ...
*
List of popes This chronological list of the popes of the Catholic Church corresponds to that given in the under the heading "" (The Roman Supreme Pontiffs), excluding those that are explicitly indicated as antipopes. Published every year by the Roman Curia ...


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Urban 01 170s births 230 deaths 3rd-century archbishops 3rd-century Christian saints 3rd-century Romans Italian popes Italian saints Papal saints Clergy from Rome Year of birth unknown 3rd-century popes Popes Year of birth uncertain