The Pope (from the Latin papa or father) is the Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff, Patriarch of the West, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The office of the Pope is called the Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the "Holy See" (Sancta Sedes in Latin) or "Apostolic See" (the latter on the basis that both St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred at Rome).
The Pope plays a powerful role in Western Europe, often struggling with monarchs for power over wide-ranging affairs of church and state, crowning emperors (Charlemagne was the first emperor so crowned) and regulating disputes among secular rulers. The Bishop of Rome continued to be nominally allied with and part of the civil structure of the (Byzantine) Roman Empire until the 8th century, when the Donation of Pepin gave Rome and the surrounding area to the full sovereignty of the pope, over which the popes already had been de facto rulers, creating the Papal States. The Donation of Constantine provides the basis for the papacy's claim of political supremacy over the entire former Western Roman Empire.
Popes of the Eighth and Ninth Centuries[]
- Paul I 757 -767.
- Stephen III 767 - 772. Sometimes called Stephen IV.
- Adrian I 772 - 795.
- Leo III 795 - 816. Crowned Charlemagne Imperator Augustus on Christmas Day, 800.
- Stephen IV 816 - 817. Sometimes called Stephen V.
- Paschal I 817 - 824.
- Eugene II 824 - 827.
- Valentine August to September 827.
- Gregory IV [[827 - 844.
- Sergius II 844 - 847.
- Leo IV 847 - 855.
- Benedict III 855 - 858.
- Nicholas the Great 858 - 867.
- Adrian II 867 - 872.
- John VIII 872 - 882.
- Marinus I 882 - 884.
- Adrian III 884 - 885.
- Stephen V 885 - 891. Sometimes called Stephen VI.
- Formosus 891 - 896. Ritually executed (posthumously) after the Cadaver Synod.
- Boniface VI April 4 to April 19 896.
- Stephen VI 896 - 897. Sometime Called Stephen VII.
- Romanus August 897 to November 897.
- Theodore II December 897.
- John IX 898 - 900.
- Benedict IV 900 - 903.
Popes of the Tenth Century[]
- Leo V July to September 903.
- Sergius III 904 - 911.
- Anastasius III 911 - 913.
- Lando 913 - 914.
- John X 914 - 928.
- Leo VI May to December 928.
- Stephen VII 928 - 931. Sometimes called Stephen VIII.
- John XI 931 - 935.
- Leo VII 936 - 939.
- Stephen VIII 939 - 942.
- Marinus II 942 - 946.
- Agapetus II 946 - 955.
- John XII 955 - 964. Deposed in 963 by Emperor Otto.
- Benedict V 22 May to 23 June 964. Elected after John XII's death by the people of Rome, in opposition to the Antipope Leo VIII who was appointed by Emperor Otto; Benedict accepted his deposition in 964 leaving Leo as sole pope.
- Leo VIII 964 - 965.
- John XIII 965 - 972.
- Benedict VI 973 - 974. Deposed and murdered.
- Benedict VII 974 - 983.
- John XIV 983 - 984.
- John XV 985 - 996.
- Gregory V 996 - 999
- Sylvester II 999 - 1003. First French Pope.
Popes of the Eleventh Century[]
- John XVII June to December 1003.
- John XVIII 1003 - 1009.
- Sergius IV 1009 - 1012.
- Benedict VIII 1012 - 1024.
- John XIX 1024 - 1032.
- Benedict IX 1032 - 1045, briefly deposed by Sylvester III.
- Sylvester III 1045, a usurper, considered an Antipope, desposed at the Council of Sutri.
- Benedict IX 1045, restored, but sold the Papacy to Gregory VI.
- Gregory VI 1045 - 1046, removed by Benedict IX and desposed at the Council of Sutri.
- Clement II 1046 - 1047, the candidate of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.
- Benedict IX 1047 - 1048, restored again, desposed and excommunicated.
- Damasus II, July to August 1048.
- Leo IX 1049 - 1054.
- Victor II 1055 - 1057.
- Stephen IX 1057 - 1058, sometimes called Stephen X.
- Nicholas II 1058 - 1061.
- Alexander II 1061 - 1073.
- Gregory VII 1073 - 1085. Restricted the title of Papa to the Bishop of Rome.
- Victor III 1086 - 1087.
- Urban II 1088 - 1099. Called for the First Crusade.
- Paschal II 1099 - 1118.
Popes of the Twelfth Century[]
- Gelasius II 1118-1119. Member of the Order of St. Benedict.
- Callixtus II 1119-1124. Opened the First Council of the Lateran in 1123.
- Honorius II 1124-1130.
- Innocent II 1130-1143. Convened the Second Council of the Lateran in 1139
- Celestine II 1143-1144.
- Lucius II 1144-1145.
- Eugene III 1145-1153.
- Anastasius IV 1153-1154.
- Adrian IV 1154-1159. Only English pope; granted Ireland to Henry II, King of England. Member of the Order of St. Augustine.
- Alexander III 1159-1181. Convened the Third Council of the Lateran, 1179.
- Lucius III 1181--1185.
- Urban III 1185-1187.
- Gregory VIII 1187. Proposed the Third Crusade.
- Clement III 1187-1191.
- Celestine III 1191-1198.
- Innocent III 1198-1216. Convened the Fourth Council of the Lateran, 1215.