Popes
Named
Benedict
Compiled by Dr.
Geraldine Rohling
Benedict I
(575-579)
Italian
/ Rome
Elected: 2 June 575
Died: 30 July 579
Benedict II
(684-685)
Italian
/ Rome
Early career, i.e. what he did or was before becoming Pope: Priest
Elected: 26 June 684
Died: 8 May 685
Benedict III
(855-858)
Italian / Rome
Early Career: Cardinal priest
Elected: 29 Sept 855
Died: 17 April 858
Elected after the previous choice declined the office.
Benedict IV
(900-903)
Italian
/ Rome
Early Career: Aristocratic family
Elected: May/June 900
Died: August 903
Benedict V
(964-964)
Italian
/ Rome
Early Career: Deacon
Elected: 22 May 964
Deposed: 23 June 964 and exiled to Hamburg
Died: 4 July 966 in Hamburg
[Should be considered an anti-pope]
Benedict
VI (973-974)
Italian
/ Rome
Family background: Son of a man who later became a monk.
Early career: Cardinal priest
Elected: 19 January 973
Died July 974
Arrested and imprisoned in June 974 in Castel Sant’ Angelo, where he was
strangled by order of his “successor,” the antipope Boniface VIII.
Benedict VII
(974-983)
Italian
/ Rome
Family background: Aristocratic
Early Career: Bishop of Sutri
Elected: October 974
Died: 10 July 983
Throughout his pontificate, he was threatened by Boniface VIII. In 980 the
threats were of such magnitude, Benedict VII sought the help of Otto I (936-973)
of Germany, under whose reign the popes were required to take an oath of
allegiance to the emperor, and who received the title Imperator et Augustus
(962) and was rex et sacerdos (king and priest). For approximately 100
years, Otto and his successors could intervene in a papal election whenever the
situation got out of hand. The two principal Roman families at that time,
Tusculani and Crescentii, were frequently unable to settle on a candidate for
the papacy. During the so-called periods of peace during his pontificate,
Benedict VII carried out ecclesiastical duties that pleased the emperor. Unrest
however, was always just below the surface, and re-emerged with his death. Otto
I offered the papacy to the abbot of Cluny, who refused; he then offered
it to one of his former ministers, who became John XIV (983-984).
Benedict VIII
(1012-1024)
Italian
Born c. 980 / named Theophylact
Family background: Aristocratic / Tusculani Family
Religious status:
Layman
Elected: 17 May 1012 / aged 32
Died: 9 April 1024
Considered a ruthless soldier; he spent much time dressed in armour and on
horseback, on “search and destroy” missions against the Crescentii family; also
took part in a sea battle against the Saracen marauders (1016).
Benedict IX
Italian
/ name Theophylact
Family background: Tusculani Family / nephew of Popes John XIX and
Benedict VIII
Religious status:
Layman
Elected: 21 October 1032 / aged, 20s
Expelled: September 1044
Resumed Office:
10 March 1045
Abdicated: 1 May 1045
Deposed: 24 December 1046
Resumed Office:
8
November 1047
Died: late 1055 / early 1056
Length of pontificate: not possible to ascertain; achieved office by overt
acts of bribery and treachery.
Another
layman and another scandal. In the fall of 1044, the private life of Benedict
IX was of such depravity, that it caused a riot; lead by the Crescentii Family,
Benedicts was driven from Rome. January 1045, the Crescentii installed their own
pope, Sylvester III; by March, he was back in power. Benedict IX, abdicated in
May, his godfather became Gregory VI. There was an exchange of a large sum of
money between the two, which leads to the belief that Gregory bought the
office. Henry III (1039-1056), “the ideal Christian ruler,” found him guilty.
Gregory was deposed and sent into exile in Germany. Clement II (1046-1047), a
fellow German and a rigorous reformer, with an emphasis on simony, was appointed
by the emperor. At the time of Clement’s death, a mix of bribery and
emotionalism in Rome brought the return of Benedict IX for a third term. Henry
III, furious by the turn of events, had Benedict removed by force and nominated
another German as pope, Damasus II (1048), who reigned for 23 days. Leo IX
(1049-1054) another German, succeeded him as the emperor’s nominee.
Benedict X
(1058)
Antipope who seized power in 1058; he held power for nine months. There is
little information about him.
Benedict XI
(1303-1304)
Italian
/ Treviso
Born: 1240 / Niccolo Boccasino
Family background: Son of a notary
Religious status:
Minister General of the Dominicans
Early career: Cardinal bishop
Elected:
22
October 1303 / aged 63
Died:
7
July 1304 at Perugia of dysentery
Pontificate:
8
months 16 days.
Elected on the first ballot. Not a strong man either physically or
emotionally. Supported during the election by Charles II of Naples who was in
Rome at the time; he was opposed by the two Colonna cardinals who denounced the
result as invalid. To appease them, the new pontiff released them from the
excommunication imposed by Boniface in 1297; this backfired among his
supporters. He retired to Perugia to think of a solution. Before a decision
could be reached, he died of dysentery. He is buried in the Dominican church in
Perugia. Beatified in 1736 by Clement XII.
Motto: Make thy face shine upon thy servant (Ps. 30.17)
Benedict XII
(1334-11342)
French /
Saverdun, near Toulouse.
Born: c. 1280-1285 / Jacques Fournier
Family background: Humble
Religious status: Cistercian monk
Early career: Abbot, cardinal priest
Elected: 20 December 1334 / aged c. 49-54
Died: 25 April 1342
Pontificate: 7 years, 4 months, 5 days.
A Cistercian whose theology was quite sound, more so than his predecessor John
XXII. Benedict ordered changes among the clergy, excising undesirable practices
such as taking the money for a benefice but not doing the work / responsibility;
not allowing them to hold more than one ecclesiastical office simultaneously;
and not allowing great sums of money to be charged for drawing up documents.
Among religious orders, he insisted that monks and nuns observe their rules
strictly. Made an attempt at curial reform but was not successful. He thought
of returning the papacy to Rome, but the chaos of the city and of Italy,
deterred him. He began construction of a papal palace at Avignon. His papal
authority in Italy was disregarded in secular affairs. He gave in to Philip IV
of France’s objections to the reconciliation between Louis IV and the papacy,
which alienated Louis even further. This resulted in the German states (1338,
Diet of Frankfurt) declaring that imperial authority came from God and that
papal approval of a newly elected emperor was no longer required.
Before his election, Benedict was an efficient inquisitor, who repelled the
heretics Waldenses and Albigensians from his diocese of Pamiers and Mirepoix.
He was a skilled debater and wrote about and against some of the well-known
controversies of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Spiritually, Benedict XII was an austere person. In terms of politics, he was
unable to prevent the onset of the Hundred Years War.
Benedict XIII
(1394-1417)
Antipope
[The Avignon Line]
Pedro de Luna, elected by the Avignon cardinals.
Believed in the validity of his election. Fought to retain office.
Condemned and deposed by the Council called by Gregory XII, which ironically,
also condemned and deposed Gregory, electing a new ‘antipope,’ Alexander V
(1409-1410). The German King, Sigismund, tried to persuade Benedict to resign,
but he would not, and in 1417 was still refusing, when the Council of Constance
declared him deposed, again. Benedict remained defiant for another six years,
until his death in 1423.
Benedict XIII
(1724-1730)
Italian
/ Pugilia
Born: 2 February 1649 / Pietro Francesco Orsini
Family background: Aristocratic / ducal
Religious status: Dominican friar
Early Career: Archbishop of Benevento, cardinal bishop
Elected: 29 May 1724 / aged 75
Died: 21 February 1730
Pontificate: 5 years, 8 months, 24 days.
NB Benedict continued to live as a friar after his election.
Like his predecessor (Innocent XIII), he must be persuaded to accept the
papacy. Frugal beyond that of his predecessors, he visited the sick and the
dying even as pope, and looked after the poor. In general, he acted as if he
were scarcely more than the bishop of Rome. He also sought to temper the
extravagances of the cardinals: not tolerating the wearing of wigs (!). He
reaffirmed the condemnation of the Jansenists in 1725; provoked an international
outcry by his promotion of the Feast Day of St. Gregory VII.
Benedict XIV
(1740-1758)
Italian
/ Bologna
Born: 31 March 1675 / Lorenzo Lambertini
Family background: Aristocratic
Early Career: Archbishop of Bologna, cardinal priest
Elected: 17 August 1740 / aged 65
Died: 3 May 1758
Pontificate: 17 years, 8 months, 17 days
Perhaps the most capable and successful pontiffs of the 18th
century. Elected after a six-month conclave! He improved papal finances,
emphasized the duties of bishops, began a reform of the breviary, condemned the
Jesuits’ use of native rituals in China, reiterated Clement XII’s fulmination
against Freemasonry, censured the Jesuits in Portugal for neglecting their rule
and involving themselves in trade, and issued a letter to the French bishops,
reminding them of Clement XI’s condemnation of Jansenism.
Personal interest was in scholarship. He established four academies in Rome,
devoted to various aspects of history and liturgy, all of which attracted many
of the most distinguished scholars of the day. In the University of Rome he
created two new professorial chairs, one for higher mathematics, the other for
chemistry; and in the University of Bologna, he revived the practice of
anatomical studies and founded a chair of surgery. He gave his private library
to the Institute of Bologna, his native city, which along with that of Cardinal
Monti, another benefactor, amounted to 80,000 volumes and 2,500 manuscripts.
Such munificence makes Benedict XIV one of the greatest Church patrons in the
style, if not the preferred subject matter of the Renaissance. His death was
mourned by Protestants and Catholics alike.
Benedict XV
(1914-1922)
Italian
/ Genno
Born: 21 November 1854 / Giacomo Della Chiesa
Family background: Aristocratic
Early career: Secretary of state, archbishop of Bologna,
cardinal priest
Elected: 3 September 1914 / aged 59
Died: 22 January 1922 / pneumonia
Pontificate: 7 years, 4 months, 20 days.
As a child, suffered delicate health; one shoulder noticeably higher than the
other, and he walked with a limp. Of a kindly temperament, he charmed his
people of Bologna with his pastoral care for their welfare; he was quite
approachable. Pope during most of WWI. He tried to remain neutral while
condemning atrocities. Proposed a peace plan but was ignored. Beginning in
1920, he devoted himself to efforts at international reconciliation. Many
countries resumed diplomatic relations with the Vatican. He endeavoured to
created a positive relation between the Church and governments. He encouraged
Catholic missions and catholic missionaries, urging missionary bishops to ordain
native clergy. Worked towards the reunification of the Western and Eastern
Churches, and established the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. The Turks
raised a statue to him in Istanbul, 1920.
Benedict
XVI (2005 - )
German /
Marktl am Inn
Born: 16 April 1927 / Josef Ratzinger
Family background: Humble, farmers and civil servants
Early career:
Cardinal bishop / Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals / Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Elected:
19 April 2005
