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Pope Nicholas I
Nicholas the Great | |
|---|---|
 Stained glass window of Pope Nicholas in Great Wakering, UK | |
| Pope of Rome | |
| Born | c. 800 Rome, Papal States |
| Died | 13 November 867 (aged 66–67) Rome, Papal States |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Feast | 13 November (from 1883) 6 December (until 1883) |
| Controversy | Wearing trousers |
Pope Nicholas I (Latin: Nicolaus I; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death. He is the last of the three Popes listed in the Annuario Pontificio with the title "the Great",[1] alongside Popes Leo I and Gregory I.
Nicholas is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting decisive influence on the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe. Nicholas I asserted that the pope should have suzerainty over all Christians, even royalty, in matters of faith and morals.[2]
Nicholas refused King Lothair II of Lotharingia's request for an annulment of his marriage to Teutberga. When a council pronounced in favor of annulment, Nicholas I declared the council deposed, its messengers excommunicated, and its decisions invalid. Despite pressure from the Carolingians, who laid siege to Rome, his decision held. During his reign, relations with the Byzantine Empire soured because of his support for Patriarch Ignatios of Constantinople, who had been removed from his post in favor of Photius I.
Since the seventeenth century, Nicholas has been venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, with his feast on 13 November.[3]
His claims of supremacy over territories outside his jurisdiction, the incorporation of the filioque in the Constantinopolitan Nicene creed, and his pressure on Bulgaria to remain under Roman rule, provoked tensions between Rome and Constantinople, leading to his excommunication by the Greeks at the fourth Council of Constantinople.
- ^ Annuario Pontificio. Holy See.
- ^ Will Durant. The Age of Faith. New York, New York, USA: Simon and Schuster, 1972. Chapter 21: Christianity in Conflict, p. 517-51
- ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Vatican Press, 2001, ISBN 978-88-209-7210-3), p. 587. Nicholas was added to the list of saints by Cardinal Lambertini - see F. Bougard, 'Anastase le bibliothécaire ou Jean Diacre ? Qui a récrit la vie de Nicolas Ier et pourquoi ?', Vaticana et medievalia. Études en l’honneur de Louis Duval-Arnould, Jean-Marie Martin, Bernadette Martin-Hisard e Agostino Paravicini Bagliani (ed.), Firenze, Sismel, 2008 (Millennio medievale, 71 ; Strumenti e studi, n.s., 16), pp. 27-40, p. 8 (online http://www.rmoa.unina.it/333/1/RM-Bougard-Diacre.pdf)
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