TheOstrogothic Papacy was a period from 493 to 537 where the papacy was strongly influenced by theOstrogothic Kingdom, if the pope was notoutright appointed by the Ostrogothic King. The selection and administration of popes during this period was strongly influenced byTheodoric the Great and his successorsAthalaric andTheodahad. This period terminated withJustinian I's invasion of Italy during theGothic War (535–554), establishing theByzantine Papacy (537–752).
According to Howorth, "while they were not much interfered with in their administrative work, so long as they did not themselves interfere with politics, the Gothic kings meddled considerably in the selection of the new popes and largely dominated their election.Simony prevailed to a scandalous extent, as did intrigues of a discreditable kind, and the quality and endowments of the candidates became of secondary importance in their chances of being elected, compared with their skill in corrupting the officials of the foreign kings and in their powers of chicane."[1] According to theCatholic Encyclopedia, "[Theodoric] was tolerant towards the Catholic Church and did not interfere in dogmatic matters. He remained as neutral as possible towards the pope, though he exercised a preponderant influence in the affairs of the papacy."[2]
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Pope Simplicius (468–483) was the pope who witnessed the final overthrow of theWestern Roman Empire, and fell ill in 483.[3] The papal election of March 483 was the first to take place without the existence of a Western Roman emperor. While Simplicius still lived, the praetorian prefect,Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, called together the Roman Senate, Roman clergy, and the leading local bishops in the Imperial Mausoleum. Simplicius had issued anadmonitio declaring that no election of his successor should be valid without the consent of Basilius. Basilius was both the leader of the Roman aristocracy and the Chief Minister ofOdoacer the "king of Italy".[4] Simplicius was succeeded byPope Felix III (483–492),Pope Gelasius I (492–496), andPope Anastasius II (496–498).
The role of the Ostrogoths became clear in the first schism. On November 22, 498, bothPope Symmachus andAntipope Laurentius were elected pope.[5] Symmachus was approved by theRoman Senate,[6] but bothByzantine Emperor Anastasius I and theGothic KingTheodoric the Great originally supported Laurentius, who was installed in theLateran Palace.[5]
Symmachus and Laurentius resorted to bribing Theodoric for his support, with funds from the Roman aristocrats who supported them.[7] This is the first documented case of papalsimony, wherein both candidates attempted to bribe the royal councilors, if not Theodoric himself, to influence his choice.[8] According to DeCormenin and de Lahaye, also influencing Theodoric to side with Symmachus and expel Laurentius from Rome was his fear that the latter was too influenced by the Byzantine ruler,[5] but according to Richards this is "simply not borne out by the evidence."[9] In announcing his decision, Theodoric cited the majority of clerical support and the fact of prior ordination.[10]
On March 1, 499, Symmachus declared to asynod inOld Saint Peter's Basilica his plan forcampaign finance reform in futuresede vacantes.[7] Laurentius was among those who signed his statute, having been appointed asBishop of Nuceria in consolation for having lost his claim to the papacy.[7] Symmachus decreed that reigning bishops would be able to designate their own successors, ending the participation of the laity for at least a half-century.[8]
When the supporters of Laurentius tried to depose Symmachus for having celebratedEaster according to the wrong calendar, Theodoric called the pope before him inAriminum to resolve the matter.[11] When Symmachus arrived, he discovered that the charges against him included unchastity and maladministration of church property, and fled back to Rome.[11] His flight bolstered the Laurentian party, who succeeded in persuading Theodoric to send a visitor to Rome to have Easter celebrated according to theGreek calendar and to convene a synod to consider the charges against Symmachus.[11]Peter of Altinum, thebishop of Istria, came to Rome to oversee the new Easter celebration and took over the administration of theHoly See pending the outcome of the synod.[11]
In the first two sessions, the assembled Italian bishops were unable to agree on the appropriate procedures to settle the matter, but the third session acquitted Symmachus.[12] Theodoric took a rather hands-off approach to the synod, refusing repeated requests for him to travel to Rome and resolve the matter personally.[13] According to Richards:
Despite the synod, Laurentius was able to return to Rome, take over much of the papal patrimony and churches of the city, and rule from theLateran Palace while Symmachus remained in St. Peter's.[15]
According to Richards, "the death of Pope Symmachus in July 514 was a crucial test for the election regulations after nearly sixteen controversial years of Symmachian rule."[16] However, the "Symmachian old guard" controlled a supermajority of the priests and deacons and thus were able to electPope Hormisdas (514–523) after only seven days.[16] Hormisdas was likely appointed by Symmachus himself, "a procedure which was implicit in the electoral regulations."[16] Hormisdas had prepared complicated written instructions for his envoys to the East long before his election and kept Theodoric well apprised of his negotiations with the Byzantines.[16]
Hormisdas was succeeded byPope John I (523–526). Theodoric married his daughters to the kings of Burgundy, the Visigoths, and Vandals, fellow adherents ofArianism.[17] However,Clovis, king of the Franks, renounced Arianism in 506, as didSigismund of Burgundy in 516 – acts that could possibly describe the act of having "converted to Catholicism."[17] In 523,Eutharic, king of the Visigoths, ceased persecuting non-Arians, around the same time that the Eastern Church began its persecution of Arians.[17] Theodoric created an Ostrogothic navy and sent an emissary to the East, headed by Pope John I himself in 526.[17]
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John I was succeeded byPope Felix IV (526–530) with the recommendation of Theodoric and his election was confirmed byAthalaric.[18] He was thus appointed "for all practical purposes" by Theodoric.[19] The process of predecessor appointment was used without serious issue until the death of Felix IV, who had given hispallium toPope Boniface II on his deathbed in 530 and decreed excommunication of any who refused to accept the succession.[8] TheRoman Senate disliked the lack of election and denounced Felix, affirming a decree ofPope Anastasius II which had prohibited the practice of a pope designating a successor.[8] Boniface II was supported only by a minority of the clergy, with the larger share supportingDioscorus, with only Dioscorus's death halting the schism.[8]
Boniface II attempted to re-entrench the practice of appointing his successor, but the public outcry was too great, resulting in a highly disputed election in 532 characterized by widespread accounts of bribery and coercion, which resulted inPope John II (the first to take apapal name).[20] Pope John was chosen by Athalaric to avoid a split between the Byzantine and Gothic factions.[21] Athalaric, the Ostrogoth king, forced John II to approve decrees that banned any private agreements to elect a pope and enacting limits on the amount of money that could be spent during a papal election (an early example ofcampaign finance reform).[20] In fact, Athalaric himself was able to engineer the election ofPope Silverius, the son of Pope Hormisdas, upon John II's death.[20]
Theodahad threw his support behindPope Agapetus I and was thus "well placed to coerce the new pope Agapetus, for he had been elected with his support."[22] Theodahad also played a decisive role in the selection ofPope Silverius (536–537), the legitimate son of Hormisdas.[23]
AfterJustinian I retook Rome in theGothic War (535–554), "to interfere in the papacy had been one of the first things Justinian had done as soon as his armies got a foothold in Italy."[24] Long before he had completed his victory over the Ostrogoths, Justinian I had his commanderBelisarius depose the pro-GothicPope Silverius (536–537) and installPope Vigilius (537–555), the former papalapocrisiarius to Constantinople, in his place.[24] Silverius died and Vigilius was ordained in 537, while the Goths rallied andlaid siege to Rome.[24] In 542, KingTotila recaptured Rome and by the time Justinian's new generalNarses recaptured the city in 552, Vigilius was no longer in Rome.[24]
