In sources prior to the 1960s, this pope is called Stephen V andPope Stephen III is called Stephen IV; seePope-elect Stephen for a detailed explanation.
Pope Stephen IV (Latin:Stephanus IV; died 24 January 817) was thebishop of Rome and ruler of thePapal States from June 816 to his death on 24 January 817.[1] Stephen belonged to a noble Roman family. In October 816, he crownedLouis the Pious as emperor atReims, and persuaded him to release some Roman political prisoners he held in custody. He returned toRome, by way of Ravenna, sometime in November and died the following January.
Immediately after his consecration Stephen ordered the Roman people to swear fidelity to Emperor Louis, after which Stephen sent envoys to the emperor notifying him of his election, and to arrange a meeting between the two at the emperor's convenience.[5] With Louis' invitation, Stephen left Rome in August 816. Louis's nephew, KingBernard of Italy, was ordered to accompany Stephen to the emperor and the two crossed the Alps together.[6] In early October, the pope and the emperor met atRheims, where Louis prostrated himself three times before Stephen.[7] At Mass on Sunday, 5 October 816, Stephenanointed Louis as emperor,placing a crown on his head that was claimed to belong toConstantine the Great.[8] At the same time he also crowned Louis' wife,Ermengarde of Hesbaye, and saluted her asaugusta.[9] This event has been seen as an attempt by the papacy to establish a role in the creation of an emperor, which had been placed in doubt by Louis' self-coronation in 813.[10]
Louis gave Stephen a number of presents, including an estate of land (most likely atVendeuvre-sur-Barse) granted to the Roman church.[11] They also renewed the pact between the popes and the kings of theFranks, confirming the privileges of the Roman church, and the continued existence of the recently emergedPapal States.[12] Stephen also raised BishopTheodulf of Orléans to the rank ofarchbishop, and had Louis release from their exile all political prisoners originally from Rome who had been held by the emperor resulting from the conflict that plagued the early part of Pope Leo III's reign.[13] It is also believed that Stephen asked Louis to enforce reforms for the clergy who lived under theRule of Chrodegang. This included ensuring that the men and women who lived there were to stay in separate convents, and that they were to hold the houses under a title of common property. He also regulated how much food and wine they could consume.[14]
After visitingRavenna on his way back from Rheims, Stephen returned to Rome before the end of November 816.[15] Here, he apparently discontinued Leo III's policies of favouring clergy over lay aristocracy. After holding the traditional ordination of priests and bishops in December and confirmingFarfa Abbey's possessions on condition that every day the monks would recite one hundredKyrie eleison as well as a yearly payment to the Roman Church of ten goldensolidi, Stephen died on 24 January 817.[16] He was buried at St. Peter's, and was succeeded byPaschal I.[17]
Goodson, Caroline J. 2010.The Rome of Pope Paschal I: Papal Power, Urban Renovation, Church Rebuilding and Relic Translation, 817–824. Cambridge University Press.
Duffy, Eamon,Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, Yale University Press (1997)
Mann, Horace K.,The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. II: The Popes During the Carolingian Empire, 795–858 (1906)
