Pope John VII (Latin:Ioannes VII; c. 650 – 18 October 707) was thebishop of Rome from 1 March 705 to his death on 18 October 707. He was an ethnic Greek, one of theByzantine popes, but had better relations with theLombards, who ruled much ofItaly, than with EmperorJustinian II, who ruled the rest.
John was an ethnicGreek, a native ofRossano inCalabria.[1][2] His father, Plato (c. 620 – 686), was the curator of thePalatine Hill for theByzantine emperor. This makes John the first pope to be the son of a Byzantine official.[3] His mother was called Blatta (c. 627 – 687).[3]
John VII wasselected to succeedJohn VI, another Greek, on 1 March 705.[4] He had good relations with the Lombards, who then ruled much of Italy. However, his relations with EmperorJustinian II were far from smooth. Papal relations with Byzantium had soured over theQuinisext Council of 692.[5] Scholarly debate contests John VII's stance on the canons.[6][7][8] He did not ratify them, and they were deeply unpopular in Italy. Nonetheless, he was criticized, most unusually, by theLiber pontificalis for not signing them:
He [Emperor Justinian II] despatched two metropolitan bishops, also sending with them a mandate in which he requested and urged the pontiff [John VII] to gather a council of the apostolic church, and to confirm such of them as he approved, and quash and reject those which were adverse. But he, terrified in his human weakness, sent them back to the prince by the same metropolitans without any emendations at all.[9]
John VII died 18 October, 707 and was buried in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary which had been added on to St. Peter's.[10] He was succeeded bySisinnius.[5]
"The Washing of Baby Jesus," mosaic fragment from the Oratory of John VII. 705–707.
Furthermore, a sizeable icon, known as theMadonna della Clemenza and housed inSanta Maria in Trastevere, is believed to have been commissioned under the patronage of John.[12] He also restored the monastery ofSubiaco, destroyed by the Lombards in 601.
^Murzaku, Ines Angeli (2009).Returning home to Rome: the Basilian monks of Grottaferrata in Albania. Analekta Kryptoferris. p. 47.ISBN9788889345047.Rossano, a town in southern Italy, which is probably the birthplace of another well-known Greek figure, Pope John VII who reigned in the See of St. Peter for two years (705–707)
^Hare, Augustus J. C. (1883).Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily. Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 344–345.ISBN9781406782127.Pope John VII. (705–707) was a native of Rossano.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^abKelly, J. N. D.The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 84.
^Breckenridge, J. D. "Evidence for the Nature of Relations between Pope John VII and the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II".Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Vol. 65, 1972.
