Pope Leo IV (died 17 July 855) was thebishop of Rome and ruler of thePapal States from 10 April 847 to his death in 855. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during theArab raid against Rome, and for building theLeonine Wall aroundVatican Hill to protect the city. Pope Leo organized a league of Italian cities who fought and won the seaBattle of Ostia against theSaracens.
ARoman by birth, Leo received his early education at Rome in the monastery of St. Martin, near St. Peter's. He attracted the notice ofPope Gregory IV, who made him a subdeacon; and was created cardinal-priest ofSanti Quattro Coronati byPope Sergius II.[1]
In April 847, Leo was unanimously chosen to succeedSergius II. As the attack of the Saracens on Rome in 846 caused the people to fear for the safety of the city, he was consecrated on 10 April, 847 without waiting for the consent of the emperor.[1]
He immediately began to repair the damage done to various churches of the city during theArab raid against Rome. He restored and embellished the damagedBasilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls andSt. Peter's Basilica. The latter's altar again received its gold covering (after being stolen), which weighed 206pounds (93.4kilograms) and was studded with precious gems. Following the restoration of St. Peter's, Leo appealed to the Christian kingdoms to confront the Arab raiders.[2]
Leo also took precautions against further raids. He put the walls of the city into a thorough state of repair, entirely rebuilding fifteen of the great towers. He was the first to enclose the Vatican hill by a wall.[1] Leo ordered a new line of walls encompassing the suburb on the right bank of theTiber to be built, including St. Peter's Basilica, which had been undefended until this time. The district enclosed by the walls is still known as theLeonine City, and corresponds to the laterrione of Borgo. To do this, he received money from the emperor, and help from all the cities and agricultural colonies (domus cultae) of the Duchy of Rome. The work took him four years to accomplish.[3][1]
Raphael'sThe Fire in the Borgo celebrates the incident in which, according to legend, Leo stopped a fire in the pilgrims' district by making the sign of the cross.
Leo IV held threesynods, the one in 850 distinguished by the presence ofEmperor Louis II, but the other two of little importance. In 853, he travelled toRavenna to settle a dispute with the archbishop. As the archbishop was on good terms with EmperorLothair I, the pope had little success.[5] The history of the papal struggle withHincmar of Reims, which began during Leo's pontificate, belongs properly to that ofNicholas I.[6]
Before his death in 855 the Pope welcomedAethelwulf King of Wessex and his sons, including the seven year oldAlfred the Great, who at 5 had already met him in 853, as pilgrims to Rome.[7]
Leo IV died on 17 July 855 and was succeeded byBenedict III, although a legend says he was succeeded byPope Joan for two years.[8] Nowadays, the story of Pope Joan is regarded by scholars as fictional.[9][10][11]
Leo IV was originally buried in his own monument in St. Peter's Basilica. Some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained the first four popes named Leo. In the 18th century, the relics ofLeo the Great were separated from his namesakes and given their own chapel.[12]
Leo IV had the figure of a rooster placed on theOld St. Peter's Basilica or oldConstantinian basilica[13] which has served as a religiousicon and reminder ofPeter's denial of Christ since that time, with some churches still having thecockerel on the steeple today. It is reputed thatPope Gregory I had previously said that the cock (rooster) "was the most suitable emblem of Christianity", being "the emblem of St Peter".[14][15] After Leo IV, Pope Nicholas I, who had been made a deacon by Leo IV, decreed that the figure of the cock (rooster) should be placed on every church.[16]
^abcd One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Mann, Horace (1910). "Pope St. Leo IV". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^Pierre Riche,The Carolingians:A Family who forged Europe, transl. Michael Idomir Allen, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), 175.
^Gregorovius, Ferdinand.History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 3, (Annie Hamilton, tr.), 1903 ch. III "The Leonine City" pp 95ff.
^Rustici, Craig M. (2006).The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Legend in Early Modern England. University of Michigan Press. p. 8.ISBN978-0-472-11544-0.
^The Antiquary: a magazine devoted to the study of the past, Volume 17 edited byEdward Walford,John Charles Cox, George Latimer Apperson - page 202[2]
^How the Chicken Conquered the World - By Jerry Adler and Andrew Lawler - Smithsonian magazine, June 2012[3]Archived 5 November 2012 at theWayback Machine
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