Editing Pope Stephen V (section)

==Pontificate==
Stephen V was elected to succeed [[Adrian III]] on the account of his holiness on May 17, 885, but was not accepted by the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles III the Fat]]. However, he was consecrated in September 885 without waiting for the imperial confirmation. The emperor sent a legate to overthrow him, but when he found with what unanimity he had been elected, he let the matter rest.<ref name="ce"/>

Stephen was called upon to face a famine caused by a drought and by locusts, and as the papal treasury was empty he had to fall back on his father's wealth to relieve the poor, to redeem captives, and to repair churches.

[[Methodius of Thessaloniki]] was succeeded by his disciple, [[Saint Gorazd|Gorazd]].<ref>''Seven Apostles of Bulgaria'', Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Ed. David Farmer, (Oxford University Press, 2004), 474.</ref> However, due to the influence of the German clergy, Stephen forbade the use of the [[Old Church Slavonic|Slavonic]] liturgy.<ref>Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of the Popes'', (HarperCollins, 2000), 144.</ref> Most of the Slavs then fell under the jurisdiction of the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]].<ref>Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of the Popes'', 143.</ref>

To promote order, he adopted [[Guy III of Spoleto]] "as his son" and crowned him emperor in 891. He also recognized [[Louis the Blind]] as [[king of Provence]]. Since Archbishop [[Aurelian of Lyon|Aurelian]] would not consecrate [[Theutbald II (bishop of Langres)|Teutbold]], who had been canonically elected [[bishop of Langres]], Stephen himself consecrated him. He had also opposed the arbitrary proceedings of the archbishops of [[Bordeaux]] and [[Ravenna]], and resisted the attacks which Patriarch [[Photius I of Constantinople]] made on the [[Holy See]]. His resistance was successful, and [[Emperor Leo VI]] sent Photius into exile. When writing against Photius, Stephen begged the emperor to send warships and soldiers to enable him to ward off the assaults of the [[Saracens]] on papal territory,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Roger Collins|title=Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy|date=1 Jan 2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=9780786744183|page=170}}</ref> and southern Italy<ref>{{cite book|author1=Francis Dvornik|title=The Photian schism: history and legend|publisher=CUP Archive|page=229}}</ref> and from 885 to 886 the Byzantines [[History of Islam in southern Italy|reoccupied southern Italy from the Muslims]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Greville Stewart Parker Freeman-Grenville|author2=Stuart Christopher Munro-Hay|title=Islam: An Illustrated History|date=26 January 2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=9781441165336|page=46}}</ref>

In 887/8, Stephen wrote that Christian slaves of Muslims, who were mutilated by their captors, could become priests. He also excused them if they murdered during their captivity.<ref>{{cite book|author1=David Thomas|author2=Barbara Roggema|author3=Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala|title=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 3 (1050-1200)|date=21 March 2011|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004195158|page=48}}</ref>

Stephen, who received many English [[pilgrim]]s and envoys bringing [[Peterspence]], was buried in the [[portico]] of [[Saint Peter's Basilica]].