Editing Pope Zachary (section)

==Pontificate==
Gregory III's alliance with the [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombard]] [[Duchy of Spoleto]] put papal cities at risk when the [[dukes of Spoleto]] and [[Duke of Benevento|Benevento]] rebelled. Zachary turned to King [[Liutprand the Lombard]] directly. Out of respect for Zachary the king restored to the church of Rome all the territory seized by the Lombards and sent back the captives without ransom.<ref name=butler>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.bartleby.com/210/3/152.html|last= Butler|first= Alban|encyclopedia=The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints|title=Zachary, Pope and Confessor |volume=III|year=1866|location=Dublin|publisher=James Duffy}}</ref> The contemporary history (''[[Liber pontificalis]]'') dwells chiefly on Zachary's personal influence with Liutprand, and with his successor [[Ratchis]].<ref name=EB1911/> At the request of the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]], Zachary persuaded Liutprand to abandon a planned attack on Ravenna and to restore territory seized from the city.<ref name=kirsch/>

Zachary corresponded with Archbishop [[Saint Boniface|Boniface]] of [[Mainz]],<ref name=EB1911/> counseling him about dealing with disreputable prelates such as [[Milo (bishop of Trier)|Milo, bishop of Reims and Trier]]. "As for Milo and his like, who are doing great injury to the church of God, preach in season and out of season, according to the word of the Apostle, that they cease from their evil ways."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2CQeAwAAQBAJ&dq=Milo+%28bishop+of+Trier%29&pg=PA133 Wansbrough OSB, Henry. "St. Boniface, Monk and Missioner", ''Prayer and Thought in Monastic Tradition: Essays in Honour of Benedicta Ward SLG'', (Santha Bhattacharji, Dominic Mattos, Rowan Williams, eds.), A&C Black, 2014, p. 133], {{ISBN|9780567082954}}</ref> At Boniface's request, Zachary confirmed three newly established bishoprics of [[Würzburg]], [[Büraburg]], and [[Erfurt]]. In 742 he appointed Boniface as papal legate to the [[Concilium Germanicum]], hosted by [[Carloman (mayor of the palace)|Carloman]], one of the Frankish [[mayors of the Palace]]. In a later letter Zachary confirmed the metropolitans appointed by Boniface to [[Rouen]], [[Reims]] and [[Sens]]. In 745 Zachary convened a [[synod]] in Rome to discourage a tendency toward the worship of angels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zenit.org/articles/assigning-names-to-angels/|title=Assigning Names to Angels – ZENIT – English|website=zenit.org|date=September 2015|language=en-US|access-date=2018-02-13}}</ref>

Zachary corresponded with temporal rulers as well. Answering a question from the Frankish Mayor of the Palace [[Pepin the Short]], who planned to usurp the Frankish throne from the puppet-king [[Childeric III]], Zachary rendered the opinion that it was better that he should be king who had the royal power than he who had not. Shortly thereafter, the Frankish nobles decided to abandon Childeric, the last [[Merovingian]] king, in favor of Pepin.<ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Zacharias, St |volume=20 |page=950}}</ref> Zachary remonstrated with the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Constantine V]] on his [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|iconoclastic policies]].<ref name=kirsch/><ref name=EB1911/>

Zachary built the original church of [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]] over an ancient temple to [[Minerva]] near the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]]. He also restored the decaying [[Lateran Palace]], moving the relic of the head of [[Saint George]] to the church of [[San Giorgio al Velabro]]. After Venetian merchants bought many slaves in Rome to sell to the Muslims of [[Africa]], Zachary forbade such traffic and then paid the merchants their price, giving the slaves their freedom.<ref name=butler/><ref>{{cite book |last=Stantchev |first=Stefan K. |title=Spiritual Rationality: Papal Embargo as Cultural Practice |date=3 July 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191009235 |page=28}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pNVCAQAAMAAJ Annali d'Italia: Dall'anno 601 dell'era volare fino all'anno 840], by Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Giuseppe Catalani, Monaco (1742); page 298.</ref>