Editing Pope Paschal I (section)

==Papacy==

At first, Emperor Louis confirmed the agreement reached in [[Rheims]] with Paschal's predecessor, Stephen IV, and detailed in the document ''[[Pactum Ludovicanum]]'' about free papal elections and noninterference in Church affairs unless officially asked for help. The two worked together to send Archbishop [[Ebbo]] of Rheims to evangelize the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] in 822.<ref name="O'Brien Lives"></ref>

On Easter Sunday of 823, Paschal [[coronation|crowned]] and [[anointed]] Louis's son [[Lothair I]]. Lothair was less amenable to cooperating with the Papal Curia than his father. He held a court and declared [[Farfa Abbey]], just north of Rome, exempt from papal taxation. Paschal's aristocratic opponents in the papal palace, especially his former legate, Theodore, and his son-in-law, Leo, who turned to the young leader of the Franks for support in their opposition to Paschal.<ref name=Kirsch/> The decision outraged the Roman nobility and led to an uprising against the authority of the Roman Curia in northern Italy led by Theodore and Leo. The revolt was quickly suppressed, and two of its leaders were seized, blinded, and afterwards beheaded by members of the papal household. Paschal denied any involvement, but the Emperor remained suspicious and sent two commissioners to investigate. Paschal refused to submit to the authority of the imperial court, but he did take an oath of purgation before a synod of thirty-four bishops.<ref name="O'Brien Lives"/> The commissioners returned to [[Aachen]], and Emperor Louis let the matter drop.

===Construction projects===
Paschal gave shelter to exiled monks from the [[Byzantine Empire]] who had fled persecution for their opposition to [[Byzantine iconoclasm|iconoclasm]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Saint Paschal I {{!}} pope|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paschal-I|access-date=2021-06-01|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> He both offered the exiled Byzantine mosaic artists work decorating churches in Rome<ref name=Kelly1/> and wrote to Louis the Pious<ref>Goodson, 2010, p. 12.</ref> and the Byzantine emperor [[Leo the Armenian]] in support of those who opposed iconoclasm.<ref name="O'Brien Lives"/>

Paschal rebuilt three basilicas of Rome:  [[Santa Prassede]], [[Santa Maria in Domnica]], and [[Santa Cecilia in Trastevere]].<ref>Goodson, 2010, p. 3.</ref> These churches contain mosaics with lifelike portraits of Paschal.<ref name="O'Brien Lives"/> Paschal is credited with finding the body of [[Saint Cecilia]] in the [[Catacomb of Callixtus]] and translating it to the rebuild the basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. Paschal also undertook significant renovations on [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore]].<ref>Goodson, 2010, p.4.</ref> In addition, Paschal  added two oratories to [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]], SS. Processus et Martinianus and SS. Xistus et Fabianus, which did not survive the 16th century renovation of St. Peter's.<ref>Goodson, 2010, pp. 3-4.</ref>

Paschal is also sometimes credited with the renovation of [[Santo Stefano del Cacco]] in early modern sources, but this renovation was actually undertaken by [[Pope Paschal II]].<ref>Goodson, 2010, p. 5 n.7.</ref>

According to Goodson, Paschal "used church-building to express the authority of the papacy as an independent state."<ref name="g14">Goodson, 2010, p. 14.</ref>

===Writings===

[[File:Detailed image of Papal bulla of Paschal I 817-824 (FindID 69063).jpg|thumb| [[Papal bulla]] of Paschal I ]]

Only six known letters written by Paschal remain.<ref name="g8n11">Goodson, 2010, p. 8 & n.11.</ref>  The first (Jaffé 2546) confirms the possessions of the [[Territorial Abbey of Farfa]].<ref name="g8n11"/>  The second and third (Jaffé 2547 and Jaffé 2548) were written to a Frankish abbot prior to and after his elevation as [[Ancient Diocese of Vienne|archbishop of Vienne]].<ref name="g8n11"/>  The fourth (Jaffé 2550) was written to [[Louis the Pious]].<ref name="g8n11"/>  The fifth (Jaffé 2551, preserved in the [[Biblioteca Ambrosiana]]) confirms the privileges of the church of [[Ravenna]].<ref name="g8n11"/>  The last (Jaffé 2553) was written to [[Ebbo]], the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims|archbishop of Reims]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Philippus Jaffe|editor=S. Loewenfeld|title=Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII|url=https://archive.org/details/regestapontificu01cath|edition=secunda|year=1885|publisher=Veit|location=Leipzig|language=Latin|pages=[https://archive.org/details/regestapontificu01cath/page/318 318]–320}}</ref><ref name="g8n11"/>