Editing Pope Damasus II (section)

==Papal coronation==
Upon receiving the news, Henry was furious. Poppo was quickly sent back to Boniface, carrying with him a letter from the emperor which ordered Boniface to arrange the expulsion of Benedict and the enthroning of his successor. Henry was simple and direct. "Learn, you who have restored a pope who was canonically deposed, and who have been led by love of money to despise my commands; learn that, if you do not amend your ways, I will soon come and make you."<ref>Mann, pp. 289–290</ref> These threats soon reduced Boniface to obedience. He sent a body of troops into Rome and forcibly expelled Benedict from the city.<ref>"Annales Romani", p. 469.</ref>

After Benedict IX's removal, Poppo entered the city, as the Romans, with demonstrations of joy, welcomed the bishop who would be pope. He was enthroned at the [[Lateran]] as Pope Damasus II on 17 July 1048. His pontificate, however, was of short duration.  Rumors circulated  that he had been poisoned,<ref>The charge of poisoning is presented by Cardinal {{cite book|author=Cesare Baronio|editor=Augustino Theiner|title=Annales ecclesiastici|year=1869|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RjnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP12|volume=Tomus septimusdecimus (17)|page=14}}, citing [[Beno of Santi Martino e Silvestro|Cardinal Benno]]: "veneno sublalum, Benno ait, opcra Bcnedicti Sedis invasoris."</ref> allegedly by a man named Gerhard Brazutus, a friend of Benedict IX and a follower of [[Pope Gregory VII|Hildebrand]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph Schnitzer|title=Die Gesta Romanae Ecclesiae des Kardinals Beno und andere Streitschriften der schismatischen Kardinäle wider Gregor VII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6A8MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA61|year=1892|publisher=C. C. Buchner|location=Bamberg|language=German|pages=60–61}} Cardinal Benno, "Gesta Romanae Ecclesiae, II", in: {{cite book|title=Libelli de lite imperatorum et pontificum saeculis XI. et XII. conscripti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EVDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA379|series=Monumenta Germaniae Historica|volume=Tomus II|year=1892|publisher=Hahn|location=Hannover|language=Latin|page=379}}: "Et iam diu conciliaverat sibi quendam alium incomparabilibus maleficiis assuetum, Gerhardum nomine, qui cognominabatur Brazutus, amicum Theophilacti, qui subdola familiaritate dicitur sex Romanos pontifices infra spacium tredecim annorum veneno suffocasse, quorum nomina haec sunt: Clemens..., Damasus,... Leo..., Victor..., Stephanus..., Benedictus."</ref> However, the source for this information is suspect.<ref>Mann, p. 291, basing his remark on Baronio's denunciation of Cardinal Benno as a schismatic.</ref> He retired to [[Palestrina]].<ref>Gregorovius, p. 73,</ref> After a brief reign of twenty-three days, he died on 9 August 1048. A modern conjecture is that he died of [[malaria]].<ref>''The Reform of the Church'', J.P. Whitney, ''The Cambridge Medieval History'', Vol. V, ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previte-Orton, Z.N. Brooke, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 23. No contemporary source mentions malaria or fever, or any other cause.</ref>
[[File:Tomb of Pope Damasus II.jpg|thumb|Sarcophagus believed to have been used for Damasus II in [[San Lorenzo fuori le Mura]].]]
Pope Damasus II was buried in [[San Lorenzo fuori le Mura]], according to [[Onofrio Panvinio|Onuphrio Panvinio]], the 16th century "scriptor" in the Vatican Library.<ref>{{cite book|author=Onofrio Panvinio|title=Onuphrii Panuinii Veronensis De praecipuis vrbis Romae, sanctioribusque basilicis quas septem ecclesias vulgo vocant, liber|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6jH4g5hXv4C&pg=PA276|year=1584|publisher=apud Maternum Cholinum|location=Rome|language=Latin|pages=276–284, at p. 281}} The fact was already stated by Hermannus Contractus (died 1054) in his ''Chronicon'': "Sequente Julio Poppo Brixiensis, episcopus ab imperatore clectus, Romam mittitur, et bonoriflce susceptus Apostolicae Sedi papa CLII ordinatus, mutato nomine Damasus II vocatur. Sed paucis diebus exactis defunctus, et ad Sanctum-Laurentium extra Urbem sepultus est."</ref> The [[sarcophagus]] in which Damasus' body had been placed, and which was moved at least twice,<ref>Mann, p. 290, who quotes Louis Duchesne, ''Le liber pontificalis'' II (Paris 1894), p. 274, as questioning the accuracy of the tradition.</ref> was large and "adorned with reliefs representing a vineyard, with cupids as the wine gatherers."<ref>The description of the sarcophagus: {{cite book|author=Augustus John Cuthbert Hare|title=Walks in Rome (including Tivoli, Frascati, and Albano)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRU6AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA429|year=1908|publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company|location=London|page=429}}</ref>