Editing Pope Stephen IX (section)

==Death and burial==
Stephen IX died at [[Florence]] on 29 March 1058. He was attended at his deathbed by Abbot Hugh of Cluny.<ref>U. Robert, p. 51.</ref> The Roman annals report that he was given poison on the journey to Florence by an agent of the Romans. The Romans also asserted that Duke Godfrey, the pope's brother, had dispatched 500 troops and money to regain control of Rome, which motivated the Romans to act.<ref>"Annales Romani", in: ''Monumenta Germaniae Historia Scriptorum Tomus V'' (Hannover: Hahn 1844), p. 470: "...qui in dicto itinere ut fertur venenum dedisse, et mortuus est." The story is denied by Gregorovius, p. 111, note 1, though he offers no reasons. U. Robert, p. 50, note 1, relies on an argument from probability, without citing contrary facts.</ref>
[[File:Stephanus IX. podoba.jpg|thumb|left|Stephen IX on a 19th-century religious card]]
Stephen was buried in the [[Santa Reparata, Florence|Church of Santa Reparata]], which was demolished in 1357 to make way for the construction of the new cathedral, [[Florence Cathedral|Santa Maria del Fiore]]. During the excavations his tomb was discovered next to the altar of S. Zenobio, and identified by an inscription as well as pontifical insignia with which he had been clothed. The present whereabouts of the remains is unknown.<ref>Mann VI, p. 224.</ref> Members of his chapel, which he had brought along from Montecassino, were afraid to return through Rome, and were therefore escorted back to their monastery by Florentine soldiers.<ref>Leo Marsicanus, "Chronica Monasterii Cassinensis", Book II. 98, MGH pp. 694–695.</ref>

Stephen IX is considered by the modern Roman [[Catholic Church]] to have been succeeded by [[Pope Nicholas II|Nicholas II]], though others consider his successor to be [[Benedict X]], who came to be regarded as an [[antipope]] by some, in the 14th century. Those who rejected the papacy of Benedict X reported a vacancy of the papal throne of nine months and eight days after the death of Stephen IX.<ref>Watterich, p. 198, column 2.</ref>