Editing Pope Benedict I

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 575 to 579}}
{{One source|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Benedict I
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
| image = 
| term_start = 2 June 575
| term_end = 30 July 579
| predecessor = [[Pope John III|John III]]
| successor = [[Pope Pelagius II|Pelagius II]]
| birth_date = 524 or 525?
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]
| death_date = 30 July 579 (aged 53&ndash;56)
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Eastern Roman Empire]]
| other = Benedict
}}
'''Pope Benedict I''' ({{langx|la|Benedictus I}}; died 30 July 579) was the [[bishop of Rome]] from 2 June 575 to his death on 30 July 579.<ref name="ce-benedict">{{Catholic|wstitle=Pope Benedict I|volume=2|author=Mann, Horace K.|inline=1}}</ref>

Benedict was the son of a man named Boniface, and was called Bonosus by the [[Greeks]]. The ravages of the [[Lombards]] rendered it very difficult to communicate with the emperor at [[Constantinople]], who [[Byzantine papacy|claimed the privilege]] of confirming the [[papal selection before 1059|election of popes]]. Hence there was a vacancy of nearly eleven months between the death of [[Pope John III]] and the arrival of the imperial confirmation of Benedict's election on 2 June 575.<ref name="ce-benedict"/>

Benedict granted an estate, the Massa Veneris, in the territory of Minturnae, to Abbot Stephen of St. Mark's "near the walls of [[Spoleto]]" ([[Pope Gregory I|St. Gregory I]], Ep. ix, 87, I. al. 30). Famine followed the devastating Lombards, and from the few words the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' has about Benedict, we gather that he died in the midst of his efforts to cope with these difficulties. He was buried in the vestibule of the sacristy of the old [[St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica of St. Peter]]. In a ceremony held in December, he ordained fifteen priests and three [[deacon]]s and consecrated twenty-one bishops.<ref name="ce-benedict"/>

Few of the records of transactions outside [[Rome]] that could help understand Benedict's pontificate survive, and because of the disruptions caused by the Lombards in Italy, perhaps few ever existed.<ref name="ce-benedict"/>

He ruled the church during a period made calamitous by the invasion of the [[Lombards]] and by famine, plague, and the flooding of the Tiber River. While working to solve the resulting problems, he died during a siege of Rome by the [[Lombards]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benedict I |first1=Pope |title=Benedict I |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benedict-I |website=Britannica |access-date=16 June 2005}}</ref>

==Papal life==
Very little is known about the actions that Pope Benedict I took during his time as pope. He issued the estate called “Massa Veneris” to an Abbot Stephen with St. Mark's. This was a small territory that was in the eastern part of Italy. Benedict I spent most of his time as pope dealing with the Lombards and their threats. This Germanic group continued moving through Italy during his reign and constantly fought the Church for more land. Their battles caused a famine that lasted for years and left Roman Catholics in despair. In December of 578, the pope issued formal orders and held a ceremony to appoint 21 new bishops. The same ceremony saw the appointment of three deacons and 15 priests. That was the only bright spot during his reign. He would spend the rest of his days battling with the Lombards and trying to hold the Church together. When he died on July 30, he had been pope for 1,519 days.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benedict I |first1=Pope |title=Pope Benedict I |url=https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-benedict-i/r |access-date=21 March 2012 |website=Pope History }}</ref>

==References==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Benedict}}

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{{s-bef|before=[[Pope John III|John III]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=575&ndash;579}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pelagius II]]}}
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{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict 01}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:579 deaths]]
[[Category:Popes of the Byzantine Papacy]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:6th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]