Editing Pope Benedict III

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 855 to 858}}

{{Infobox Christian leader 
|type = Pope
|honorific-prefix=[[List of popes|Pope]]
|name=Benedict III
|title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
|church = [[Catholic Church]]
|image = 
|birth_name=
|term_start=29 September 855
|term_end=17 April 858
|predecessor=[[Pope Leo IV|Leo IV]]
|successor=[[Pope Nicholas I|Nicholas I]]
|birth_date=
|birth_place=[[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
|death_date=17 April 858
|death_place=
|other=Benedict
}}

'''Pope Benedict III''' ({{langx|la|Benedictus III}}; died 17 April 858) was the [[bishop of Rome]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 29 September 855 to his death.<ref name="ce">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pope Benedict III}}</ref>

==Early career==
Little is known of Benedict's life before his papacy. His father was named Peter.<ref name=ce /> Benedict was educated, and lived in [[Rome]] and was appointed by [[Pope Leo IV]] as cardinal-priest of the church of [[San Callisto]].<ref>J. N. D. Kelly, "Benedict III" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Popes,'' (2006).{{page needed|date=May 2018}}</ref> Benedict had a reputation for learning and [[piety]].

==Pontificate==
[[File:SMsM Cap Domenico P Bracci Die Reinheit.jpg|thumb|Monument to Benedict III in [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]]]]
Benedict III was [[Papal selection before 1059|elected]] upon the refusal of Adrian, the initial choice of the [[Catholic clergy|clergy]] and people. Arsenius, [[bishop of Orte]], intercepted the legates sent to advise the emperor of the election and persuaded them to betray Benedict and convince the emperor name the bishop's nephew [[Antipope Anastasius|Anastasius]] instead. Anastasius had previously been excommunicated by Leo IV. The legates returned with the imperial envoys and had Benedict's election disavowed and Anastasius installed. Anastasius took his place at the Lateran and Benedict was imprisoned. However, local popular opinion was so strong that the Franks recognized Benedict's consecration. Benedict treated Anastasius and his adherents leniently.<ref name=Brusher>Brusher S.J., Joseph S., "Benedict III", ''Popes Through the Ages'', Neff-Kane; 3rd edition (1980, {{ISBN|978-0891411109}}{{Page needed|date=May 2019}}</ref> The schism helped to weaken the hold of the emperors upon the popes, especially upon their elections.

Benedict intervened in the conflict between [[Lothair II of Lotharingia]], [[Louis II of Italy]], and [[Charles of Provence]] on the death of their father, Emperor [[Lothair I]]. He wrote to the Frankish bishops, rebuking them for remaining silent in the face of the disorder affecting the Carolingian realms.<ref name=Brusher/>

[[Æthelwulf of Wessex]] and his son, the future king [[Alfred the Great]], visited Rome in Benedict's reign. The Schola Anglorum, which was destroyed by fire in 847, was restored by Benedict.<ref name=ce />

A medieval tradition claimed that [[Pope Joan]], a woman disguised as a man, was Benedict's immediate predecessor. The legendary Joan is generally believed to be fictitious.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], 9th edition (1880s) {{Full citation needed|date=May 2019}}
*Baix, F. (1935). "Benoît III pape", in: ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques'', VIII (Paris 1935), pp 14–27. {{in lang|fr}}
*Cheetham, Nicolas, ''Keepers of the Keys'', New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983. {{ISBN|0-684-17863-X}}
*{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Raymond|title=The Lives of the Ninth-century Popes (Liber Pontificalis): The Ancient Biographies of Ten Popes from A.D. 817-891|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7EuWhDYxM4C|year=1995|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=978-0-85323-479-1|pages=161–188}}
*{{cite book|last=Duchesne|first=Louis|title=Le Liber Pontificalis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-knjyjCfBhEC|volume=Tome II|year=1892|publisher=E. Thorin|location=Paris|language=Latin, French|pages=140–150}}
*{{cite book|last=Gregorovius|first=Ferdinand |editor=Hamilton, Annie|title=History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLk4AAAAIAAJ|edition=second revised|volume=III|year=1903|publisher=G. Bell & sons|location=London|pages=115–120}}
*{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Horace Kinder |title=The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJAOAQAAIAAJ|volume=II|year=1906|publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trübner|location=London|pages=308–328}}

==External links==
*Bertolini, Ottorino (1966), [http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/papa-benedetto-iii_(Dizionario-Biografico) "Benedetto III, papa"], ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' Volume 8 (1966) {{in lang|it}} 
*Benedictus III, [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0855-0858-_Benedictus_III.html Opera Omnia], published by J. P. Migne, ''Patrologia Latina'', with analytical indexes

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Leo IV|Leo IV]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=855–858}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Nicholas I|Nicholas I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict 03}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:9th-century cardinals]]
[[Category:858 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:9th-century popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]