Editing Pope Paschal I

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 817 to 824}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| name = Paschal I
| image = Pope Paschalis I. in apsis mosaic of Santa Prassede in Rome.gif
| caption = Mosaic at [[Santa Prassede]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 25 January 817
| term_end = 11 February 824
| predecessor = [[Pope Stephen IV|Stephen IV]]
| successor = [[Pope Eugene II|Eugene II]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = 11 February 824<ref name=":0" />
| death_place = Rome, Papal States
| buried = [[Santa Prassede]], Rome
| feast_day = 11 February<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=14.05: Memoria di San Pasquale I, Papa e Patriarca di Roma, che confessa la retta fede di fronte e contro l'eresia iconoclasta (verso l'anno 824)|url=http://www.ortodossia.it/w/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4836:14-05-memoria-di-san-pasquale-i-papa-e-patriarca-di-roma-che-confessa-la-retta-fede-di-fronte-e-contro-l-eresia-iconoclasta-verso-l-anno-824&catid=199:maggio&Itemid=334&lang=it|access-date=2021-08-12|website=www.ortodossia.it}}</ref> or 16 May<ref name=":0" /><br/>14 May [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<ref name=":0" />
| venerated = [[Catholic Church]]<ref name=":0" /><br/>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=14.05: Memoria di San Pasquale I, Papa e Patriarca di Roma, che confessa la retta fede di fronte e contro l'eresia iconoclasta (verso l'anno 824)|url=http://www.ortodossia.it/w/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4836:14-05-memoria-di-san-pasquale-i-papa-e-patriarca-di-roma-che-confessa-la-retta-fede-di-fronte-e-contro-l-eresia-iconoclasta-verso-l-anno-824&catid=199:maggio&Itemid=334&lang=it|access-date=2021-08-12|website=www.ortodossia.it}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
| attributes = {{unbulleted list|Papal vestments|[[Pallium]]}}
| other = Paschal
| honorific-prefix = [[Pope Saint]]<ref name=":0" />
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
}}
'''Pope Paschal I''' ({{langx|la|Paschalis I}}; died 824) was the [[bishop of Rome]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 25 January 817 to his death in 824.

Paschal was a member of an aristocratic Roman family. Before his election to the papacy, he was abbot of St. Stephen's monastery, which served pilgrims. In [[Rome]] in 823 he crowned [[Lothair I]] as [[coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor]]. He rebuilt a number of churches in Rome, including three basilicas.

==Early life==
According to the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'', Paschal was a native of Lazio [[Rome]] born Pascale Massimi and son of Bonosus and [[Episcopa Theodora]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Paschal I, the Church of Santa Prassede and the Question of a 'Carolingian Renovatio' in Rome |date=2023 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rome-in-the-ninth-century/paschal-i-the-church-of-santa-prassede-and-the-question-of-a-carolingian-renovatio-in-rome/9D3E74B95672738C89FCCE8E30E8CB1A |work=Rome in the Ninth Century: A History in Art |series=British School at Rome Studies |pages=51–85 |editor-last=Osborne |editor-first=John |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781009415422.003 |isbn=978-1-009-41542-2}}</ref> The ''[[Liber Censuum]]'' says that Paschal was from the Massimi branch of the [[Massimo family]], as was his predecessor, [[Pope Stephen IV|Stephen IV]].<ref name="g9n13">Goodson, 2010, p. 9 & n.13.</ref>

[[Pope Leo III]] placed Paschal in charge of the monastery of [[St Stephen of the Abyssinians]], where his responsibilities included the care of pilgrims visiting Rome.<ref name=Kirsch>{{catholic|title=Pope Paschal I|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11514a.htm|last=Kirsch|first=Johann Peter|volume=11|year=1911|access-date=13 September 2017|inline=1}}</ref> According to early modern accounts, Leo III may have elevated Paschal as the [[cardinal priest]] of [[Santa Prassede]].<ref name="g9">Goodson, 2010, p. 9.</ref>  Goodson attributes this account to a "desire to explain the attention that the pope so lavishly and prominently paid to that church later in his career."<ref name="g9"/>

==Accession==
Paschal became [[pope]] on 25 January 817, just one day after the sudden death of Stephen IV.<ref name="g9"/> This decision was made without the sanction of Emperor [[Louis the Pious]]. Paschal began his pontificate apologizing for this slight, stressing that the office had been thrust upon him.<ref name="O'Brien Lives">{{cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Richard P. |title=Lives of the Popes |date=2000 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=New York |isbn=0-06-065304-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/livesofpopes00mcbr/page/132 132-133] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofpopes00mcbr/page/132 }}</ref> He claimed that the decision had been made to avoid factional strife in Rome. According to the ''Liber Pontificalis'', Pope Paschal's [[papal legate|legate]] Theodore returned with a document titled ''Pactum cum Paschali pontifice'', in which the emperor congratulated Paschal, recognized his sovereignty over the [[Papal States]], and guaranteed the free election of future pontiffs.<ref name=Kelly1>John N.D. Kelly, ''Gran Dizionario Illustrato dei Papi'', p. 271</ref> This document has since been challenged by historians as a forgery.<ref>Claudio Rendina, ''I papi'', p. 256</ref>

==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"/>

==Death==
Paschal died on 11 February 824. The Roman Curia refused him the honour of burial within [[St. Peter's Basilica]] because of his harsh government of the Roman people.<ref name="O'Brien Lives"/> He was instead buried in the Basilica of [[Santa Prassede]], which also contains the famous ''[[Episcopa Theodora]]'' mosaic of his mother.<ref>John N.D. Kelly, ''Gran Dizionario Illustrato dei Papi'', p. 272</ref>

Paschal was [[canonization|canonized]] in the late sixteenth century. His feast day in the Roman calendar prior to 1963 was 14 May.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Paschal I|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11514a.htm|access-date=2021-06-01|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref><ref name="O'Brien Lives"/> It is currently celebrated on 11 February.

Pope and Patriarch of Rome (817–824),<ref>{{Cite web|title=ИТАЛИЯ. I|url=https://www.pravenc.ru/text/1237717.html|access-date=2021-06-01|website=www.pravenc.ru}}</ref> confessor is [[Calendar of saints|honored]] in [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]] on [[May 14|14 May]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=14.05: Memoria di San Pasquale I, Papa e Patriarca di Roma, che confessa la retta fede di fronte e contro l'eresia iconoclasta (verso l'anno 824)|url=http://www.ortodossia.it/w/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4836:14-05-memoria-di-san-pasquale-i-papa-e-patriarca-di-roma-che-confessa-la-retta-fede-di-fronte-e-contro-l-eresia-iconoclasta-verso-l-anno-824&catid=199:maggio&Itemid=334&lang=it|access-date=2021-08-12|website=www.ortodossia.it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=98. ПАСХАЛИЙ I|language=ru|work=Церковно-Научный Центр "Православная Энциклопедия"|url=https://www.sedmitza.ru/lib/text/442130/|access-date=2021-06-01}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Catholic saints]]
*[[List of popes]]
*[[Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/February 11|Pope Saint Paschal I, patron saint archive]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Goodson, Caroline J. 2010. ''The Rome of Pope Paschal I: Papal Power, Urban Renovation, Church Rebuilding and Relic Translation, 817–824''.  Cambridge University Press.
*John N.D. Kelly, ''Gran Dizionario Illustrato dei Papi'', Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., 1989, Casale Monferrato (AL), {{ISBN|88-384-1326-6}}
*Claudio Rendina, ''I papi'', Ed. Newton Compton, Roma, 1990
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle = Paschal (popes)|display=Paschal ''s.v.'' Paschal I.|volume=20|pages=881–882|first=Louis Marie Olivier|last=Duchesne|author-link=Louis Duchesne}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Paschalis I}}
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0817-0824-_Paschalis_I,_Sanctus.html Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Stephen IV|Stephen IV]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=817–824}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Eugene II]]}}
{{s-end}}

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[[Category:8th-century births]]
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[[Category:Byzantine Iconoclasm]]
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