Editing Pope Theodore II

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church in 897}}
{{good article}}
{{About|the ninth-century bishop of Rome|the Coptic pope elected in 2012|Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria}}
{{Infobox Christian leader 
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix=[[List of popes|Pope]]
| name=Theodore II
| title= [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church= [[Catholic Church]]
| image =
| term_start=December 897
| term_end=December 897
| predecessor=[[Pope Romanus|Romanus]]
| successor=[[Pope John IX|John IX]]
| birth_date= 840
| birth_place=[[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date= December {{death year and age|897|840}}
| death_place=Rome, Papal States
| other=Theodore
}}

'''Pope Theodore II''' ({{langx|la|Theodorus II}}; 840 – December 897) was the [[bishop of Rome]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] for twenty days in December 897. His short reign occurred during a period of partisan strife in the [[Catholic Church]], which was entangled with a period of violence and disorder in [[central Italy]]. His main act as pope was to annul the recent [[Cadaver Synod]], therefore reinstating the acts and ordinations of [[Pope Formosus]], which had themselves been annulled by [[Pope Stephen VI]]. He also had the body of Formosus recovered from the river [[Tiber]] and reburied with honour. He died in office in late December 897.

== Background ==

Little is known of Theodore's background; he is recorded as being born a Roman, and the son of Photios. His brother Theodosius (or Theosius) was also a bishop.<ref name="mann">Mann (1902), pp. 88–90.</ref><ref name="kw115">Kelly, Walsh (2010), p. 115.</ref> Theodore was [[ordained]] as a priest by [[Pope Stephen V]].<ref name="mann"/>

In January 897, [[Pope Stephen VI]] held what is known as the [[Cadaver Synod]]. Because his predecessor, [[Formosus]], sided with [[Arnulf of Carinthia]] rather than Stephen's ally, [[Lambert of Spoleto]], in their struggle for the imperial dignity, Stephen had the corpse of Formosus exhumed and tried for "perjury, violating the canons prohibiting the [[translation of bishops]], and coveting the papacy".<ref>Kelly, Walsh (2010), p. 114.</ref> The dead pope was found guilty, his body thrown in the [[Tiber]], and all his acts and ordinations were annulled. Supporters of Formosus rebelled and deposed Stephen VI. His successor, [[Pope Romanus|Romanus]], is generally assumed to have been pro-Formosus, but he too was soon deposed.<ref>Kelly, Walsh (2010), pp. 114–15.</ref>

==Papacy==
Theodore II was elected to succeed the deposed Romanus as [[pope]]. The exact dates of Theodore II's pontificate are unknown, but modern sources generally agree that he was pope for twenty days during December 897.<ref name="mann"/><ref name="kw115"/> [[Flodoard]], a tenth-century French chronicler, only credited Theodore with a twelve-day reign,<ref>Gregorovius (2010), p. 230.</ref> while in his history of the popes, [[Alexis-François Artaud de Montor]] listed Theodore's reign as being twenty days, from 12 February to 3 March 898.<ref>Artaud De Montor (1911), pp. 119–20.</ref>

Like Romanus, Theodore was a supporter of Formosus. Some historians believe that Romanus had been deposed because he had not acted to restore Formosus' honour quickly enough, though others suggest that he was removed by supporters of Stephen VI. In either case, Theodore immediately threw himself into the task of undoing the Cadaver Synod. He called his own synod, which annulled the rulings set out by Stephen VI. In so doing, he restored the acts and ordinations of Formosus, including the restoration of a large number of clergy and bishops to their offices.<ref name="kw115"/> Theodore also ordered Formosus' body to be recovered from the harbour of [[Portus]], where it had been secretly buried, and restored to the original grave at [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]].<ref name="kw115"/> Like Romanus before him, Theodore bestowed a [[Privilege (canon law)|privilege]] upon the [[Patriarch of Grado|See of Grado]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stsmarthaandmary.org/popes/Theodore%20II.htm |title=Theodore II – A 20 Day Reign |publisher=Sts. Martha and Mary Parish, Mississauga |date=3 December 2006 |access-date=16 September 2015}}</ref> and had a coin minted, bearing the name of Lambert on the obverse, and "[[Scs. Petrus]]" and "Thedr." on the reverse.<ref name="mann"/>

Flodoard cast Theodore in a positive light, describing him as "beloved of the clergy, a friend of peace, temperate, chaste, affable and a great lover of the poor."<ref name="mann"/> He died in office, though the cause of his death is unknown.<ref name="kw115"/> Because of this, some writers, such as Wendy Reardon,<ref name="reardon">Reardon (2004), p. 68.</ref> suggest the possibility of foul play.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.spirituality.org/is/248/pope_115.asp| title = "The 115th Pope", ''Spirituality.org'', Diocese of Bridgeport}}</ref> Horace Kinder Mann offers a different suggestion in his papal history, noting that it is possible that popes who were "infirm or even older than [...] their predecessors" might have been elected intentionally.<ref name="mann"/> Theodore was buried at St. Peter's Basilica, but [[List of non-extant papal tombs|his tomb was destroyed]] during the demolition of the old basilica in the seventeenth century.<ref name="reardon"/>

== Aftermath ==

After Theodore's death, both [[Pope John IX|John IX]] and [[Pope Sergius III|Sergius III]] claimed to have been elected pope; the latter was excommunicated and driven from the city, though he did later become pope in 904. John IX held synods reaffirming that of Theodore II, and he further banned the trial of people after their death.<ref>Kelly, Walsh (2010), p. 116.</ref> In turn, Sergius III later annulled the synods of Theodore II and John IX, and reinstated the validity of the Cadaver Synod.<ref>Kelly, Walsh (2010), pp. 118–19.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/thelivesandtimes02artauoft |title=The Lives and Times of the Popes |last=Artaud De Montor |first=Alexis-François |author-link=Alexis-François Artaud de Montor |year=1911 |publisher=The Catholic Publication Society of America |location=New York |oclc=388047}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nY_YjyW75L8C |title=Pope-Pourri: What You Don't Remember From Catholic School |last=Dollison |first=John |publisher=Fireside |location=New York |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-671-88615-8}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x09Y69pZ8IwC |title=History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages |last=Gregorovius |first=Ferdinand |author-link=Ferdinand Gregorovius |year=2010 |orig-year=1895 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-108-01502-8}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVmcAQAAQBAJ |title=Oxford Dictionary of Popes |last1=Kelly |first1=J. N. D. |last2=Walsh |first2=M. J. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |orig-year=1986 |isbn=978-0-19-929581-4}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofpopesinea04mannuoft |title=The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages |last=Mann |first=Horace K. |year=1910 |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner, & Co. Ltd |location=London |oclc=499626370}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvXeCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |title=The Deaths of the Popes |last=Reardon |first=Wendy J. |publisher=McFarland & Co. |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7864-6116-5}}
* {{cite CE1913|wstitle=Pope Theodore II|volume=14|first=Horace Kinder |last=Mann}}
{{refend}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|ca}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Pope Romanus|Romanus]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=897}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Pope John IX|John IX]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodore 02}}

[[Category:Greek popes]]
[[Category:840 births]]
[[Category:897 deaths]]
[[Category:9th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:9th-century popes]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]