Editing Pope Valentine

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church in 827}}
{{distinguish|Saint Valentine}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Valentine
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| image = 
| birth_name = 
| term_start = c. 31 August 827
| term_end = c. 10 October 827
| predecessor = [[Eugene II]]
| successor = [[Pope Gregory IV|Gregory IV]]
| cardinal = 820
| created_cardinal_by = [[Paschal I]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = 10 October 827
| death_place = Rome, Papal States
}}
'''Pope Valentine''' ({{langx|la|Valentinus}}; died 10 October 827) was the [[bishop of Rome]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] for two months in 827. He was unusually close to his predecessor, [[Pope Eugene II|Eugene II]], rumoured to be Valentine's father or lover, and became [[pope]] before being [[ordained]] as a priest. He was a nobleman and [[Papal selection before 1059|elected by nobility]], which later became the custom.

==Career==
Born in Rome in the region of the [[14 regions of Medieval Rome#II Trivii et Vie Late|Via Lata]], Valentine was the son of a [[Rome|Roman]] noble called Leontius.<ref>Mann, pgs. 183–184</ref> Showing an early aptitude for learning, he was moved from the school attached to the [[Lateran Palace]] and, according to the ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'', was made a [[deacon]] by [[Pope Paschal I]] (817–824).<ref>Mann, pg. 184</ref> His biographer in the ''Liber Pontificalis'' praises his piety and purity of morals, which won him the favor of Paschal I, who raised him to the rank of [[archdeacon]].<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254b.htm Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope Valentine." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 20 September 2017</ref> He also was clearly favoured by Paschal's successor, [[Eugene II]], to the point where rumours were circulated that Valentine was really Eugene's son. According to Louis-Marie DeCormenin, other rumours declared that Valentine and Eugene were involved in an illicit relationship.<ref>DeCormenin, pgs. 217–218</ref>
[[File:A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools (1914) (14597922217).jpg|thumb|The [[Lateran Palace]] as it looked in the 14th century; it had not changed significantly since the 9th.]]
With the death of Eugene II, Valentine was [[Papal selection before 1059|acclaimed as pope]] by the Roman clergy, nobility and people. They took him from the [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore]] and installed him in the [[Lateran Palace]], ignoring his protests. In their haste, they enthroned him before he was [[ordained]] a priest. This was an unusual reversal of the normal proceedings, and in fact was the first time it had happened in the recorded history of the [[papacy]], although it would be repeated during the pontificate of [[Pope Benedict III|Benedict III]].<ref>Mann, pgs. 184–185</ref> On the following Sunday, he was formally [[consecrated bishop]] at [[St. Peter's Basilica]]. There were no imperial representatives present during the election, and Valentine had no opportunity to ratify his election with the [[Carolingian emperor]], as he was dead within five weeks, dying on 10 October 827.<ref>Mann, pgs. 185–186</ref><ref>DeCormenin, pg. 218</ref>

==Legacy==
The election of Valentine was another sign of the increased influence the Roman nobility was having in the papal electoral process. Not only had they managed to get one of their own elected, but they also took part in the election itself. The [[Lateran Council (769)|Lateran Council of 769]], under [[Pope Stephen III|Stephen III]], had mandated that the election of the pope was to be the responsibility of the Roman clergy only, and that the nobility could only offer their respects after the pope had been chosen and enthroned. This council's edict had been abrogated, however, with [[Pactum Hludowicianum|the Ludowicianum of 817]], which provided that the Roman lay nobility would participate in papal elections.<ref>Davis, Raymond, Lives of the Ninth-Century Popes, (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1995): 34.</ref> This gradual encroachment into the papal electoral process would reach its nadir during the tenth century, when the [[Saeculum obscurum|papacy became the plaything of the Roman aristocracy]].<ref>Mann, pg. 185</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|50em}}
{{catholic|title=Pope Valentine}}

==References==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
* Mann, Horace K., ''The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. II: The Popes During the Carolingian Empire, 795–858'' (1906)
* DeCormenin, Louis Marie; Gihon, James L., ''A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth'' (1857)
* Davis, Raymond, ''Lives of the Ninth-Century Popes'', (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1995) {{ISBN|0853234795}}

==External links==
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0827-0827-_Valentinus.html Vita Operaque by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes] {{inlang|la}}

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{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Eugene II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=827}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Gregory IV|Gregory IV]]}}
{{s-end}}

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

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:827 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:9th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]