Adrian I (Hadrianus I), a Roman of noble extraction, was consecrated pope on February 9, 772 after a unanimous election of the clergy and people a little over a week earlier. He governed until his death on December 25, 795: almost twenty-four years, one of the longest pontificates in the history of the Church, and the longest until Pius VI at the end of the 18th century.[1][2][3] The Holy See presents him as the 95th pope, successor of Stephen III and predecessor of Saint Leo III.[4]
His pontificate pushed the West into a new era. In a few years, Adrian I broke with the Lombard king Desiderius, brought Charlemagne across the Alps in the fall of 773, witnessed the fall of the Lombard kingdom in June 774, and received from the new king of the Franks, who arrived in Rome on April 2, 774, the confirmation and solemn extension of the Donation of Pippin, signed on April 6, 774 in Saint Peter — lasting legal foundation of the Papal States.[5][6][7]
On the doctrinal ground, Adrian sent his legates to the ecumenical council of Nicaea II (seven Nicaean sessions from September 24 to October 13; Constantinopolitan closure of October 23 whose authenticity is discussed), where his dogmatic letter addressed to Constantine VI and to the empress Irene served as a centerpiece to restore the legitimacy of the veneration of images against Byzantine iconoclasm.[8][9][10] From Rome he fought the adoptianism of Elipand of Toledo and Felix of Urgel;[11] he responds with the Hadrianum responsum to the Capitulare adversus synodum which summarized the objections of the Frankish Libri Carolini;[12][13] he sends to Charlemagne the Gregorian Sacramentary known as the Hadrianum, which founded the Roman-Frankish liturgy;[14] and he physically transformed Rome through a work of restoration without equivalent since Late Antiquity.[15][16]
At his death, on Christmas Day 795, Charlemagne cried "as if he had lost a very dear brother or son", according to the famous words of Eginhard.[17] He had Alcuin compose an epitaph of forty lines, engraved on black marble extracted from the quarries of Sclayn in the Meuse valley, sent from Francia to Rome.[18][19] The slab, still in place today at the portico of Saint Peter, signs in two lines the depth of a political and spiritual friendship: "Crying for my father, I Charles wrote these verses."[20][21]
"When he was told of the death of Hadrian, Roman Pontiff, whom he considered the first of his friends, he cried as if he had lost a very dear brother or son." — Eginhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ch. 19[22]
Why does Adrian I matter?
The pivot where the papacy changes world
Adrian's importance has less to do with a single act than with a convergence. With him, the Church of Rome ceased to be, vis-à-vis the Byzantine Empire, a distant Christianity, harassed by imperial edicts and threatened by the Lombard kings; it becomes, vis-à-vis Carolingian Francia, the living center of a new Western order.[23][24]
Four files, taken together, outline this shift: the end of the Lombard kingdom (774), the lasting territorial foundation of the Papal States, the ecumenical restoration of the veneration of images at Nicaea II, and the Roman liturgical reform in Francia through the sacramentary Hadrianum. No pope of the 8th century before him had this amplitude.
The great restorer of Christian Rome
Adrian is not only a "political" pope. The Liber Pontificalis devotes the longest notice of its entire collection to him - thirty-eight pages (p. 486-523) in Duchesne's critical edition -, and most of it is devoted to his work of material restoration: four ancient aqueducts restored to water, kilometers of reconstructed Aurelian walls, dozens of basilicas, diakonia and oratories restored, six large agricultural estates (domus cultae) founded to feed Rome and its poor.[25][26]
This dimension changes the reading of his pontificate. Adrian set in motion the recovery of a Rome inherited in a state of penury towards Carolingian prosperity. The pope is not an imperial official responsible for receiving edicts: he is the effective head of a city that he rebuilds, of a people that he feeds, of a liturgy that he disseminates.
The Pope who settles the first iconoclasty
On the doctrinal ground, Adrian inherited half a century of iconoclastic crisis opened by Leo III the Isaurian from 726-730 and hardened under Constantine V at the council of Hiereia (754).[27] When the empress Irene and her son Constantine VI sought to restore ecclesial communion, they knew that no "ecumenical" council will not stand without the explicit consent of Rome.
Adrian sent his legates - the archpriest Peter of Saint Peter and the abbot Peter of the Greek monastery of Saint-Sabas in Aventino - and especially his Synodica (his synodal letter: a dogmatic letter addressed to the council, listed under reference JE 2448 in the repertory of papal letters), read solemnly at the opening of the sessions of Nicaea II.[28][29] This text distinguishes the latria, adoration due to God alone, and relative veneration (proskynesis) rendered to the images of Christ, the Virgin and the saints. It is on this basis that the Fathers of Nicaea II defined the Catholic doctrine of images, which is still alive today.[30]
The main sources
A dominant Roman testimony, supplemented by the Frankish and Byzantine world
The Adrian file is one of the best documented of the early Middle Ages: the Roman papacy, the Carolingian court and the Byzantine Empire simultaneously produced acts, letters and chronicles.
| Source | Date | What she brings | Caution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy See, official list | current | 95th pope, Roman origin, dates of pontificate | Summary notice |
| Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I (Duchesne t. I, p. 486-523) | Roman writing, late 8th century. | The longest notice of Liber; chronology, donation, restorations, basilicas | Explicit Roman point of view; to cross |
| Codex Carolinus, MGH Epp. III, Gundlach 1892 | manuscript compiled in 791 | 99 papal letters (739-791); Adrian's correspondence with Charlemagne | Frankish selection; certain pontifical responses absent |
| Acts of Nicaea II: great Mansi collection (vol. XII-XIII); critical re-edition Erich Lamberz | 787 | Complete sessions, Synodica of Adrian (his dogmatic letter, reference JE 2448), final profession | Greek and Latin versions (Anastasius Librarian) diverge in places |
| Hadrianum responsum (pontifical response) | around 793-794 | Adrian's response to the 85 capitula of the Capitulare adversus synodum | Partial text, several gaps |
| Libri Carolini (MGH Concilia Suppl. 1, ed. Freeman) | around 790-794 | Frankish theology of the image, context of the Hadrianum responsum | Never officially promulgated |
| Eginhard, Vita Karoli | around 829-836 | Carolingian testimony on the Adrian-Charlemagne friendship | Late and hagiographic composition |
| Alcuin, epitaph of Adrian (text reproduced in Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis I, p. 523) | composed 796 | 40 lines: 19 distichs and a prose finale; Carolingian vision of Adrian | Poetic source; signature of Charlemagne |
| Treccani, Adriano I (Enciclopedia dei Papi) | 2000 | Italian modern critical synthesis | Secondary reference source |
| Mann, Lives of the Popes, I/II, 1906-1912 | early 20th century. | Detailed classic Catholic account | To be crossed with modern criticism |
| Th. F. X. Noble, The Republic of Saint Peter (1984) | modern | Major reference on the birth of the Papal States | Firm institutional reading |
The Liber Pontificalis: a Roman monument for an exceptional pope
The Vita Hadriani I of the Liber Pontificalis is, by its very length, a testimony to the importance that Rome gave to its pope. The Roman writing, contemporary or very close, accumulates two types of material: a chronological narrative account of the major political events (break with Desiderius, descent of Charlemagne, donation of 774, legates to Nicaea II), and a prodigiously detailed catalog of material restorations: weight of metals given to the altars, meters of roof redone at Saint Peter, number of lamps and candles given to the diakonia, foundations of the domus cultae.[31][32]
This double material makes the Liber Pontificalis the backbone of any article on Adrian. But it invites caution: the Roman editor writes from the point of view of Saint Peter. The conflicts with Charlemagne around the application of the promissio of 774 (notably on Spoleto, Benevento and the archbishopric of Ravenna) are systematically presented from the papal side. The Codex Carolinus and the Frankish chronicles help to correct this bias.
The Codex Carolinus: the papal correspondence preserved by Charlemagne
Conversely, the Codex Carolinus is a Frankish archive. Compiled in 791 on the orders of Charlemagne himself, it brings together 99 letters from Popes Gregory III, Zechariah, Stephen II, Paul I, Stephen III and Adrian I (the pope best represented with approximately 49 letters) addressed to the Frankish kings between 739 and 791. The unique manuscript which transmits it to us — the Cod. Vindobonensis 449 from the Austrian National Library, Vienna — dates from the 9th century.[33][34][35]
The Codex sheds light on what the Liber Pontificalis does not say: Adrian's daily diplomacy, his repeated requests for the application of the promissio, his territorial concerns, his political theology. It is he who contains the famous letter of 778 where the Pope invokes the example of Constantine to encourage Charlemagne to enrich the Church of Rome - the first documented testimony of the effective circulation of the Donation of Constantine.[36][37]
The Acts of Nicaea II: the Synodica of Adrian as a founding text
For the doctrine, the decisive source is the corpus of the acts of Nicaea II, preserved in the Mansi collection (Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio, vol. XII-XIII) and now republished in the great German and Anglo-American critical series.[38][39]
The centerpiece for the papacy is the Synodica of Adrian — a long dogmatic letter addressed to Constantine VI and Irene (JE 2448), read solemnly during the second session of the council. Researchers distinguish two versions: the original Latin text sent from Rome, and the official Greek text reworked on site. A diplomatic study published in 1966 in Traditio (Luitpold Wallach) showed that certain formulas concerning Roman authority, present in the Latin version, were attenuated or modified in the Greek version preserved by the acts. This textual divergence fuels part of the ecumenical discussion with Orthodoxy today.[40]
Eginhard and Alcuin's epitaph: Carolingian memory
For the end of the pontificate, two Carolingian sources dominate. The Vita Karoli Magni of Eginhard (written between 829 and 836) devotes in chapter 19 a few decisive lines on Charlemagne's mourning at the death of Adrian - a classic text of Carolingian prose, and a central testimony of Western historiography.[41]
The epitaph of Adrian, composed by Alcuin in 796 at the request of Charlemagne, has been preserved since 1619 in the portico of Saint Peter basilica. The black marble comes from Sclayn, in the Meuse valley in present-day Belgium; it was extracted, engraved and sent from Francia to Rome as part of a real poetic competition in which Theodulf of Orléans notably competed.[42] The text, whose most famous words proclaim "POST PATREM LACRIMANS KAROLVS HAEC CARMINA SCRIPSI" - "Crying for my father, I Charles wrote these verses" -, is worth as public act of self-identification of Charlemagne to the Roman papacy.[43]
Before the pontificate: a Roman from the via Lata
Theodotus, uncle and primkeeper
Adrian was born in Rome, into a family of military nobility established around the via Lata — today's Corso. The Liber Pontificalis and the prosopographical tradition specify a fundamental detail: his paternal uncle Theodotus (sometimes Theodate) bears the Roman titles of consul, dux and primicerius Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae, i.e. the first layman in the administrative hierarchy of the Church of Rome.[44][45]
Adrian's father, Theodore, died while the child was still young. It was under the tutelage of this powerful uncle that he entered the Roman clergy, where he rose through the degrees: regional notary, sub-deacon, then deacon. For the Liber, this formation explains both his Latin culture, his knowledge of Roman administrative structures, and his ability to run a city for nearly a quarter of a century.[46]
A Rome still Byzantine, but already apart
When Adrian grew up, Italy remained legally Byzantine. The Exarchate of Ravenna is the seat of imperial authority in Italy; the Lombard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento and the Lombard kingdom of Pavia dominate the peninsula; Rome depends on Constantinople for papal confirmation and for protection against the Lombards. But the iconoclastic rupture triggered by Leo III the Isaurian in 726-730 caused the loss of Roman support: from the middle of the 8th century, the popes — Stephen II, Paul I, Stephen III — sought their protection in the Frankish kings Pippin the Short and his sons.[47]
Adrian therefore inherits a papacy already turned towards the North, but politically fragile. Donation of Pippin of 754, renewed at Quierzy, remained largely theoretical: the Lombards had not handed over all of the promised territories; the pro-Lombard Roman partisans retained influence in the curia.[48][49] It is this situation that Adrian will unlock.
January-February 772: a unanimous election
Stephen III died on January 24, 772.[50] Adrian was elected unanimously by the clergy and the Roman people, despite the opposition of the chamberlain Paul Afiarta, direct agent of the interests of the Lombard king Desiderius at the curia.[51] The Holy See gave the date of February 1, 772 for the start of the pontificate, the solemn episcopal ordination taking place a week later, on 9 February.[52][53]
The first measures set the tone. Adrian freed the political prisoners held by Stephen III, opened an investigation into the murder of Sergius, son of the primicerius Christopher (an anti-Lombard executed under the previous pontificate), and neutralized the pro-Lombard faction without triggering a bloodbath. This first sequence immediately proves two things: Adrian governs with authority, and he has a clear plan — to free Rome from Lombard tutelage.[54][55]
Breaking with Desiderius: the Lombard rupture of 772-773
Paul Afiarta and the Lombard faction
The settlement of the Paul Afiarta case illustrates the way in which Adrian proceeded. The chamberman, accomplice in the murder of Sergius, is summoned, tried according to form, then delivered to the court of the archbishop of Ravenna. He died in prison before being sentenced — an effective way for Adrian to purge the curia while avoiding a resounding trial that could have polarized Rome.[56][57]
Desiderius's raids
Desiderius, king of the Lombards since 757, saw in the death of Stephen III a major political opportunity. He married his daughter — whose first name contemporary sources do not give with certainty (tradition calls her Desiderata) — to Charlemagne a few years earlier - a marriage quickly broken up by Charlemagne for obscure reasons -, and he welcomes to his court the widow of Carloman (brother of Charlemagne who died on December 4, 771[58]) and his two young sons.[59][60] For Desiderius, these children are potential pretenders to the Frankish throne whom he could eventually have crowned to break Carolingian unity.
The lever he pulls on Rome is more brutal. In the summer of 772, Lombard troops ravaged the papal territory — the Roman campagna, the exarchate, the Pentapolis. Desiderius demands that Adrian have Carloman's young sons anointed in Rome. The Pope refuses. Raids resume.[61][62]
The appeal to Charlemagne
Adrian hesitated little. He sent Charlemagne a series of legations (the sequence of letters in the Codex Carolinus allows us to reconstruct it) requesting the application of the Franco-Roman agreements concluded under Pippin. Charlemagne, cautious, first attempts diplomatic mediation; he offers Desiderius an amicable settlement, which is refused.[63][64]
It is the failure of this mediation that makes war inevitable. At the assembly of the Franks meeting in Geneva (Geneva) in the summer of 773, Charlemagne obtained the general support of the great Franks for the Italian expedition. In the fall of 773, the Frankish army crossed the Alps via two passes: Mont Cenis under the command of Charlemagne himself, Grand-Saint-Bernard under that of his uncle Bernard.[65][66]
The siege of Pavia
The Lombards give up defending the passes and fall back on their capital. Charlemagne besieges Pavia from September 773. The siege lasts more than nine months. In the last months, Adalgis, Desiderius's son, fled to Verona, then to Byzantium, where he dreamed for a long time of a Lombard reconquest which would never come.
It was during the siege, in March 774, that Charlemagne decided to go to Rome to celebrate Easter with the pope — a gesture that was both religious and political, which sealed the alliance.[67][68]
Easter 774: Charlemagne at Saint Peter
Holy Saturday April 2, 774
The story of the Liber Pontificalis is one of the most visual in the entire collection. Upon hearing of Charlemagne's approach, Adrian sent the judges, the banners of the military schools and all the clergy to meet him. Charlemagne arrives in Rome on Holy Saturday, April 2, 774. At the foot of the stairs of Saint Peter's Basilica, he dismounts, climbs the steps on his knees, kisses each step, and is received at the top by Adrian, who embraces him. From this Holy Saturday, the pope and the king, surrounded by the Roman and Frankish judges, bound themselves by a mutual oath on the confession of Saint Peter.[69]
The gesture, strongly codified, operates on two registers. Religiously, Charlemagne presents himself as devout son of Saint Peter. Politically, he performed the rite by which the Roman and Byzantine emperors were received in the vetus Sancti Petri - a way of signifying that he takes the place of the imperial protector in whom Rome can no longer trust.
The promissio donationis
The following days are spent in Easter ceremonies and negotiations. On Easter Wednesday, April 6, 774, Charlemagne and his magnates took an oath at the tomb of the apostle Peter and signed the promissio donationis — confirmation and extension of the donation made to Stephen II by Pippin at Quierzy in 754.[70][71]
The content of this promissio, long discussed by historians, includes according to the Liber Pontificalis: the exarchate of Ravenna, the Pentapolis (Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia, Ancona and their castra), significant portions of the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, and territories in Veneto and Istria. Th. F. X. Noble has shown that this geographical maximalism in the Liber is partly idealized, but that the nucleus actually transferred — the duchy of Rome, the exarchate, the Pentapolis, and part of Emilia — constituted the durable legal basis of the Papal States for eleven centuries.[72]
Pavia falls: end of the Lombard kingdom
Charlemagne returns to Pavia in the spring. In June 774, the city capitulated due to hunger. Desiderius is deposed, exiled to the monastery of Corbie in Francia, where he will end his days in a monastic retreat. Charlemagne grants himself the Lombard titles: he becomes rex Francorum et Langobardorum.[73][74][75]
It is the end of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, after two hundred and six years of existence (568-774). The event is much more than a dynastic change: it transforms the entire political geography of the western Mediterranean and establishes Carolingian Francia as the new dominant player - between the Byzantine Empire to the east and the Abbasid Caliphate to the southwest.
The renewed and extended donation: legal birth of the Papal States
Quierzy 754, Pavie 774: the same donation, two steps
The promissio of 774 did not found the Papal States ex nihilo. It renews, by extending it geographically, the commitment already made by Pippin the Short at Quierzy-sur-Oise in 754, then confirmed in Pavia after the Frankish campaigns against Aistulf (756). But Aistulf and his successor Desiderius had only partially applied this donation.[76]
Adrian therefore obtained, in 774, two things: the solemn reaffirmation of a donation that the Lombards had not honored, and its enlargement to territories that the fall of the Lombard kingdom now made available.
A new political autonomy for the papacy
The result is immediate. The pope becomes temporal head of an Italian state - modest, but autonomous -, with his own taxes, his own administration, his own militia, and soon his own currency: Adrian developed regular coinage in the pope's name.[77][78]
It is this autonomy which made possible, twenty-six years later, the imperial coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III in Saint Peter, on December 25, 800. Without the political transformation carried out under Adrian, the gesture of Leo III would hardly have been conceivable under the same conditions.[79]
The donation of Constantine: a controversial use
The Constitutum Constantini
The Donation of Constantine is a forgery written in a Roman environment in the 8th century — probably between 750 and 800 according to the classical consensus (Fuhrmann); Johannes Fried (2007) proposed the 820s, a thesis that has remained contested. The text purports to report a donation made by Emperor Constantine to Pope Sylvester I around 313-315, transferring to the papacy jurisdiction over Rome, Italy and all the western provinces in gratitude for his conversion.[80][81]
The authenticity of the document has been contested since the 15th century (Nicolas of Cusa, Lorenzo Valla); no current critical edition defends it: the reference edition establishes it as an 8th-century forgery.[82]
The letter of 778 and Roman usage
The letter of the Codex Carolinus written by Adrian to Charlemagne in May 778 (Jaffé, Ep. 61) is the first documented testimony of the effective circulation of the Donation of Constantine in Western chancelleries. Adrian exhorts Charlemagne to imitate Constantine and to enrich the Church of Rome.[83]
What should we conclude from this? Honest historical criticism distinguishes three levels: (1) the forgery itself probably predates Adrian and cannot be attributed to him; (2) its rhetorical use by Adrian with Charlemagne is documented; (3) Adrian's subjective conviction — was the pope thinking he was quoting an authentic document, or was he using an argument he knew was fragile? — remains undecidable historically.
Honest Catholic position
This affair sometimes embarrasses apologists. She shouldn't. The fact that the Donation of Constantine is a fake in no way affects the historical legitimacy of the Papal States - which is based on the real donations of Pippin and Charlemagne - nor the Catholic doctrine of pontifical primacy - which is based on the apostolic succession since Peter. It simply recalls that the pontifical chancery of the 8th century, like all chancelleries of the time, used fragile arguments of authority mixed with solid foundations.[84]
Historical honesty is an apologetic force here: recognizing what is false in the Roman tradition reinforces the credibility of what it asserts elsewhere.
The Council of Nicaea II (787): restoration of images
The iconoclastic crisis since Leo III the Isaurian
The Byzantine iconoclastic quarrel broke out around 726-730, when the emperor Leo III the Isaurian decided to remove the holy Icon of Christ which topped the Gate of Chalcea in Constantinople. The measure triggers a popular riot and Patriarch Germain must resign. Pope Gregory II solemnly protests.[85]
The conflict took root under Constantine V Copronymous (741-775), who hardened iconoclastic policy and dogmatized it at the council of Hiereia (754) — a council that Rome always refused to recognize. The persecutions of iconodule monks are increasing in the East; in Rome, Popes Gregory III, Zechariah, Stephen II, Paul I tirelessly maintained the Catholic doctrine on the veneration of images.[86]
The summons of Irene and Constantine VI
On the death of Leo IV in 780, his widow Irene the Athenian became regent in the name of her son Constantine VI, aged nine. Convinced iconodule, Irene cautiously prepares the return to orthodoxy. In 784 she obtained the election of a new patriarch, Taraise, a former high official in favor of the restoration of the images.
On October 26, 785, Adrian responded to the imperial summons — the message of Irene and Constantine VI of August 29, 784 — and accepted. This is the first time since the Third Council of Constantinople (680-681) that the Papacy and the Byzantine Empire have converged to convene an ecumenical council of doctrinal restoration.[87][88]
Adrian's Synodica
Before the council, Adrian sent Constantine VI and Irene a long dogmatic letter (JE 2448) which would serve as a centerpiece. The Synodica does three things: it reaffirms the Catholic doctrine of the veneration of images (relative veneration, not adoration), it recalls Roman primacy as guarantor of orthodoxy, and it sets precise conditions for papal participation.[89][90]
Two versions of this letter have reached us: the original Latin text sent from Rome, preserved in the Western manuscript tradition, and the official Greek text read at the council, preserved in the Byzantine acts. A diplomatic study published in 1966 in Traditio (Luitpold Wallach) showed that certain formulas concerning Roman authority and the return of territories confiscated by the iconoclast emperors (Sicily, Calabria, Illyricum) had been attenuated or deleted in the Greek version. This divergence — which Adrian seems to have accepted post factum so as not to compromise the peace of the Church — is today a point of ecumenical discussion with Orthodoxy.[91]
The two Peters: the Roman legates
Adrian sends two legates bearing the same first name: the archpriest Peter of Saint Peter, high dignitary of the apostolic basilica, and the abbot Peter of the Greek monastery of Saint-Sabas in Aventino - an eastern monk who knows Greek and the Byzantine liturgy perfectly.[92] The choice is clever: a high-ranking Roman for dignity, a bilingual monk for theological precision.
The seven sessions of Nicaea (September 24 – October 13) and the "eighth session" of Constantinople (October 23, 787)
The council is held in Nicaea - like Nicaea I in 325 - in the basilica of Hagia Sophia in Nicaea, where seven sessions followed one another from September 24 to October 13. The transmitted acts further report a solemn closure on October 23 at the palace of Magnaura, in Constantinople, where the definition is said to have been proclaimed again in the presence of Irene and Constantine VI and where twenty-two disciplinary canons are said to have been promulgated.[93] Modern criticism (Erich Lamberz, followed by Richard Price) holds this alleged "eighth session" to be a later 9th-century addition intended to honor the role of the emperors, not an authentic session of the council.[94][95] The Fathers present at Nicaea are approximately 308, including the two Roman legates and the delegates of the three eastern patriarchs (Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem) under Muslim occupation.[96]
The seven Nicaean sessions (September 24 – October 13, 787) proceed in stages:
- reading of Adrian's Synodica, favorably received;
- reinstatement of iconoclast bishops who agreed to sign a retraction;
- examination of patristic texts on the veneration of images (Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, John Damascene);
- point by point refutation of the conciliabule of Hiereia (754);
- drafting of the final dogmatic definition.[97]
The proskynesis / latria distinction
The final definition of Nicaea II is based on a technical distinction which will be the touchstone of the entire Catholic doctrine of images:
- latria (latreia, adoratio) is absolute adoration, reserved for God alone;
- veneration (proskynesis, veneratio) is a relative honor given to the holy images of Christ, the Virgin and the saints, which passes through the image to the prototype represented.[98][99]
This distinction, formalized by Saint John Damascene (around 730-740) in his Three speeches for the defense of the holy images, became the official doctrine of the Church at Nicaea II:
"The more frequently we look at their representations in images, the more we are inclined to remember, to desire and to honor their prototypes. And we pay honorary veneration to the image, not the true adoration of our faith, which is only appropriate to the divine nature; but the greeting, the incense, the light, as the pious use of the ancients." — Council of Nicaea II, dogmatic definition of October 13, 787 (English translation)[100]
The Roman reception
Adrian receives the result with satisfaction. He ratifies the council as seventh ecumenical council; its doctrine enters the Catholic canon. The Catechism of the Catholic Church still cites Nicaea II today in §1161:
"All the signs of the liturgical celebration are related to Christ: the sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints are too." — Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1161[101]
What Adrian does not yet know is that Carolingian Francia, misinformed by a defective Latin translation of the acts, will, for reasons mixed with theology and politics, welcome this ratification with prolonged distrust.
The adoptianist controversy: Elipand, Felix, Adrian
A Christological heresy born in Spain
Adoptianism appeared at the end of the 8th century in Visigothic Spain, partly conquered by the Moors. Its main theorist, Elipand, metropolitan archbishop of Toledo, professes a perilous Christological formula: Christ, according to his humanity, is "Adopted Son" of God; according to his divinity, he is a natural Son.[102]
The formula apparently has the advantage of clarifying the distinction between the two natures of Christ. It actually has a dissolving effect: it suggests that there would be, in Christ, two sons - a natural son according to divinity, an adopted son according to humanity. It is the resurgence of a form of Nestorianism, condemned at Ephesus (431) and clarified at Chalcedon (451).
Elipand of Toledo and Felix of Urgel
Elipand does not act alone. His disciple Felix, bishop of Urgel in the Carolingian march of Spain, became the theological spokesperson for the doctrine. It is he who will be summoned by Charlemagne to the synod of Regensburg in 792, who will condemn him; then at the synod of Rome in 793 (under Adrian); then at the Council of Frankfurt in 794; then at the Council of Aachen in 800 (under Leo III).[103][104]
Adrian's letters to the bishops of Spain
After a first warning as early as 785[105], Adrian reacts as soon as he reads Elipand's libellus. In 793-794, at the request of Charlemagne, he addressed to the bishops of Spain a long dogmatic letter (the Hadriani epistola ad episcopos Hispaniae) which refutes the adoptionist theses point by point.[106]
The fundamental argument is patristic. Adrian recalls that the divine filiation of Christ, in his unique person of the Word, assumes human nature without dividing it; that Christ is Natural Son according to both natures, because filiation is attributed to the person, not to either nature separately. Elipand's formula breaks this unity of person and makes Christ two sons.
Beatus of Liébana and Aetherius of Osma
On the Spanish side, the refutation is carried by two daring monks: Beatus of Liébana, famous commentator on the Apocalypse, and his disciple Etherius of Osma. Their treatise Adversus Elipandum libri duo (around 785) defends a classical Chalcedonian Christology and unmasks the return to Nestorianism in the adoptionist formula.[107]
The Spanish fight thus coincides with that of Adrian. The pope encourages him, and both prepare the doctrinal ground for the conciliar condemnation which will take place in Frankfurt.
The Council of Frankfurt (794) and Adrian's posthumous victory
The Council of Frankfurt, convened by Charlemagne and held in June 794, solemnly condemned adoptionism in its canon 1. Adrian is represented there by his legates Theophylact and Stephen. The condemnation is received in full in Rome.[108][109]
Adoptionism did not disappear suddenly - Felix resisted until his final retraction in 799-800 - but it was doctrinally defeated. Adrian, who died a year after Frankfurt (December 25, 795), can be considered the main theological architect of this condemnation.
The Libri Carolini and the Hadrianum responsum
A bad translation that becomes a theological file
The acts of Nicaea II arrive in Francia around 790. The available Latin translation is defective: in several crucial places, the Greek word proskynesis (relative reverence) is translated as adoratio — which, in theological Latin, rather designates the latria due to God alone. The frank reader therefore has the impression that the Greeks decreed the adoration of images — precisely what they wanted to condemn.[110]
From this misunderstanding a theological file developed in Francia: the Libri Carolini (or Opus Caroli regis contra synodum), written around 790-794 under the supervision of Charlemagne and probably by Theodulf of Orléans as the main author — according to the paleographic demonstration of Ann Freeman (Speculum, 1957).[111]
Theodulf of Orléans and the Frankish theology of the image
The Libri Carolini are not a simple contradiction. They deploy a sophisticated Frankish theology of the image, halfway between Eastern iconoclasm (rejected) and Byzantine worship (considered excessive). For Theodulf, images are legitimate pedagogical tools but not objects of veneration: neither to be broken nor to be particularly honored.[112]
This intellectual environment also has political ulterior motives. Charlemagne, whose position in the Christian Empire was still under construction, reacted to the Byzantine self-affirmation of Irene, who assigned herself the title of augusta and reigned alone over the council. Refusing Nicaea II was also for the Frankish court refusing the Byzantine monopoly on ecumenicality.
The Capitulare adversus synodum and Adrian's response
Around 792-793, Charlemagne sent Adrian a summary in 85 capitula of Frankish objections — the Capitulare adversus synodum. Adrian responds around 793-794 with a text called the Hadrianum responsum: a systematic defense of Nicaea II, point by point, in which he takes up the distinction latria / proskynesis and corrects the misinterpretations of the Latin translation.[113][114]
The argument is firm and patient. Adrian does not break with Charlemagne; he threatens no anathema; he explains, cites the Fathers, refers to the original Greek texts. The tone is that of a spiritual father.
Why this feud didn't turn into a schism
This is one of Adrian's diplomatic masterpieces. Where a rupture would have been possible - Carolingian Francia disavowed, in short, an ecumenical council ratified by Rome - Adrian refused to transform a textual misunderstanding into a doctrinal conflict. The Libri Carolini are never officially promulgated; they remained unpublished until their publication by the Protestants in 1549; they were put in the Roman Index in 1559; and it was slowly, especially after the imperial coronation of 800 and the death of Constantine VI, that Francia fully received Nicaea II.[115][116]
For the grand narrative of Church history, this silence is paradoxically a success. The papacy of Adrian held two things together: fidelity to the ecumenical council of Nicaea II and peace with its Frankish protector. This double requirement is one of the secrets of the longevity of Catholic unity in the 8th century.
Roman work: aqueducts, basilicas, domus cultae
The four restored aqueducts
The Liber Pontificalis devotes dozens of pages to the material restorations of Hadrian in Rome — making it one of the most valuable sources of monumental archeology of the early Middle Ages.[117] The most impressive piece is the restoration of four ancient aqueducts: the Aqua Sabbatina, the Aqua Vergine (Augustan Aqua Virgo), the Aqua Iovia (formerly Aqua Tepula-Iulia) and the Aqua Claudia.[118][119]
The issue is concrete. Rome, which had perhaps a million inhabitants at its imperial peak, had in the 8th century only a greatly reduced population — modern historians suggest an order of magnitude of a few tens of thousands of inhabitants, though no contemporary source allows a precise figure[120] —, and several ancient aqueducts, damaged since the Gothic wars of the 6th century, were in ruins or out of use. Restoring the aqueducts is allowing Rome to revive as a city, as a liturgical center, as an agricultural center.
Saint Peter, Saint Mary Major, the Lateran
On the liturgical front, Adrian restored the ancient Constantinian basilica of Saint Peter: new porticos, monumental staircases, silver doors, lamps, mosaics. He re-roofed Santa Maria Maggiore, restored the Lateran complex (palace and basilica), and massively increased the assets of all the Roman diakonia.[121]
The diakonia of Saint Mary in Cosmedin
The case of the diakonia of Santa Maria in Cosmedin illustrates Adrian's social policy. The diakonia is a charitable institution attached to a basilica, which distributes food, clothing and care to the poor. Adrian entirely rebuilt the church of the Forum Boarium, mentioned as a diakonia for the first time in his biography, and made it a large basilica of pilgrimage and charity — the building, considerably modified by the following centuries, still retains the elements of the Adrianean program today.[122]
The six domus cultae
Even more original, Adrian founded six large agricultural estates called domus cultae — Capracorum on via Cassia, Galeria Aurelia, Galeria Portuense, Calvisianum, S. Edisto and S. Leucio —, ecclesiastical properties entirely oriented towards food production for Rome. Each domus culta combines vineyards, wheat, livestock and olive trees; the harvests are stored in the granaries of the Lateran and Saint Peter, and distributed to the poor Romans.[123][124]
It is a major administrative invention: the papacy becomes a direct economic actor, capable of materially providing for the population of the Urbs without depending on Byzantine markets or Lombard goodwill. Without this economic base, the political autonomy won in 774 would have remained theoretical.
The xenodochia and institutional charity
Adrian also founded or restored several xenodochia — hospices for pilgrims and the sick — including the one dedicated to Saint Peter, near the old basilica. The continuity with Byzantine charitable institutions (the xenones and ptochotropheia of the East) is clear: Adrian integrates into Rome the best Eastern charitable practices.
The liturgy: the Sacramentary Hadrianum
Charlemagne's request
Around the 780s, Charlemagne, anxious to unify the liturgy of his kingdom on the Roman model, asked Adrian for an official Roman sacramentary. Adrian sends — the most probable date is 784-791 — a copy of the Gregorian Sacramentary called Hadrianum, preserved in the papal chapel as the liturgical usage of the Bishop of Rome.[125][126]
A text with composite origins
The Sent Sacramentary is not, despite its traditional name, the work of Saint Gregory the Great: it is a Roman compilation from the 7th-8th centuries, integrating prayers of Gregorian origin but largely reworked. In particular, several prayers that the Frankish liturgy commonly used are missing.[127]
Alcuin's Supplementum
It is to complete this gap that Alcuin (according to the most probable attribution) adds to the Hadrianum a Supplementum containing the missing prayers, carefully marked as non-Roman. The set Hadrianum + Supplementum circulated widely in Carolingian Francia and became the basis of the Roman-Frankish liturgy — that is to say, in the final analysis, of the entire medieval Western liturgy, up to and including the Missal of Saint Pius V (1570).[128]
The liturgical romanization of Francia
The long-term effect is immense. Where Francia used local liturgies of Gallican origin, it gradually adopted the Roman liturgy. This unification, desired by Charlemagne but made possible by Adrian, prepares the Gregorian chant, the medieval Latin liturgy and the entire Western Eucharistic culture of the Middle Ages.
Death, the epitaph and posterity
December 25, 795
Adrian died in Rome on Christmas Day 795. His date of birth is unknown: the Liber Pontificalis does not give it, and the Catholic Encyclopedia expressly states "date of birth uncertain"; his exact age at death therefore cannot be established — the figure of 94 or 95 years given by the English Wikipedia article[129] is taken up neither by the Liber Pontificalis nor by the Catholic Encyclopedia[130] —, and his pontificate lasted twenty-three years, ten months and twenty-four days.[131][132] According to the Liber Pontificalis, he was buried on December 26 in a special funerary chapel of the old Constantinian basilica of Saint Peter.[133]
The Adrian chapel will be demolished in the 15th century during the work preparing the Renaissance reconstruction of Saint Peter desired by Julius II. But the epitaph will be preserved, moved and put back in place in the portico of the new basilica.
Eginhard: "like a brother"
At the news of the death, Charlemagne cries. Eginhard, his official biographer, makes him the central testimony of the pontifical-Frankish friendship in the Vita Karoli Magni:
"When he was told of the death of Hadrian, Roman Pontiff, whom he considered the first of his friends, he cried as if he had lost a very dear brother or son." — Eginhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ch. 19[134]
This word made a fortune. It is not just personal; he defines a new political theology: the king of the Franks, not yet emperor, considers the pope as his spiritual father and his political equal. It is this equation that will make the crowning of Christmas 800 possible.
The poetic competition and the black marble of Sclayn
To honor Adrian, Charlemagne organized in 796 a real poetic competition in which Alcuin and Theodulf of Orléans competed. Alcuin wins.[135]
For the support, Charlemagne chose a black marble extracted from the quarries of Sclayn, in the Meuse valley, in present-day Belgium — a few days' drive from Aachen. The stone is engraved in Roman capitals of great purity, then shipped from Francia to Rome by land then by river. It is a diplomatic object as much as a liturgical one: Charlemagne means that he takes charge of the monumental memory of the deceased pope.[136]
Alcuin's epitaph
The text composed by Alcuin has forty lines laid out as distichs: nineteen elegiac distichs (thirty-eight verses), followed by two last lines in prose which reinforce the poetic effect of the whole[137][138][139]. It begins with a grandiose invocation:
"Here the father of the Church, ornament of Rome, illustrious author / Hadrian, blessed pope, rests in peace." — Alcuin, epitaph of Adrian I, lines 1-2[140]
and bears the most famous verses, which stand as Charlemagne's personal signature:
"Crying for my father, I Charles wrote these verses." — Epitaph of Hadrian I, by Alcuin, at the request of Charlemagne (796)[141]
This is one of the rare cases in all history where a king puts his personal name on the epitaph of a pope. Beyond private piety, it is an implicit legal act: Charlemagne recognizes himself as son of the Roman papacy.
A memory preserved until us
The slab remained in the portico of the ancient St. Peter's Basilica for eight centuries. During the work on the Renaissance basilica, it was dismantled and replaced in 1619 at the portico of the new Saint Peter, where it can still be read today, "high on the wall between the Door of Death and the Door of Good and Evil".[142][143]
For the pilgrim who enters the Vatican basilica today, the epitaph of Adrian is, after the pontifical burials, one of the oldest written monuments still in place. It dates from the youth of Carolingian Europe.
Legacy
Why Adrian rocked the medieval papacy
With Adrian I, the papacy changes scale. Before him, the Pope of Rome was a Western patriarch dependent militarily on Byzantium, harassed by the Lombards, whose doctrinal authority was universal but whose political freedom was narrow. After him — and thanks to him — the Pope of Rome is the head of an autonomous state, the recognized spiritual partner of the new Carolingian world, and the guarantor of a restored doctrine of images which will structure all of medieval Western spirituality.
The coronation of 800 as a consequence
Without the territorial foundation of 774 and without the moral personality of Hadrian, the imperial coronation of Charlemagne by Leo III at Saint Peter on December 25, 800 would hardly have been conceivable under the same conditions.[144] The event of Christmas 800 directly continues a policy begun at Easter 774.
This is why historians of the Papal States, from Th. F. X. Noble onward, rightly see Adrian as one of the decisive founders of papal temporal independence.
Adrian in Western memory
Adrian's memory is paradoxical. An immense pope during his lifetime, he was eclipsed in common memory by his successor Leo III - who made the spectacular gesture of the coronation of 800. But the essential substance of the Carolingian papacy — the Synodica of Nicaea II, the Hadrianum responsum, the sacramentary Hadrianum, the domus cultae, the restored aqueducts — is the work of Adrian, not of Leo III.
Adrian I is, in this sense, the pope who gave Leo III the means of his papacy.
To go further
- The Papal States (756-1870) — legal birth of the Papal State, promissio of 774.
- Council of Nicaea II (787) — restoration of the veneration of images and Synodica of Hadrian.
- The coronation of Charlemagne — direct outcome, in 800, of Adrian's policy.
- Iconoclasm - the Byzantine crisis that Nicaea II resolved.
- Pope Saint Leo III — successor of Hadrian and actor in the coronation of 800.
- Ancient St. Peter's Basilica — restored and embellished by Adrian.
- The Donation of Constantine — forgery from the 8th century, first documented use by Adrian in 778.
Notes and References
Holy See, official file Adriano I, list of popes: 95th pope, Roman origin, beginning of pontificate "1,9.II.772" (February 1, election; February 9, consecration), end December 25, 795. https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/it/holy-father/adriano-i.html.
1 4 52 132James Loughlin, "Pope Adrian I", The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1, Robert Appleton Company, New York, 1907; transcription New Advent: pontificate February 1, 772 – December 25, 795, 23 years 10 months 24 days; Roman of noble extraction; opposition of Paul Afiarta; appeal to Charlemagne; embellishment of Rome (fabulous sums, according to the Liber); Council of Nicaea II; adoptionism; died December 25, 795, burial in Saint Peter, epitaph attributed to Charlemagne. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01155b.htm.
2 49 51 57 130 131"Pope Adrian I", Wikipedia in English, version consulted on June 4, 2026: family of the domini de via Lata, uncle Theodotus (consul, dux, primicerius Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae), father Theodore died young, longest pontificate since Saint Peter until Pius VI, died at 94-95 years old, burial in Saint Peter, epitaph of Alcuin on marble black from Sclayn (Meuse valley), in place at the portico of Saint Peter since 1619, bibliographical references (Ullmann, McKitterick, Nelson, Barton, Cavadini). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Adrian_I.
3 45 129Ottorino Bertolini (revised entry), "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani: consecration on February 9, 772 into the Roman military nobility; release of prisoners; investigation into Sergio's murder; neutralization of Paul Afiarta; breakup with Desiderius; Charlemagne's promissio of April 6, 774 including Ravenna, Pentapolis and Spoleto; six domuscultae; died December 25, 795; burial in Saint Peter. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/adriano-i_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/.
5 48 53 56Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, in Louis Duchesne (ed.), Le Liber Pontificalis. Text, introduction and commentary, t. I, Paris, E. de Boccard, 1886 (reed. 1955), p. 486-523. Hadrian's notice is the longest in the entire collection; it constitutes the main primary source of the pontificate.
6 31 44Thomas F. X. Noble, The Republic of Saint Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984, chapters devoted to Adrian I: Adrian's pontificate as a decisive turning point in the institutional foundation of the Papal States; the promissio of 774 as a lasting legal basis; the domus cultae as the economic basis of autonomy.
7 23 47 72 78 124Giovanni Domenico Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio, t. XII and XIII, Florence-Venice, 1759-1798: reference edition of the complete acts of the Council of Nicaea II (787), including the seven sessions, the Synodica from Adrian to Constantine VI and Irene, and the final dogmatic definition. Modern critical edition of the Greek text: Erich Lamberz (ed.), Concilium Universale Nicaenum Secundum, Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, ser. 2, vol. 3, in 3 parts, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2008-2016.
8 38 95Richard Price (trans.), The Acts of the Second Council of Nicaea (787), Liverpool University Press, Translated Texts for Historians 68, 2018: critical and annotated English translation of the complete acts; participation of the two Roman legates, solemn reading of the Synodica of Adrian, patristic examination and refutation of the conciliabule of Hiereia.
9 28 39 88 90 92 94 97 98Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Second Council of Nicaea", New Advent transcription: first session on September 24, 787 at Hagia Sophia in Nicaea, horos read on October 13; the transmitted acts further report a last session at the palace of Magnaura in Constantinople on October 23 and twenty-two disciplinary canons — but modern criticism (Erich Lamberz, followed by Richard Price, The Acts of the Second Council of Nicaea, Liverpool University Press, 2018, p. 655-656) holds this "eighth session" to be a later 9th-century addition intended to honor the role of the emperors. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11045a.htm.
10 93Florence Close, Uniformiser la foi pour unifier l'Empire. Contribution to the history of the political-theological thought of Charlemagne*, Brussels, Royal Academy of Belgium, 2011: analysis of the adoptionist controversy, the writings of Elipand de Toledo and Felix d'Urgel, and the conciliar sequence Regensburg (792) – Rome (793) – Frankfurt (794) – Aachen (800).
11 102 103 107Ann Freeman, "Theodulf of Orleans and the Libri Carolini", Speculum 32 (1957), p. 663-705: paleographic and stylistic demonstration of the main attribution of the Libri Carolini to Theodulf of Orléans; analysis of Frankish theology of the image based on a sophisticated but critical reception of Nicaea II.
12 110 112 114 115Adrian I, response to the 85 capitula of the Capitulare adversus synodum (c. 793-794), known as the Hadrianum responsum: systematic defense of the Council of Nicaea II, point by point, based on the distinction latria / proskynesis and correcting the misinterpretations of the defective Latin translation of the acts; on the Frankish dossier and its context, see Ann Freeman, Speculum 32 (1957).
13 113On the sending of the Sacramentary: Oxford Reference, s.v. "Hadrianum" (book sent c. 790 by Adrian I at the request of Charlemagne); New Catholic Dictionary (1910), s.v. "Gregorian Sacramentary" (sending between 781 and 791 to introduce the Roman rite into the Frankish kingdom); on the composite character of the transmitted text (not composed by Gregory, integrating later pieces), see the synthesis in Medieval Mass Liturgy (De Gruyter). The Supplementum filling the gaps is attributed to Alcuin according to the most probable attribution.
14 125 127Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, Paris, 1886, p. 499-514: long catalog of material restorations in Rome — four aqueducts (Sabbatina, Vergine, Iovia, Claudia), Aurelian walls, ancient basilica of Saint Peter, Lateran, Saint Mary Major, Saint Mary in Cosmedin, six domus cultae (Capracorum, Galeria Aurelia, Galeria Portuense, Calvisianum, S. Edisto, S. Leucio), suburban restorations on the Salaria, Nomentana, Tiburtina, Labicana, Appia routes.
15 25 32 117 119Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: massive Roman work — four ancient aqueducts restored to water (Sabbatina, Vergine, Iovia, Claudia), restored Aurelian walls, major basilicas and renewed diakonia, six domus cultae founded to nourish Rome.
16 26 118Eginhard (Einhard), Vita Karoli Magni, ch. 19, verses 829-836: "Nuntiato etiam sibi Hadriani Romani pontificis obitu, quem in amicis praecipuum habebat, sic flevit, acsi fratrem aut carissimum filium amisisset." Latin text available on the Latin Library: https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ein.html; English translation: "When we announced to him the death of Hadrian, Roman Pontiff, whom he considered the first of his friends, he wept as if he had lost a very dear brother or son."
17 22 41 134Joanna Story, Judith Bunbury, Anna Candida Felici et al., "Charlemagne's black marble: the origin of the epitaph of Pope Hadrian I", Papers of the British School at Rome 73 (2005), p. 157-190: identification of the black Sclayn limestone (Meuse valley, present-day Belgium); Charlemagne's commission in 796, poetic competition won by Alcuin over Theodulf of Orléans, execution in Francia and transport to Rome; slab kept at the portico of Saint Peter since 1619. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068246200003019.
18 42 135 136 142Review of Joanna Story, Charlemagne and Rome. Alcuin and the Epitaph of Pope Hadrian I, Oxford University Press, 2023, published in Plekos (2024): the epitaph "consists of forty lines laid out visibly as couplets" — thirty-eight verses proper, the last two lines being in prose. https://www.plekos.uni-muenchen.de/2024/r-story.pdf.
19 139Alcuin, epitaph of Pope Adrian I, lines 1-2, text reproduced in L. Duchesne (ed.), Le Liber Pontificalis, t. I, Paris, 1886, p. 523 (after Sarti and Settele, Appendix, p. 133): "HIC PATER ECCLESIAE, ROMAE DECVS, INCLYTVS AVCTOR / HADRIANVS REQVIEM PAPA BEATVS HABET." English translation: "Here the father of the Church, ornament of Rome, illustrious author / Hadrian, blessed pope, rests in peace."
20 137 140Alcuin, epitaph of Pope Adrian I, famous verse, text reproduced in L. Duchesne (ed.), Le Liber Pontificalis, t. I, Paris, 1886, p. 523 (after Sarti and Settele, Appendix, p. 133): "POST PATREM LACRIMANS KAROLVS HAEC CARMINA SCRIPSI." English translation: "Crying for my father, I Charles wrote these verses."
21 43 138 141Marios Costambeys, Matthew Innes, Simon MacLean, The Carolingian World, Cambridge University Press, 2011: chapters on papacy-Francia relations under Adrian I and Leo III, and on the intellectual context of the Libri Carolini.
24Jaroslav Pelikan, The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700), The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, vol. 2, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1974, chapters on the iconoclastic crisis: outbreak by Leo III the Isaurian (726-730), hardening by Constantine V Copronym and conciliabule of Hiereia (754), Roman and oriental resistance.
27 85Luitpold Wallach, "The Greek and Latin Versions of II Nicaea and the Synodica of Hadrian I (JE 2448): A Diplomatic Study", Traditio 22 (1966), p. 103-125, DOI 10.1017/S0362152900010680: comparative analysis of the Greek and Latin versions of the Synodica of Hadrian (JE 2448), demonstrating the attenuation by the Greek editors of certain formulas concerning Roman authority and the demand for restitution of territories confiscated by iconoclastic emperors (Sicily, Calabria, Illyricum).
29 40 89 91See Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1159-1162, on the veneration of holy images, which explicitly cites Nicaea II: veneration is not adoration; it is addressed to the person represented through the image.
30 99W. Gundlach (ed.), Codex Carolinus, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae, t. III, Berlin, Weidmann, 1892: collection of 99 papal letters (Gregory III to Adrian I), compiled at the court of Charlemagne in 791, preserved in Codex Vindobonensis 449 of the Austrian National Library.
33Rosamond McKitterick, Dorine van Espelo, Richard Pollard, Richard Price (eds.), Codex Epistolaris Carolinus: Letters from the Popes to the Frankish Rulers, 739-791, Liverpool University Press, Translated Texts for Historians 77, 2021: annotated English translation of the Codex Carolinus with historical study of the compilation of 791; preserved in the unique manuscript Vindobonensis 449.
34Dorine van Espelo, A Testimony of Carolingian Rule? The Codex epistolaris Carolinus, Its Historical Context, and the Meaning of imperium, thesis, Universiteit Utrecht, 2014: analysis of the compilation, the political context of 791, and the diplomatic function of the Codex Carolinus in the Carolingian chancery. https://research-portal.uu.nl/en/publications/a-testimony-of-carolingian-rule-the-codex-epistolaris-carolinus-i.
35Codex Carolinus, letter from Adrian to Charlemagne, May 778 (Jaffé, Ep. 61; W. Gundlach (ed.), Codex Carolinus, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae, t. III, Berlin, Weidmann, 1892): Adrian exhorts Charlemagne to imitate Emperor Constantine ("Sicut temporibus beati Silvestri... potestatem in his Hesperiae partibus") and to enrich the Church of Rome; testimony to the effective circulation of the Donation of Constantine.
36 83Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: the much-discussed passage of Adrian's letter to Charlemagne of May 778 recalling, among Constantine's largesses at the time of Sylvester I, the "potestas in his Hesperiae partibus" counts as a simple reminder of a fact of the distant past to stimulate the zeal of the Frankish king, without founding any legal claim of sovereignty.
37Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: family of the Roman military nobility, uncle Theodotus primiciar, guardianship after the premature death of the father, ordinary clerical course.
46 54"Pope Stephen III", English Wikipedia: pontificate from August 7, 768 to January 24, 772. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Stephen_III.
50Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, p. 486-487: presentation of the Roman nobility of Hadrian, the tutelage exercised by his uncle Theodotus, and his training as a Roman clergy.
55Annales regni Francorum, year 771: "Carlomannus rex defunctus est in villa, quae dicitur Salmontiacus, prid. Non. Decembr." (death of Carloman on December 4, 771, eve of the Nones of December); his widow reached Italy with a few Franks.
58Eginhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ch. 3: death of Carloman after two years of joint reign (without specifying the day), refuge of his widow and his children with Desiderius in Italy.
59Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: refuge of the sons of Carloman and their mother at the Lombard court, pressure from Desiderius to have the children anointed in Rome against Charlemagne.
60 62Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, p. 489-493: account of the Lombard raids on papal territory in the summer of 772 and the pressure exerted by Desiderius to have Carloman's sons anointed in Rome.
61Codex Carolinus, letters from Adrian I to Charlemagne, MGH Epp. III, ed. Gundlach 1892: sequence of Adrian's appeals to Charlemagne from 772 against the Lombard raids and for the implementation of the donations promised by Pippin.
63On Charlemagne's prior mediation and Desiderius's refusal, see the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Charlemagne" (commissioners sent to Italy, redemption offer refused); on the Frankish assembly and the crossing of the Alps in two columns, see the Annales regni Francorum, year 773, and Eginhard, Vita Karoli, ch. 6 (Geneva, traditionally held as the gathering place).
64Eginhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ch. 6: war against the Lombards undertaken at Adrian's request, difficulties of the Alpine crossing, siege of Pavia (naming neither the passes nor Bernard; for the two columns of Mont Cenis and Grand-Saint-Bernard, see the Annales regni Francorum, year 773).
65Annales regni Francorum, year 773: passage of the Alps by Charlemagne (Mont Cenis) and his uncle Bernard (Grand-Saint-Bernard), start of the siege of Pavia.
66Annales regni Francorum, years 773-774: siege of Pavia, Charlemagne's trip to Rome for Easter 774 (without specifying the month), return to the siege and capture of the city.
67Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: siege of Pavia begun in September 773, Charlemagne's decision to go to Rome for Easter during the siege ("arrivare a Roma il 2 aprile, vigilia di Pasqua").
68Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, p. 496-498: account of Charlemagne's arrival in Rome on Holy Saturday April 2, 774, welcome by the judges and the banners of the military schools, kneeling up the steps of Saint Peter. Date confirmed by Treccani/Bertolini ("arrivare a Roma il 2 aprile, vigilia di Pasqua"); Easter 774 falling on Sunday April 3, April 2 is indeed Holy Saturday and April 6 Easter Wednesday.
69Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, p. 498-499: promissio donationis of Easter Wednesday April 6, 774 in the confession of Saint Peter — exarchate of Ravenna, Pentapolis, territories in Spoleto and Benevento, Veneto, Istria. Date confirmed by Treccani/Bertolini ("Il 6 aprile 774, nella basilica di S. Pietro... rilasciò solennemente la sua promissio").
70Thomas F. X. Noble, The Republic of Saint Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984: comparative analysis of the promissio of Quierzy (754) and the promissio of 774 — legal continuity, geographical extension and passage to effective application after the fall of the Lombard kingdom.
71Annales regni Francorum, year 774: Charlemagne's return from Rome, capture of Pavia, capture of Desiderius with his wife, his daughter and the treasure, submission of the Lombards, flight of Adalgis to Constantinople (without specifying the month, Corbie or the title).
73Eginhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ch. 6: end of the war — Italy subdued, King Desiderius "received at mercy" then deported into perpetual exile, his son Adalgis driven out of Italy (specifying neither Corbie, the Lombard title nor the month).
74Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Charlemagne", New Advent transcription: "Soon after this (June, 774) Pavia fell, Desiderius was banished... Charles, assuming the crown of Lombardy" (fall of Pavia in June 774, banishment of Desiderius, Lombard crown). Exile of Desiderius to the monastery of Corbie and famine in the besieged city: constant tradition of the accounts of the siege of Pavia. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03610c.htm.
75See the Ignispedia article The Papal States (756-1870) for details of the donations from Pippin (754, 756) and Charlemagne (774), and the complete chronology of the birth of the Papal State.
76Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: note that papal monetary minting developed during his pontificate and that nominal dependence on Constantinople faded in Roman diplomacy.
77See the Ignispedia article The coronation of Charlemagne: event of December 25, 800 under Leo III, direct outcome of the pontifical-Frankish policy implemented under Adrian I.
79 144Horst Fuhrmann (ed.), Das Constitutum Constantini (Konstantinische Schenkung), Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Fontes iuris Germanici antiqui in usum scholarum separatim editi 10, Hanover, Hahn, 1968 (reprint 1984): reference critical edition; the introduction establishes the text as a forgery composed in Rome in the 8th century.
80 82Johannes Fried, Donation of Constantine and Constitutum Constantini: The Misinterpretation of a Fiction and Its Original Meaning, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2007: controversially proposes dating the Constitutum to the 820s (thesis contested by most reviewers); analysis of its rhetorical and legal use in the pontifical chancellery.
81 84Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: continuity of the anti-iconoclastic Roman position since Gregory II, Zechariah, Stephen II, Paul I; non-recognition of the iconoclastic council of Hiereia 754.
86Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: imperial message of Irene and Constantine VI of August 29, 784 announcing the future council, to which Adrian responded on October 26, 785; sending of two legates, "l'arcipresbitero Pietro e l'abate del monastero greco di S. Saba" — the two men named Peter (so the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Second Council of Nicaea"): the archpriest of Saint Peter and the abbot of Saint-Sabas in Aventino.
87"Second Council of Nicaea", Wikipedia in English: seventh ecumenical council, seven sessions from September 24 to October 13, 787, approximately 308 bishops and delegates of the three eastern patriarchs under Muslim occupation, condemnation of the iconoclastic council of Hiereia (754), dogmatic definition of the distinction latria / proskynesis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_Nicaea.
96Council of Nicaea II, dogmatic definition of October 13, 787, in H. Denzinger – P. Hünermann, Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, n° 600-603: final profession on the honorary veneration of the holy images of Christ, the Virgin, angels and saints.
100Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1161 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana): "All the signs of the liturgical celebration are related to Christ: the sacred images of the holy Mother of God and of the saints are too." The paragraph then cites the definition of Nicaea II (Denz 600). https://www.vatican.va/archive/FRA0013/__P33.HTM.
101Leo Kelly, "Council of Frankfort", The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6, Robert Appleton Company, New York, 1909; transcription New Advent: council convened by Charlemagne in the summer of 794 (June), presence of Adrian's legates Theophylact and Stephen, condemnation of adoptianism and criticism of the Greek formula of adoration of images. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06236a.htm.
104 108Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Adoptionism", New Advent transcription: official condemnation "in Pope Hadrian's two letters, one to the bishops of Spain, 785, and the other to Charlemagne, 794" (first warning to the bishops of Spain in 785). https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01150a.htm.
105Adrian I, letter to the bishops of Spain against adoptionism, 793-794 (at the request of Charlemagne, after examination of Elipand's libellus), in A. Werminghoff (ed.), MGH Concilia II, 1, p. 122-130, and G. D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum, t. XIII, col. 865-882: patristic refutation of Elipand's formula based on the Chalcedonian doctrine of the unity of person in Christ. A first warning had been sent as early as 785 (Werminghoff dates the first letter between 785 and 791).
106A. Werminghoff (ed.), Concilium Francofurtense (794), MGH Concilia II, 1, Hanover, Hahn, 1906, p. 110-171: complete acts of the council, 56 chapters, presence of the papal legates Theophylact and Stephen.
109Ann Freeman, "Theodulf of Orleans and the Libri Carolini", Speculum 32 (1957), p. 663-705: paleographic criteria (correction of Theodulf's hand in the Vatican manuscript lat. 7207), stylistic and theological criteria for the identification of the main author.
111Wikipedia EN, "Libri Carolini": Capitulare adversus synodum (around 792-793); Opus Caroli regis contra synodum (around 790-794); never officially promulgated by Charlemagne; remained unpublished until their publication by the Protestants in 1549; placed in the Roman Index in 1559, still present until the revision of 1900. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libri_Carolini.
116No contemporary source counts the population of Rome in the 8th century: the order of magnitude of a few tens of thousands of inhabitants is an estimate by modern historians, to be taken as indicative and not as an established figure; after the Gothic wars of the 6th century, the City had lost most of its ancient population.
120Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, p. 500-514: detail of the restorations of the great Roman basilicas, diakonia and suburban oratories.
121Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: complete rebuilding by Adrian of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin at the Forum Boarium, mentioned as a diakonia for the first time in his biography (large hall with three apses, crypt for relics, food storage rooms).
122Ottorino Bertolini, "Adriano I", Enciclopedia dei Papi (2000), Treccani: six domus cultae — Capracorum (via Cassia), Galeria Aurelia, Galeria Portuense, Calvisianum, S. Edisto, S. Leucio — as a food supply system for Rome and the charitable diakonia.
123"Sacramentaries", in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., 2003 (online at encyclopedia.com): description of the sending of the Gregorian Sacramentary Hadrianum by Adrian I to Charlemagne, of Alcuin's Supplementum, and of its diffusion as the core of Western medieval liturgy.
126 128Liber Pontificalis, Vita Hadriani I, ed. Duchesne, t. I, p. 514: "Et sepultus est in basilica beati Petri apostoli, VII kal. ian." (burial on December 26); death on Christmas Day 795 is given by the Holy See and the Catholic Encyclopedia. On the funerary chapel (chapel no. 15 on the plan), see Duchesne's commentary, ibid., p. 522-523, n. 132.
133St Peter's Basilica.info, "The Portico": the epitaph of Adrian I (795) is placed in the portico between the Door of Death and the Door of Good and Evil. http://stpetersbasilica.info/Interior/Portico/Portico.htm.
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