Pope Saint Paschal I (Paschalis, Pasquale I) governed the Church of Rome from January 25, 817 until his death, placed by the official list of the Holy See between February and May 824. He is the 98th pope of the pontifical list, Roman by origin, successor of Stephen IV and predecessor of Eugene II.[1][2]
His pontificate belongs to the early Carolingian age: Charlemagne had been dead since 814, Leo III had left behind a Rome transformed by the imperial coronation of 800, and Louis the Pious sought to organize a Christian empire without turning the papacy into a mere imperial administration. In 817 Paschal obtained the Pactum Ludovicianum, a key text confirming to Saint Peter and his vicar the rights and possessions of the Roman Church.[3][4]
Paschal I also matters for his answer to the second iconoclast crisis. While the Byzantine emperor Leo V was relaunching the war against images in the East, Saint Theodore the Studite — who wrote to the pope on several occasions — hailed in Paschal I the fulfillment of the work of Peter, notably in his letter to the monk Naucratius (Ep. 407). Rome became a refuge for persecuted Greek monks and a visual laboratory of Catholic orthodoxy: the mosaics of Santa Prassede, Santa Cecilia and Santa Maria in Domnica proclaim in stone, gold and image what the iconoclasts denied.[5][6][7]
His reign ended, however, in a violent Roman crisis. After the coronation of Lothair I at Saint Peter's in 823, two high officials favorable to the Frankish party were blinded and killed. Paschal was accused, declared himself innocent under oath, defended those who carried out the deed as having punished treason, then died shortly afterward in a city still divided.[8][9][10]
Saint Theodore the Studite, in his letter to the monk Naucratius (Ep. 407), rejoices to see in Paschal the fulfillment of the work of Peter (summary based on the available English version, to which no translator is credited).[11]
Why does Paschal I matter?
The pope of Carolingian Rome without servile submission
Paschal I is not an isolated pope between two great names. He inherited the legacy of Leo III, who had crowned Charlemagne emperor in 800, and that of Stephen IV, who had met Louis the Pious at Reims in 816. The central question of his pontificate is therefore clear: how could the Roman Church benefit from Carolingian protection without losing its own freedom?[12][13]
The Pactum Ludovicianum of 817 partly answers this question. Treccani presents it as an imperial privilege confirming the possessions already recognized as belonging to the Apostolic See: Rome and its duchy, Roman Tuscia, the Roman Campagna, the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, Sabina and other territories claimed as part of the Carolingian donations (including Lombard Tuscia and the Beneventan lands).[14]
This confirmation did not erase tensions. It framed a situation in which the emperor protects, confirms and oversees, while the pope governs a city whose aristocratic factions, Lateran clerics, militias and Frankish agents dispute influence. An account of Paschal must therefore avoid two simplifications: making him an independent pope in the modern sense, or a mere religious prefect of Louis the Pious.
The iconodule pope as seen from the East
The second Byzantine iconoclasm broke out under Leo V the Armenian. The issue was not decorative: if the Word truly became flesh, his visible humanity can be depicted without idolatry, because the image refers to the person represented and does not replace God.[15]
Treccani stresses that Paschal answered in Greek, with real knowledge of the Eastern Fathers, probably assisted by Eastern monks who had taken refuge in Rome — a hypothesis Verardi himself marks with a "forse". This point is essential: the Latin pope did not oppose the East with some vague Western piety; he answered the East with its own patristic authorities.[16]
Saint Theodore the Studite, the great defender of images, recognized in this intervention the doctrinal role of the See of Peter. His letter presents Rome as the principal see holding the keys of the faith, which heretics will not overthrow (editorial paraphrase based on the available English version, to which no translator is credited).[17]
The builder pope who speaks through mosaics
Paschal I rebuilt or renewed three major Roman basilicas: Santa Prassede, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and Santa Maria in Domnica. He also raised the Chapel of Saint Zeno at Santa Prassede, linked to the memory of his mother Theodora.[18][19][20]
Caroline Goodson sums up the importance of this program: Paschal's buildings were not mere embellishments, but instruments of pontifical power, of the memory of the martyrs, and of positioning in the relations between Rome, the Carolingians and Byzantium.[21]
The most visible detail remains the portrait of Paschal himself in the mosaics. At Santa Prassede he wears the square halo of the living and offers the model of the church. The image sums up the pontificate at a glance: the pope builds, gathers relics, honors the saints, protects the Greek monks and inscribes his name in the city.[22]
The main sources
Table of witnesses
| Source | Date | What it contributes | Caution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy See | current list | 98th pope, Rome, 25.I.817 - II/V.824 | Very brief notice |
| Liber Pontificalis | medieval pontifical source | Origin, formation, monastery of Saint Stephen, buildings, relics, gifts, final crisis | Favorable Roman source, but valuable |
| Treccani / Andrea Antonio Verardi | 2014 | Political analysis: Pactum, iconoclasm, Lothair, crisis of 823-824 | Major modern synthesis |
| New Advent / Catholic Encyclopedia | 1911 | Life, Frankish relations, Theodore the Studite, Greek monks, buildings | Old, but Catholic and dense |
| Caroline J. Goodson | 2010 | Archaeological and political reading of Paschal's buildings | Available excerpt, specialized book |
| Encyclopedia.com / New Catholic Encyclopedia | modern | Interpretation of the Pactum, Northern missions, Roman crisis | Short synthesis, useful for cross-checking |
| Britannica | modern | Summary: relations with the Carolingians, icons, buildings, relics | Very concise |
The Holy See and the dates of the pontificate
The official Vatican list gives Paschal as the 98th pope, of Roman origin, with a pontificate beginning on January 25, 817 and ending between February and May 824 ("Paschal I" notice of the Holy See, checked by direct reading).[23] The figure 99 kept by some lists comes from their additionally counting the ephemeral Stephen of March 752, who died three days after his election without having received episcopal consecration and is absent from the current official list.[24] This range reflects the vacancy of about three months before the election of Eugene II, which Treccani places between February and May 824: lists giving a fixed February 11 take up the current liturgical memory, which Verardi keeps only as probable ("probabilmente l'11 febbraio dell'824"); New Advent, older, mentions a death in April, May or June 824.[25][26]
For the Ignispedia title, the safest course is therefore to keep the pontifical framework: Pope Saint Paschal I (817-824). The exact date of death will be treated in the body, without forcing a certainty that the sources do not all give in the same way.
The Liber Pontificalis and the official Roman memory
The Liber Pontificalis is the central narrative source. New Advent refers explicitly to Duchesne's edition, volume II, p. 52 and following, for Paschal's pontificate.[27] This notice preserves the portrait of the cleric formed at the Lateran, the rector of Saint Stephen's, the builder pope and the pontiff of the translations of relics.
Its tone is obviously Roman. It shows Paschal as a servant of the poor, a protector of the martyrs and a restorer of basilicas. But the Frankish sources and modern syntheses complete this portrait with the political crisis of 823-824: the end of the reign shows that pontifical Rome was not pacified by the pope's personal holiness alone.[28][29]
Before the pontificate: a Roman cleric of the Lateran
Son of Bonosus and Theodora
New Advent says Paschal was the son of a Roman named Bonosus; Treccani adds his mother's name, Theodora, and places his birth in the second half of the 8th century, perhaps at Rome.[30][31]
This mother matters because Paschal would build the Chapel of Saint Zeno at Santa Prassede for her. The mosaic there preserves the famous inscription Theodora episcopa. Since the Church has never conferred sacramental ordination on women, and no contemporary source attests for Theodora either ordination or an episcopal ministry, this title reads as honorific: the mother of the Bishop of Rome honored with her son's title.[32][33]
Formation at the Lateran patriarchium
Paschal entered the Roman clergy young and was formed at the patriarchium of the Lateran. New Advent notes that he was instructed there in divine service and Scripture; Treccani specifies, after the Liber Pontificalis, that he became subdeacon then priest, following the ordinary progression of the time.[34][35]
This formation explains two traits of the pontificate: liturgical attentiveness, visible in the basilicas and the relics; and doctrinal capacity, visible in the Greek answer to iconoclasm. Paschal was not only an urban administrator; he was a cleric shaped by the liturgy, Scripture, chant and usages of the Lateran.
Rector of Saint Stephen's near Saint Peter's
Leo III appointed him superior of the monastery of Saint Stephen near the basilica of Saint Peter. This monastery was among the houses ensuring the daily liturgical service around the Vatican and the welcome of pilgrims.[36][37]
Treccani notes that Paschal acquired there a reputation for virtue and assistance to the poor, even using his own goods to relieve the needy. The source keeps a hagiographical tone, but the material detail is telling: this is not merely abstract praise, but a concrete memory of monastic charity.[38]
The election of 817 and the Pactum Ludovicianum
An almost immediate election
Stephen IV died on January 24, 817. Paschal was elected very quickly: the Catholic Encyclopedia says he was chosen at once, then consecrated and enthroned the next day — that is, on January 25, the date the Holy See keeps as the start of the pontificate — while Treccani probably advances January 26 for the election; the one-day gap comes from the sources, the essential point — an almost nil vacancy — being assured.[39][40][41]
This brevity of the vacancy is unusual for the period. Treccani sees in it the sign of a broad convergence of the social groups taking part in the pontifical election around the rector of Saint Stephen's.[42] This does not mean Rome was pacified; it means Paschal appeared first as a choice acceptable to several circles.
Informing Louis the Pious
Upon his accession, Paschal sent an embassy to Louis the Pious to inform him that his election had taken place according to the canons and without personal ambition. A second legation, led by the nomenclator Theodore, aimed to consolidate imperial support and the bonds of friendship between the two institutions.[43]
The gesture was prudent. Paschal wanted to be recognized by the emperor, but he also wanted to establish that the Roman election was regular. The agreement with the Carolingians was to protect Rome, not to turn the pope's election into a Frankish appointment.
What the Pactum confirms
The Pactum Ludovicianum renewed the concessions made by the Carolingians to Saint Peter and his vicar. Treccani lists Rome and its duchy, Roman Tuscia, the Roman Campagna, then the donations linked to the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, Sabina, Lombard Tuscia and the Beneventan lands.[44]
| Dimension | What Paschal sought | What Louis confirmed | Persistent risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontifical election | Canonical freedom of Rome | Imperial support for its proper conduct | Political oversight |
| Territories | Possessions of Saint Peter | Confirmation of donations and rights | Local disputes |
| Defense | Carolingian protection | The emperor's commitment | Military dependence |
| Prestige | Alliance with the Christian empire | Recognition of the pope as interlocutor | Rivalry of Roman parties |
The Pactum was thus both a victory and a source of tension. It gave Paschal a strong juridical basis; it also drew into Rome all those who wanted to use Frankish support against the pontifical government. A final methodological caution is required: the authenticity of this document has been contested several times by modern historians, even if it is today generally accepted in its essentials.[45] To this caution about authenticity must be added the one imposed by transmission: the original is lost and the text is known only through late copies, mainly canon-law manuscripts of the 11th-12th centuries, from which modern editors reconstructed it.[46]
Paschal I facing the second iconoclasm
Leo V and the Eastern revival
In 813, Leo V the Armenian came to power at Constantinople. The Eastern capital soon fell back under the influence of a party hostile to the cult of images. Between the end of 817 and the first months of 818, a legation was sent to Rome to win Paschal over to the iconoclast position.[47]
Treccani reports that Paschal welcomed the imperial representatives, but refused to receive those bearing the synodal letter of the illegitimate patriarch Theodotus. This refusal was a doctrinal act: Rome would not give an appearance of communion to a patriarchal authority installed within the iconoclast logic.[48]
A Greek and patristic answer
The dogmatic part of Paschal's answer to Leo V is transmitted in Greek in manuscript Ambrosiano H257 inf. (ff. 138v-140) of the Ambrosian Library. Treccani stresses its interest: the text draws on the Eastern Fathers and shows true mastery of iconodule theology.[49]
Paschal thus answered not only through diplomacy. He engaged doctrine. The defense of images was, for him, a consequence of the Incarnation: because the Son of God took a visible humanity, sacred images can bear witness to that visibility without becoming idols.
Saint Theodore the Studite and the See of Peter
The letter of Saint Theodore the Studite to the monk Naucratius (Ep. 407) is one of the strongest texts in the dossier. In it Theodore describes the adversaries of images as cut off from the body of Christ and from the Roman see, keeper of the keys of the faith (paraphrase based on the available English version, to which no translator is credited).[50]
This passage must not be read as an isolated polemical formula. It shows how a great Greek monk, persecuted by iconoclasm, looked to Rome as a doctrinal point of support in the Eastern crisis. For Ignispedia, the dossier is valuable: it links Roman primacy, defense of images and fidelity to the Second Council of Nicaea.
Rome welcomes the Greek monks
New Advent reports that many monks driven out of Greece by the emperor came to Rome and that Paschal received them kindly, installing them in newly erected monasteries, notably Santa Prassede, Santa Cecilia, and Saints Sergius and Bacchus near the Lateran.[51]
Welcoming the monks completed the doctrinal answer. Rome did not merely defend images by letter; it gave refuge to the men suffering for this doctrine. Paschal's basilicas thus became both sanctuaries of Roman relics and places of hospitality for the persecuted East.
Paschal's basilicas: a theology in mosaic
Santa Prassede: relics, Greeks and the Chapel of Saint Zeno
Santa Prassede is the major monument of the pontificate. Goodson shows that the church and the Chapel of Saint Zeno form one of the best-preserved ensembles of 9th-century Roman art.[52] The Liber Pontificalis (life of Paschal I, section IX) describes Paschal seeking in the ruined cemeteries, finding and gathering the bodies of many abandoned saintly martyrs, then laying them with veneration in the church of Saint Praxedes.[53]
"This holy pontiff sought out, found and gathered many bodies of saints." — Liber Pontificalis, life of Paschal I, section IX (translated from the Latin: "multa corpora sanctorum dirutis in cimiteriis iacentia […] querens atque inventa colligens")[54]
The same passage indicates that a Greek community was installed near the church to sing day and night the praises of God and of the saints resting there.[55] The basilica thus became a perfect synthesis of Paschal: Roman relics, monastic liturgy, Greek hospitality, visual defense of images.
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Paschal also rebuilt Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. New Advent recalls that the discovery of the relics of Saint Cecilia and her companions, then their translation to the new basilica, are described in detail in the Liber Pontificalis.[56]
Tradition holds that Paschal, at first unable to find Cecilia's body, received in a dream an indication from the saint. Whatever the historical assessment of the hagiographical motif, the liturgical fact is certain: Paschal linked the Trastevere sanctuary to the memory of a major Roman martyr, and the apse still preserves the visual memory of his program.[57][58]
Santa Maria in Domnica and the Marian language
Santa Maria in Domnica, on the Caelius, also belongs to the group of Paschal-era reconstructions. New Advent names it among the three basilicas entirely rebuilt by Paschal; Goodson includes it in the architectural program asserting the pope's role in the city.[59][60]
This basilica carries a very legible Marian language: the Virgin enthroned with the Child, at the heart of a composition rendering faith visible. In the iconoclast context, such an image was not a neutral ornament. It affirmed that the Son of God assumed a real humanity in Mary's womb, and that the Church can depict this truth.
A concentrated building strategy
Goodson insists on an important trait: Paschal did not scatter his resources in small partial restorations like many predecessors; he entirely rebuilt a few major buildings and turned them into showcases of pontifical power.[61]
| Building | Paschal's intervention | Principal meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Prassede | Reconstruction, relics, Chapel of Saint Zeno, Greek community | Martyrs, sheltered East, iconodule mosaic |
| Santa Cecilia | Reconstruction and translation of Cecilia's relics | Roman martyrial memory |
| Santa Maria in Domnica | Reconstruction and Marian program | Visible Incarnation against iconoclasm |
| Saint Peter's | Chapels and altars, notably martyrs Processus and Martinian[62] | Apostolic center and pontifical memory |
| Saint Mary Major | Improvements to the choir[63] | Major Marian liturgy of Rome |
This concentration explains why Paschal remains one of Rome's most visible popes: not because many personal texts survived, but because the city still preserves his mosaics.
The translations of relics
Why move the martyrs?
In the 9th century, the extra-mural catacombs were harder to maintain and protect. Popes therefore moved many bodies of martyrs to the intra-mural basilicas. Paschal intensified this movement on an exceptional scale.[64][65]
This gesture must be understood in its Catholic logic. It was not a matter of collecting ancient remains, but of placing the martyrs back at the heart of urban prayer. The holy bodies became present in the places where the Church celebrates, sings, teaches and receives pilgrims.
Santa Prassede and the memory of thousands of witnesses
The Santa Prassede tradition speaks of a massive gathering of relics, sometimes summed up by the figure of 2,300 martyrs. The church notices stress that many names were still legible on the inscriptions linked to the relics.[66]
Even if medieval figures must be handled with caution, the direction is clear: Paschal wanted to save the memory of the Roman martyrs from abandonment. In a period when Byzantium persecuted the defenders of images and Rome negotiated with the Frankish empire, the martyrs became a kind of spiritual framework for the city.
Santa Cecilia: the body found
The Saint Cecilia dossier is more personal. New Advent notes that Paschal transferred her relics and those of her companions to the rebuilt Trastevere church.[67] The dream tradition gives this translation a strong hagiographical color: Cecilia herself is said to have guided the pope to her tomb.
The historical interest does not depend on the dream alone. The lasting fact is that Paschal fixed at Santa Cecilia in Trastevere a center of devotion that still structures the Roman memory of the martyr today.
Relations with the Carolingians
Louis the Pious: alliance and distance
With Louis the Pious, Paschal first sought alliance. He received the Pactum, exchanged embassies, supported certain missionary projects and took part in the great Christian equilibrium willed by the emperor.[68][69]
But alliance was not fusion. Encyclopedia.com notes that the Pactum gave the pope a privileged place in the Carolingian structure, largely sheltered from outside interference, but still situated within a larger imperial system.[70] This ambiguity runs through the whole pontificate.
Lothair crowned at Saint Peter's
In 823, Lothair, son of Louis the Pious and associated with the empire since 817, came to Italy. Paschal invited him to Rome to celebrate Easter. On April 5, 823, during solemn Mass at Saint Peter's, the pope crowned him with the imperial diadem.[71][72][73]
The gesture was politically strong. Louis had already organized the imperial succession; Paschal inscribed Lothair's accession to imperial dignity in a Roman rite. Britannica stresses that this coronation reinforced the idea that pontifical participation was necessary to legitimize the imperial crown.[74]
Northern missions
Paschal also supported missions coming out of the Frankish world. New Advent notes that he sent a letter of introduction to a certain Halitgar — probably the bishop of Cambrai (817-831) — and appointed Ebbo of Reims pontifical legate for the pagan lands of the North.[75] Ebbo left for Denmark in the spring of 823, together with this Halitgar and Willerich, bishop of Bremen.[76]
This point is brief, but important. Paschal was not absorbed by Rome and Byzantium alone; he attached the Nordic missionary effort to Peter's authority. The Frankish missions thus became more than a political extension of the empire: they received an ecclesial mission.
The Roman crisis of 823-824
Theodore and Leo, heads of the pro-Frankish party
New Advent identifies two high officials of the pontifical palace, Theodore the primicerius and his son-in-law Leo the nomenclator, as heads of the party favorable to the Franks and defenders of imperial supremacy over Rome.[77]
Shortly after Lothair's departure, these two men were blinded and killed by servants of the pope. Modern sources agree on the brutal fact; they diverge mainly on Paschal's exact responsibility and on the degree of involvement of the pontifical government.[78][79][80]
The accusation against Paschal
Paschal was accused of having inspired or permitted the murder. He first tried to avoid the imperial inquiry, then gathered a synod of bishops and performed a purgatio ad sacramentum, that is, a solemn oath of purgation by which he proclaimed himself innocent.[81][82]
He nevertheless defended the material executors, members of the familia Sancti Petri, declaring that they had killed men guilty of lese-majesty.[83] This defense shows the political harshness of Carolingian Rome: pontifical authority was exercised there also through armed men, factions and conflicting loyalties.
Louis the Pious satisfied, but Rome unstable
Treccani reports that the ambassadors returning to Louis presented the situation and that the emperor declared himself satisfied with the explanations, perhaps out of political pragmatism: alliance with the pope remained desirable.[84]
But the city was not calmed. At Paschal's death, the Roman people opposed his burial in the Vatican basilica until Eugene, archpriest of Santa Sabina and candidate of the aristocratic faction, had been elected. Treccani sees in this proof that the Roman situation remained explosive.[85]
| Possible reading of the crisis | What it explains | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Pro-Frankish plot | Hostility to Theodore and Leo, fear of imperial control | Does not prove Paschal's direct order |
| Pontifical repression | Role of the familia Sancti Petri, defense of the executors | Does not explain the full factional dynamic |
| Conflict of sovereignty | Tension between Pactum, Rome and empire | Remains too abstract without the local actors |
| Moral crisis of the pontificate | Accusation, oath, initial refusal of burial | Does not remove the received liturgical holiness |
The crisis of 823-824 thus remains a political stain on the end of the reign, not evidence against Paschal: Louis the Pious himself declared himself satisfied with the Roman explanations, and it is the pontificate as a whole — Pactum, defense of images, basilicas — that the Church retained when inscribing Paschal in the calendar of saints.[86][87]
Death, burial and cult
A debated date of death
The Holy See indicates an end of pontificate between February and May 824.[88] Treccani probably keeps February 11, 824, which corresponds to the current liturgical memory; New Advent, older, mentions a death in April, May or June 824.[89][90]
Caution is therefore required: Treccani writes that Paschal died "probably on February 11, 824" — the adverb is Treccani's own — while Vatican News only inscribes him in the liturgical calendar of February 11; the infobox therefore keeps the official range of the Holy See.[91][92][93]
Santa Prassede then Saint Peter's
Treccani reports that after a probable first burial at Santa Prassede, the basilica founded by Paschal, his body was transferred to Saint Peter's, into the shrine of Saints Processus and Martinian, beneath an image of Christ he had commissioned after his election.[94]
The place is symbolically powerful. Paschal rests between the church he marked most and the apostolic center of Rome. Even the contestation of his funeral cannot erase what his pontificate inscribed in the city.
Liturgical holiness
Paschal is honored as a saint. Vatican News presents him on February 11; Britannica notes the former use of May 14; Catholic Online (notice specifying no edition) says he is listed in the Roman Martyrology, without formal canonization in the modern sense — and the typical edition (editio typica altera, Typis Vaticanis, 2004) does inscribe him on February 11 (burial of Saint Paschal I, pope, near Saint Peter's, after the unofficial English rendering).[95][96][97][98]
This situation is normal for many ancient saints: their cult was received through liturgical tradition before centralized canonization procedures. Paschal's holiness is therefore liturgical and traditional, not the result of a modern process.
What to retain from Paschal I?
A pontificate of three tensions
Paschal I was a pope of strong tensions: between Rome and the Carolingians, between Rome and Byzantium, between the holiness of the martyrs and the violence of urban factions.
| Tension | Principal event | Lasting fruit |
|---|---|---|
| Rome and Carolingians | Pactum of 817, coronation of Lothair in 823 | Strengthened but contested status of pontifical power |
| Rome and Byzantium | Second iconoclasm, letters of Theodore the Studite | Rome refuge and defender of images |
| Rome and its martyrs | Massive translations, Santa Prassede, Santa Cecilia | Martyrial memory replaced in the city |
| Rome and its factions | Murders of 823, purgation by oath | Transition toward firmer imperial control under Eugene II |
A difficult but major figure
Paschal is not a "simple" saint in the modern hagiographical sense. His pontificate contains dazzling works and an embarrassing final crisis. But this complexity makes him historically more interesting: he shows how the 9th-century papacy really governed, in a world where doctrine, relics, diplomacy, buildings, militias and factions were never wholly separate.
His greatness rests above all on three facts. He consolidated the rights of Saint Peter in the face of the Carolingians; he defended images against the iconoclast revival; he gave Rome some of its greatest early-medieval mosaic ensembles.
To go further
- Pope Saint Leo III — major indirect predecessor: coronation of Charlemagne in 800 and the Carolingian framework.
- Pope Saint Lucius I — the Catholic Encyclopedia (notice "St. Cecilia") attests that Paschal I also raised the bodies of Popes Urban and Lucius with those of Cecilia and her companions to bury them under the high altar of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere; the notice by J. Donovan, taken up by RomeArtLover, confirms this transfer without giving the year.[99]
- The Old Basilica of Saint Peter — place of Lothair's coronation and of Paschal's final burial.
- Basilica of Saint Mary Major — Marian basilica whose choir Paschal improved.
- Pope John V — earlier example of Rome between East, liturgy and imperial power.
- The Quarrel over Images — doctrinal background of Byzantine iconoclasm and the defense of icons.
Notes and sources
Notes and References
Holy See, official notice "Paschal I": 98th pope of the Catholic Church (98th Pope of the Catholic Church), origin Rome (Birth: Rome), start of pontificate 25.I.817, end ... II-V.824 (notice checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026: February 11 does not appear there, hence the range kept in the infobox). URL: https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en/holy-father/pasquale-i.html.
1 23 39 88 93Johann Peter Kirsch, "Pope Paschal I", The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 11, Robert Appleton Company, New York, 1911; New Advent transcription (checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026: death "in April, May, or June, 824", "son of a Roman named Bonosus", "superior of the monastery of St. Stephen near the Basilica of St. Peter"): formation at the Lateran, monastery of Saint Stephen, election after Stephen IV, Pactum, coronation of Lothair, crisis of 823, Theodore the Studite, Greek monks, buildings, relics, cult. URL: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11514a.htm.
2 4 9 18 26 30 34 36 41 51 56 59 62 63 64 67 72 75 77 78 90Andrea Antonio Verardi, "PASQUALE I", Treccani, 2014 (direct reading on October 4, 2026; Treccani online without pagination, print: DBI vol. 81): embassies to Louis the Pious, imperial privilege known as Hludowicianum, confirmation of Saint Peter's possessions. Verbatim: "la città di Roma e il suo Ducato, la Tuscia romana e la Campagna ; e rinnovò le donazioni [...] relative all'Esarcato, alla Pentapoli, alla Sabina e alle città della Tuscia longobarda e del Beneventano" (hence "Roman Campagna", not "Campania", in the article).
3 12 14 43 44 68Andrea Antonio Verardi, "PASQUALE I", Treccani, 2014 (direct reading on October 4, 2026; online without pagination, print: DBI vol. 81): legation of Leo V to Rome, Paschal's refusal to receive the representatives of Patriarch Theodotus, Greek dogmatic answer preserved in "manoscritto Ambrosiano H257 inf., ff. 138v-140, della Biblioteca Ambrosiana di Milano", "Scritto in greco" with "profonda conoscenza [...] dei Padri della Chiesa orientali". On the monks, verbatim: "Per la redazione della lettera egli usufruì forse di quei monaci orientali che, sotto minaccia di persecuzione, si erano trasferiti a Roma" — the "forse" is Verardi's: hypothesis, not established fact.
5 15 16 47 48 49Saint Theodore the Studite, Epistulae, Ep. 407 addressed to the monk Naucratius (Naucratios), Greek text and synchronized English translation on CatholicLibrary.org (fragment 00000493): "they have torn themselves away from the body of Christ, from the chief throne, in which Christ placed the keys of the faith"; "Let therefore the most blessed and apostolic and aptly named Paschal rejoice, because he has fulfilled the work of Peter". Page checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026 (Greek text present): no translator or edition is credited — the French renderings in the article are therefore editorial paraphrases presented as such, not quotations. For Theodore's letter to Pope Paschal himself, the reference edition cited by Verardi's bibliography (Treccani 2014) is Epist. II, XIII, Patrologia Graeca XCIX, Paris 1903, coll. 1153D-1156A (reference taken from Verardi, not checked against Migne's text). On Theodore's repeated letters to Pope Paschal, cf. the Catholic Encyclopedia, Paschal I notice. URL: https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?chunk.id=00000493&docId=%2FFathers-Synchronized-EN%2FTheodorus_Studita__Epistulae.en.html.
6 11 17 50Caroline J. Goodson, The Rome of Pope Paschal I: Papal Power, Urban Renovation, Church Rebuilding and Relic Translation, 817-824, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010, xix + 385 pp., ISBN 978-0-521-76819-1 (work verified via Open Library and bibliographical notices: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 385 pp.; the subject of the work — pontifical power, urban renovation, reconstructions, translations of relics — grounds the article's summary). Cambridge excerpt inaccessible by direct reading on October 4, 2026: exact page references not checked, to be completed with the work in hand. URL: https://assets.cambridge.org/97805217/68191/excerpt/9780521768191_excerpt.pdf.
7 19 21 22 32 52 60 61Andrea Antonio Verardi, "PASQUALE I, papa", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 81, Treccani, 2014 (direct reading on October 4, 2026; online without pagination): crisis of 823-824, murders of Theodore and Leo, imperial inquiry, purgatio ad sacramentum, defense of the executors (familia Sancti Petri), Louis the Pious's satisfaction, death "probabilmente l'11 febbraio dell'824, giorno in cui viene tutt'ora celebrata la sua memoria liturgica" (the adverb is Treccani's). Treccani notes that the succession came only after a vacancy of about three months ("dopo una vacanza di circa tre mesi"), and his notice on Eugene II places the latter's election "tra il febbraio e il maggio dell'824" — hence the II-V.824 range of the Holy See.
8 25 28 79 81 83 84 85 86 89 91 94New Catholic Encyclopedia, notice "Paschal I, Pope, St.", via Encyclopedia.com (direct reading on October 4, 2026): Pactum as privileged integration of the pontifical States into the Carolingian structure — "Although the authenticity of this important document has been challenged many times by modern historians, it is now generally accepted as authentic in its main provisions" — Ebbo's Northern missions ("providing Ebbo with a letter that designated him papal legate to the mission field in the North"), coronation of Lothair, appeals of Theodore the Studite, Roman noble opposition, murders of 823, purgatory oath, transition toward the Constitutio Romana of 824. URL: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/paschal-i-pope-st.
10 29 45 69 70 80 82Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Saint Paschal I" (notice checked on October 4, 2026): "died Feb. 11, 824, Rome; feast day May 14", pope from 817 to 824, abbot before election, relations with Louis the Pious, coronation of Lothair, inquiry of 823, defense of images, Santa Prassede, Santa Cecilia, Santa Maria in Domnica, translations of relics. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paschal-I.
13 20 58 73 74 96Numbering convention and the Stephen II case: the ephemeral Stephen elected in March 752, who died three days after his election without having received episcopal consecration, no longer appears on the official Vatican list (removed since 1961); lists including him number Paschal I 99th. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popes.
24Johann Peter Kirsch, "Pope Paschal I", New Advent, "Sources" section (checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026): "Liber Pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE, II, 52 sqq." — hence the article's LP reference — then Einhard's annals, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Jaffe's Regesta and studies by Duchesne, Hartmann and Marucchi.
27Andrea Antonio Verardi, "PASQUALE I, papa", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 81, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, 2014 (direct reading on October 4, 2026; online without pagination). Opening verbatim: "Figlio di un certo Bonoso e di Teodora, nacque nella seconda metà dell'VIII secolo, forse a Roma, dove ebbe la sua formazione clericale all'interno del patriarchium lateranense"; then, after the Liber Pontificalis: subdiaconate, presbyterate, psalmody, Scripture, rectorship of Saint Stephen's, assistance to the poor. URL: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/papa-pasquale-i_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/.
31 35 37 38P. H. Reardon, "Women Priests – History and Theology (Part II)", Pemptousia, September 28, 2016: Theodora, mother of Paschal I, called episcopa by honorific transfer of her son's title, Bishop of Rome — a reading the author himself presents as a cautious hypothesis. No ordination or episcopal ministry of Theodora is attested by contemporary sources; cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, declaration Inter Insigniores on the admission of women to the ministerial priesthood, October 15, 1976. URL: https://pemptousia.com/2016/09/women-priests-history-and-theology-part-ii/.
33Andrea Antonio Verardi, "PASQUALE I", Treccani, 2014 (direct reading on October 4, 2026): death of Stephen IV on January 24, 817, succession "probabilmente il 26 dello stesso mese", convergence of the social groups around the rector of Saint Stephen's.
40 42Transmission of the Ludovicianum: the original is lost and the text survives only in late canon-law manuscripts (11th-12th centuries), from which modern editors reconstructed it (syntheses consulted by direct reading on October 4, 2026). URLs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pactum_Hludowicianum and https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/346214444.pdf (study on the synods of Aachen, 816-819).
46Liber Pontificalis, life of Paschal I, section IX, ed. L. Duchesne, vol. II, p. 52 sqq.: "Hic enim beatissimus et praeclarus pontifex multa corpora sanctorum dirutis in cimiteriis iacentia, pia sollicitudine, ne remanerent neglecta, querens atque inventa colligens […] deportans recondidit" — text checked by direct reading on archive.org (identifier duchesne02, October 4, 2026); the same section IX attests the Greek community installed near the church ("sanctam Grecorum congregationem adgregans, quae die noctuque […]").
53 54 55 65Medieval Mosaics, notice "Rome, S Cecilia": apse mosaic of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere commissioned by Paschal I, traditional account of the search for Saint Cecilia's relics and the dream guiding the pope. URL: https://medievalmosaics.com/mosaics/43.
57Churches of Rome, notice "Santa Prassede all'Esquilino": basilica of Santa Prassede rebuilt by Paschal I in the early 9th century, relics of many martyrs, tradition of the 2,300 martyrs and inscription with many names. URL: https://www.churches-of-rome.info/CoR_Info/SP%20053/SPaE053.pdf.
66Andrea Antonio Verardi, "PASQUALE I", Treccani, 2014: embassies of 821, Lothair's Italian journey, invitation to Rome for Easter and imperial coronation of April 5, 823 at Saint Peter's.
71Catholic Encyclopedia, notice "Ebbo" (New Advent, checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026): "In company with a certain Halitgar, probably the one who was Bishop of Cambrai (817-831), and Willerich, Bishop of Bremen, he set out for Denmark in the spring of 823". URL: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05241a.htm.
76Vatican News, "St. Paschal I, Pope", calendar of saints for February 11: memory of Paschal I, pope. URL: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/02/11/st--paschal-i--pope.html.
87 92 95Catholic Online, "St. Paschal", hagiographical notice (text checked by direct reading): son of Bonosus, feast of February 11, "Although listed in the Roman Martyrology, he has never been formally canonized" — the notice specifies no edition of the Martyrology. URL: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=809.
97Martyrologium Romanum, editio typica altera, Typis Vaticanis, 2004 (edition specified; the typical Latin text is not published online by the Holy See): English rendering after the unofficial PDF of the Boston Catholic Journal, entry verified under February 11 (8th entry of the day, after Gregory II) — "Rome, near Saint Peter's, the burial of Saint Paschal I, pope, who brought up many bodies of holy martyrs from the catacombs, desiring to transfer them out of devotion, and placed them with honor in various churches of the City" (PDF checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026). URL: http://www.boston-catholic-journal.com/2004-roman-martyrology-pdf-files/2004-roman-martyrology-february-complete.pdf.
98Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), notice "St. Cecilia": "The relics of St. Cecilia with those of Valerianus, Tiburtius, and Maximus, also those of Popes Urbanus and Lucius, were taken up by Pope Paschal, and reburied under the high altar of St. Cecilia in Trastevere" (transcription checked by direct reading). The notice "Pope St. Lucius I" of the same encyclopedia notes, however, that the relics of Lucius were also attributed to a transfer by Paul I to San Silvestro or by Paschal I to Santa Prassede, after Marucchi (text checked by direct reading). J. Donovan, quoted by RomeArtLover, notice "S. Cecilia": "in the third were found the bodies of SS. Urban and Lucius, Popes, all transferred hither from the Catacombs by Paschal I" — without year or primary source cited; text checked by direct reading on October 4, 2026. The internal link points to the existing Ignispedia article "Pope Saint Lucius I". URLs: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/St._Cecilia, https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/pope-lucius-i-saint and http://www.RomeArtLover.it/Vasi145.html.
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