Pope Leo IV

Pope Leo IV (790 – 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during Arab raids on Rome, and for building the Leonine Wall around Vatican Hill. Pope Leo organized a league of Italian cities who fought and won the sea Battle of Ostia against the Saracens.

Pope Saint

Leo IV
Leo in a contemporary fresco at San Clemente al Laterano
Papacy began10 April 847
Papacy ended17 July 855
PredecessorSergius II
SuccessorBenedict III
Orders
Created cardinal844
by Sergius II
Personal details
Born790
Rome, Papal States
Died(855-07-17)17 July 855
Rome, Papal States
Sainthood
Venerated inCatholic Church
Attributes
  • Papal vestments
  • Rooster
Other popes named Leo

Early career

A Roman by birth, Leo received his early education at Rome in the monastery of St. Martin, near St. Peter's. He attracted the notice of Pope Gregory IV, who made him a subdeacon; and was created cardinal-priest of Santi Quattro Coronati by Pope Sergius II.[1]

Pontificate

In April 847, Leo was unanimously chosen to succeed Sergius II. As the attack of the Saracens on Rome in 846 caused the people to fear for the safety of the city, he was consecrated on 10 April, 847 without waiting for the consent of the emperor.[1]

Saracen defenses

He immediately began to repair the damage done to various churches of the city during the Arab raid against Rome. He restored and embellished the damaged Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls and St. Peter's Basilica. The latter's altar again received its gold covering (after being stolen), which weighed 206 lb. and was studded with precious gems. Following the restoration of St. Peter's, Leo appealed to the Christian kingdoms to confront the Arab raiders.[2]

Leo also took precautions against further raids. He put the walls of the city into a thorough state of repair, entirely rebuilding fifteen of the great towers. He was the first to enclose the Vatican hill by a wall. Leo ordered a new line of walls encompassing the suburb on the right bank of the Tiber to be built, including St. Peter's Basilica, which had been undefended until this time. The district enclosed by the walls is still known as the Leonine City, and corresponds to the later rione of Borgo. To do this, he received money from the emperor, and help from all the cities and agricultural colonies (domus cultae) of the Duchy of Rome. The work took him four years to accomplish, and the newly fortified portion was called the Leonine City, after him.[3]

Battle of Ostia
The Battle of Ostia, 1829 engraving

In 849, when a Saracen fleet from Sardinia approached Portus, Leo IV summoned the maritime republics – Naples, Gaeta and Amalfi – to form a league. The command of the unified fleet was given to Cesarius, son of Duke Sergius I of Naples. Aided by a fierce storm, the Saracen fleet was destroyed off Ostia.[1] The Battle of Ostia was one of the most famous in history of the Papacy of the Middle Ages and is celebrated in a famous fresco by Raphael and his pupils in his rooms of the Vatican Palace in the Vatican City.

Raphael's The Fire in the Borgo celebrates the incident in which, according to legend, Leo stopped a fire in the pilgrims' district by making the sign of the cross.

Leo IV held three synods, the one in 850 distinguished by the presence of Emperor Louis II, but the other two of little importance. In 863, he travelled to Ravenna to settle a dispute with the archbishop. As the archbishop was on good terms with Emperor Lothair I, the pope had little success.[4] The history of the papal struggle with Hincmar of Reims, which began during Leo's pontificate, belongs properly to that of Nicholas I.

Death and burial

Leo IV died on 17 July 855 and was succeeded by Benedict III.

Leo IV was originally buried in his own monument in St. Peter's Basilica. Some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained the first four popes named Leo. In the 18th century, the relics of Leo the Great were separated from his namesakes and given their own chapel.[5]

Iconography

Leo IV had the figure of a rooster placed on the Old St. Peter's Basilica or old Constantinian basilica[6] which has served as a religious icon and reminder of Peter's denial of Christ since that time, with some churches still having the cockerel on the steeple today. It is reputed that Pope Gregory I had previously said that the cock (rooster) "was the most suitable emblem of Christianity", being "the emblem of St Peter".[7][8] After Leo IV, Pope Nicholas I, who had been made a deacon by Leo IV, decreed that the figure of the cock (rooster) should be placed on every church.[9]

References
  1. Mann, Horace. "Pope St. Leo IV." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 September 2017
  2. Pierre Riche, The Carolingians:A Family who forged Europe, transl. Michael Idomir Allen, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), 175.
  3. Gregorovius, Ferdinand. History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 3, (Annie Hamilton, tr.), 1903 ch. III "The Leonine City" pp 95ff.
  4. Partner, Peter. The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance, University of California Press, 1972, p. 62, ISBN 9780520021815
  5. Reardon, Wendy. The deaths of the Popes.
  6. ST PETER'S BASILICA.ORG - Providing information on St. Peter's Basilica and Square in the Vatican City - The Treasury Museum
  7. John G. R. Forlong, Encyclopedia of Religions: A-d - Page 471
  8. The Antiquary: a magazine devoted to the study of the past, Volume 17 edited by Edward Walford, John Charles Cox, George Latimer Apperson - page 202
  9. How the Chicken Conquered the World - By Jerry Adler and Andrew Lawler - Smithsonian magazine, June 2012

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope St. Leo IV". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Sources
  • Cheetham, Nicolas, Keepers of the Keys, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983. ISBN 0-684-17863-X
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Sergius II		 Pope
847–855		 Succeeded by
Benedict III
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