Pope John VII

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John VII
Birth name	???
Papacy began	March 1, 705
Papacy ended	October 18, 707
Predecessor	John VI
Successor	Sisinnius
Born	??? Rossano di Calabria, Greece
Died	October 18, 707 ???
Other popes named John

John VII (died October 18, 707) was pope from 705 to 707. The successor of John VI, he was (like his predecessor) of Greek nationality. His origins are unclear. Allegedly he emanated from Rossano in Calabria, although Constantinople would be a plausible alternative. He is one of the popes of the Byzantine captivity.

John’s father, Plato, was cura palatii urbis Romae, or curator of the Palatine Hill. This makes John the first pope to be the son of a Byzantine official.^[1] His mother was called Blatta.^[2]

John VII had good relations with the Lombards, who then ruled much of Italy. However, his relations with Justinian II, the Byzantine Emperor, were far from smooth. Papal relations with Byzantium had soured over the Quinisext or Trullan council of 692. Scholarly debate contests John VII's stance on the Canons.^[3] He did not ratify the Canons, which were deeply unpopular in Italy. Nonetheless, he was criticized, most unusually, by the Liber Pontificalis for not signing them:

He [Emperor Justinian II] despatched two metropolitan bishops, also sending with them a mandate in which he requested and urged the pontiff [John VII] to gather a council of the apostolic church, and to confirm such of them as he approved, and quash and reject those which were adverse. But he, terrified in his human weakness, sent them back to the prince by the same metropolitans without any emendations at all.^[4]

Several monuments in Rome are connected with John. The most notable is the Church of St. Maria Antiqua at the foot of the Palatine Hill. Upon the Palatine traces of an episcopal palace, or Episcopium, associated with John have been discovered.^[5] John VII also constructed an Oratory dedicated to the Theotokos. The Oratory was located within the Old basilica of St. Peter. Fragments of the mosaic decoration can be found in the Vatican grottoes. Furthermore, a sizeable icon, known as the Maddona della Clemenza and housed in Santa Maria in Trastevere, is believed to have been commissioned under the patronage of John.^[6] He also restored the monastery of Subiaco, destroyed by the Lombards in 601.

John VII died in 707 and was buried in St. Peter's. He was succeeded by Sisinnius.

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by John VI	Pope 705–707	Succeeded by Sisinnius

v • d • e Popes of the Roman Catholic Church Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II Currently: Benedict XVI

[edit] References

1. ^ Kelly, J. N. D., The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 84
2. ^ Kelly, J. N. D., The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 84
3. ^ Breckenridge, J. D., ‘Evidence for the Nature of Relations between Pope John VII and the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II’, in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, vol. 65, 1972 and Nordhagen, P. J., ‘Constantinople on the Tiber’, in Smith, J. M. H. (ed.), Early Medieval Rome and the Christian West, Leiden, 2000
4. ^ Davis, R., The Book of Pontiffs: the ancient biographies of the first ninety Roman bishops to AD 715, Liverpool University Press 2000, p. 91
5. ^ Augenti, A., Il Palatino nel Medioevo, Roma, 1996
6. ^ Nordhagen, J. P., ‘Icons designed for the display of sumptuous votive gifts’, in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, 1988

• Claudio Rendina, I Papi. Storia e segreti, Newton Compton, Rome, 1984.
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.