Pope Stephen VII

Template:Redirect Template:Pope Stephen ToP Dab Template:Infobox Christian leader Pope Stephen VII (Template:Langx; died 15 March 931)<ref>Archibald Bower, The History of the Popes: from the foundation of the See of Rome to A.D. 1758 (1845), pg. 311</ref> was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from February 929 to his death in 931. A candidate of the infamous Marozia, his pontificate occurred during the period known as the Saeculum obscurum.

Election

Stephen was a Roman<ref>Template:Citation</ref> by birth, the son of Germanic (Goth) Theodemundus/Theudemund.<ref name="m189">Mann, pg. 189</ref> He was the cardinal-priest of St Anastasia in Rome. He was probably handpicked by Marozia, the true ruler of Rome during the Saeculum obscurum, to become pope as a stop-gap measure until her own son John was ready to assume the role.<ref name="m189"/>

Pontificate

Very little is known about Stephen's pontificate. During his two years as pope, Stephen confirmed the privileges of a few religious houses in France and Italy.<ref name="m189"/> As a reward for helping free Stephen from the oppression of Hugh of Arles, Stephen granted Cante di Gabrielli the position of papal governor of Gubbio, and control over a number of key fortresses.<ref>Collegio araldico, Rivista, Volume 5 (1907), pg. 49</ref> Stephen was also noted for the severity with which he treated clergy who strayed in their morals.<ref>DeCormenin, Louis Marie; Gihon, James L., A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth (1857), pg. 287</ref> He was also, apparently, according to a hostile Greek source from the twelfth century, the first pope who went around clean shaved whilst pope.<ref>Mann, pg. 190</ref>

Stephen died around 15 March 931, and was succeeded by Marozia's son John XI.

References

• Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891-999 (1910)
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