Pope Paul I

Who was Pope Paul I?

Pope Paul I was the head of the Catholic Church from 29 May 757 to his death in 767. He first served as a Roman deacon and was frequently employed by his brother, Pope Stephen II, in negotiations with the Lombard kings.

After Stephen's death on 26 April 757, Paul prevailed over a faction that wanted to place the Archdeacon Theophylact on the Holy See and was chosen his brother's successor by the majority that wished a continuation of the late pope's policy. The new pope's reign was dominated by relations with the Frankish and Lombard kings and with the Eastern emperor. He adopted an independent tone in informing the imperial Exarch in Ravenna of his election, but wrote to Pepin the Younger that the Frankish alliance should be maintained unimpaired, being possibly forced to this course by the Lombard king Desiderius. The Lombards held the cities of Imola, Osimo, Bologna, and Ancona, which were claimed by Rome, and in 758 seized upon the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento.

The same year he visited Rome and compelled Paul to write to Pepin asking him to concede all the Lombard Direct claims except that to Imola; another letter of exactly opposite tenor was sent by the same messenger. Pepin found it advisable to maintain good relations with Desiderius, and Paul apparently accomplished little by his double-dealing. Later, however, Pepin gave the pope some support and acted as arbiter between the Roman and Lombard claims.