A look at other popes who took name of Benedict

4/20/2005 - 4:00 AM PST

Advertisment

By Catholic Online

Benedict, the name of the new pope, is one of the more frequent choices made by pontiffs. A look at the previous Benedicts:

575-579 - Benedict I: Italian. Died in a siege of Rome during the Lombard invasions.

684-685- Benedict II: Italian. A scholar who worked to aid the poor. The patron saint of Europe.

855-858- Benedict III: Italian. Interceded in the conflicts between the sons of French leader Lothair I.

900-903 - Benedict IV: Italian. Crowned Emperor Louis III (the Blind) as Holy Roman Emperor.

964-965 - Benedict V: Italian. Abducted by Holy Roman Emperor Otto and taken to Germany, where he died.

973-974 -Benedict VI: Italian. Imprisoned and strangled by a faction of an opposing papal party.

974-983 -Benedict VII: Italian. Supported monasteries and higher learning.

1012-1024 - Benedict VIII: Italian. Faced an opposing candidate for pope and was enthroned by Henry II of Germany, whom he crowned Holy Roman Emperor. During his papacy, the Muslim Saracens attacked Europe and settled in Sicily.

1047-unknown- Benedict IX: Pope at 20 because of family connections. Was designated pope three times, forced from the papal throne twice and abdicated once. Finally deposed by Damasus II.

1058-1059 - Benedict X: Italian. Election deemed irregular because of vote-rigging, and his papacy was ruled illegitimate. Was deposed and excommunicated a year later.

1303-1304 - Benedict XI: Italian. Reigned for eight months and likely died of poison. His successor moved the papacy to Avignon, France, where it stayed for 72 years.

1334-1342 - Benedict XII: French. Before his election, he pursued heretics. As pope, he attempted to curb luxuries in monasteries and engaged in theological discussions.

1724-1730 - Benedict XIII: Italian. A strict disciplinarian who instituted reforms but was weak in international relations.

1740-1758 - Benedict XIV: Italian. Investigated the Jesuits, condemned the French playwright Voltaire and clarified rules on baptism, including forbidding forcible baptism of Jews.

1914-1922 - Benedict XV: Italian. Called for peace during World War I and canonized Joan of Arc. Emphasized training native priests instead of European missionaries.

Contact

Catholic Online
http://www.catholic.org CA, US
Catholic Online - Publisher, 661 869-1000

Email

info@yourcatholicvoice.org

Keywords

Pope, Benedict, vatican, Conclave, Ratzinger

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

0 Comments

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment