Benedict IV, Pope

BENEDICT IV, Pope. - Roman, son of Mammolus, he succeeded John IX (d. at the beginning of 900) and continued his prudent and discreet attitude. He had been ordained priest by Pope Formosus and remained faithful to his memory, recognizing its legitimacy at the Lateran Council of 30 Aug. 900. The most important event of his pontificate was the imperial coronation of Louis III of Provence (15 or 22 Feb. 901), whom some lords had invited to Italy against Berengar I. The documents record certain acts of B.: he confirmed to Angrino, bishop of Langres, the pallium granted to him by Pope Formosus (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 3527-28); he excommunicated the murderer of Folco, archbishop of Reims; he invested with the see of Naples Stephen, formerly bishop of Sorrento; he issued to Malacenus, bishop of Amasea, expelled by the Saracens, a document guaranteeing him protection and aid. He confirmed the privileges of the abbey of Fulda. He died toward the end of July 903. The suspicions that he was poisoned by the partisans of Berengar do not stand up to sound criticism. He was buried in St. Peter's. The historian and poet Flodoard (894-966) says that he was generous and kindly and loved with constant goodness, almost as though they were his own children, desolate widows, the poor and the abandoned (PL 135, 831).

Ireneo Daniele