Conon, Pope

CONONE, POPE. - When Giovanni V died in Aug. 686, the Romans found themselves divided over the election of his successor: the clergy wanted the archpriest Pietro, while the military class, assembled in S. Stefano sul Celio, supported the priest Teodoro. Only after lengthy negotiations did the two parties agree on the aged priest C., who was consecrated on 21 Oct. 686, with the approval of the exarch of Ravenna. The new Pope received from Constantinople a letter dated 17 Feb. 687, in which the emperor Giustiniano II informed him that he had convened an assembly of bishops and laymen before whom the acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council had been read; these had then been sealed by those present in order to prevent any falsification. C. appointed the deacon Costantino of Siracusa administrator of the patrimony of the Holy See in Sicily; this choice aroused lively displeasure among the Roman clergy. He died on 21 Sept. 687 after a pontificate of eleven months.