Also known as:
Spanish: León IV;
Italian: San Leone IV;
Latin: Leo IV Papa, Sanctus Leo IV
LEO IV, Pope, Saint. - He was ordainedpriest by Sergius II, who also elevated him to the cardinalate, with the title of the Sts. Quattro Coronati; he was elected pope on 27 Jan.
846 and consecrated at Easter (10 Apr.), without the ratification
of the emperor Lothair, to whom the gravity of the Roman situation was adduced as an excuse,
also on account of the very recent Saracen incursions (846). To remedy
these, L., taking up an old project, provided for beginning the restoration of the walls around the Vatican as far as Castel S. Angelo (848), creating
what was called after him the Leonine City, inaugurated
solemnly on 27 June 852. Following the victory over the Saracens (won in 849, near Ostia,
by the ships of Naples, Amalfi and Gaeta, which L. had
blessed, thus placing himself on the path that would lead
to holy war), the Pontiff was able to have a new port rebuilt
(Leopolis), to replace Centumcellae, destroyed by the infidels.
L.'s relations with the emperors could not have
been too good, given that he did not welcome imperial interference in the Holy See: in fact, after having consecrated Louis II (Apr. 850), he obtained from the Carolingians the
restoration of the canonical prescriptions concerning pontifical election.
Other and more serious frictions are revealed by the sudden coming to Rome of Louis II (855), who hastened there in order to prevent the party hostile to Frankish pre-eminence from scheming to obtain the intervention of Byzantium against the Saracens, with clear detriment to Carolingian influence. L. asserted on other occasions the high sense he had of pontifical dignity, not recognizing, for example, Hincmar of Reims as apostolic vicar for France and preventing the bishop of Ravenna from evading, with imperial favor, the rights of the Holy See. Died on 17 July 855.
LEO IV, pope, saint - Portrait of L. IV (with the square nimbus, signum viventis), detail of the fresco depicting the Ascension (847-55) - Rome, church of S. Clemente.(phot. Alinari)Bibliography5 worksActa SS. Iulii, IV, ed. Venice 1748, pp. 302-26; Lib. Pont., II, pp. 106-39, 148; L. Duchesne, Les premiers temps de l'Etat pontifical, Pari
BIBL.: Acta SS. Iulii, IV, ed. Venice 1748, pp. 302-26; Lib. Pont., II, pp. 106-39, 148; L. Duchesne, Les premiers temps de l'Etat pontifical, Paris 1911, pp. 216-28, Italian trans., Turin 1947, pp. 128-35; Mansi, XIV, coll. 852-1032; letters in MGH, Epistolae, V, Epist. Karol. aevi, III, pp. 585-612.
Gulli, Luciano. “Leone IV, papa, santo.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VII, coll. 1145–1146. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/leone-iv-papa-santo.
MLA
Gulli, Luciano. “Leone IV, papa, santo.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, coll. 1145–1146. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/leone-iv-papa-santo.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec7_leone_iv_papa_santo,
author = {Gulli, Luciano},
title = {Leone IV, papa, santo},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VII},
pages = {1145--1146},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/leone-iv-papa-santo}
}
One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.
Click or scroll to zoom · drag to pan · Esc to close
