**STEPHEN III (IV), Pope.**—Ascended to the pontifical throne on 1 August and was consecrated on 7 August 768; died on 24 January 772. After Constantine II had obtained the tiara by a coup d’état, the primicerius Christopher decided to wrest it from him.
Having conferred with the Lombard king Desiderius, Christopher marched against Rome. By treachery he entered the city, assembled the entire Roman populace in the forum, and induced them to accept the candidacy of the Sicilian priest STEPHEN (consecrated on 1 August 768), who was consecrated bishop on the 7th of the same month. He was a worthy man whom Christopher intended to dominate. Moreover, it remained to secure the sanction of Charles and Carloman, sons of Pepin the Short. Christopher’s envoy ably defended Stephen’s cause and persuaded the two princes of the expediency of summoning a council where Stephen would appear as the Frankish candidate and where the fortunes of the antipope Constantine II would be shattered.
The council met at the Lateran in April 769. All acts of Constantine were declared null, his ordinations invalid, and the sacraments administered by him—baptism alone excepted—rendered ineffective; he was condemned to confinement in a monastery. Grave measures were taken: only cardinal priests and deacons would henceforth be eligible for the papacy, and only ecclesiastics would take part in the election. The army and laity were to render homage to the elector and ratify his choice. Every precaution was taken against the abuse of force. The council moreover declared legitimate the veneration of images of the saints, of the Saviour, and of the Blessed Virgin, and pronounced anathema against anyone who taught otherwise.
Meanwhile Stephen III chafed under Christopher’s interference in the conduct of Church affairs, and King Desiderius had not forgotten how he had been outmaneuvered during Constantine II’s downfall. Both consulted together in Rome during Lent 771. What part did the pope play in the primicerius’s death? He claimed no responsibility; the fault lay with the victim, who had fomented disorders in Rome, and with his enemies. In reality he would have saved Christopher’s life had he placed him under his protection.
Desiderius disappointed the pope’s expectations by refusing the satisfaction he demanded. Stephen III died on 3 February 772.
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