STEPHEN III (IV), Pope.- He ascended the papal throne on August 1 and was consecrated on August 7, 768; he died on January 24, 772. Since Constantine II had obtained the tiara through a coup d'état, the primicerius Christopher decided to snatch it from him.
After conferring with Desiderius, king of the Lombards, Christopher marched on Rome. Having entered the city through treachery, he gathered the entire Roman population in the forum and made them accept the candidacy of the Sicilian priest S. (August 1, 768), who was consecrated bishop on the 7th of the same month. He was a worthy man whom Christopher intended to dominate. There also remained the matter of obtaining the sanction of Charles and Carloman, sons of Pepin the Short. Christopher's envoy ably defended the cause in favor of S. III and knew how to persuade the two princes of the expediency of his holding a Council at which the Frankish episcopate would appear and at which the fortunes of the antipope Constantine II would be crushed.
The conciliar assembly was held at the Lateran (April 769); all the acts of Constantine were declared null, the ordinations performed by him invalid, and the Sacraments administered by him without effect, with the exception of Baptism; and he was sentenced to relegation in a monastery. Measures were taken accordingly, and very severe ones: henceforth only cardinal priests and deacons would be eligible for the pontificate, and only ecclesiastical persons would be electors. The army and the laity contented themselves with paying homage to the elect and ratifying his election. Every precaution was taken against the abuse of force. The Council further declared legitimate the cult rendered to the images of the Saints, of the Savior, or of the Blessed Virgin, and promulgated the anathema against anyone who professed a contrary doctrine.
Meanwhile S. III barely tolerated Christopher's interference in the conduct of the Church's affairs, and King Desiderius had not forgotten the way in which he had been outwitted by him during the fall of Constantine II. The two consulted together in Rome during Lent of 771. What part did the Pope have in the death of the primicerius? By his own account he was not responsible; the fault fell upon the victim, who had fomented disorders in Rome, and upon his enemies. In reality he would have saved Christopher's life had he taken him under his protection.
Desiderius disappointed the Pope's expectations by refusing him the satisfactions he demanded. S. III died on February 3, 772.
Bibliography2 works
L. Duchesne, Les premiers temps de l'Etat Pontifical, 3rd ed., Paris 1911, pp. 110-32; Fliche-Martin-Frutz, VI, nos. 20-44.
Guglielmo Mollat