Book contents
- Rome in the Ninth Century
- British School at Rome Studies
- Rome in the Ninth Century
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Ninth-century Popes
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Rome in 800: The Pontificate of Leo III
- 3 Paschal I, the Church of Santa Prassede and the Question of a ‘Carolingian Renovatio’ in Rome
- 4 Paschal I: Other Projects
- 5 Eugenius II, Gregory IV and Sergius II
- 6 The Gathering Storm: The Pontificate of Pope Leo IV (847–55)
- 7 Benedict III, Nicholas I and Hadrian II, and the Continuing ‘Greek’ Presence in Rome
- 8 The Last Hurrah: John VIII (872–82)
- 9 ‘Not with a Bang but a Whimper’
- Afterword
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - ‘Not with a Bang but a Whimper’
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 October 2023
- Rome in the Ninth Century
- British School at Rome Studies
- Rome in the Ninth Century
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Ninth-century Popes
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Rome in 800: The Pontificate of Leo III
- 3 Paschal I, the Church of Santa Prassede and the Question of a ‘Carolingian Renovatio’ in Rome
- 4 Paschal I: Other Projects
- 5 Eugenius II, Gregory IV and Sergius II
- 6 The Gathering Storm: The Pontificate of Pope Leo IV (847–55)
- 7 Benedict III, Nicholas I and Hadrian II, and the Continuing ‘Greek’ Presence in Rome
- 8 The Last Hurrah: John VIII (872–82)
- 9 ‘Not with a Bang but a Whimper’
- Afterword
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter documents the precipitous collapse of the fortunes of the papacy, and the Roman Church more generally, following the murder of John VIII in 882. A series of short-lived pontiffs must devote their energy to attempts to protect the city of Rome from physical assault, but the loss of any semblance of security in the surrounding hinterland leads to an economic collapse reflected in the archaeological record, the apparent absence of new building projects or significant gifts of precious objects, and also the discontinuation of the series of papal biographies (Liber pontificalis). The one exception is the Life of Stephen V (885–891), and this reveals the complete impoverishment of the papal treasury. The pope is reduced to making gifts of books, and this leads to a substantial discussion of what is known about book culture in Rome in the ninth century.
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- Rome in the Ninth CenturyA History in Art, pp. 235 - 262Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023