Pope John VII

For the Coptic pope, see Pope John VII of Alexandria.

Pope John VII

Papacy began	1 March 705
Papacy ended	18 October 707
Predecessor	John VI
Successor	Sisinnius
Personal details
Born	650 Rossano in Calabria, Byzantine Empire
Died	18 October 707(707-10-18)
Other popes named John

Pope John VII (Latin: Ioannes VII; c. 650 – 18 October 707) was Pope from 1 March 705 to his death in 707.^[1] The successor of John VI, he was (like his predecessor) of Greek ancestry.^[2] He is one of the popes of the Byzantine captivity.

Biography

John was a native of Rossano in Calabria.^[2]^[3] His father, Plato (c. 620 – 686), was imperial cura palatii urbis Romae, or curator of the Palatine Hill. This makes John the first pope to be the son of a Byzantine official.^[4] His mother was called Blatta (c. 627 – 687).^[4] His paternal grandfather was Theodorus Chilas (c. 600 – aft. 655), a Senator in 655.^[5]

John VII had good relations with the Lombards, who then ruled much of Italy. However, his relations with Justinian II, the Byzantine Emperor, were far from smooth. Papal relations with Byzantium had soured over the Quinisext (or Trullan) council of 692. Scholarly debate contests John VII's stance on the Canons.^[6]^[7]^[8] He did not ratify the Canons, which were deeply unpopular in Italy. Nonetheless, he was criticized, most unusually, by the Liber Pontificalis for not signing them:

He [Emperor Justinian II] despatched two metropolitan bishops, also sending with them a mandate in which he requested and urged the pontiff [John VII] to gather a council of the apostolic church, and to confirm such of them as he approved, and quash and reject those which were adverse. But he, terrified in his human weakness, sent them back to the prince by the same metropolitans without any emendations at all.^[9]

Several monuments in Rome are connected with John. The most notable is the Church of St. Maria Antiqua at the foot of the Palatine Hill. Traces of an episcopal palace Episcopium associated with John have been discovered upon the Palatine.^[10] John VII also constructed an Oratory dedicated to the Theotokos. The Oratory was located within the Old basilica of St. Peter. Fragments of the mosaic decoration can be found in the Vatican grottoes. Furthermore, a sizeable icon, known as the Madonna della Clemenza and housed in Santa Maria in Trastevere, is believed to have been commissioned under the patronage of John.^[11] He also restored the monastery of Subiaco, destroyed by the Lombards in 601.

John VII died 18 October, 707 and was buried in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary which had been added on to St. Peter's.^[12] He was succeeded by Sisinnius.

Notes

↑ "Pope John VII". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
↑ 2.0 2.1 Murzaku, Ines Angeli (2009). Returning home to Rome: the Basilian monks of Grottaferrata in Albania. Analekta Kryptoferris. p. 47. ISBN 9788889345047. Rossano, a town in southern Italy, which is probably the birthplace of another well-known Greek figure, Pope John VII who reigned in the See of St. Peter for two years (705–707)
↑ Hare, Augustus J. C. (2007). Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily. READ BOOKS. pp. 344–345. ISBN 9781406782127. Pope John VII. (705–707) was a native of Rossano.
↑ 4.0 4.1 Kelly, J. N. D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 84.
↑ Bernd Josef Jansen Genealogy. RootsWeb.com.
↑ Breckenridge, J. D. "Evidence for the Nature of Relations between Pope John VII and the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II". Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Vol. 65, 1972.
↑ Nordhagen, P. J. "Constantinople on the Tiber".
↑ Smith, J. M. H. (ed.). Early Medieval Rome and the Christian West. Leiden, 2000.
↑ Davis, R. The Book of Pontiffs: the ancient biographies of the first ninety Roman bishops to AD 715. Liverpool University Press, 2000, p. 91.
↑ Augenti, A. Il Palatino nel Medioevo. Roma, 1996.
↑ Nordhagen, J. P. "Icons designed for the display of sumptuous votive gifts". Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 41, 1988.
↑ Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, (HarperCollins, 1997), 117.

References

A mosaic of Pope John VII.

Claudio Rendina, I Papi. Storia e segreti, Newton Compton, Rome, 1984.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John VII (pope)". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by John VI	Pope 705–707	Succeeded by Sisinnius

Popes of the Catholic Church

List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect

1st–4th centuries	Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I

5th–8th centuries	Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III

9th–12th centuries	Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III

13th–16th centuries	Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII

17th–20th centuries	Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II

21st century	Benedict XVI Francis

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