Pope Saint Gregory II.
This File: 4 December 2006.
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His defiance of The Roman Emperor, Leo III the Isaurian, as a result of the iconoclastic controversy in the Eastern Empire, prepared the way for a long series of revolts, schisms, and civil wars that eventually led to the establishment of the temporal power of the Popes.
Born into a noble Roman family in the year 669 A.D.,[2] Gregory was the son of Marcellus and Honesta.[3] Gregory II was an alleged collateral ancestor to the Roman Savelli family,[4] according to a 15th-Century chronicler, but this is unattested in contemporary documents and very likely unreliable.
As a young man, he was placed in the Papal Court, and was made a Sub-Deacon and Sacellarius of The Roman See during the Pontificate of Pope Sergius I (687 A.D.–701 A.D.).
Later he was made a Deacon and placed in charge of the Vatican Library.[5] During Pope Constantine’s Pontificate, Gregory was made a Papal Secretary, and accompanied the Pope to Constantinople in 711 A.D. to deal with the issues raised by Rome’s rejection of the Canons of The Quinisext Council.[6]
After Pope Constantine’s death on 9 April 715 A.D., Gregory was elected Pope, and was Consecrated as Bishop of Rome on 19 May 715 A.D.[5]
Almost immediately, Gregory began the task of repairing Rome’s Aurelian Walls, beginning at the Porta Tiburtina.[5] Work on this task was delayed in October 716 A.D. when The River Tiber burst its banks and flooded Rome, causing immense damage and only receding after eight days.[5]
PART TWO FOLLOWS.