Pope Stephen II

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In sources prior to the 1960s, this pope is sometimes called Stephen III and Pope-elect Stephen is sometimes called Stephen II. See Pope-elect Stephen for detailed explanations.

Pope Stephen II (d. April 26, 757) was a pope of the Roman Catholic Church (752 - 757).

The Lombards to the north of Rome had captured Ravenna, former capital of the Byzantine Empire exarchate, in 751, and began to put pressure on Rome. Relations were very strained in the mid-8th century between the papacy and the Byzantine emperors of the Isaurian dynasty. Due to the fact that the Byzantine Empire itself was beset by both the Abbasid Caliphate and Bulgars, no help came from Constantinople. Stephen turned to Pepin the Younger, the recently crowned King of the Franks, and even traveled to Paris to plead for help in person. On January 6, 754, Stephen re-consecrated Pepin as king. In return, Pepin assumed the role of ordained protector of the Church and set his sights on the Lombards.

Pepin invaded Italy twice to settle the Lombard problem and delivered the territory between Rome and Ravenna to the papacy, but left the Lombard kings in possession of their kingdom.

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Last updated on Friday February 22, 2008 at 09:46:49 PST (GMT -0800)
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