Pope Leo XIII (Italian: Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-oldest-serving pope, and the third-longest-lived pope in history, before Pope Benedict XVI as Pope emeritus, and had the fourth-longest …

Pope Leo I (c. 400 – 10 November 461), also known as Leo the Great, was bishop of Rome from 29 September 440 until his death. Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history.". Leo was a Roman aristocrat, and was the first pope to have been called "the Great".He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun …

Pope Leo III (died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him emperor.The coronation was not approved by most people in Constantinople, although the Byzantines, …

Pope John I (Latin: Ioannes I; died 18 May 526) was the bishop of Rome from 13 August 523 to his death. He was a native of Siena (or the "Castello di Serena", near Chiusdino), in Italy.He was sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople by the Ostrogoth King Theoderic to negotiate better treatment for Arians. Although John was relatively successful, upon his return to …

Pope Sylvester I (also Silvester, 285 – 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The accounts of his pontificate preserved in the seventh- or eighth-century Liber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to …

Pope Nicholas I (Latin: Nicolaus I; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting decisive influence on the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe.

Pope Agatho (died January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 until his death. He heard the appeal of Wilfrid of York, who had been displaced from his see by the division of the archdiocese ordered by Theodore of Canterbury.During Agatho's tenure, the Sixth Ecumenical Council was convened to deal with monothelitism.He is venerated as a saint by both the …

Pope Felix I was the bishop of Rome from 5 January 269 to his death on 30 December 274. Life and works. A Roman by birth, Felix was chosen to be pope on 5 January 269, in succession to Dionysius, who had died on 26 December 268. Felix was the author of an important dogmatic letter on the unity of Christ's Person. ...

Pope Paul III (Latin: Paulus III; Italian: Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant …

Pope Benedict XIII (Latin: Benedictus XIII; Italian: Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in February 1730.. A Dominican friar, Orsini focused on his religious responsibilities as bishop rather than on papal ...