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Revision as of 07:16, 25 March 2006
| Pope Stephen II | |
|---|---|
| File:Vatican coa.png | |
| Installed | 752 |
| Term ended | April 27, 757 |
| Predecessor | Pope Zacharias |
| Successor | Saint Paul I |
| Personal details | |
| Born | ??? ??? |
| Died | April 27, 757 |
Stephen II (III) (d. April 27, 757) was a pope of the Roman Catholic Church (752 - 757). There is a problem in the numbering of popes named Stephen: see Stephen (ephemeral pope) for the explanation.
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, and the Byzantine Empire itself was beset by the Abbasid Caliphate and Bulgars; no help came from Constantinople. Stephen turned to Pippin 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 Pippin as king. In return, Pippin assumed the role of ordained protector of the Church and set his sights on the Lombards.
Pippin 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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