Pope John VI

Pope John VI (Template:Langx; 655Template:Snd11 January 705) was the bishop of Rome from 30 October 701 to his death on 11 January 705. John VI was a Greek from Ephesus who reigned during the Byzantine Papacy. His papacy was noted for military and political breakthroughs on the Italian Peninsula. He was succeeded by Pope John VII after a vacancy of less than two months.<ref name="e246">Ekonomou, 2007, p. 246.</ref> The body of the pope was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica.

Greek papacy

A Greek from Ephesus, John VI succeeded Sergius I. His selection occurred after a vacancy of less than seven weeks.

John assisted Exarch Theophylactos, who had been sent to Italy by Emperor Tiberius III,<ref>M. Benedik: Papeži od Petra do Janeza Pavla II., Mohorjeva družba Celje 1989. Page 69.</ref> and prevented him from using violence against the Romans.<ref name="EB1911">Template:Cite EB1911</ref> John VI's interventions prevented Theophylactos from being injured, having come to Rome to "cause trouble for the pontiff".<ref>Ekonomou, 2007, p. 270.</ref>

In 704, after being expelled, yet again, from his see, the elderly Bishop Wilfrid of York went to Rome and pleaded his case "before the apostolic Pope John [VI]".<ref name="e245">Ekonomou, 2007, p. 245.</ref> Wilfrid had visited Rome in 654 and 679 and witnessed the progressive transformation of the Church administration to a Greek-dominated hierarchy. Because of this, John VI convened a synod of Greek-speaking bishops to hear Wilfrid's cause, a linguistic hurdle that much perturbed Wilfrid.<ref name="e245"/> Nonetheless, the synod exonerated Wilfrid, restored him to his see, which he occupied until his death in 709, and sent him back with letters for King Æthelred of Mercia for papal mandates to be implemented.<ref name="e245"/> John also sent the pallium to Berhtwald, whom Sergius I had confirmed as archbishop of Canterbury.<ref name="newadvent.org"/>

Relations with Lombards

John succeeded in inducing Duke Gisulf I of Benevento to withdraw from the territories of the empire through tactics of persuasion and bribery.<ref name="EB1911"/> According to some sources, he "single-handedly convinced the Lombard duke Gisulf of Benevento to withdraw his forces and return home" after the duke had devastated the neighboring Campanian countryside and constructed an encampment within sight of the city walls of Rome.<ref name="e248">Ekonomou, 2007, p. 248.</ref> Distressed at the sufferings of the people, Pope John sent a number of priests furnished with money into the camp of the Lombard duke to ransom all the captives whom Gisulf had taken.<ref name="newadvent.org">Mann, Horace. "Pope John VI." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 25 October 2017</ref>

Other significant events during John VI's pontificate include the Lombard king Aripert II returning the Cottian Alps to their former status as a papal patrimony.<ref name="e248"/> Numerous construction projects also occurred, including a new ambon in the Basilica of St. Andrew the Apostle, a new altar cloth for San Marco, and "suspended diaphonous white veils between the columns on either side of the altar in San Paolo."<ref name="e248"/> John VI also promoted easterners within the episcopal hierarchy, including Boniface, the papal counselor.<ref name="e245"/>

References

• Ekonomou, Andrew J. 2007. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern influences on Rome and the papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Lexington Books.