A.D. 827.

 

 

EMPERORS OF THE EAST.                                  EMPEROR OF THE WEST.

 

Leo VI (the Armenian), 813-820.                            Louis I the Pious, 814-840.

Michael II (the Stammerer), 820-829.

 

As the period of the vacancy of the Holy See on the death of Eugenius is nowhere stated by our authorities, it can only be laid down as probable that Valentine was elected soon after the death of his predecessor.

He was of that city which, his biographer proudly notes, “holds the dignity of the chief priesthood and of the royal power”, and came of noble and pious parents. His father’s name is given as Leontius, and the place of his birth as the region of the Via Lata, at this time the aristocratic quarter of Rome. From his earliest years he gave every sign of a good heart, and of an extraordinary ability. The vain and wicked pleasures of the young nobles were shunned by him. But, under skilled masters, he devoted himself to the acquisition of sacred and profane learning. The beautifying effect of this training on his mind showed itself in his words and works.

Pope Paschal, moved by the fame of the youth’s excellent character, brought him from the school attached to the Lateran palace, ordained him subdeacon, and kept him near him. On account of his conspicuous qualities of mind, heart, and person, he entertained a more than ordinary regard for him, and finally made him archdeacon of the Roman Church. Valentine found the same favor in the eyes of Eugenius, who treated him as his own son.

On the death of the last-named Pontiff, there gathered together in the Lateran “the venerables bishops, the glorious nobles, and all the people of the city”. With one accord they cried out, “Valentine, the most holy archdeacon, is worthy of the Apostolic See; Valentine must be made Pope!” All then hurried off to the Church of St. Mary Major, where they found the object of their search in prayer. No notice was taken of his long and earnest declarations that he was utterly unworthy of so great a dignity. He was declared duly elected.

Then, in reversion of the usual order, as had also happened in the case of Benedict III, he was enthroned before he was consecrated. For we are told that, with every manifestation of joy and honor, Valentine was escorted to the Lateran palace and seated on the pontifical throne. His feet were duly kissed “by the whole Roman senate”, and early on the first suitable day he was consecrated in St. Peter’s. As no mention is made of the presence of the imperial missi, it may be presumed that they were not there. After the consecration was over, the Pope gave a splendid banquet and presents to the whole electoral body.

The election of Valentine was another triumph for the nobility. Not only did they secure the nomination of one pontifical of their own body, but it is again recorded that they themselves took part in the election. By the decree of the Roman Council of 769, under Stephen (III) IV, it had been definitely laid down that the choice of the Pope was to be in the hands of the clergy alone, that anyone who opposed their rights in this matter was to be anathematized, and that only after he had been chosen and enthroned were the nobility and the rest of the laity to come to salute him “as the lord of all”. But now we see “the party of the nobles gaining the upper hand” and once more claiming a voice in the election of the popes. Even if they did not secure their point in the time of Eugenius II, they certainly did in the days of Nicholas I. The share they secured in the ninth century became the preponderating one in the tenth. And the way in which they then exercised their sway was the best justification for their being finally deprived, in the eleventh century, of all the position they had secured.

Unfortunately the prosperous reign that might have been looked for after such a promising beginning was destined never to be realized. By a precious death, Valentine went to meet his Lord after a reign of from thirty to forty days.