Saints celebrated on the 30th of July
BENEDICT IV., POPE
Pope Benedict IV (c. 840 - July 30, 903) sat on the papal throne from February 1, 900 to his death. The tenth-century historian Flodoard, who nicknamed him "the Great", commended his noble birth and public generosity. (1)
Benedict IV, a Roman and the son of Mammalus, became pope in the first half of 900. His high birth, his generosity, his zeal for the public good are loudly commended by the contemporary historian Frodoard, who gives him the title of "Great".
The principal historic act of his reign was his crowning Louis the Blind as emperor. He supported the decision of Pope Formosus, who had ordained him priest, in favour of Argrim's claim to the See of Langres, upheld the cause of Stephen, Bishop of Naples, excommunicated the assassin of Fulk, Archbishop of Reims, and offered practical sympathy to Malacenus, Bishop of Amasia, who had been driven from his see by the advances of the Saracens. Fulda and other monasteries received privileges from him. He was buried in front of St Peter's near the gate of Guido.
The Popes Benedict from the fourth to the ninth inclusive belong to the darkest period of papal history. The reigns of several of them were very short, and very little is known about their deeds. The dates of their accession to the See of Peter and of their deaths are largely uncertain.
The most important source for the history of the first nine popes who bore the name of Benedict is the biographies in the Liber Pontificalis, of which the most useful edition is that of Duchesne, Le Liber Pontificalis (Paris, 1886-92), and the latest that of Mommsen, Gesta Pontif. Roman. (to the end of the reign of Constantine only, Berlin, 1898). (2)
Sources:
(1) Wikipedia
(2) Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913
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