Gregory III

Pope Gregory III, known in Latin as Gregorius III, was bishop of Rome from 731 until his death in 741. The Liber Pontificalis identifies him as a Syrian by origin (natione Syrus), the son of a man named John; neither a precise birthplace within Syria nor a documented year of birth survives in the sources. He was elected by the clergy and people of Rome on 11 February 731, after the death of Pope Gregory II, and consecrated later that spring. He is generally regarded as the last pope to seek confirmation of his election from the Byzantine authorities in Italy, a remaining formality of Rome’s place within the Eastern Roman political order. Of Eastern birth, he was also the last pope born outside Europe until the twenty-first century.

The principal religious conflict of his pontificate was Byzantine iconoclasm, the policy against the veneration of images associated with Emperor Leo III. Gregory opposed the imperial edicts. In November 731 he convened a synod in Rome which condemned iconoclasm and declared the destruction of sacred images an offence carrying excommunication. He attempted to send this decision to Constantinople, though contemporary papal biography reports that his envoys were intercepted. In Rome he promoted the honour of images and relics. He built an oratory in Old St. Peter’s Basilica dedicated to the Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints, furnishing it with decoration and with relics gathered from many regions, and he associated this foundation with the Western observance of a feast of All Saints.

Gregory took an active interest in the church beyond Italy. He supported the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface among the Germanic peoples and in 732 conferred on him the pallium and the rank of archbishop, with authority to organize dioceses in Bavaria and to establish and reform the church in the German lands. In Italy his pontificate was marked by Lombard expansion. King Liutprand occupied papal territories, including the stronghold of Gallese, and threatened Rome. Unable to obtain effective military aid from the Byzantine exarchate, Gregory turned to the Franks. He sent an embassy to Charles Martel, mayor of the palace, with gifts that included keys associated with the tomb of St. Peter and an appeal for protection. Charles received the envoys with honour but did not send an army into Italy during Gregory’s lifetime. The appeal nonetheless marked a lasting reorientation of papal diplomacy toward the Frankish west rather than toward Constantinople.

As a builder and restorer, Gregory repaired and embellished a number of Roman churches, among them Santa Maria Maggiore and San Crisogono, and he further decorated St. Peter’s. He died in Rome on 28 November 741 and was buried in the oratory he had founded in St. Peter’s Basilica. He was succeeded by Pope Zachary. The Catholic Church venerates him as a saint; his feast is kept on 28 November, the anniversary of his death. Evidence for his life is limited largely to the Liber Pontificalis, scattered papal correspondence, and notices connected with Boniface and with Frankish and Lombard affairs. Many personal details, including the date of his birth, remain unknown.