- Pope Stephen II
:"In sources prior to the 1960s, this pope is sometimes called "Stephen III" and
Pope-elect Stephen is sometimes called "Stephen II". SeePope-elect Stephen for detailed explanations."Infobox Pope
English name=Stephen II
term_start=March 26 ,752
term_end=April 26 ,757
predecessor=Zachary
successor=Paul I
birth_date=???
birthplace=???
dead=dead|death_date=death date|757|4|26|mf=y
deathplace=???
other=StephenPope Stephen II (d.
April 26 ,757 [Biagia Catanzaro, Francesco Gligora, "Breve Storia dei papi, da San Pietro a Paolo VI", Padova 1975, pag. 84] ) was apope of theRoman Catholic Church (752 - 757).The
Lombards to the north ofRome had capturedRavenna , former capital of theByzantine Empire exarchate , in 751, and began to put pressure on Rome. Relations were very strained in the mid-8th century between thepapacy and the Byzantine emperors of the Isaurian dynasty. Due to the fact that theByzantine Empire itself was beset by both theAbbasid Caliphate andBulgars , no help came fromConstantinople . Stephen turned toPepin the Younger , the recently crowned King of theFranks , and even traveled to Paris to plead for help in person. OnJanuary 6 ,754 , Stephen re-consecrated Pepin as king. In return, Pepin assumed the role of ordained protector of the Church and set his sights on the Lombards.Pepin invaded Italy twice to settle the Lombard problem and delivered the territory between
Rome andRavenna to the papacy, but left the Lombard kings in possession of their kingdom.Note
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