February 11: Pope Paschal I

Pope Paschal I was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 25 January 817 to his death in 824.

Paschal was a member of an aristocratic Roman family. Before his election to the papacy, he was abbot of St. Stephen’s monastery, which served pilgrims. In Rome in 823 he crowned Lothair I as Holy Roman Emperor. He rebuilt a number of churches in Rome, including three basilicas.

Paschal became pope on 25 January 817, just one day after the sudden death of Stephen IV. This decision was made without the sanction of Emperor Louis the Pious. Paschal began his pontificate apologizing for this slight, stressing that the office had been thrust upon him. He claimed that the decision had been made to avoid factional strife in Rome.

Paschal rebuilt three basilicas of Rome: Santa Prassede, Santa Maria in Domnica, and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. These churches contain mosaics with lifelike portraits of Paschal. Paschal is credited with finding the body of Saint Cecilia in the Catacomb of Callixtus and translating it to rebuild the basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. Paschal also undertook significant renovations on Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In addition, Paschal added two oratories to Old St. Peter’s Basilica, SS. Processus et Martinianus and SS. Xistus et Fabianus, which did not survive the 16th century renovation of St. Peter’s.

Paschal is also sometimes credited with the renovation of Santo Stefano del Cacco in early modern sources, but this renovation was actually undertaken by Pope Paschal II.

According to Goodson, Paschal “used church-building to express the authority of the papacy as an independent state.”

Paschal died on 11 February 824. The Roman Curia refused him the honour of burial within St. Peter’s Basilica because of his harsh government of the Roman people. He was instead buried in the Basilica of Santa Prassede, which also contains the famous Episcopa Theodora mosaic of his mother.

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