A pope of the eighth century who began the alliance of the papacy and the Franks to liberate Rome from the threat of the Lombards. For the Pope’s letter of 739 to Charles Martel:
“Our affliction moves us to write to you once again, trusting that you are a loving son of St. Peter and of us, and that, from respect for him, you will come and defend the Church of God and His peculiar people, who are now unable to endure the persecution and oppression of the Lombards. They have seized the very means set aside to furnish funds for the lights ever kept burning at St. Peter s tomb, and they have carried off offerings that have been made by you and by those who have gone before you. And because, after God, we have turned to you, the Lombards deride and oppress us. Hence the Church of St. Peter has been stripped and reduced to the last straits. We have put into the mouth of the bearer of this letter, your faithful servant all our woes, which he will be able to unfold to you. Please come at once, to show your love towards St. Peter, and us, his own people.”
The influence of Martel deterred the Lombards from attacking Rome, and the crowning of Martel’s grandson Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor on December 25, 800 in Rome stems from this humble beginning.
