Nicholas I

(d. 867)

   Saint and Pope.

   Nicholas was born into a noble Roman family and he was elected Pope in 858. His reign was dominated by the question of the primacy of Rome. The Eastern Emperor Michael III had deposed Ignatius from the See of Constantinople and had promoted photius. Nicholas refused to sanction this; he anathematised Photius and restored Ignatius. He also tried to win the Bulgars to allegiance to Rome rather than to Constantinople. In response, Photius declared Nicholas deposed in 867, but was himself removed the same year. In the West, Nicholas removed the Archbishops of Trier and Cologne from their sees when they supported the bigamous marriage of Lothair II of Lorraine. He deposed Archbishop John of Ravenna for violating papal property rights and he made use of the False Decretals in 865, knowing them to be false. These upheld his authority; they were attributed to St isidore, but were, in fact, compiled in France in c. 850. He is also remembered for supporting the endeavours of the missionaries cyril and methodius. Nicholas emerges as one of the more imperious of the early mediaeval Popes. His success in increasing the prestige of Rome was a large factor in his canonisation.

   F. Dvornik, The Photian Schism (1948);

   J. Haller, Nikolaus I und Pseudo-Isidor (1936) [no English translation available].