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Valentine
Mosaic portrait in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, Rome. Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Popes

Valentine

The 100th pope

Birthplace
Rome (the Via Lata district)
Pope from
August 827
Pope until
September 827
Died
September 827

Who he was

Valentine was a Roman from the Via Lata quarter who entered the Church's service as a boy. St Paschal I, who valued his piety, ordained him and made him archdeacon, and he kept that office under Eugene II. On Eugene's death he was chosen unanimously by clergy, nobles and people, and was found at prayer in St Mary Major's when they came for him.

What he is remembered for

He is remembered chiefly for the shortness of his reign: about forty days according to the Liber Pontificalis, barely a month according to the chronicler Einhard. Nothing is recorded of what he did as pope.

Sources

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