Who he was
Eugene was archpriest of Santa Sabina on the Aventine, a post he was said to have filled with great care. After St Paschal I died the election was divided, and the Roman nobles, who leaned on the Franks, carried their man, Eugene, over the clergy's candidate. His biographer remembered him as simple, humble, learned and eloquent, a lover of peace.
What he is remembered for
With Lothair, son of the Emperor Louis the Pious, he agreed the Constitutio Romana of 824, which set out how Rome was to be governed and papal elections held under imperial protection. His Roman council of 826 ordered that schools and teachers be set up at cathedrals and other churches, and that unlearned priests stop work until they had studied. He commended St Ansgar, the apostle of Scandinavia, to the whole Church.
Sources
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