Easter I

Paschalius I was born in Rome into an aristocratic family and was the son of Bonoz and Bishops Theodora . For a long time, he served as the abbot of the monastery of Santo Stefano Rotondo , until he was unanimously elected to the papal throne less than a day after the death of Pope Stephen IV. Paschal I tried to unite the secular and ecclesiastical power in his hands and took a sharply negative position in relation to Louis I the Pious .

The decision to elect the pope was made without the permission of Emperor Louis I the Pious , and the first thing the new pope tried to smooth out the situation. Paschalius I wrote to the emperor that the decision to elect him as pope was made without the consent of the emperor in order to avoid the struggle of factions in Rome. The letter was delivered by the papal legate Theodore, who returned with a document called Pactum cum Pashali pontiff , in which the emperor congratulated Paschal I, recognized his sovereignty over the Papal region and guaranteed free elections for future popes ^[2] . This document was disputed by later historians and began to be considered a fake ^[3] , since the relationship of Easter I with the emperor was never cordial. Pope was even accused of torturing supporters of Louis I, but he denied his guilt.

Paschalius I received in Rome Greek monks who fled from the Byzantine iconoclasm , and invited artists to decorate the temples in Rome with mosaics ^[2] . Thanks to these mosaics, he remains the most recognizable of the early medieval popes: he is depicted on mosaics in the apse of the churches of Santa Prasseda , Santa Maria in Domnica and Santa Cecilia in Trastevere . Paschal I is credited with finding the body of Saint Cecilia in the catacombs of Callistus and the construction of the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and the Church of Santa Maria in Domnik .

Paschal I took care of missionary work in the Scandinavian countries . In 822 , he granted the status of his legate in Scandinavia to Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims. He empowered him to preach to the Danes, but Ebbo failed to achieve the result with three attempts. Later, only Ansgar managed to Christianize the Danes.

In 823 , Paschalius I in Rome crowned and anointed the kingdom of Lothar I as king of Italy. Lothar I immediately took advantage of his status and during the trial forced the papal curia to return the secular power of Farf Abbey. This decision outraged the Roman nobility and led to the rebellion of the Roman Curia against the imperial power in northern Italy, led by the former legate Paschalius I Theodore and his son Leo. The uprising was quickly crushed, and its leaders blinded and then beheaded. Suspecting the pope's involvement in the uprising, the emperor sent two commissioners to investigate. Paschal I refused to submit to the authority of the imperial court, but swore that he was not involved in the rebellion. The members of the commission returned to Aachen . Paschalius I soon died, but the Roman Curia refused his honor to be buried inside the Basilica of St. Peter, and he was buried in the Basilica of Santa Prassed, where a mosaic with the face of his mother, Bishops Theodora, was preserved ^[4] .

Paschalius I was later canonized, and his feast in the Roman calendar was celebrated until 1963 on May 14, and now - on February 11 .

• Korelin M.S. Paschalius // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.