Rome: August 847 AD | Pope Sergius II had been warned that the Arabs might come to raid Rome—not Vikings, who had begun their raids in Europe. Some of the Vikings had raided the outskirts of Constantinople, and some are sticking around in the eastern hills of Europe. They would be called the Rus—their land will years later be part of western Russia.
Sergius, the Bishop of Rome, didn't do much about the warning. He cares more about advancing the buildings of churches in Rome, as the former Pope had been.
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Pope Eugene II (824-827) was chosen by the Franks to be the Pope. This Pope had done little to advance learning. His bishops, sent to Paris at 825 over issues of the icons, messed up hard in their quotations from the Church Fathers, and they understood so little about the rulings of the Second Council of Nicea—the Seventh Ecumenical Council that the Eastern Church and the Roman Church accept.
Upset, Pope Eugene had to hold a council trying to get the clergy to get more knowledge of their Roman faith.
Pope Valentine (827) was so close to Eugene that some suspected he might be a son or even a lover of Eugene. This patrician was elected by the nobles against his will; he died five weeks later!
Pope Gregory IV (827-844) was also elected by the nobles to be Pope. He tried to calm down feelings between the rulers in Charlemagne's empire. When some angry bishops threatened to excommunicate the Roman Bishop and even unseat him, Gregory IV also played rough. "But you ought to have regarded an order from the Apostolic See as not less weighty than one from the Emperor," said the Pope, insisting on Papal supremacy.
But the Frankish bishops, even then, refuse to back down: the equality of all the bishops outweighs the leadership even of the Pope, they reasoned.
Gregory IV could only watch as Charlemagne's empire split apart, despite his attempts to restore peace in this Catholic nation. In the meantime, he helped in improving the land within his borders, the Papal States. He fixed up churches and moved the bodies of some important people into Saint Peter's Church—including that of Gregory the Great.
Gregory IV died early in 844, to be buried also in Saint Peter's Church. His replacement is Sergius II.
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The Arab Muslims have arrived outside Rome, apparently to no one's surprise. Why are they in Italy in the first place? They had started invading Sicily two decades or so ago, and conquered Sicily just four years ago. Now they're closing up to Rome. The Roman militia had to hurry into the walled city of Rome.
The raiders target the churches outside of the Aurelian Walls—hence with lack of protection. That includes Saint Peter's Church and Saint Paul's Church Outside the Walls. They desecrate the churches and intrude on some of the relics there. As if they already have the directions for the most valuable treasures. The Romans hold the Muslims back, keeping them from getting into the Pope's City, and soon the Lombard Duke arrives with his men to drive the Arabs back.
To think: Rome has been sacked again (at least in part). This isn't the first time the city of seven hills has to get victimized like this—and nor will this be the last!
Sergius II, the Pope, couldn't do anything about these Muhammadans. Some believe he hasn't acted wisely with the information given him about the invaders of Sicily. He would die five months later.
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848 AD | Leo IV is the Pope following Sergius II.
The Arab raiders are gone, and so he quickly begins to fix up the churches that had been ransacked. The altar of Saint Peter's Church had lost its golden cover, stolen by the Muslims. Now a replacement is set on the altar, and this time with precious gems also. In addition, he inserts a figure of a rooster into this Church. He's clearly associating himself with the great apostle—for according to each of the four Gospels, during the trial of Jesus, the apostle was nearby, and being called out by some people as a disciple of Jesus, Peter denied the fact three times. Then he heard a rooster crow, and Jesus turned to the erring apostle, who quickly lamented his denials.[See Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 13 and 18. Especially note John 21, in which Jesus called for Peter to confess three times that he loved Jesus. Peter quickly got what Jesus was doing, and he sadly exclaimed that he did love Jesus. Jesus accepted him, predicting his eventual crucifixion. Sure enough, Peter was crucified in Rome in 67 AD.]
Leo IV also sets up walls in Rome, to further protect Rome and also the churches. But he wants to ensure no Muslim raiders would ever come to Rome again.
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Ostia, Italy: 849 AD | Leo IV calls on the people of Italy (even those whose ties are with Byzantium) to band together and fight against the Muslims still around Italy. The fleet is given to the rule of Cesarius, the son of the Naples Duke. Before they depart on the mission, the Pope blesses the fleet and offers mass to the troops.
The battle on the sea begins with the Muslim pirates showing up afar. The Roman Christians fight with the Muslims. So much is at stake here: if the "Papal Navy" wins, they might keep the Muslims out of Italy with the Papal States; if the Muslims win, these might invade further on, control (or destroy) the Papacy, and maybe attack more of Europe. The well-being and possibly the existence of the Papacy rests on this battle.
It turns out that a storm is coming, and it divides the fleets. The "Papal Navy"[The history of the Papal Navy is rambling, but to keep it simple: the Papal Navy was used during the Crusades and struggles against the Ottoman Empire, and later in the Napoleonic wars. In 1878, Pope Leo XIII sold the last ship of the Papal Navy. The ships are usually named after attributes of God, Jesus, and Mary—one ship was called Immacolata Concezione (Immaculate Conception).] sails back to port, but the storm is ruining the Muslim fleet. Ships either sink into the Tyrrhenian Sea or crash unto the shores. The commoners, taking advantage of the custom they have, pillage the would-be pillagers! The prisoners of war are made to work on the Leonine Wall, which would be built to protect Vatican Hill from further Muslim invasions!
The Battle of Ostia turns out to be a victory for Roman Christianity (and the Papacy), and no Arab army would ever approach the city of Rome again.
This battle, called on by the Pope, is a Crusade before the Crusades. A pre-Crusade. A struggle between the followers of the Roman Pope and that of the Arabian Prophet.
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Rome: 856-858 AD | There will be some controversy over the following figure: a certain Joanna of Mainz, a city way north of Italy. Some will believe her name to be Agnes; this adds to the fallacy of this bizarre sentiment.
Well, Joanna disguised herself as a man under the name "John". She went to Athens with her boyfriend and there mastered learning. So she was led to Rome, where she supposedly made a big impression on her mastery of ecclesiastical issues. Then, with the death of Pope Leo IV, the people voted for "John" to be the new Pope—allegedly. Then, after "two years, one month, and four days", her real gender is revealed on a procession from Saint Peter's Church to the Lateran "in a lane once named Via Sacra [The Sacred Way] but now known as the 'shunned street' ". She gives birth to a child, surprising everybody—and making it absurdly clear she is not a man.
According to Jean de Mailly, a Dominican historian writing in the 13th century, "Immediately, by Roman justice, she was bound by the feet to a horse's tail and dragged and stoned by the people [...] and, where she died, there she was buried, and at the place is written: Petre, Pater Patrum, Papisse Prodito Partum [Oh Peter, Father of Fathers, Betray the childbearing of the woman Pope]."
But according to another tradition, she is deposed and made to do penance for many years for her act.
Martin of Opava, another Dominican also writing in the 13th century, records: "The Lord Pope always turns aside from the street, and it is believed by many that this is done because of [the] abhorrence of the event. Nor is she placed on the list of the Holy Pontiffs, both because of her female sex and on account of the foulness of the matter."
After her, Benefice III would come to the Papal Throne.
Many will debate these events associated with "Pope Joan". Enemies of the Papacy in the same century as her never mention her. The earliest known mention of her would be in the 13th century by Dominicans Jean de Mailly and Martin of Opava. Her existence seems baseless, yet the story would be believed for some centuries by the commoners and by some clergy, and create a large imprint on Roman Catholicism. When the story began to circulate, the Popes would avoid the route in Rome where Joan supposedly gave birth. In 1276, Petrus Hispanus, when elected to be the Pope, believed there were already 20 Popes called "John", and thus called himself Pope John XXI—even though would be 19 without the mythical Pope Joan.
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867 AD | The actual Pope from 855 to 858 was actually Benedict III the whole time.
Pope Nicholas I (or The Great), from 858 to 867, claims authority over territories outside of the Papal States, using Isidore the Merchant's edition of past decrees that seemingly exalt the power of the Pope.[This edition was used to enforce the superiority of the Papacy. It is now known to be false (with anachronisms and bizarre quotations), and called "Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals". They mention fictional councils and sayings from Rome's Bishops (from Clement I [91-100 AD] to Gregory I [590-604 AD]).] He also inserts that "and from the Son" clause into the Nicene Creed. He railed against Patriarch Photius I[Photius of Constantinople, an avowed enemy of the Papacy, never brings up Pope Joan. He later would mention "Leo and Benedict, successively great priests of the Roman Church". Pope Joan allegedly was Pope between Leo IV and Benedict III, and yet there is no mention of her, implying no such story exists in the time Joan supposedly ruled.] as being illegally made the leader of the church in Constantinople. At a Roman synod in April 863, he excommunicated Photius.
This year, Photius and his synod excommunicate the Pope!
They both really do not like each other. They are fighting over the issue of the country of Bulgaria. Boris of Bulgaria was divided between Roman and Byzantine Christianity, finally choosing Byzantine; he secretly was baptized in 864 according to the Byzantine rite. Later unhappy over Byzantine influence, Boris tried Roman Christianity, contacting the Pope in 866. The Pope sent missionaries to Bulgaria, led on by the papal legate, bishop Formosus of Porto-Santa Rufina.
Soon there is a sure division between the Roman and the Eastern Church. The Eastern Church would have its own councils and the Roman Church have its own.
This year, Pope Nicholas I dies.
A later Pope, Pope John VIII, would revoke the excommunication of Photius, in 879—if only to return to good terms with the Byzantines. The Carolingians would be unpleased.