Saint Silverius, Pope

Otto appointed Adalbert abbot of an important monastery at Weissenberg, where he became known as a patron of learning. He held that part of a monk's duty was to record the history of God's world, and so we still possess a chronicle of Adalbert's time, written by his brothers at Weissenberg.

Many of Otto's subjects were ready to revolt whenever they thought insurrection might succeed. Otto therefore decided to found a new, fortified city, Magdeburg, to dominate Saxony. He wanted it to become a Christian center as well as a fortress so he founded a new abbey and persuaded the pope to create a new see. In 968, Adalbert was given the office of archbishop of Magdeburg with jurisdiction over the Slavs beyond the Elbe together with the Wends. He spent the balance of his life trying to evangelize the Wends, reform religious communities in his diocese, and establish three new dioceses. After ruling the see for 13 years, he died while on a visit to Merseburg (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer).

After shepherding his flock for 12 years, Saint Bagnus resigned his bishopric and retired again to Fontenelle. Three years later, he was again its abbot. Out of his great devotion to the relics of the saints, he translated the bodies of Saints Wandrille, Ansbert, and Wulfram, from the chapel of Saint Paul, built by Wandrille as the burial-place, into the great church of Saint Peter, in which the monks celebrated the divine mysteries.

Towards the end of his life Pepin placed Bagnus in charge of the newly restored Fleury Abbey (now Saint Benet's) on the Loire near Orléans, while he still governed Fontenelle. He is the principal patron of Calais (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

I am somewhat confused. There are several Edburga's who lived about the same time. Different sources make various of them the daughter of Penda, but each has a different history beyond that point. Count it be the Penda suffered from the same problem as George Forman?

In the rivalry between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantine Empire, the papacy was an important factor in the balance of power. Because Agapitus had died in Constantinople, the Ostrogoth King Theodehad of Italy knew that the emperor would name his candidate for the see without delay. To circumvent the imposition of the emperor's candidate, Theodehad named Silverius pope in April 356. Soon after Theodehad compelled the Roman clergy to elect (or acquiesce to) Silverius to succeed Pope Saint Agapitus. Thus, he was ordained bishop of Rome on June 1 or 8, 536.

The Byzantines naturally supposed that Silverius was a puppet of the Goths; an opinion that was reinforced when he denied Empress Theodora's request to acknowledge the Monophysites Anthimus as patriarch of Constantinople and Severus as patriarch of Antioch. Thus, he exposed himself to the bitter enmity of Theodora, who was a domineering woman and did not hesitate to act without the knowledge of Emperor Justinian. Indeed, the consequences were so predictable that Silverius is said to have remarked that by signing the letter of refusal to the request of the empress, he was also signing his on death warrant. He was right; Theodora was a woman who would tolerate no opposition.

A few months later, in an attempt to save Rome from the destruction the Ostrogoth General Vitiges visited upon the suburbs, Silverius and the senate opened Rome's gates to the lesser evil, Belisaurus, the commander of the Byzantine armies in Italy. A forged letter accusing Silverius of being responsible for Vitiges' devastation proved unsuccessful in implicating Silverius. Nevertheless, like Justinian, Belisaurus had an intriguing wife, Antonina, and it was largely at her prompting that he deposed Silverius on the false accusation of conspiring with the Goths and the next day replaced him with Theodora's protege, Deacon Vigilius.

Silverius was kidnapped and taken to Patara in Lycia, Asia Minor. All this was done without the knowledge of Emperor Justinian. When he received a message from the bishop of Patara telling him what had happened, he immediately gave orders that Silverius be reinstated in the Holy See and an investigation instituted. Shortly after his return to Italy, he was captured by Vigilius's supporters and imprisoned on Palmarola in the Tyrrhenian Sea near Naples. Antonina, eager to ingratiate Theodora, prevailed on her husband to let them deal with Silverius as they chose. He did not survive long in prison. Either left to die of starvation or was murdered by Antonina's hired assassin, Silverius died a martyr's death after less than two years in office.

It is uncertain how Vigilius's appointment to the papal see was regularized. Nevertheless, Silverius was vindicated in one way-- after his death Pope Vigilius ceased to support Theodora and held firm in defense of orthodoxy (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Walsh, White).

Pope Saint Silverius is generally portrayed as a pilgrim pope with a small piece of bread on a plate. He might also be shown with a paten or while armed men approach as he sits by a table on which is a scroll, Justentor pane tribulationi et aqua angustie (Roeder). He may be depicted holding a church (White).