Leo Tuscany (abt. 400 - 461)

Born about 0400 in Tuscany, Western Roman Empire

Died 10 Nov 0461 at about age 61 in Roma, Roman Empire

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Deborah Talbot [send private message]

Biography

Pope St Leo I Tuscany is Notable.

Leo was a Roman aristocrat, born in Tuscany.^[1]. He was the first pope to be called The Great.^[2]

Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history."^[3] Pope Benedict XVI continues his general audience by saying:

Leo was a Tuscan native. In about the year 430 A.D., he became a deacon of the Church of Rome, in which he acquired over time a very important position. In the year 440 his prominent role induced Galla Placidia, who then ruled the Empire of the West, to send him to Gaul to heal a difficult situation. But in the summer of that year, Pope Sixtus III, whose name is associated with the magnificent mosaics in St Mary Major's, died, and it was Leo who was elected to succeed him. Leo heard the news precisely while he was carrying out his peace mission in Gaul. Having returned to Rome, the new Pope was consecrated on 29 September 440. This is how his Pontificate began. It lasted more than 21 years and was undoubtedly one of the most important in the Church's history. Pope Leo died on 10 November 461 and was buried near the tomb of St Peter. Today, his relics are preserved in one of the altars in the Vatican Basilica.

The times in which Pope Leo lived were very difficult: constant barbarian invasions, the gradual weakening of imperial authority in the West and the long, drawn-out social crisis forced the Bishop of Rome - as was to happen even more obviously a century and a half later during the Pontificate of Gregory the Great - to play an important role in civil and political events. This, naturally, could only add to the importance and prestige of the Roman See. The fame of one particular episode in Leo's life has endured. It dates back to 452 when the Pope, together with a Roman delegation, met Attila, chief of the Huns, in Mantua and dissuaded him from continuing the war of invasion by which he had already devastated the northeastern regions of Italy. Thus, he saved the rest of the Peninsula. This important event soon became memorable and lives on as an emblematic sign of the Pontiff's action for peace. Unfortunately, the outcome of another Papal initiative three years later was not as successful, yet it was a sign of courage that still amazes us: in the spring of 455 Leo did not manage to prevent Genseric's Vandals, who had reached the gates of Rome, from invading the undefended city that they plundered for two weeks. This gesture of the Pope - who, defenceless and surrounded by his clergy, went forth to meet the invader to implore him to desist - nevertheless prevented Rome from being burned and assured that the Basilicas of St Peter, St Paul and St John, in which part of the terrified population sought refuge, were spared.

He goes on to explain more about the life and times of Pope Leo in his audience.

Leo assumed the papacy at a time of increasing barbarian invasions; this, coupled with the decreasing imperial authority in the West, forced the Bishop of Rome to take a more active part in civil and political affairs. He was one of the first bishops of Rome to promote papal primacy based on succession from Peter the Apostle; and he did so as a means of maintaining unity among the churches. Leo became pope in 29 Sep 440.^[1][2]

Leo's representatives at the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 delivered his famous Tome, a statement of the faith of the Roman Church, which was ignored by the Council which was never recognized as ecumenical and later repudiated by the Council of Chalcedon.^[2]

Leo's writings (both the sermons and the letters) are mostly concerned with theological questions concerning the person of Jesus Christ (Christology) and his role as mediator and savior (Soteriology), which is partially connected to the Council of Chalcedon in which Roman legates participated in Leo's name.^[2]

The Council of Chalcedon of 451 rejected the heresy of Eutyches who denied the true human nature of the Son of God, and affirmed the union in his one Person, without confusion and without separation of his two natures, human and divine.

After the indecisive outcome of the Battle of Chalons in 451, Attila invaded Italy in 452, sacking cities such as Aquileia and heading for Rome. He allegedly demanded that the sister of the reigning Emperor Valentinian III be sent to him with a dowry. In response, the emperor sent three envoys to negotiate with Attila: Gennadius Avienus, one of the consuls of 450, Memmius Aemilius Trygetius, the former urban prefect, and Leo. Little is known of the specifics of the negotiations, as a result of which Attila withdrew. Most ancient and medieval historians celebrated Leo's actions, giving him all the credit for this successful embassy. According to Prosper of Aquitaine who was alive at the time of the event, Attila was so impressed by Leo that he withdrew.^[4] Another near-contemporary was the historian Priscus who records that Attila was dissuaded from attacking Rome by his own men because they feared he would share the fate of the Visigothic king Alaric, who died shortly after sacking the city in 410.^[5] Paul the Deacon, in the late 8th century, relates that an enormously huge man dressed in priestly robes and armed with a sword, visible only to Attila, threatened him and his army with death during his discourse with Leo, and this prompted Attila to submit to his request.^[6]

Writing in the early 20th century, the religious skeptic John B. Bury remarked:

The fact of the embassy cannot be doubted. The distinguished ambassadors visited the Hun's camp near the south shore of Lake Garda. It is also certain that Attila suddenly retreated. But we are at a loss to know what considerations were offered him to induce him to depart. It is unreasonable to suppose that this heathen king would have cared for the thunders or persuasions of the Church. The Emperor refused to surrender Honoria, and it is not recorded that money was paid. A trustworthy chronicle hands down another account which does not conflict with the fact that an embassy was sent, but evidently furnishes the true reasons which moved Attila to receive it favourably. Plague broke out in the barbarian host and their food ran short, and at the same time troops arrived from the east, sent by Marcian to the aid of Italy. If his host was suffering from pestilence, and if troops arrived from the east, we can understand that Attila was forced to withdraw. But whatever terms were arranged, he did not pretend that they meant a permanent peace. The question of Honoria was left unsettled, and he threatened that he would come again and do worse things in Italy unless she were given up with the due portion of the Imperial possessions.^[7]

Leo's intercession could not prevent the sack of the city by the Vandal King Genseric in 455, but murder and arson were repressed by his influence. The Pope and members of his clergy, went to meet the invader to implore him to desist. While the Vandals plundered the city, the gesture nevertheless prevented Rome from being burned and assured that the Basilicas of St Peter, St Paul and St John, in which part of the terrified population sought refuge, were spared. Leo assisted in rebuilding the city of Rome, restoring key places such as Saint Peter's.^[8]

Leo died on 10 November 461 and his body was entombed in the portico of Old St Peter's Basilica. He was the first pope to be buried in the basilica. In 688 Pope Sergius I had Leo's remains moved to the south transept, inside the basilica.

In 1754 Pope Benedict XIV proclaimed Leo I a Doctor of the Church. The only other pope recognized as Doctor of the Church is Pope Gregory I.

Flocknote Popes in a Year ^[9] tells us:

Pope St. Leo, one of the best-known popes from the first millennium – perhaps all of papal history – was a native of Tuscany, and initially served as a deacon under Pope St. Celestine I. He’s one of just three popes to be called “The Great” (four if you count St. John Paul II) along with Pope St. Gregory I and Pope St. Nicholas I.

Leo was a force to be reckoned with in diplomatic proceedings, which explains why Pope Sixtus III sent him to settle various disputes as a deacon. It’s also how he was able to handle the degradation of the Roman Empire and guide the Church successfully through doctrinal disputes with such finesse.

During Leo’s papacy, it’s clear to see that the whole Church, along with the secular world, recognized the pope as top dog. He ruled on things ranging from church discipline to disputes among bishops and also wrote a great deal. The most popular at the time was the Tome of Leo (settle in...it’s a long one), which helped shape the Church’s teaching on Christ’s consubstantial union with God the Father at the Council of Chalcedon (451). Leo died in 461 and is buried in St. Peter’s Basilica. His feast day is celebrated on November 10.

"He who could not be enclosed in space, willed to be enclosed; continuing to be before times, he began to exist in time; the Lord of the universe allowed his infinite majesty to be overshadowed, and took upon him the form of a servant..." - Pope St. Leo the Great

When Attila the Hun threatened to invade and conquer Italy, it wasn’t an emperor or a deputy who went and talked him out of it. It was the Pope.

Records show that after meeting with Leo, Attila suddenly retreated from Rome. Though the most plausible cause is Leo making so great an impression on Attila that he left, stories range from Leo offering Attila a sum of gold (unlikely) to Attila suddenly seeing a vision of Christ in priestly robes bearing a drawn sword, threatening to bring death upon his army if they invaded. We like that last one best.

Leo’s victory was short-lived, as a different barbarian horde sacked Rome just a few years later, in 455. He was, however, able to help rebuild and repair the city and its landmarks before his death in 461.

St. Leo is one of the 36 Doctors of the Church, those individuals throughout history who are especially honored by the Church for their heroic witness and teachings. St. Leo in particular contributed much to the Church, including (through a particular devotion to St. Peter) helping to develop our understanding of papal primacy.

In 456, the Anglo-Saxons invited British nobles to Stonehenge to talk peace, but soon changed their mind, deciding to kill everyone instead.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} [https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en/holy-father/leone-i--magno.html Vatican\
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Wikipedia Pope Leo 1
3. ↑ Pope Benedict XVI, "Saint Leo the Great", General Audience, 5 March 2008, Libreria Editrice Vaticana
4. ↑ Medieval Sourcebook: Leo I and Attila
5. ↑ Priscus; Given, John (2014). The fragmentary history of Priscus : Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430-476. Merchantville NJ. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-935228-14-1. OCLC 891001451
6. ↑ Paul the Deacon, Historia Romana 14.12
7. ↑ J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, Macmillan 1923, p. 295-6.
8. ↑ Reardon, Wendy J. (2004). The deaths of the popes: Comprehensive accounts, including funerals, burial places and epitaphs. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-1527-4. Archived from the original on 2013-05-21. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
9. ↑ Flocknote Popes in a Year
   SOURCES (and further reading)
   John, E. (1964). The Popes: A concise biographical history. New York: Hawthorn Books.
   Pope St. Leo I (the Great) - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09154b.htm
   Pope Leo I - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_I#Leo_and_Attila
   Doctors of the Church - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05075a.htm
   450s - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/450s