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Leo III
Papacy began	27 December 795
Papacy ended	12 June 816
Predecessor	Adrian I
Successor	Stephen IV
Personal details
Birth name	Unknown
Born	750 Rome, Exarchate of Ravenna, Roman Empire
Died	12 June 816(816-06-12) Place of death unknown
Sainthood
Feast day	12 June
Other Popes named Leo

Pope Saint Leo III (750 – 12 June 816) was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor.

Leo, who was of non-noble birth, had risen in the hierarchy of Rome and was elected Pope only one day after the burial of his predecessor, Pope Adrian I, who had worked for good relations between Rome and the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne. Leo announced his election to Charlemagne, sending him the keys of Saint Peter's tomb and the banner of Rome, requesting an envoy. Charlemagne's reply stated that it was his function to defend the Church, and the function of the Pope to pray for the realm and for the victory of his army.

Leo aroused the hostility of Rome's nobility, who saw the papal post as reserved only for noble candidates. During his rule, he was accused of adultery and perjury. In April 799, he was attacked by a gang who unsuccessfully attempted to gouge out his eyes and cut off his tongue for his earlier actions, only to be saved by Magnus Forteman and 700 Frisian nobles of his army. He was then formally deposed and sent to a monastery, but escaped and made his way to Paderborn, where he met Charlemagne.

Charlemagne ordered Leo's enemies to Paderborn, but no decision could be found. He then had Leo escorted back to Rome. In November 800, Charlemagne himself went to Rome, and on 1 December held a council there with representatives of both sides. Leo, on 23 December, took an oath of purgation concerning the charges brought against him, and his opponents were exiled.

Two days later, on Christmas Day 800, Leo crowned Charlemagne as Roman emperor. This offended Constantinople, which had traditionally been seen as the defender of Rome, but the Eastern Roman Empress Irene of Athens was too weak to oppose Charlemagne. Charlemagne was to intervene in church affairs, not always successfully.

Leo helped restore King Eardwulf of Northumbria and settled various matters of dispute between the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. He also reversed the decision of his predecessor Pope Adrian I, in regards to the granting of the pallium to Higbert, Bishop of Lichfield. He believed that the English episcopate had been misrepresented before Adrian and that therefore his act was invalid. In 803, Lichfield was a regular diocese again.

Leo forbade the addition of filioque to the Nicene Creed, which was added by Franks in Aachen in 809. He also ordered that the Nicene creed be engraved on silver tablets so that his conclusion might not be overturned in the future. He wrote «HAEC LEO POSUI AMORE ET CAUTELA ORTHODOXAE FIDEI» (I, Leo, put here for love and protection of orthodox faith).^[1]

The reasons for the coronation of Charlemagne, the involvement beforehand of the Frankish court, and the relationship to the Eastern Roman Empire are all matters of debate among historians. An effective administrator of the papal territories, Leo contributed to the beautification of Rome.

Leo III was canonized as a saint in 1673 by Pope Clement X. His feast day was formerly 12 June.

Burial[link]

Leo was originally buried in his own monument. However, some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained the first four Pope Leos. In the 18th century, the relics of Leo I were separated from the other Leos, and he was given his own chapel.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pope Leo III

• Translation of Einhard's Life of Charlemagne (c. 817–830, translated in 1880)
• Works by or about Pope Leo III in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes

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Leo III, Leon III, or Levon III may refer to:

Armenian kings

• Leo III, King of Armenia (1287–1307), ruled from 1303–1307, with his uncle Hetum II as Regent
• Leo II, King of Armenia, sometimes also referred to as Leo III. Ruled from 1269–1289, was the son of Hetum I.

People

• Leo III the Isaurian (685–741), Byzantine emperor
• Pope Leo III (d. 816), contemporary of Charlemagne
• Leo Fernández III (b. 1959), Puerto Rican reporter
• Leon III of Abkhazia, king of the Kingdom of Abkhazia (960-969), of the House of the Anosids (Anchabadze)

Other uses

• Leo A, an irregular galaxy in the constellation of Leo
• The Oath of Leo III, 16th century painting about the 9th century Pope Leo III
• LEO III, the early computer used for commercial business applications.

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Irvin Baxter Jr. is a Oneness Pentecostal minister who is the founder and president of Endtime Ministries, a Christian organization devoted to presenting his views on Christian eschatology. Baxter is also an author, publisher, broadcaster and international prophecy teacher. Before committing himself to full-time work with Endtime Ministries, Rev. Baxter served as pastor of the Oak Park Church ( UPCI) in Richmond, Indiana for approximately 32 years.

Life[link]

According to his website, Mr. Baxter became intensely interested in Bible prophecy at the age of 20, when a visiting evangelist taught that the four beasts of the book of Revelation, chapter four, were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He suspected that was incorrect, and in the next thirty days read the book of Revelation through nineteen times. His studies caused him to conclude that his suspicions were well-founded, and led him to devote considerable time to a personal study of Pentecostal and Evangelical eschatology.

In 1986 Baxter authored A Message for the President, in which he identified the United States, Great Britain, Russia, and other modern nations as being mentioned in the Bible. He also said that the Berlin Wall would be torn down, Germany would be reunited, and that these events would be the catalyst which would inaugurate a permanent New World Order. In 1991 publication of Endtime Magazine, the herald of his organization, began. In 1994, Baxter published a book entitled Mideast Treaty about his predictions for the prophesied final seven years preceding the Battle of Armageddon. Baxter also designed, authored, and published a series of lessons in color for lay readers, Understanding the Endtime, in 1995. These lessons have since been committed to DVD and are widely distributed.

Irvin Baxter Jr. has published two fiction books with the U.S. Christian publisher Destiny Image. China War and the Third Temple (2001) depicts Baxter’s view of how events will play out in the near future, and Dark Intentions (2004) is a story of how the Antichrist, as a young boy, foresaw world events in detail and used the knowledge to his advantage.

Baxter hosts the rapidly growing National Prophecy radio talk show called "Politics and Religion", which began in 1998. He also conducts one-day prophecy conferences in the United States almost every week and hosts an overseas prophecy tour at least once a year.

There are several DVDs for sale on his website with colorful titles such as "Understanding the Endtime Level II Series" and "Is the Antichrist Among Us?"

Today[link]

He and his wife, Judy, have three grown children and eight grandchildren, and reside in Garland, Texas.

See also[link]

• Left Behind
• Dispensationalism
• Futurism
• Summary of Christian eschatological differences

External links[link]

• Endtime Ministries Web site