05 March 2010

Lentorama 2010: Two Millenia of Pointy Hats

Day 15: Sisinnius (708)

Sorry for the fascination with short-reigning popes, but it's hard not to be interested in a guy whose term of office (three weeks) is shorter than the amount of time the job was open before he took it (three months).

Not surprisingly, there's not a great deal to talk about here. Sisinnus was apparently so gout ridden that he had trouble feeding himself, never mind moving around. This seems like something the College of Cardinals would take into consideration.

In those three weeks he apparently manages to things worth noting: he consecrated a bishop for Corsica and started to make plans to reinforce the walls of Rome (one source suggests this was done due to various threats from the exarch of Ravenna (who is apparently quite the pain in the ass), the Lombards and the Saracens. Those threats alone might be enough to do you in, never mind the gout.

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