Pope Stephen IX (c. 1020[1] - March 29, 1058) was Pope from August 3, 1057 to March 1058.
His baptismal name was Frederick of Lorraine (French: Frédéric de Lorraine), and he was a younger brother of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who, as Marquis of Tuscany (by his marriage with Beatrice of Bar, widow of Boniface III of Tuscany), played a prominent part in the politics of the period.
Frederick, who had been raised to the cardinalate by Pope Leo IX (1049–54), discharged for some time the function of papal legate at Constantinople, and was with Leo IX in his unlucky expedition against the Normans. He shared the vicissitudes of his brother's fortunes, and at one time had to take refuge from Emperor Henry II (1002–24) in Monte Cassino. Five days after the death of Pope Victor II (who had made him cardinal-priest and abbot of Monte Cassino) he was chosen to succeed him as Pope Stephen IX [2]. He showed great zeal in enforcing the policies of the Gregorian Reform as to clerical celibacy, and was planning large schemes for the expulsion of the Normans from Italy, and the elevation of his brother to the imperial throne, when he was seized by a severe illness, from which he only partially and temporarily recovered. Stephen IX died at Florence March 29, 1058, and is considered by the current-day Roman Catholic Church to have been succeeded by Pope Nicholas II (1059–61), though others consider his successor to be Pope Benedict X (1058–59), officially regarded as an antipope.
- ^ Mittermaier, Karl (2006). Die deutschen Päpste. Benedikt XVI. und seine deutschen Vorgänger. pp. 102.
- ^ He explicitly took the name and the number IX. He signed all his official documents Stephanus Nonus Papa (Stephen Ninth Pope), although some lists called him Stephen X from the second half of the 16th century to the first half of 20th.
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