Agapetus I

Pope Agapetus I (died 22 April 536) was Pope from 13 May 535 to his death in 536.

With the Byzantine general Belisarius preparing for an invasion of Italy, King Theodahad of the Ostrogoths begged Agapetus to proceed on an embassy to Constantinople and use his personal influence to appease Emperor Justinian I following the death of Amalasuntha.

The occupant of the Byzantine patriarchal see was Anthimus I, who had left his episcopal see of Trebizond. Against the protests of the orthodox, the Empress Theodora had seated Anthimus in the patriarchal chair. When Agapetus arrived in Constantinople members of the clergy entered charges against Anthimus as an intruder and a heretic. Agapetus ordered him to make a written profession of faith and to return to his forsaken see; upon Anthimus' refusal, Agapetus deposed him.

Shortly afterwards, Agapetus fell ill and died on 22 April 536, after a reign of just ten months.…more