Pope Vitalian

In the monothelite controversy then raging he acted with cautious reserve, refraining at least from express condemnation of the Typus of Constans II. The chief episode in his uneventful pontificate was the visit of Constans to Rome; the pope received him "almost with religious honours," a deference which he requited by stripping all the brazen ornaments of the city--even to the tiles of the Pantheon--and sending them to Constantinople. Archbishop Theodore was sent to Canterbury by Vitalian.

Preceded by: Pope Eugene I

List of popes

Succeeded by: Pope Adeodatus

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.