Encyclopedic Dictionary of Bible and Theology

Stephen IX (VIII), a German, and related to the emperor Otto the Great, was elevated to the papacy by the action of clergy and people in 939, and reigned until 942. He was wholly unable to restrain the shameless rule of abandoned women in the Church, and, like the other popes of that period, was … Continue reading “Stephen IX”

Stephen IV (III), pope from 768 to 772, was a Benedictine monk, and had been made cardinal-priest by pope Zachary. He condemned his rival, pope Constantine, who had been a layman, as a usurper of the episcopal chair, and in 769 held a synod in the Laterari, which decreed that only a deacon or a … Continue reading “Stephen IV”

Stephen III (II), whose pontificate lasted from 752 to 757, is generally recorded as Stephen II. This pope was threatened by Astolph king of the Lombards, who took the exarchate of Ravenna. Stephen thereupon appealed to Pepin the Short, king of the Franks for help, and offered in return an eternal reward and all the … Continue reading “Stephen III”

Stephen II, Pope On the death of Zachary, a certain priest Stephen was unanimously elected to succeed him (about 23 March, 752); but on the third day after his election, whilst transacting some domestic affairs, he was struck with apoplexy, and expired on the next day. As he died before his consecration, earlier writers do … Continue reading “Stephen II, Pope”

Stephen II said to have been elected pope March 27, 752, and to have died three or four days afterwards, is not usually included in lists of the popes. Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Stephen I, Pope Saint Although there is some doubt as to the dates connected with the pontificate of Stephen, it is generally believed that he was consecrated 12 May, 254, and that he died 2 August, 257. According to the most ancient catalogues, he was a Roman by birth, and the son of Jovius, and … Continue reading “Stephen I, Pope Saint”

Stephen I pope from A.D. 253 to 257, was a native Roman, and is noteworthy because of his connection with the controversy respecting the administration of baptism by heretics. In Africa and the East such baptism was generally rejected, while at Rome reclaimed heretics who had been baptized were received simply with laying on of … Continue reading “Stephen I”

Stephen Harding, Saint Confessor, the third Abbot of Cîteaux, was born at Sherborne in Dorsetshire, England, about the middle of the eleventh century; died 28 March, 1134. He received his early education in the monastery of Sherborne and afterwards studied in Paris and Rome. On returning from the latter city he stopped at the monastery … Continue reading “Stephen Harding, Saint”

Stephen De Bellaville or de Borbone, was a Dominican monk at Lyons, and died in 1261. His great work, De Septem Donis Spiritus Sancti, is yet unpublished, though a portion referring to the Cathari and the Waldenses had been issued in D’Argentre, Collectio Judiciorum de Novis Erroribus, 1, 85 sq., and more fully in Quentin … Continue reading “Stephen De Bellaville”

Stephen Brinkley (born c.1550 ) English confessor of the Faith, imprisoned and tortured as manager of a secret press for the publication of devotional and controversial works. Among these were a treatise by Parsons, and Campion’s famous “Ten Reasons.” He belonged to George Gilbert’s association of unmarried men of property, who pledged their wealth to … Continue reading “Stephen Brinkley”