Pope Felix IV

Felix was born around 489 or 490, in a world where Rome's temporal power had long since collapsed and barbarian kings called the shots. When Pope John I died in Theodoric's custody in 526, the Ostrogoth ruler bypassed usual processes and appointed Felix directly on 12 July. For four years Felix governed a church caught between its spiritual authority and the hard realities of Gothic rule. He died on 22 September 530, having served a papacy born from compromise with a throne that was not Peter's.