Pope Pelagius I

Pelagius served as apocrisiarius to Constantinople before his election on 16 April 556, a choice imposed by Emperor Justinian I that the Western Church met with suspicion. He had publicly opposed Justinian's campaign to condemn the "Three Chapters," a theological maneuver meant to bridge doctrinal divides, but shifted course once in office and adopted the emperor's line. The contradiction shadowed his five-year reign. He died 3 March 561, a pope who had bent where he once stood firm.