Pope Zachary

Zachary became bishop of Rome on 3 December 741, inheriting a church squeezed between Byzantine emperors and Lombard warlords. He built the first Santa Maria sopra Minerva, banned slave trading in the city, and brokered a fragile peace with the Lombards pressing at Rome's gates. Then in 751 he made the call that would echo for centuries: he sanctioned Pepin the Short's overthrow of Childeric III, blessing raw power over bloodline and binding the papacy to the Frankish throne. He died 15 March 752, remembered as a capable administrator and a diplomat who knew when to bend and when to legitimize…