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otherwise. In AD 423 Honorius died and eventually was succeeded by Valentinian III, who was still a child at the
time. The Vandals crossed into North Africa, defeated the Romans there, and, in AD 439, conquered Carthage,
which Genseric made his capital. In AD 451, Attila and the Huns, who already had become so powerful that they
were paid an annual tribute by Rome, invaded Gaul, in alliance with the Vandals. They were defeated at the Battle
of Châlons by the Visigoths under the command of Flavius Aetius, magister militum of the west. In AD 455, the
death of Valentinian III served as a pretext for the Vandals to enter an undefended Rome, which they plundered for
two weeks, carrying away the treasures of the Temple of Peace and the gilded bronze tiles from the Temple of
Jupiter. Temple of Vespasian.
Wikipedia: Pope Leo I (391 - 10 November 461 A.D.) was pope from 29
September 440 A.D. to his death - He was an Italian aristocrat, and is
the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great" -
He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452 A.D. and
persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy - He is also a
Doctor of the Church - Leo was a significant contributor to the
centralisation of spiritual authority within the Church and in reaffirming
Papal authority - An uncompromising foe of heresy - {Note: With Pope
Leo I the Church and State of Rome had become so intermixed that it
was Pope Leo assuming the dual roles of General and Politician that
went forward to meet with the invading forces of Attila the Hun and in
persuading him not to attack Rome Pope Leo I saved Rome from being
sacked again and possibly conquered.}
Papal authority: Decree of Valentinian - Leo was a significant contributor to the centralisation of spiritual authority
within the Church and in reaffirming papal authority. While the bishop of Rome had always been viewed as the
chief patriarch in the Western church, much of the pope's authority was delegated to local diocesan bishops. Not
without serious opposition did he succeed in reasserting his authority in Gaul. Patroclus of Arles (d. 426) had
received from Pope Zosimus the recognition of a subordinate primacy over the Gallican Church which was strongly
asserted by his successor Hilary of Arles. An appeal from Chelidonius of Besançon gave Leo the opportunity to
reassert the pope's authority over Hilary, who defended himself stoutly at Rome, refusing to recognize Leo's judicial
status. Feeling that the primatial rights of the bishop of Rome were threatened, Leo appealed to the civil power for
support, and obtained from Valentinian III the famous decree of June 6, 445, which recognized the primacy of the
bishop of Rome based on the merits of Peter, the dignity of the city, and the Nicene Creed (in their interpolated
form); ordained that any opposition to his rulings, which were to have the force of ecclesiastical law, should be
treated as treason; and provided for the forcible extradition by provincial governors of anyone who refused to
answer a summons to Rome. Faced with this decree, Hilary submitted to the pope, although under his successor,
Ravennius, Leo divided the metropolitan rights between Arles and Vienne (450). -- Dispute with Dioscorus of
Alexandria: In 445, Leo disputed with Pope Dioscorus, St. Cyril's successor as Pope of Alexandria, insisting that the
ecclesiastical practice of his see should follow that of Rome on the basis that Mark the Evangelist, the disciple of
Saint Peter and founder of the Alexandrian Church, could have had no other tradition than that of the prince of the
apostles. This, of course, was not the position of the Copts, who saw the ancient patriarchates as equals. -- Council
of Chalcedon: A favorable occasion for extending the authority of Rome in the East was offered in the renewal of
the Christological controversy by Eutyches, who in the beginning of the conflict appealed to Leo and took refuge
with him on his condemnation by Flavian. But on receiving full information from Flavian, Leo took his side
decisively. In 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, after Leo's Tome on the two natures of Christ was read out, the
bishops participating in the Council cried out: "This is the faith of the fathers ... Peter has spoken thus through Leo
..." -- Battling heresies: An uncompromising foe of heresy, Leo found that in the diocese of Aquileia, Pelagians
were received into church communion without formal repudiation of their errors; he wrote to rebuke them, making
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