It was the papacy, under Pope
Gregory
I ("the Great";
590-604) in 590, that rescued
Rome from its demise. In an
eerie echo of the empire,
Gregory sent missions all over
Europe to spread the word of
the Church and publicize its
holy relics, so drawing
pilgrims, and their money,
back to the city, and in time
making the papacy the natural
authority in Rome. The pope
took the name "Pontifex
Maximus" after the title
of the high priest of
classical times (literally
"the keeper of the
bridges", which were
vital to the city's
well-being). Four of the
city's great basilicas were
built during this time, along
with a great many other early
Christian churches,
underlining the city's
phoenix-like resurrection
under the popes, who as well
as building their own new
structures converted those
Roman buildings that were
still standing - for example
fortifying the Castel
Sant'Angelo to repel invaders.
The crowning a couple of
centuries later of Charlemagne
as Holy Roman Emperor, with
dominions spread Europe-wide
but answerable to the pope,
intensified the city's
revival, and the pope and city
became recognized as head of
the Christian world.
There were times over the
next few hundred years when
the power of Rome and the
papacy was weakened: Robert
Guiscard, the Norman king,
sacked the city in 1084; a
century later, a dispute
between the city and the
papacy led to a series of
popes relocating in Viterbo;
and in 1308 the French-born
Pope Clemente V
(1305-16) transferred his
court to Avignon. In the
mid-fourteenth century, Cola
di Rienzo seized power,
setting himself up as the
people's saviour from the
decadent ways of the city's
rulers and forming a new Roman
republic. But the increasingly
autocratic ways of the new
ruler soon lost popularity;
Cola di Rienzo was deposed,
and in 1376 Pope Gregory XI
(1370-78) returned to Rome.
