Gothic kings, to the sovereigns of Byzantium, and to the
Frankish princes. Under the Gothic rule it happened that
they even had two masters: the Gothic king established at
Ravenna, and the Byzantine monarch, who regarded the
former as his lieutenant. They, in return, did not have to
render account to the phantoms of emperors who from 455--
the date of the death of Valentinian III.--until 476 occupied
the throne, and their real subjection did not begin until the
fall of the Western Empire.

This subjection was manifested in several ways. At first
the prince had the right to supervise, or even to decide, the
pontifical elections. Odeacer, Theodoric, Theodat, Justinian,
placed their creatures, that is to say, the men who would
best serve their policies, or who, like Silverius, paid them
most, in the apostolic see. From the end of the sixth to the
middle of the eighth century the pontifical elections were
ratified by the emperor of Constantinople or by his repre-
sentative the exarch of Ravenna. The Pope-elect of the
Latin Church did not acquire the right to govern it until he
had been approved by the higher authority. And this régime,
which was abolished ( 769), was again put into operation under
the Carolingians by the constitution of Lothair ( 824).

Appointed by the prince, or with his approval, the Pope
received his orders from the prince and carried them out.
That was another result of his situation. In 525, the Gothic
king Theodoric commanded Pope John I. to go to Constan-
tinople to plead the cause of the Arians who had been
persecuted by the emperor. John obeyed this strange com-
mand. Eleven years afterwards ( 536), Theodat ordered
Agapitus to go to the court of Byzantium to negotiate a peace.
Agapitus obeyed. ¹ Almost two centuries later ( 709), Pope
Constantine made the same journey by order of Justinian II. ²
In 593 the emperor Maurice forbade public officials as well
as soldiers in active service to adopt the monastic life, and
charged Pope Gregory V. to publish this order in the West.

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