Leo 11 was pope Leo III, bishop of Rome from 26 December 795 to 12 June 816. A native of Rome, he was the son of Atzuppius 1; from childhood he was brought up and educated in the vestiarium of the papal palace at Rome ("a parva etate in vestiario patriarchii enutritus et edocatus"); he received an ecclesiastical training and studied the psalms and the scriptures; he was a subdeacon and then was promoted to the priesthood ("subdiaconus factus, in presbiterii honore provectus est"); he was a priest for the titulus of St Susanna (cf. Lib. Pont. 98. 9 "titulum beate Susanne, ubi et presbiter ordinatus fuerat"); he frequented the company of monks and other holy men, was an active visitor to the sick and gave generously to the poor; he remained in the vestiarium where he served with distinction and, apparently, rose to become its administrative head ("et dum taliter in ipso vestiario praecipue degens splenderet, et ab eius solertisima cura ipse vestiarius degeretur" - on this, see the note of Duchesne, Lib. Pont. II, p. 34, note 3; he probably held the post of vestararius - "ab omnibus amantissime diligebatur"): Lib. Pont. 98. 1.

Leo 11 was the unanimous choice of the clergy and the laity at Rome to become bishop of Rome: Lib. Pont. 98. 2. He became bishop of Rome after the death of pope Hadrian I (Hadrianos 1): Theoph. AM 6289 (ἐν δὲ τῇ Ῥώμῃ τελευτήσαντος τοῦ πάπα Ἀδριανοῦ, χειροτονεῖται Λέων). Leo 11 is described as a most honorable and very respectable man (ἀνὴρ τιμιώτατος καὶ κατὰ πάντα αἰδέσιμος): Theoph. AM 6289. On 25 April, 799, while on his way to celebrate the Great Litany at the Church of St Laurence in Lucina, he was ambushed and violently assaulted by a group of conspirators led by Paschalis 4 and Campulus 1; they tried twice to blind him and to cut out his tongue, and tried to keep him secure from rescue, first in a nearby monastery and then in the monastery of St Erasmus (see Anonymus 320), where he regained his powers of speech and sight; supporters led by Albinus 1 rescued him from the monastery of St Erasmus and took him to safety to St Peter's: Lib. Pont. 98. 11-14, cf. Annales Regni Francorum s.a. 799, Theoph. AM 6289 (in 797 the relatives of the late pope Hadrian (Hadrianos 1) rebelled against him; he was seized and an unsuccessful attempt was made to blind him). He was escorted from St Peter's by the Lombard dux Winichis 1 and taken to Spoletium, where supporters from various cities flocked to join him; accompanied by some of his leading supporters he set out for Francia to visit Charlemagne (Karoulos 1), who received him with honour; Leo 11 remained for some time at the Frankish court and in the meanwhile allegations were made against him by his attackers in Rome; in 800 he was sent back to Rome escorted by an embassy of high ranking Frankish clergy and nobles and received a most enthusiastic welcome in each city through which he passed, allegedly just as if he were the Apostle himself; he reached the Milvian Bridge on 29 November and entered Rome on the following day; in Rome the charges against him were investigated by the leading Franks and judged baseless: Lib. Pont. 98. 15-20, cf. Theoph. AM 6289 (he fled for refuge to the Frankish king Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) and with his help regained his see). Shortly afterwards Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) arrived and the charges against Leo 11 were again investigated in St Peter's, where the pope asserted on oath the falsity of the allegations: Lib. Pont. 98. 21-22. Soon afterwards, on Christmas Day, 25 December 800, with his own hands Leo 11 crowned Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) emperor of the Romans in St Peter's: Lib. Pont. 98. 23, cf. Theoph. AM 6289 (ἔστεψεν αὐτὸν εἰς βασιλέα Ῥωμαίων), Theoph. AM 6293 (Κάρουλος ὁ τῶν Φράγγων ῥήξ, ἐστέφθη ὑπὸ Λέοντος τοῦ πάπα; Leo 11 crowned Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) on 25 December, indiction nine), Zon. XV 13. 10-14. Leo 11 then anointed Charles (Karoulos 3), the son of Charlemagne, as king: Lib. Pont. 98. 24, cf. Annales Regni Francorum s.a. 801. Leo 11 is said to have put Rome and Italy under the control of the Franks: Zon. XV 13. 17.

In 801/802 envoys (apokrisiarioi) from Leo 11 and Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) arrived in Constantinople with proposals for the marriage of the empress Eirene 1 with Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) and the unification of East and West: Theoph. AM 6294 (ζευχθῆναι αὐτὴν τῷ Καρούλῳ πρὸς γάμον).

In 811 Leo 11 finally received from the patriarch of Constantinople, Nikephoros 2, the patriarch's synodical letter announcing his appointment (πρὸς Λέοντα τὸν ἁγιώτατον πάπαν Ῥώμης); the patriarch had been prevented from sending the letter earlier by the former emperor Nicephorus I (Nikephoros 8): Theoph. AM 6304.

The description of Leo 11's character in Lib. Pont. 98. 1 and 2 closely resembles in terminology that of pope Gregory II (Gregorios 72) (Lib. Pont. 91. 1); described as chaste, eloquent and steadfast, a defender of the cause of the Church and a strong opponent of its enemies; he was also slow to anger and swift to show mercy, not rewarding evil with evil but devoted to the cause of justice. A long list of his gifts and donations to St Peter's and other churches, to the Lateran palace, and to cemeteries, diaconiae, xenodochia and monasteries in Rome and elsewhere in Italy is preserved in Lib. Pont. 98. 3-10, 27-112.

Leo 11 died after occupying the see for twenty years, five months and sixteen days and was buried in St Peter's on 12 June 816 ("pridie idus Iunii, indictione VIIII"): Lib. Pont. 98. 113, cf. 98. 1 (where the same period in office is given).

Leo 11 received messages from Theodoros 15 (Theodore the Stoudite) with information about the Moechian controversy and containing requests for help: Theod. Stud., Epp. 33, 35 (c. a. 809/811).

The bishop of Rome, Leo 11 wrote to the patriarch Thomas 60 of Jerusalem, asking for advice in dealing with Frankish heretics, who were adding a reference to the Son to the statement in the Creed about the procession of the Holy Spirit; Thomas 60 and a council decided to send Michael Syncellus (Michael 51) to see him: Vita Mich. Sync. 6.

(Publishable link for this person: )