Paschalis 1 was archdeacon (?archidiaconus?) of Rome under pope Conon (Konon 10); when he saw that the latter was gravely ill he wrote to the exarchos of Italy, Ioannes 226, canvassing support for his own election as bishop of Rome after the death of Konon 10 and promising bribes; he was allegedly covetous of the large donation of gold which Konon 10 had promised to the clergy, the monasteries of the diaconia and the mansionarii but which had not yet been given; the exarchos ordered the new authorities in Rome to ensure the election of Paschalis 1: Lib. Pont. 85. 5 (not named in this passage). In 687 after the death of Konon 10 (21 September), when he was still archidiaconus, Paschalis 1 was the preferred candidate of one section of the Roman people to become the new bishop of Rome; while his rival, Theodoros 167, seized the interior of the Lateran palace, Paschalis 1 seized the outside ("Paschalis vero exteriorem partem ab oratorio sancti Silvestri et basilicam domus Iuliae, quae super campum respicit, occupavit"); eventually Sergios 30 was chosen as a compromise candidate, to be accepted and greeted first by Theodoros 167 and later, after a reluctant delay and then only under duress, by Paschalis 1: Lib. Pont. 86. 2-3. Nevertheless Paschalis 1 continued secretly to send messengers with money and gifts to the exarchos Ioannes 226 at Ravenna, seeking to persuade him to pay a surprise visit to Rome; Ioannes 226 arrived unexpectedly, but found that Sergios 30 was the general choice and that he could do nothing to help Paschalis 1, and so he then demanded the sum of one hundred pounds of gold from the Church, equivalent to what Paschalis 1 had promised him; the Church was compelled to pay and Paschalis 1 was blamed for the loss: Lib. Pont. 86. 3-5. Shortly afterwards Paschalis 1 was deprived of his archidiaconate for allegedly practising sorcery and witchcraft with other soothsayers and uttering incantations; he was confined in a monastery where he died five years later, unrepentant: Lib. Pont. 86. 5 ("praedictus vero Paschalis non post multum tempus et ab officio archidiaconatus pro aliquas incantationes et luculos quos colebat vel sortes quas cum aliis respectoribus tractabat ... privatus est; et in monasterio retrusus, post quinquennium, prae cordis duritia, inpenitens defunctus est").

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