The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary

The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Leo IV (847-855)
854 (III)

Birth. (No date or place found). He is also listed as Megistus; as Megetius; and as Leone (?).

Education. He became a monk at the monastery of S. Andrea ad Clivum Scauri, Rome.

Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). Prior of the monastery of S. Andrea ad Clivum Scauri, Rome.

Cardinalate. Bishop cardinalis of Ostia in 854 (1). Consecrated (no information found). Librarian of the Holy Roman Church. He subscribed the bull "Questi estis" of Pope Benedict III, dated May 11, 857, confirming the possessions, apud Anglos Saxones in terra Britanniae, of the monastery of S. Dyonisii.

Death. Before 868, (no place found). Buried (no information found).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1792, I, pt. 1, 54; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificum Romanorum : et S.R.E. Cardinalium ab initio nascentis Ecclesiae usque ad Clementem IX P. O. M. Alphonsi Ciaconii Ord. Praed. & aliorum opera descriptæ : cum uberrimis notis. Ab Augustino Oldoino, Soc. Jesu recognitae, et ad quatuor tomos ingenti ubique rerum accessione productae. Additis Pontificum recentiorum imaginibus, & Cardinalium insignibus, plurimisque aeneis figuris, cum indicibus locupletissimis. Romæ : P. et A. De Rubeis, 1677, I, col. 625, no. I; Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888, p. 1; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1927, p. 151, no. 1; Gams, Pius Bonifatius. Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae. 3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957, p. IV; Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab conditio Ecclesia. Ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1956. 2 v. Reprint. Originally published : Lipsiae : Veit et comp., 1885-1888. Original t.p. included : Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita ecclesia : ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Editionem secundam correctam et auctam edidit Philippus Jaffè ; auspiciis Gulielmi Wattenbach; curaverunt S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunner, P. Ewald, I, 339 and 340.

(1) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926, p. 151, no. 1; and Cristofori, Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa, p. 1. Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, I, pt. 1, 54, indicates that some sources say that he was one of the subscribers of the Roman Council of 853 but others contradict this affirmation. Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, p. IV, indicates that he was named bishop of Ostia in 854 and does not mention his cardinalate.