Eugene II
Eugene · 824 – 827
Reformed clergy education and conduct through the Roman Council of 826, requiring priests to actually know what they were teaching.
Eugene was a Roman who became pope in 824 after a contested election that required imperial intervention. He accepted the Constitutio Romana, which gave the Carolingian emperor a role in confirming papal elections. His most lasting contribution was the Roman Council of 826, which mandated that schools be established at cathedrals and monasteries and required clergy to be properly educated before being ordained.
Teach Before You Preach
Eugene's demand that priests actually learn their faith before teaching it seems obvious now. In the ninth century, it was not. Illiterate clergy were common, and the Council of 826 was a serious attempt to fix that problem by building schools and holding priests to real standards.