Severinus
Severinus · 640 – 640
Waited nearly two years for imperial confirmation, then reigned only two months before dying, his papal treasury looted by Byzantine officials.
Severinus was a Roman. He was elected in 638 but the Byzantine emperor refused to confirm him unless he accepted the Ecthesis, a Monothelite document. Severinus refused. For nearly twenty months, he waited in limbo while Byzantine officials in Italy raided the Lateran treasury to pressure him. He was finally consecrated in May 640 and died in August, having reigned only about two months. His brief pontificate was little more than a stand against imperial theological bullying.
Twenty Months of No
Severinus said no to the emperor's heretical document and paid for it with nearly two years of waiting and a looted treasury. He barely had time to govern before he died. But his refusal mattered. He proved that the papacy would not simply rubber-stamp whatever Constantinople demanded.