Summary
Pope Agapetus I (489/490 – 22 April 536) was the bishop of Rome from 13 May 535 to his death on 22 April 536. His father, Gordianus, was a priest in Rome and he may have been related to two popes, Felix III and Gregory I. In 536, Agapetus traveled to Constantinople at the behest of King Theodahad of the Ostrogoths and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Emperor Justinian I to call off a Byzantine invasion of the Ostrogoth kingdom. While in Constantinople, Agapetus also deposed the patriarch Anthimus I and personally consecrated his successor who is Menas of Constantinople. Four of Agapetus’ letters from this period have survived: two addressed to Justinian, one to the bishops of Africa, and…