Literary notes about Pontiff (AI summary)
The term “pontiff” in literature often connotes a figure of supreme ecclesiastical authority whose role transcends mere ritual and extends into the realm of political influence. Authors such as Gibbon and Augustine evoke the dignity and solemnity of the papal office, where the Roman pontiff becomes a symbol of both spiritual guidance and temporal power [1][2][3]. In narratives that intertwine divine mandate with worldly affairs, the pontiff is portrayed as an arbiter and moral leader whose pronouncements or decrees shape the course of nations and the lives of individuals alike [4][5][6]. Some works even extend the term’s use metaphorically, imbuing secular or satirical figures with quasi-religious gravitas by likening them to the revered pontiff [7][8][9]. Thus, across historical and fictional texts, “pontiff” emerges as a flexible emblem of authority and sanctity that continues to resonate in discussions of governance, power, and cultural identity [10][11].
- He was not ignorant of the dignity and importance of the Roman pontiff, to whom the venerable name of Pope was now appropriated.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - He repeated therefore to his nobles all he had said to the Chief Pontiff, and his future reign was unstained by cruelty or oppression."
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - But that he might not legally assume the titles of emperor and Augustus, till he had received the crown from the hands of the Roman pontiff.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - Come, as public pontiff of the Roman people, dictate to me the words in which I may devote myself for the legions."
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - Charlemagne was twice anointed by the Sovereign Pontiff, first as King of Lombardy, and then as Emperor.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob - Amidst the triumph of the Catholic arms, the Roman pontiff convened a synod of ninety-three bishops against the heresy of the Iconoclasts.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - Mr. Monday, the distinguished evangelist, the best-known Protestant pontiff in America, had once been a prize-fighter.
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - It is a form of theocracy, in which there can be no pontiff save the prince, and no priests save the magistrates.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The man who called himself Kalon was a magnificent creature, worthy, in a physical sense, to be the pontiff of Apollo.
— from The innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - But the Calvinistical presbyters were impatient of a superior; and the Roman Pontiff refused to acknowledge an equal.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - The true King, as guide of the practical, has ever something of the Pontiff in him,—guide of the spiritual, from which all practice has its rise.
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle
