Hilarius or Hilarus I, Pope

Hilarius or Hilarus I, Pope or, rather, bishop of Rome, was a Sardinian by birth, and succeeded Leo the Great in the year 461. "He had been employed by Leo in important affairs; among others, he was sent as legate to the Robber Council of Ephesus (q.v.) in 449, against the Entychians, and was well versed in matters concerning the discipline of the Church, which he displayed great zeal in enforcing. He interfered in the election and consecration of bishops by their metropolitans in France and Spain, and justified his interference by alleging the pre-eminence of the see of Rome over all the sees of the West, a pre-eminence which he, however, acknowledged, in one of his letters, to be derived from the emperor's favor. He also forbade bishops nominating their successors, a practice which was then frequent. He, however, did not declare elections or nominations to be illegal merely from his own authority, but assembled a council to decide on those questions. Hilarius died at Rome in 467." See English Cyclopaedia, s.v.; Bower, Hist. of the Popes, 2, 141 sq.; Jaffe, Regesta Pont. Romans p. 48, 933.