Christus aan het kruis met de heilige Franciscus en het laatste oordeel

Catholics recognize the pope as the successor to Saint Peter, whom Jesus designated as the "rock" upon which the Church was to be built. During the Early Church, the bishops of Rome enjoyed no temporal power until the time of Constantine. List of Popes: St. Peter (32-67) St. Linus (67-76) St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88) St. Clement I (88-97) St. Evaristus (97-105) St. Alexander I (105-115) St. Sixtus I (115-125) Also called Xystus I St. Telesphorus (125-136) St. Hyginus (136-140) St. Pius I (140-155) St. Anicetus (155-166) St. Soter (166-175) St. Eleutherius (175-189) St. Victor I (189-199) St. Zephyrinus (199-217) St. Callistus I (217-22) Callistus and the following three popes were opposed by St. Hippolytus, antipope (217-236) St. Urban I (222-30), St. Pontain (230-35) St. Anterus (235-36) St. Fabian (236-50) St. Cornelius (251-53) Opposed by Novatian, antipope (251) St. Lucius I (253-54) St. Stephen I (254-257) St. Sixtus II (257-258) St. Dionysius (260-268) St. Felix I (269-274) St. Eutychian (275-283) St. Caius (283-296) Also called Gaius St. Marcellinus (296-304) St. Marcellus I (308-309) St. Eusebius (309 or 310) St. Miltiades (311-14) St. Sylvester I (314-35) St. Marcus (336) St. Julius I (337-52) Liberius (352-66) Opposed by Felix II, antipope (355-365) St. Damasus I (366-84) Opposed by Ursicinus, antipope (366-367) St. Siricius (384-99) St. Anastasius I (399-401) St. Innocent I (401-17) St. Zosimus (417-18) St. Boniface I (418-22) Opposed by Eulalius, antipope (418-419) St. Celestine I (422-32) St. Sixtus III (432-40) St. Leo I (the Great) (440-61) St. Hilarius (461-68) St. Simplicius (468-83) St. Felix III (II) (483-92) St. Gelasius I (492-96) Anastasius II (496-98) St. Symmachus (498-514) Opposed by Laurentius, antipope (498-501) St. Hormisdas (514-23) St. John I (523-26) St. Felix IV (III) (526-30) Boniface II (530-32) Opposed by Dioscorus, antipope (530) John II (533-35) St. Agapetus I (535-36) Also called Agapitus I St. Silverius (536-37) Vigilius (537-55) Pelagius I (556-61) John III (561-74) Benedict I (575-79) Pelagius II (579-90) St. Gregory I (the Great) (590-604) Sabinian (604-606) Boniface III (607) St. Boniface IV (608-15) St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-18) Boniface V (619-25) Honorius I (625-38) Severinus (640) John IV (640-42) Theodore I (642-49) St. Martin I (649-55) St. Eugene I (655-57) St. Vitalian (657-72) Adeodatus (II) (672-76) Donus (676-78) St. Agatho (678-81) St. Leo II (682-83) St. Benedict II (684-85) John V (685-86) Conon (686-87) St. Sergius I (687-701) Opposed by Theodore and Paschal, antipopes (687) John VI (701-05) John VII (705-07) Sisinnius (708) Constantine (708-15) St. Gregory II (715-31) St. Gregory III (731-41) St. Zachary (741-52) Stephen II followed Zachary, but because he died before being consecrated, modern lists omit him Stephen II (III) (752-57) St. Paul I (757-67) Stephen III (IV) (767-72) Opposed by Constantine II (767) and Philip (768), antipopes (767) Adrian I (772-95) St. Leo III (795-816) Stephen IV (V) (816-17) St. Paschal I (817-24) Eugene II (824-27) Valentine (827) Gregory IV (827-44) Sergius II (844-47) Opposed by John, antipope St. Leo IV (847-55) Benedict III (855-58) Opposed by Anastasius, antipope (855) St. Nicholas I (the Great) (858-67) Adrian II (867-72) John VIII (872-82) Marinus I (882-84) St. Adrian III (884-85) Stephen V (VI) (885-91) Formosus (891-96) Boniface VI (896) Stephen VI (VII) (896-97) Romanus (897) Theodore II (897) John IX (898-900) Benedict IV (900-03) Leo V (903) Opposed by Christopher, antipope (903-904) Sergius III (904-11) Anastasius III (911-13) Lando (913-14) John X (914-28) Leo VI (928) Stephen VIII (929-31) John XI (931-35) Leo VII (936-39) Stephen IX (939-42) Marinus II (942-46) Agapetus II (946-55) John XII (955-63) Leo VIII (963-64) Benedict V (964) John XIII (965-72) Benedict VI (973-74) Benedict VII (974-83) Benedict and John XIV were opposed by Boniface VII, antipope (974; 984-985) John XIV (983-84) John XV (985-96) Gregory V (996-99) Opposed by John XVI, antipope (997-998) Sylvester II (999-1003) John XVII (1003) John XVIII (1003-09) Sergius IV (1009-12) Benedict VIII (1012-24) Opposed by Gregory, antipope (1012) John XIX (1024-32) Benedict IX (1032-45) He appears on this list three separate times, because he was twice deposed and restored Sylvester III (1045) Considered by some to be an antipope Benedict IX (1045) Gregory VI (1045-46) Clement II (1046-47) Benedict IX (1047-48) Damasus II (1048) St. Leo IX (1049-54) Victor II (1055-57) Stephen X (1057-58) Nicholas II (1058-61) Opposed by Benedict X, antipope (1058) Alexander II (1061-73) Opposed by Honorius II, antipope (1061-1072) St. Gregory VII (1073-85) Gregory and the following three popes were opposed by Guibert ("Clement III"), antipope (1080-1100) Blessed Victor III (1086-87) Blessed Urban II (1088-99) Paschal II (1099-1118) Opposed by Theodoric (1100), Aleric (1102) and Maginulf ("Sylvester IV", 1105-1111), antipopes (1100) Gelasius II (1118-19) Opposed by Burdin ("Gregory VIII"), antipope (1118) Callistus II (1119-24) Honorius II (1124-30) Opposed by Celestine II, antipope (1124) Innocent II (1130-43) Opposed by Anacletus II (1130-1138) and Gregory Conti ("Victor IV") (1138), antipopes (1138) Celestine II (1143-44) Lucius II (1144-45) Blessed Eugene III (1145-53) Anastasius IV (1153-54) Adrian IV (1154-59) Alexander III (1159-81) Opposed by Octavius ("Victor IV") (1159-1164), Pascal III (1165-1168), Callistus III (1168-1177) and Innocent III (1178-1180), antipopes Lucius III (1181-85) Urban III (1185-87) Gregory VIII (1187) Clement III (1187-91) Celestine III (1191-98) Innocent III (1198-1216) Honorius III (1216-27) Gregory IX (1227-41) Celestine IV (1241) Innocent IV (1243-54) Alexander IV (1254-61) Urban IV (1261-64) Clement IV (1265-68) Blessed Gregory X (1271-76) Blessed Innocent V (1276) Adrian V (1276) John XXI (1276-77) Nicholas III (1277-80) Martin IV (1281-85) Honorius IV (1285-87) Nicholas IV (1288-92) St. Celestine V (1294) Boniface VIII (1294-1303) Blessed Benedict XI (1303-04) Clement V (1305-14) John XXII (1316-34) Opposed by Nicholas V, antipope (1328-1330) Benedict XII (1334-42) Clement VI (1342-52) Innocent VI (1352-62) Blessed Urban V (1362-70) Gregory XI (1370-78) Urban VI (1378-89) Opposed by Robert of Geneva ("Clement VII"), antipope (1378-1394) Boniface IX (1389-1404) Opposed by Robert of Geneva ("Clement VII") (1378-1394), Pedro de Luna ("Benedict XIII") (1394-1417) and Baldassare Cossa ("John XXIII") (1400-1415), antipopes Innocent VII (1404-06) Opposed by Pedro de Luna ("Benedict XIII") (1394-1417) and Baldassare Cossa ("John XXIII") (1400-1415), antipopes Gregory XII (1406-15) Opposed by Pedro de Luna ("Benedict XIII") (1394-1417), Baldassare Cossa ("John XXIII") (1400-1415), and Pietro Philarghi ("Alexander V") (1409-1410), antipopes Martin V (1417-31) Eugene IV (1431-47) Opposed by Amadeus of Savoy ("Felix V"), antipope (1439-1449) Nicholas V (1447-55) Callistus III (1455-58) Pius II (1458-64) Paul II (1464-71) Sixtus IV (1471-84) Innocent VIII (1484-92) Alexander VI (1492-1503) Pius III (1503) Julius II (1503-13) Leo X (1513-21) Adrian VI (1522-23) Clement VII (1523-34) Paul III (1534-49) Julius III (1550-55) Marcellus II (1555) Paul IV (1555-59) Pius IV (1559-65) St. Pius V (1566-72) Gregory XIII (1572-85) Sixtus V (1585-90) Urban VII (1590) Gregory XIV (1590-91) Innocent IX (1591) Clement VIII (1592-1605) Leo XI (1605) Paul V (1605-21) Gregory XV (1621-23) Urban VIII (1623-44) Innocent X (1644-55) Alexander VII (1655-67) Clement IX (1667-69) Clement X (1670-76) Blessed Innocent XI (1676-89) Alexander VIII (1689-91) Innocent XII (1691-1700) Clement XI (1700-21) Innocent XIII (1721-24) Benedict XIII (1724-30) Clement XII (1730-40) Benedict XIV (1740-58) Clement XIII (1758-69) Clement XIV (1769-74) Pius VI (1775-99) Pius VII (1800-23) Leo XII (1823-29) Pius VIII (1829-30) Gregory XVI (1831-46) Blessed Pius IX (1846-78) Leo XIII (1878-1903) St. Pius X (1903-14) Benedict XV (1914-22) Biographies of Benedict XV and his successors will be added at a later date Pius XI (1922-39) Pius XII (1939-58) St. John XXIII (1958-63) Paul VI (1963-78) John Paul I (1978) St. John Paul II (1978-2005) Benedict XVI (2005-2013) Francis (2013—)

The Triumph of Death was a fairly common theme for late medieval artists. Like the another theme, Memento Mori, it was intended to remind viewers of mortality and death. Triumph of Death often depicts an army of skeletons massacring people of every age and gender. Sometimes, a wild carnivalesque atmosphere was emphasized in the popular motif of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death. Understanding the macabre spirit of death-culture in late medieval Europe requires an understanding of the terror and panic of epidemic disease, and, more generally, a fear of catastrophe and sudden death. The population of the medieval world experienced death first-hand: wide-scale death, physical decay, and the subsequent crumbling of societal infrastructure. The Black Death was the period in Europe from approximately 1347 to 1353, when bubonic plague ravaged and initiated a long-term period of cultural trauma. In fourteenth-century Europe, the mortality rate from plague was between 50% and 90% of those people who contracted the disease. The most recent works increase estimates of the total population loss to 65% in both Asia and Europe. Previous estimates state that about one-third of the population died from the disease in the years spanning the Black Death.

In art, mementos mori are artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality. Memento mori is a Latin expression meaning "remember that you have to die". It was then reused during the medieval period, it is also related to the ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") and related literature. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife.

Vatican was an uninhabited part of Rome (the ager Vaticanus) and was considered sacred, or at least not available for habitation. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby. Catholics recognize the pope as the successor of Saint Peter, whom Jesus designated as the "rock" upon which the Church was to be built. Although Peter never was called a "pope" (Latin papa), Catholics recognize him as the first Pope and Bishop of Rome. The bishops of Rome had not much power till the time of Emperor Constantine. After the fall of Rome in 476, the papacy was under the rule of sovereigns of the states surrounding Rome, but over the time, the popes consolidated a portion of the peninsula known as the Papal States. From 1048 to 1257, the papacy experienced conflict with the Byzantine Empire ended up in the East–West Schism, dividing the Western Church and Eastern Church. From 1257–1377, during conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire and France, the pope resided in Viterbo, Orvieto, and Perugia, and then Avignon, from 1309 to 1377. The return of the popes to Rome after the Avignon was followed by the Western Schism: the division of the western Church between two and, sometimes, three competing popes. On return to Rome from Avignon, popes chose to live at the Vatican. They moved to the Quirinal Palace in 1583, after work on it was completed under Pope Paul V (1605–1621), and on the capture of Rome in 1870 moved to the Vatican again. Popes ruled the Papal States, which covered a significant portion of the Italian peninsula, for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century, when all their territories were seized by the newly created Kingdom of Italy. For most of this time, the popes did not live at the Vatican. The Lateran Palace, on the opposite side of Rome, was their residence for about a thousand years. In this palace, in 1929, the agreement was signed for King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and for Pope Pius XI by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri. The Lateran Treaty created the state of the Vatican City and guaranteed popes full and independent sovereignty. The pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations and to abstention from mediation in a controversy unless specifically requested by all parties. Along with Vatican, certain papal properties that are located in Italian territory, most notably the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo and the major basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies. There are no passport controls for visitors entering Vatican City from the surrounding Italian territory.