Not much is known of Anastasius III. He was a Roman, the son of
Lucian, and he was elected pope either in April or June, 911. He seems to have
been an excellent man and a good pope.
One interesting fact about the pontificate of Anastasius III was
the visit of Howel the Good king of Wales. Howel was engaged in drawing up a
code of laws for his hill-country Celts. Determined to see that the laws were
well drawn up, he made the difficult journey to Rome to see Pope Anastasius and
ask him to confirm the new Welsh laws. Outside of the fact that he granted the
pallium to Ragenbert, bishop of Vercelli, and various privileges to the bishop
of Pavia, and confirmed the privileges of the church of Grado, nothing else is
known of the acts of Pope Anastasius III. In Germany, however, an event of some
significance took place. Louis the Child, whose reign was disaster to the
strife-torn country, was replaced by Conrad the Franconian. Louis was the last
of Charlemagne's line to rule in Germany.
Anastasius III died some time in the summer of 913. He was
buried in St. Peter's. His epitaph pithily remarks that the tomb holds the bones
but could not contain the merits of this Pope who ruled the Church well.
Excerpted from "Popes
Through the Ages" by Joseph Brusher, S.J.
