Pope Conon
pope (630-687)
Pope Conon (Greek: Κόνων, romanized: Konōn; died 21 September 687) was the bishop of Rome from 21 October 686 to his death on 21 September 687. He had been put forward as a compromise candidate, there being a conflict between the two factions resident in Rome — the military and the clerical. He consecrated the Irish missionary St Kilian and commissioned him to preach in Franconia.
Background
According to the Liber pontificalis, Conon was a Greek, the son of an officer from the Thracesian Theme. He was educated in Sicily, where his father may have been posted during the stay of Constans II, and was later ordained a priest at Rome. He may have been among the many Sicilian clergy in Rome, at that time, due to Muslim raids on Sicily in the mid-7th century.
Papacy
Conon's age, venerable appearance, and simple character caused the clergy and soldiery of Rome, who were in disagreement, to put aside their respective candidates and to elect him as pope. Andrew J. Ekonomou says that due to an "increasing influx" of Easterners into Rome at that time, that the Syrian, Greek, and Greco-Sicilian population together outnumbered the Latins. This would also have increased Conon's electability. Conon was consecrated on 21 October 686 after notice of his election had been sent to the exarch of Ravenna, or after it had been confirmed by him.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Pope Conon” is pope (630-687). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Pope, Conon and pope, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “pope (630-687)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q171537. VIAF identifies the subject as 27422198. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Pope Conon”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Pope Conon primary sources, Pope Conon archive and Pope research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Pope Conon”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Pope Conon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.