A decree issued by Pope Gelasius I…

A decree issued by Pope Gelasius I in about 496 represents the first formal index of forbidden books.

Having abolished the pagan Lupercalia, he introduces Saint Valentine’s feast day of February 14.

Gelasius, who is to be the last non-European pope until 2013, dies on November 21, 496 after a four-year reign.

The church had been in a serious doctrinal dispute since 484, between the Eastern and Western churches of Christianity, known as the Acacian schism.

Pope Felix III (483-492) and Pope Gelasius I (492-496) had generally taken hardline stances towards the Eastern church and had excommunicated many of the major religious figures including Acacius, the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Efforts at reducing the problem by Zeno were not recognized by Felix III or Gelasius I, so there is a significant schism between the churches.

Upon the death of Gelasius I, Anastasius II is named pope, largely with support from a faction that wants to improve relations between the West and the Eastern churches and end the schism.