Pope John XIII

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Pope John XIII : biography

– September 6, 0972

Election as Pope and the rebellion of the Romans

After the death of Leo VIII, the Roman nobility asked the Emperor, Otto I for the reinstatement of Pope Benedict V. When this was not possible, Bishop John Crescentius was suggested as a compromise candidate by Otto’s envoys, the bishops Otger of Spiers and Liutprand of Cremona.Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI, (HarperCollins, 2000), 160.Gregorovius, pg. 357 Elected unanimously, John was consecrated on Sunday, 1 October 965, five months after the death of Leo VIII.

John immediately took on the task of curbing the power of the Roman nobility. He gave members of the Crescentii family important positions to shore up his support, while he also sought closer ties with the emperor.Gregorovius, pg. 359 However, with the emperor back in Germany, various local powers decided to take advantage of his absence to intrigue against John XIII. The former king Adalbert of Italy had appeared in front of an army in Lombardy, whilst the Roman nobility, disliking John’s behaviour, and resenting his imposition by a foreign power, staged a revolt. Under the leadership of Peter, the Prefect of the city, together with Rofred, the Count of Roman Campagna and the Vestararius Stephen, they roused the Roman nobility by declaring that

The leaders of the Roman militia captured the pope on December 16, 965, and imprisoned him in Castel Sant’Angelo. However, fearing John’s presence there would inspire resistance from his followers, the pope was moved to one of Rofred’s castles in the Campagna.Mann, pgs. 286-287; Gregorovius, pg. 359 Word eventually reached Otto of all these disturbances, who entered Italy in late summer of 966 at the head of an enormous army. In the meantime, John had managed to escape from Campagna, and made his way to Capua, placing himself under the protection of Pandulf Ironhead.Gregorovius, pg. 360 In thanks for Pandulf’s aid, John converted Capua into a Metropolitian see, and consecrated as its first archbishop Pandulf’s brother John, on August 14, 966.Mann, pg. 287 In Rome, the pope’s supporters rose up, and Rofred and Stephen were killed by John Crescentius, the pope’s nephew. Pope John left Capua, and crossed into Sabina, where he was met by his brother-in-law, Benedict, who also offered John his support. With Rome effectively back in his hands, John returned and was welcomed back into the city on November 14, 966.Gregorovius, pg. 360; Mann, pg. 287 Although he was initially lenient towards the rebels, the arrival of Otto saw a change in approach. The emperor banished to Germany the two men appointed consul; the twelve principal militia leaders (the Decarcones, one appointed to each of the city’s twelve regions) were hanged. Other plotters were either executed or blinded. The Prefect of the City, Peter, was handed over to John, who ordered him to be hung by his hair from the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, after which he was taken down, placed naked and backwards on an ass. A bag of feathers was placed upon his head and two more at his thighs. With a bell fastened round its neck, Peter was driven through the city, and after being thus exposed to the ridicule of the people, Peter was cast into a dungeon before finally being sent by the emperor into Germany.Norwich, pg. 83Mann, pgs. 287-288; Gregorovius, pgs. 360-362; 364 In gratitude for the emperor’s intervention, John lauded him by declaring him to be the liberator and restorer of the Church, the illustrious guest, and three times blessed emperor.”Roma caput totius mundi et ecclesia universalis ab inquis pene pessum data, a Domno Ottone aug. Imp., a Deo coronato Caesare, et magno, et ter benedicto—erecta est et in pristinum honorem omni reverentia redacta.” Gregorovius, pgs. 364-5

Relations with other states

John was also involved in the development of ecclesiastical structures across Europe. In 973, John appointed a sister of Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia, Mlada, as an abbess of the Benedictine Order. He gave her a papal bull which authorised the foundation of the bishopric of Prague in accordance with the wishes of Boleslaus, which had been made through Mlada. John decreed that the church of SS. Vitus and Wenceslaus should be the new cathedral church. At the church of St. George, a convent of nuns was to be established, over which the duke’s sister was to preside. Finally, the Latin rite and not the Byzantine rite was to be followed, and someone who was well instructed in Latin literature had to be chosen as the first bishop.Mann, pgs. 295-296