Pope John XIII
Benedict V | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | John Crescentius |
Died | Rome, Papal States | 6 September 972 (aged 42)
Previous post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Domnica (944–965) |
Other popes named John |
Pope John XIII (
Family and early career
Born in
Brought up at the
Accession and rebellion
After the death of Leo VIII, the Roman nobility asked the
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.[9] 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 Saxon kings were going to destroy their power and influence, and were going to lead their children into captivity.”[2]
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.[10] Word eventually reached Otto of all these disturbances, and he 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.[11] In thanks for Pandulf's aid, John converted Capua into a Metropolitan see, and consecrated as its first archbishop Pandulf's brother John, on August 14, 966.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14][15] 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.[16]
In 969, he met Gerbert d'Aurillac, the future Pope Sylvester II, and was so impressed by his scholarly brilliance that he kept him on in Rome in order to learn from him.[17]
Troubles with the Byzantine Empire
After John XIII's restoration, he worked with the Emperor on ecclesiastical improvements. It was decided in a council held at Rome in the beginning of 967 in the emperor's presence that Grado was to be the patriarchal and metropolitan church of the whole of the Veneto. At another council at Ravenna in April 967, Otto again "restored to the apostolic Pope John the city and territory of Ravenna and many other possessions which had for some time been lost to the Popes."[18] At around this time he also created, at Otto's request, the Archbishopric of Magdeburg.[19]
Then, on Christmas Day in 967, John XIII crowned Otto I's son Otto II as co-emperor.[20] Various synods were held before the emperors left Rome for the south of Italy, in which, sometimes at their request, John XIII took several German monasteries under his special protection, or decided that in some cases they were to remain forever "under the patronage (mundiburdium) of the kings or emperors."[21] With Otto I seeking a marriage alliance with the Byzantine Empire through his son and a Byzantine princess, John XIII lent his support to Otto's cause. He wrote a letter to the Eastern emperor, Nikephoros II Phokas, but ended up insulting him by referring to him, not as "emperor of the Romans", but as "emperor of the Greeks".[22] As his price for the marriage, Otto demanded a dowry from the Eastern Empire, that of the themes of Longobardia and Calabria. Nikephoros retorted by instead demanding the restitution of the Exarchate of Ravenna, which included Rome and the Papal States, as the price for the imperial marriage.[23] When negotiations broke down, Nikephoros refused to write to John XIII in his own hand, instead sending him a threatening letter written by his brother, Leo Phokas the Younger.[24]
After the failure of negotiations, Nikephoros attempted to extend the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the
The death of Nikephoros Phokas in 969 saw the elevation of John I Tzimiskes. He entered into negotiations with Otto I, and soon Otto II was betrothed to Theophanu, the niece of Tzimiskes. The marriage was performed by John XIII at Rome on 14 April 972.[27]
Relations with other states
John was also involved in the development of ecclesiastical structures across Europe. In 968, John appointed the first bishop in Poland,
In 971, John XIII published a bull supporting the action of the English king
In
In 970, John bestowed the town of
Death and lore
John XIII died on 6 September 972, and was buried in the
Referred to by one chronicler after his death as "The Good",[37] John was noted for his reverence and piety, as well as being highly learned in both scripture and canon law.[39] From childhood he carried the nickname of "the White Hen", due to his light colored hair.[5] His epitaph used to be in the basilica where he was buried, between the front door and the first column, and it read:
"Here, where in death the good pastor would have them placed, are the remains of Pope John. By the mercy of God and the merits of St. Paul, freed from the bonds of death, may he hence ascend into heaven, and share in the happiness of the blessed above. Do you who piously read this epitaph pray that Christ, who with His sacred Blood redeemed the world, may have pity on His servant and free him from his sins."[40]
There is a legend which attached itself to the reign of John XIII. According to
References
- Norwich, John Julius, The Popes: A History (2011) ISBN 0701182903
- Gregorovius, Ferdinand, The History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Vol. III (1895)
- Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891–999 (1910)
- DeCormenin, Louis Marie; Gihon, James L., A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth (1857)
Notes
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ a b Mann, p. 286
- ^ Mann, pp. 285–286; Gregorovius, pp. 358–359
- ^ Mann, pp. 283–284
- ^ a b Mann, p. 284
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 358
- ^ Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI, (HarperCollins, 2000), 160.
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 357
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 359
- ^ Mann, pp. 286–287; Gregorovius, p. 359
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 360
- ^ Mann, p. 287
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 360; Mann, p. 287
- ^ Norwich, p. 83
- ^ Mann, pp. 287–288; Gregorovius, pp. 360–362; 364
- ^ ”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, pp. 364–365
- ISBN 978-1610393683.
- ^ Mann, pg. 289
- ^ The Papacy:An Encyclopedia, Ed. Philippe Levillain, (Routledge, 2002), 841.
- ^ McBrien, 161.
- ^ Mann, pp. 290–291
- ^ Norwich, John Julius, Byzantium: The Apogee (1993), p. 200
- ^ Mann, p. 292
- ^ Mann, pp. 292–293
- ^ Mann, p. 293
- ^ Mann, p. 294
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 376
- ISBN 978-0-521-36429-4. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ^ Mann, pp. 295–296
- ^ Mann, p. 269
- ^ Mann, pp. 297–298
- ^ Mann, pp. 298–299
- ^ Mann, p. 299
- ^ Mann, pp. 300–301
- ^ Mann, pp. 301–302
- ^ Gregorovius, p. 374; Mann, p. 285
- ^ a b Mann, p. 303
- ^ DeCormenin, p. 304
- ^ Mann, p. 283
- ^ Mann, p. 304
- ^ DeCormenin, p. 303
External links
- Media related to Pope John XIII at Wikimedia Commons
- Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes (in Latin)
- Crescenzi family (in Italian)