IV, Pope, succeeded John IX, April 6, 900, and held the papacy nearly rive years, dying Oct. 20, 004. He crowned, in 901, Louis, King of Provence, as Ro- man Emperor. There are still extant two of his epis- tles, one addressed to the bishops and princes of Gaul, and the other to the clergy and people of Langres, whose exiled bishop he reinstated (Mansi, xviii, 233- 236).
V, Pope, elected in 964. John XII, his predeces- sor, who had been protected by the Emperor Otho the Great against Berenger and Adalbert, ungratefully took the part of the emperor's enemies. Otho, justly irritated by this conduct, convoked a council at Rome in 963, where John was deposed and Leo VIII elected. John soon after repaired to Rome, held another coun- cil in 964, and in his turn .deposed Leo; but soon after this John was assassinated, and his part}' elected Bene- dict V to succeed him. Otho soon appeared again on the scene, laid siege to Rome, and carried away Bene- dict (who consented to bis deposition) captive into Germany. Leo VIII died at Rome in April, 9G5 ; the people demanded Benedict as his successor, and the emperor would probably have granted their request, but Benedict died in July of the same year. The his- torians of the Church of Rome are naturally very much puzzled in deciding whether Benedict was a lawful pope or not ; but the question is generally compromised by recognising both Leo and Benedict.
VI, Pope, son of Hildebrand, supposed to have been elected pope on the death of John XIII, A.D. 972. On the death of the Emperor Otho, he was strangled or poisoned in the castle of St. Angelo, 974. The papacy about this time was in a most degraded con- dition.
VII, Tope, son of a count of Tusculum, ascended the pontifical throne in 975, and died July, 981. lie held two councils at Rome ; in the one he excommuni- cated the antipope Boniface VIII; in the ether, all those guilty of simony. A letter in which he confirms certain prerogatives of the bishop of Lorch is found in Lambecii, Billioih. Cws. lib. ii. Several other bulls on the privileges of certain diocesan churches are given by Mansi, torn. xix.
VIII, Pope, son of Gregory, count of Tusculum, succeeded Sergius IV, July 20, 1012. He was driven from Rome by his competitor Gregory, who in turn was expelled by Henry, King of Germany. In 1014 Benedict crowned Henry Roman Emperor, and pre- sented him with a globe surmounted by a cress, which became henceforth one of the emblems of the empire. The emperor confirmed to the Church of Rome all the donations made by Charlemagne and the Othos, de- clared that the election of a pope would not require any longer the confirmation of the emperor, and reserved
and his successors only the right of send-
ing commissaries to the consecration of the pope. At the request of the emperor, Benedict ordered the reci- tal of the Constantinopolitan symbol during the mass, hoping that it would facilitate a reunion with the Greek Church. In 1016 the Saracens made an irrup- tion into Italy, but were defeated by an army collect- ed by Benedict's energy. He died July 10, 1024. — Gieseler, Ch. Hist, period iii, div. ii, § 22.
IX, the boy-pope, one of the worst monsters that ever held the papal throne. He was elected aloit June, 1033, but his vile conduct excited the Romans to expel him in 1015, and Silvester III was elected, who held it for about three months, when Benedict, through the influence of his family, succeeded for a time in recovering his dignity. However, he was again compelled to floe, and Johannes Gratianus was, A.D. 1045, put into his place, who took the style of Gregory VI. It is said, indeed, that Gratian bovgM his elevation from Benedict, who wished to marry tn Italian princess. Thus there were three popes actual- ly living at the same time, and Rome was tilled with brawls and murders. To remedy this, Henry the Black, king of Germany, convoked a council at Sutri, near Rome, in December, 1046, where Gregory VI was deposed, and, by the common consent of Germans and Romans, Suidgcr was elected pope, and consecrated under the name of Clement II. He, however, died at the end of nine months, i. c. October 9th, 1047 ; upon which Benedict came to Rome for the third time, where he held his ground till July, 1048, when he was replaced by Damasus II, the nominee of the emperor. Noth- ing is known for certain concerning him after this pe- riod, but he is believed to have died in 1051. — Biog. Univ. iv, 183.
X (John, bishop of Velletri) was raised to the pope- dom by a faction in March, 1058, the instant Pope Stephen IX had closed his eyes. Benedict was so ig- norant and obtuse that he obtained the surname of Mincio, stupid. Hildebrand, upon his return from Germany in 1059, caused Gerard to be elected under the name of Nicholas II, to whom Benedict quickly yielded. He died in confinement in 1059. — Biog. Univ. iv, 183.
XI, Pope (Nicholas Boccasini), was born at Treviso in 1240, entered, at the age of fourteen, the order of 1 )ominicans, and became later the general of his order. Under Boniface he was made cardinal and bishop of Ostia. He was elected pope October 27, 1303, upon the death of Boniface VIII. When elected to the papal throne he was cardinal-bishop of Ostia. His pontificate was short, extending only to eight months. He took off the sentence of excommunication pro- nounced against the King of Denmark, and the in- terdict laid upon his kingdom, and annulled the hulls of Boniface VIII against Philippe-le-Bol of* France. He died of poison at Perugia on the 6th or 7th of July, 1304, and was enrolled among the saints by Pope Clement XII, April 21th, 1730, his festival being mark- ed on the 7th of July. He left Commentaries on Job, the Psalms, the Apocalypse, and Matthew, besides some volumes of Sermons and his Bulls.