THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
was imprisoned and, after Boniface had assumed the papal authority, was strangled in July, 974.
(A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Liber pontificalia, ed. Duchesne, ii, 255, Pari*, 1892; Jaffe\ Regesta, i, 477; J. M. Watterich, Pontificum Romanorum . vita, i, 65-66, Leipsic, 1862; Neander, Christian Church, iii, 330-331 (reference to a letter of Benedict, given Mansi, Concilia, xix, 53); Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, iv, 632; Bower, Popes, ii, 324.
Benedict VII: Pope 974-983. He was a Roman by birth, said to have been a kinsman of the powerful Roman prince and senator Alberic. He was bishop of Sutri when, on the flight of Boniface VII, he was called to the papal throne, and confirmed by the emperor Otto II. As far as we know, his first act was to condemn Boniface in a synod at Rome. He displayed a great desire to maintain friendly relations with the German prelates; Archbishop Willigis of Mainz was appointed papal legate for Germany and Gaul, with the right of crowning the German kings. Benedict showed his subserviency to the emperor by agreeing to the suppression of the bishopric of Merseburg in a synod at Rome (Sept. 10, 981), without regard to the arguments brought against such a proceeding. He was a devoted friend of monasticism, as is shown not only by the numerous privileges bestowed upon monasteries, but by the restoration of that of Saints Boniface and Alexius on the Aventine and the building of the monastic church of Subiaco. Ho supported the reforming movement, condemning simony at a synod in March, 981. That he upheld the claim of the papacy to universal jurisdiction may be inferred from the fact that he sought to establish relations with places as distant as Carthage and Damascus, giving an archbishop once more to the North African Church, and appointing the metropolitan of Damascus, who had been driven out by the Arabs, abbot of St. Boniface. He died in Oct., 983. (A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Liber pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, ii, 258, Paris, 1892; JafK, Regesta, i, 479; J. M. Watterich, Romanorum pontificum . . vitce, i, 66, 686, Leipsic, 1862; A. von Reumont, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, ii, 294, Berlin, 1868; F. Gregorovius, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, iii, 372, Stuttgart, 1876; Bower, Popes, ii, 325; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, iv, 633; Hauck, KD, iii, passim.
Benedict VIII (Theophylact) : Pope 1012-24. He was the son of Count Gregory of Tusculum, chosen by his brothers' influence, after they had defeated, by force of arms, the Crescentian party, who set up another Gregory as antipope (see Gregory VI, antipope). Benedict was consecrated Apr. 20, 1012, and Gregory fled to the court of Henry II, who, however, recognized Benedict, and was rewarded by a promise of coronation in St. Peter's. He descended into Italy toward the end of 1013, and was crowned, with his wife Cunigunde, in the following February. Soon afterward a synod was held in his presence, at which, it is said at his suggestion, the Constantinopolitan Creed was made a part of the Roman liturgy; after this he left Pope Benedict to contend with his numerous enemies — the Crescentian faction, the Arabs, and the Greeks. The first he suppressed; the Mohammedan invaders, who threatened Italy from
Sardinia, were defeated and driven out of the island in June, 1016, by the aid of the Pisans and Genoese; he supported those who were attempting to free southern Italy from the Byzantine rule, and gained them the help of a body of Norman knights, who conquered the Greeks, though only temporarily. He accepted Henry's invitation to meet him in 1020 at Bamberg, where the emperor renewed the " Ottoman privilege " to the Church, and gave up Bamberg to ecclesiastical rule. In the following year Henry crossed the Alps for the third time; Benedict met him at Benevento in 1022, and was present when he conquered the Greek fortress of Troja and broke the power of Pandulf IV of Capua, an ally of the Byzantines. These successes, again temporary, are less important than the synod held by the pope and emperor jointly at Pavia Aug. 1, 1022. Here Henry's reforming plans were extended to Italy. After a strong exhortation from the pope, the synod renewed the condemnation of clerical marriage and took measures to prevent the alienation of church property. Henry wished to carry his reforms into France also, and with this purpose met King Robert at Ivois in Aug., 1023. Another synod at Pavia was projected, but before it could be held both Benedict and Henry had died, the former Apr. 9, 1024. (A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Liber pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, ii, 268, Paris, 1892; Jaffe\ Regesta, i, 506; J. M. Watterich, Romanorum pontificum . vital, i, 69, 700, Leipsic, 1862; A. von Reumont, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, ii, 329, Berlin, 1868; W von Giesebrecht, Geschichte der deuttchen Kaiserzeit, ii, 122 sqq., Brunswick, 1875; P. F. Sadee, Die Stellung Heinrichs II zur Kirche, Jena, 1877; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, iv, 670; Bower, Popes, ii, 335—337; Hartmann, in Mittheilungen des Instituts fur osterreichisrhe Geschichte, xv (1894), 482 sqq.; Hauck, KD, iii, 518 sqq.; P. G. Wappler, Papst Benedikt VIII, Leipsic, 1897.
Benedict IX (Theophylact): Pope 1033-48. He was the son of Count Alberic of Tusculum, and nephew of Benedict VIII and John XIX, the latter of whom he succeeded by his father's intrigues and violence, though he was only ten years old. His life was incredibly scandalous, and the strife of factions continued. A murderous assault upon him and his expulsion from Rome followed (the date can not be determined). He owed his restoration to the emperor Conrad II, who came into Italy in the winter of 1036. Benedict met him obsequiously at Cremona in the following June, taking no notice of the fact that he had broken the Church's laws by imprisoning Aribert, archbishop of Milan, and expelling the bishops of Piacenza, Cremona, and Vercelli from their sees; in fact, in Mar., 103S, he went so far as to excommunicate Aribert. By similar complaisances he won the favor of Conrad's successor, Henry III, for whom, in 1041, he obligingly excommunicated the Hungarian nobles, who had driven out their king, Peter. The Romans bore with these conditions until the end of 1044, when they rose and drove Benedict out, afterward electing John, bishop of Sabina, in his stead, under the title of Sylvester III. Benedict succeeded in sending John back to Sabina inside of two months; but, doubting his own ability to maintain his position, he decided to abdicate, adding one more shameless