Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/492

 JOHN

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JOHN

elder Marozia, daughter of Theophylactus and Theo- dora. After the death of her first husband Alljeric, Marozia had married (926) Guido, the powerful Mar- grave of Tuscany. The aUiance of John and Hugh of Burgundy .seemed to endanger her power in Rome, and so with her husband's aid she decided to remove John. Petrus, Prefect of Rome and brother of the pope, was murdered in June, 928. The pontiff him- self was seized and cast into prison, where he died shortly after. According to a rumour recorded by Liutprand, and thus little to be relied on, he was smothered in his bed. Flodoard of Reims asserts that he died of anxiety. He was probably buried in the Lateran, for the restoration of wiiich he had been par- ticularly zealous.

Liber. Pontif., ed. Duchesne, II, 240-1; Jaffe, Regesl. Rom. Pont., I (2nd ed.), 449 sq.; Lowenfeld in Neues Archiv, IX, 515; LivERANi, Giovanni da Tossignano (Macerata, 1859); Langen, Gesch. der ram. Kirche, II, 319-28: Dummler, Gesch. des ostfrankischen Reiches, III C2nd ed.), 603 sqq.; Redmont, Gesch. der Stadt Rom, II, 227 sqq.

J. P. KiRSCH.

John XI, Pqpe, date of birth unknown, became pope in 931 ; d. 936. He was the son of Marozia by her first marriage withAlberic; some, taking Liutprand and the " Liber Pontificalis " as their authority, assert that he was the natural son of Sergius III ("Johannes, natione Romanus ex patre Sergio papa", "Liber Pont."ed. Duchesne, II, 243). Through the intrigues of his mother, who ruled at that time in Rome, he was raised to the Chair of Peter, and was completely under the influence of the Senatrix et Patricia of Rome. To strengthen her own power Marozia married her broth- er-in-law Hugh, King of Provence and Italy, whose reign in Rome was so tyrannical that a strong oppo- sition party sprang up among the nobles under the leadership of Alberic II, the younger son of Marozia. This party succeeded in overthrowing the rule of Ma- rozia and Hugh; Marozia was cast into prison, but her husband escaped from the city. In this way Alberic became ruler of Rome, and the pope, who suffered by his mother's fall, now became almost entirely subject to his brother, being only free in the exercise of his purely spiritual duties. All other jurisdiction was exercised through Alberic. This was not only the case in secular, but also in ecclesiastical affairs. It was at the instance of Alberic that the pallium was given to Theophylactus, Patriarch of Constantinople (935), and also to Artold, Archbishop of Reims (933). It was this pope who sat in the Chair of Peter during its deepe.st humiliation, Ijut it was also he who granted many privileges to the Congregation of Cluny, which was later on so powerful an agent of Church reform.

Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, II, 243; Jaffe, Regesta (2nd ed.), I, 454 sq.; Langen, Gesch. der rbm. Kirche, II, 329- 31; Reumont, Gesch. der Stadt Rom, II, 231 sqq.

J. P. KiRSCH.

John XII, Pope, date of birth imknown; reigned 955-64. The younger Alberic, after the downfall of his mother, Marozia (932), was absolute ruler at Rome. Before his death he administered an oath (954) to the Roman noliles in St. Peter's, that on the next vacancy of the papal chair his only son, Octavius, should be elected pope. After the death of the reigning pontiff, Agapetus II, Octavius, then eighteen years of age, was actually chosen his successor on 16 December, 955, and took the name of John. The temporal and spirit- ual authority in Rome were thus again united in one person — a coarse, immoral man, whose life was such that the Lateran was spoken of as a brothel, and the moral corruption in Rome became the subject of general odium. War and the cha.se were more con- genial to this pope than church government. He was defeated in the war against Duke Pandulf of Capua, and at the same time the Ecclesiastical States were occupied by Berengarius, King of Italy, and his son Adalbert. In tliis dilemma the pope had recourse to

the German king. Otto I, who then appeared in Italy at the head of a powerful army. Berengarius, how- ever, did not risk an encounter, but retired to his fortified castles. On 31 January, 962, Otto reached Rome. He took an oath to recognize John as pope and ruler of Rome; to issue no decrees without the pope's consent; and, in case of his delivering the com- mand in Italy to any one else, to exact from such per- son an oath to defend to the utmost of his ability the pope and the patrimony of St. Peter. The pope on his part swore to keep faith with Otto and to conclude no alliance with Berengarius and Adalbert. On 2 February, 962, Otto was solemnly crowned emperor by the pope. On the twelfth a Roman synod took place, at which John, at Otto's desire, founded the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and the Bishopric of Merseburg, bestowed the pallium on the Archbishops of Salzburg and Trier, and confirmed the appoints ment of Rother as Bishop of Verona. The next day, the emperor issued a decree, the famous Diploma Ot- tonianum, in which he confirmed the Roman Church in its possessions, particularly those granted by Pepin and Charlemagne, and provided at the same time that in future the popes should be elected in canonical form, though their consecration was to take place only after the necessary pledges had been given to the emperor or his ambassadors. The authenticity of the contents of this much-discussed document is certain, even should the extant document be only a duplicate of the origi- nal (Sickel,' ' Das Privilegium Ottos I., fiir die romische Kirche", Innsbruck, 1883). On 14 February the em- peror marched out of Rome with his army to resume the war against Berengarius and Adalbert. The pope now quickly changed his irund, while Otto on his part urged the imperial authority to excessive limits. John began secret negotiations with Adalbert, son of Beren- garius, and sent envoys with letters to Hungary and to Constantinople for the purpose of inciting a war against Otto. They were, however, seized by the imperial soldiers, ami the emperor thus learned of the pope's treachery. John now sent an embassy to Otto to propitiate the latter, and at the same time to ex- plain the pope's grievance, which was that the em- peror had received for himself the oath of allegiance from those cities of the Ecclesiastical States, which he had reconquered from Berengarius. Otto sent an embassy to refute this accusation. At the same time Adalbert came in person to Rome, and was ceremo- niously received by the pope. The faction of the Roman nobles which sympathized with the emperor now broke into revolt against John. Otto appeared for the second time in Rome (2 November, 963), while John and Adalbert fled to Tivoli. In the emperor's entourage was Liutprand (q. v.). Bishop of Cremona, who thus describes the occurrences as an eyewitness. Otto now probably renewed and extended the settle- ment formerly effected, by obtaining from the nobles a promise on oath not to elect or consecrate a pope without the consent of the emperor.

On 6 November a synod composed of fifty Italian and German bishops was convened in St. Peter's; Jolin was accused of sacrilege, simony, perjury, murder, adultery, and incest, and was summoned in writing to defend himself. Refusing to recognize the synod, John pronounced sentence of excommunication (Jer- endte sententice) against all participators in the assem- bly, should they elect in his stead another pope. The emperor now came forward to accuse John of having broken the agreement ratified by oath, lietrayed him, and called in Adalliert. With the imperial consent the synod deposed John on 4 December, and elected to replace him the proloscriniin-iii.i Leo, yet a layman. The latter received all the onlers uncanonically with- out the proper intervals (intrrslilid), and was crowned pope as Leo VIII. This procciMlini; was against the canons of the Church, and the enthroning of Leo was almost universally regarded as invalid. Most of the