Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/494

 JOHN

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JOHN

some papal catalogues give as the immediate succes- sor of Boniface another John, son of Robert, who is supposed to liave reigned four months, and is placed by a few historians in the list of popes as John XV. Although this alleged Pope John never existed, still the fact that he has been catalogued by these his- torians lias thrown into disorder the numeration of the popes named John, the true John XV being often called John XVI. At this time the patrician John Crescentius, son of Duke Crescentius, with the help of his adherents, had obtained entire control of the tem- poral power in Rome. According to some chroniclers the ascendancy of Crescentius Ijecame so irksome to the pope, to whom he even forljade access except in return for bribes, that John fled to Tuscany and sought aid from the Empress Theophano, but allowed him- self to be induced by the promises of Crescentius to return to Rome. As a matter of fact, John remained throughout his pontificate under the influence of the powerful patricius, though he maintained friendly re- lations with the German court and with both em- presses — -Adelaide, widow of Otto I, and Theophano, widow of Otto 11. The pope's mediation was sought by England in the quarrel between King ^Ethelred and Richard of Normandy. The papal legate, Leo of Trevi, brought about between the parties the Peace of Rouen (1 March, 991), which was ratified by a papal Bull.

A serious dispute occurred during tliis pontificate over the archiepiscopal See of Reims, the pope's inter- ference leading at first to no definite result. Hugh Capet, who had been raised to the throne of France, made Arnulf, a nephew of Duke Charles of Lorraine, Archbishop of Reims in 99S. Charles was an adver- sary of Hugh Capet, and succeeded in taking Reims and making the archbishop a prisoner. Hugh, how- ever, considered Arnulf a traitor, and demanded his deposition by the pope. Before the latter's answer was received, Hugh Capet captured both Duke Charles and Archbishop Arnulf, and called a synod at Reims in June, 991, which deposed Arnulf, and chose as his successor Abbot Gerbert (afterwards Pope Sylvester II). These proceedings were repuiliated by Rome, although a synod at Chela had sanctioned the decrees of that of Reims. The pope summoned the French bishops to hold an indepenclent synod at Aachen to re- consider the case. When they refused, he called them to a synod at Rome, but they urged the unsettled con- ditions in France and Italy as a reason for not obeying tliis summons. The pope then sent Abbot Leo of St. Boniface to France as legate, with instructions to call a council of French and German bishops at Mousson. At this council only the German bishops appeared, the French being stopped on the way by Kings Hugh and Robert. Gerbert tried to exculpate himself at the synod convened on 2 June, 99.5, but was condemned and suspended until 1 July, when a new synod was held at Reims. Through the exertions of the legate, the deposition of Arnulf was pronounced illegal. After Hugh Capet's death (2.3 October, 996), Arnulf was re- leased from his imprisonment, and in 997 the Holy See secured his restoration to all his dignities. Ger- bert .set out for the imperial court at Magdeburg, and became the preceptor of Otto III. At a Roman synod held in the Lateran on 31 January, 99,3, Bishop Ul- rich of Augsburg was solemnly canonized, an event which the pope announced to the French and German bishops in a Bull dated 3 February. This was the first time that a solemn canonization had been made by a pope. John conferred many privileges on cliurches and convents, and was a patron and protec- tor of the monks of Cluny. In 996 Emperor Otto undertook a journey to Italy to obtain imperial coro- nation from the pope, but John died early in April, while Otto lingered until 12 April in Pavia, where he celebrated ICaster.

Liber Pontificalit, ed. Ddchebne, II. 2fi0; jAFpfc, Regesla Bom. Pont., I (2nd ed.), 486-9; Lanoen, Oeach. iler rum.

Kirche, III, 369-80; Giesebrecht, Gesch. der deulschen Kaiser- zeit, I (5th ed.), 493 sqq.; Hofler, Deutsche Papste, I, 74 sqq.; Hefele, Conciliengesch., IV (2Dd ed.), 6;i5 sqq.; Redmont, Gesch. der Stndt Rom.. 11,296 sqq.; Gregorovius. Gesch. der Stadt Rom, III (5th ed.), 409 sqq. J. p. KiRSCH.

John XVI (XVII), anti-pope 997-998; d. probably in 1013. After the death of John XV, Bruno, a rela- tive of Otto III and his chaplain, was raised through the royal influence to the papal throne as Gregory V, and crowned on 3 May, 996. On 21 May the new pope placed the imperial crown on the young King Otto III in Rome. After Otto's departure the patricius Crescentius and his followers rose against the pope, and in Septemloer, 996, drove him out of the city. In the following May (997) Archbishop John Philagathus of Piacenza, who had returned shortly before from a mission to Constantinople whither he had been sent by Otto III, was made anti-pope by Crescentius. John was a native of Ro.ssano in Calabria, at that time a part of the Byzantine Empire. He became a monk and was closel>^ connected with Empress Theophano, through whose influence he received the Abbey of No- nantola from Otto II. He was the godfather of the imperial Prince Otto, afterwards emperor. After the death of Otto II he remained the trusted adviser of the empress dowager who, in 9SS, promoted him to the episcopal See of Piacenza, raised for him to an archbishopric, though later restored to its original rank. At the court of Otto III he retained his influ- ential position. The king sent him at the end of 995 to Constantinople to arrange a matrimonial alliance between the sovereign and a Byzantine princess. Notwithstanding this proof of favour on the part of the imperial family, John allowed himself on his return from Constantinople to be won over to the projects of Crescentius, who wished through him to bring about an alliance with Byzantium against the German Em- peror. St. Nilus of Rossano, the famous abbot and a compatriot of John, sought to dissuade him from the usurpation of the papal throne, but without avail.

At the Synod of Pavia held by Gregory V at Pente- cost, 997, Crescentius was excommunicated, and in July the pope issued a decree bringing Piacenza once more under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Ra- venna. In the following ranter Otto III returned to Italy at the head of an army, and in February, 99S, entered Rome, while the anti-pope fled, and Crescen- tius entrenched himself in the Castle of Sant' Angelo. John XVI was captured by the imperial soldiers, de- prived of his sight, and, his nose and ears having been mutilated, was brought in this condition to Rome. At the Lenten Synod of 998, held shortly after in Rome, Gregory V formally deposed the anti-pope, who, at the intercession of St. Nilus, was removed from prison to a monastery. When, in spite of all this, John again appeared before Gregory in episcopal robes, these were torn from him, and he was led through the streets of Rome on an ass amid the popular derision. According to the unreliable " Vita " of St. Nilus, he was thrown back into prison; while other sources re- late that he was again confined in the monastery, where he died. The " Annales Fulden.ses" record his death under date of 2 April, 1013. At Easter, 998, Otto III took the Castle of Sant' Angelo, and on 29 April Crescentius was beheaded.

Lptters of the Byzantine ambiuisador Leo to Otto III in Siu-njp, XV ( 1892). 217 sqq. ;JAFFE,flf(7cs(aifom. Pont., II (2iid ed.), 495 sq.; Lanqen, Gesch. der rimi. Kirche, III, :WS-7; Hefele, Conciliengesch., IV (2nd ed.), 650 sq. See also the works under Otto II and Otto III and on the history of Rome given under John XIII.

J. P. KiRSCH.

John XVII (XVIII), date of birth unknown; d. 6 Nov., 1003. When Sylvester II died on 12 May, 1003, there was no actual "authority in Rome which could curb the nobles. Thus the faction of Crescentius again won the upper hand, and .lolm Crescentius, son of the patricius whom Otto III had defeated and put