Pope Benedict VI ( la, Benedictus VI; died June 974) was the

bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and ruler of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

from 19 January 973 to his death in 974. His brief pontificate occurred in the political context of the establishment of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, during the transition between the reigns of

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

and

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. ...

, incorporating the struggle for power of Roman aristocratic families such as the

Crescentii The Crescentii (in modern Italian Crescenzi) were a Baronial, baronial family, attested in Rome from the beginning of the 10th century and which in fact ruled the city and the election of the popes until the beginning of the 11th century. History ...

and

Tusculani The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came fro ...

Early life

The son of a Roman of German ancestry named Hildebrand, Benedict was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the region called ''Sub Capitolio'' (in what was the old 8th region of Augustan Rome, the

Forum Romanum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...

). Prior to becoming

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, he was the

cardinal deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of the church of Saint Theodore.

Pontificate

On the death of

Pope John XIII Pope John XIII ( la, Ioannes XIII; died 6 September 972) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and t ...

in September 972, the majority of the electors who adhered to the imperial faction chose Benedict VI to be his successor. He was not consecrated until January 973, due to the need to gain the approval of the

Holy Roman emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

. Installed as pope under the protection of Otto I, Benedict was seen as a puppet of the emperor by the local Roman aristocracy who resented the emperor's dominance in Roman civil and ecclesiastical affairs. Record of Benedict VI's reign as pope is scant. There is a letter dated to Benedict's reign from

Pilgrim of Passau Piligrim (Pilgrim of Passau, Pilegrinus, Peregrinus) (died 20 May 991) was Bishop of Passau. Piligrim was ambitious, but also concerned with the Christianization of Hungary. He was educated at the Benedictine Niederaltaich Abbey, and was made bis ...

, asking for Benedict to confer on him the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolit ...

, and make him a bishop so that he could continue his mission to convert the

Hungarian people Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and Kingdom of Hungary, historical Hungarian lands who share a common Hungarian culture, culture, Hungarian history, history, Magyar tribe ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. However, the response from Benedict is considered to be a forgery. Benedict VI is also known to have confirmed privileges assumed by certain monasteries and churches. At the request of King Lothair and Queen Emma of France, Benedict placed the monastery of Blandin under papal protection. There is also a papal bull from Benedict in which Frederick,

archbishop of Salzburg The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg ( la, Archidioecesis Salisburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese of ...

, and his successors are named

papal vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

s in the former

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

provinces of Upper and Lower

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

and

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...

; however, the authenticity of this bull is also disputed.

Overthrow

Otto I died soon after Benedict VI's election in 973, and with the accession of

, troubles with the nobility emerged in Germany. With the new emperor so distracted, a faction of the Roman nobility opposed to the interference of the Ottonian emperors in Roman affairs, took advantage of the opportunity to move against Benedict VI. Led by

Crescentius the Elder Crescentius the Elder (died 7 July 984) was a politician and aristocrat in Rome who played a part in the papal appointment. Family With the disappearance of the Carolingian dynasty the papal government of Rome lost its most powerful protector, ...

and Cardinal-Deacon

Franco Ferrucci Antipope Boniface VII (died 20 July 985), otherwise known as Franco Ferrucci, was a Catholic prelate who claimed the Holy See in 974 and from 984 until 985. A popular tumult compelled him to flee to Constantinople in 974; he carried off a vast tr ...

, who had been the preferred candidate of the anti-Ottonian faction, Benedict was taken in June 974, and imprisoned in the

Castel Sant'Angelo The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...

, at that time a stronghold of the Crescentii. Ferrucci was then proclaimed as the new pope, taking the name Boniface VII. Hearing of the overthrow of Benedict VI, Otto II sent an imperial representative, Count Sicco, to demand his release. Unwilling to step down, Boniface ordered a priest named Stephen to murder Benedict whilst he was in prison, strangling him to death.Mann, pgs. 310-311 Boniface VII is today considered an

antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

, with

Benedict VII Pope Benedict VII ( la, Benedictus VII; died October 983) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death. Family and early career Benedict was born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus and nephew of Alberic I ...

as the legitimate successor of Benedict VI.

Notes

References

* Norwich, John Julius, ''The Popes: A History'' (2011) * 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)

External links

Encyclopædia Britannica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict 06 974 deaths Popes Italian popes Italian murder victims Year of birth unknown 10th-century popes Burials at St. Peter's Basilica