Pope Leo VI (880 – 12 February 929) was the

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

and nominal 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 ...

for just over seven months, from June 928 to his death. His pontificate occurred during the period known as the ''

Saeculum obscurum ''Saeculum obscurum'' (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Pornocracy or the Rule of the Harlots, was a period in the history of the Papacy during the first two-thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Formosu ...

''.

Family and early career

Leo VI was born into a Roman family, and his father was Christophorus, who had been '' primicerius'' under

Pope John VIII Pope John VIII ( la, Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the ablest popes of the 9th century. John devoted much of his papacy ...

around the year 876. Tradition has it that he was a member of the Sanguini family. Before his pontificate, Leo served as the

cardinal-priest 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 ...

Santa Susanna The Church of Saint Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian ( it, Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano) is a Roman Catholic parish church located on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, Italy. There has been a titular church associated to its site ...

.Mann, page 188

Pontificate

Leo was elected pope around June 928, during a period of anarchy. He was chosen by the ''senatrix'' Marozia, who had gained control of Rome via the domination of her husband

Guy, Margrave of Tuscany Guy (also ''Guido'' or ''Wido''; raised Leo; called the Philosopher) (died 3 February 929) was the son of Adalbert II of Tuscany with Bertha, daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia. After the death of his father Adalbert II in 915, he was the Count ...

, and who had ordered the imprisonment and death of Leo’s predecessor, John X. During his brief pontificate, Leo confirmed the decisions of the Synod of Spalato. He completed his predecessor’s investigations into the ecclesiastical situation in Dalmatia, and proceeded to give 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 metropol ...

to Archbishop John of

Salona Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia. Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in ...

, and ordered all the bishops of Dalmatia to obey him. He also ordered the bishop of Nona and others to limit themselves to the extent of their

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s. Leo then banned castrati from marrying. He also issued an appeal for help against the Arab raiders who were threatening Rome, stating that:

”Whoever died faithful in this struggle will not see himself refused entry into the heavenly kingdom.”Pierre Riché, ''The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe'' (1993), page 311

The chronicler Flodoard said of him:

”Through the virtue of Peter, Leo the sixth was taken and received, he was preserved for seven months and five days, and like his predecessors, he joined the company of the prophets.”

Leo died in February 929, and was succeeded by Stephen VII. He was buried at St. Peter’s Basilica.

References

* 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)
Entry on Leo VI in the Catholic Encyclopedia

External links

Leo VI

Leo VI {{DEFAULTSORT:Leo 06 Popes Italian popes 920s deaths 10th-century popes 880 births Burials at St. Peter's Basilica