Pope Leo VI
| Pope Leo VI | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | June 928 |
| Papacy ended | February 929 |
| Predecessor | John X |
| Successor | Stephen VII |
| Previous post | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna (916-928) |
| Orders | |
| Created cardinal | 916 by Pope John X |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 880 Rome, Papal States |
| Died | February 929 Rome, Papal States |
| Parents | Christophorus |
| Other popes named Leo | |
Pope Leo VI (880 – 12 February 929) was the 123rd bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States for just over seven months, from June 928 to his death. His pontificate occurred during the period known as the Saeculum obscurum.
Family and early career
Leo VI was born into a Roman family,[1] and his father was Christophorus, who had been primicerius under Pope John VIII around the year 876. Tradition has it that he was a member of the Sanguini family.[2] Before his pontificate, Leo served as the cardinal-priest of Santa Susanna.[3]
Pontificate
Leo was elected pope around June 928, during a period of anarchy.[3] He was chosen by the senatrix Marozia, who had gained control of Rome via the domination of her husband Guy, Margrave of Tuscany, and who had ordered the imprisonment and death of Leo’s predecessor, John X.[4]
During his brief pontificate, Leo confirmed the decisions of the Synod of Spalato.[3] He completed his predecessor’s investigations into the ecclesiastical situation in Dalmatia, and proceeded to give the pallium to Archbishop John of Salona, 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 dioceses.[5] Leo then banned castrati from marrying.[6] 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.”[7]
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.”[3]
Leo died in February 929, and was succeeded by Stephen VII. He was buried at St. Peter’s Basilica.[3]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Leo VI — The exact dates of the election and death of Leo VI are uncertain, but it is clear that he was pope during the latter half of 928. If, as some suppose, he was elected in June, 928, then he died in February, 929, as he reigned seven months and five days. Others, however, believe he became pope before the month of June. He was a Roman, the son of the primicerius, Christopher, who had been prime-minister of John VIII. When Leo became pope, he was Cardinal-Priest of St. Susanna. His immediate predecessor, John X, had been engaged in settling questions of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Dalmatia; some of these were decided by Leo VI, and there is extant a Bull of his in which he states that he has granted the pallium to Archbishop John of Spalato, orders all the bishops of Dalmatia to obey him, and to confine their operations within the limits of their own dioceses, and instructs Bishop Gregory to be content with the Diocese of Scodra. The only other item of information regarding Leo which has reached us is that "according to most writers he was buried in St. Peter's".
Liber Pontifcalis, ed. DUCHESNE, II (Paris, 1892), 242: MANN, Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, IV, 188.
References
- Back to citation Platina, Bartolomeo (1479), The Lives of the Popes From The Time Of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Accession of Gregory VII, vol. I, London: Griffith Farran & Co., p. 247, retrieved 2013-04-25
- Back to citation Georgina Masson, The Companion Guide to Rome (1980), page 177
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Back to citation occurrence 3.2 Back to citation occurrence 3.3 Back to citation occurrence 3.4 Mann, page 188
- Back to citation Mann, pgs. 163-164
- Back to citation Mann, page 168
- Back to citation Medical problems of performing artists, Volume 13 (1998), page 151
- Back to citation Pierre Riché, The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe (1993), page 311
Bibliography
- 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