The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Benedict V (964-965)
964 (I)


(1) 1. GIOVANNI (?-972)

Birth. (No date found), Rome. Of the counts of Tusculum (1). Son of Giovanni Episcopo (a last name) (2) and Theodora der Jüngeren. His name is also listed as Bon; as Bono; as Sergio; and as Joannes Bonus.

Education. Educated in the papal court at the Lateran palace.

Sacred orders. He received all the sacred orders, including the priesthood, while at the Lateran palace. He occupied successive offices in the papal curia, was papal legate and was named librarian of the Apostolic See in the pontificate of Pope John XII. He subscribed papal bulls issued on December 10, 961, in favor of the monasteries of S. Salvatoris and S. Bonifatii of Fulda, requested by Abbot Attone (the title of the document was "Quonian semper sunt"); February 12, 962, granting the pallium to Archbishop Heinrich of Trier (the title of the document was "Si pastores ovium"); and March 8, 962, in favor of the monasteries of SS. Stephani et Dyonisii, and Sylvestri Romani, petitioned by Abbot Theophylacto (the title of the document was "Convenit apostolico").

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Narni, Umbria, in 962. Consecrated (no information found). Participated in the Council of Rome of Novmber 6, 963. Subscribed a papal bull issued on December 9, 963, in favor of the archdiocese of Salzburg, entitled "Convenit apostolico moderamine".

Cardinalate. Presbyter cardinalis of an unknown title in 964.

Papacy. Elected pope on October 1, 965, with the support of the two bishops, Otkerius of Speyer and Liudprandi of Cremona, that Emperor Otto I had sent to Rome to represent him. Took the name John XIII. He probably resigned the bishopric of Narni immediately after his election to the papacy. Because he depended on a German ruler and governed very harshly, the Romans revolted against the pope in December 965; he was assaulted, imprisoned, and exiled to Campagna; he was able to escape and contacted the emperor; on November 966, the Romans allowed the pope to return to Rome; Emperor Otto I arrived in Rome in Christmas of that year and the rebels were punished with great brutality; the emperor stayed in Italy until the summer of 972. In the Synod of Ravenna, celebrated on April 7 to 25, 967, the emperor confirmed the restoration to the papal state of large territories, including the former exarchate of Ravenna, which it had lost; also in that synod, clerical celibacy was reaffirmed; the see of Magdebourg was elevated to the archiepiscopal rank; and decisions in favor of the monastery of Cluny were taken. In Christmas of 967, the pope crowned the son of Emperor Otto II, also named Otto, who was twelve years old, as co-emperor; and on April 14, 972, the pope officiated in the marriage between the co-emperor and Greek Princess Theophano, niece of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimisces; the pope also crowned her. In support of the emperor's political ambitions in southern Italy, the pope erected the metropolitan sees of Capua and Benevento. In 972, the new archbishop of York, Oswald, went to Rome to receive the pallium and to discuss the reorganization of monastic life in England in practice in continental Europe. He created ten cardinals in three promotions.

Death. September 6, 972, Rome. At his own request, he was buried in the basilica of S. Paolo fuori le mura, Rome, between the porta Santa and the first column. His tomb has been lost but his epitaph exists in the abbey's museum (3). The tomb had a fresco depicting Pope John XIII surrounded by Saints Peter and Paul and the following inscription in vertical columns: "D[OMINVS] IOH[HANNE]S TERTIVS DECIMVS PAPA".

Bibliography. Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888, p. XL; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1927, p. 158, no. 1; Gams, Pius Bonifatius. Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae. 3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957, p. 707; Gregorovius, Ferdinando. Le tombe dei papi.. Roma : Edizioni del Centauro, 1931. Seconda edizione italiana riveduta e ampliata da C. Huelsen, p. 41*; Kelly, John Norman Davidson. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 129-130; Montini, Renzo Uberto. Le tombe dei papi. Roma : Angelo Belardetti, 1957. Note: At head of title: Instituto di studi romani, p. 158-159, no. 134; Pauler, Roland. "Giovanni XIII." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, II, 87-92; Petruzzi, Caterina. "Giovanni XIII, papa." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995, p. 538-539; Reardon, Wendy J. The deaths of the popes : comprehensive accounts, including funerals, burial places and epitaphs. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., Publishers, 2004, p. 73; Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab conditio Ecclesia. Ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1956. 2 v. Reprint. Originally published : Lipsiae : Veit et comp., 1885-1888. Original t.p. included : Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita ecclesia : ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Editionem secundam correctam et auctam edidit Philippus Jaffè ; auspiciis Gulielmi Wattenbach; curaverunt S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunner, P. Ewald, I, 463, 464, 466, 467 and 470-477; Schwartz, Gerhard. Die Besetzung der Bistümern Reichsitaliens unter den sächsischen und salischen Kaisern mit den listen der Bischöfe 951-1122. Leipzig und Berlin : Verlag von B. G. Teubner, 1913, p. 284-285.

Webgraphy. Biography by Roland Pauler, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 55 (2001), Treccani; biography by Johann Peter Kirsch, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; biography, in English, Encyclopaedia Britannica; his image and biography, in English, Wikipedia; his image and biography, in French, Wikipédia; his arms and biography, in German, Wikipedia; biographies, in German, Genealogie-Mittelalter.de; images and biography, in Italian, narnia.it; his image, arms and biography, in Italian, serlupi.it; his engraving, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek; his engraving, WordPress.com.

(1) Some sources that he was later a bishop.
(2) This is according to Annuario Pontificio per l'anno 2009 (Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2009), p. 13*. Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, p. 129; and Pauler, "Giovanni XIII." Enciclopedia dei papi, II, 87, says that although he belonged to the highest level of the Roman society, but not to the Crescenzi family; and Pauler adds that he entered the Crescenzi family by the marriage of his nephew Benedetto. Petruzzi, "Giovanni XIII, papa." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente, p. 538, says that he was nephew of Marozia, an influential Roman noblewoman.
(3) This is the text of his epitaph, taken from Montini, Le tombe dei papi, p. 158, no. 134:

PONTIFICIS SVMMI HIC CLAVDVNTVR MEMBRA IOHANNIS
QVI PRVDENS PASTOR P(er)SOLVENS DEBITA MORTIS
ISTIC PREMONVIT MORIENS SVA MEMBRA LOCARI
QVO PIETATE DEI RESOLVTVS NEXIBVS ATRIS
EGREGII PAVLI MERITIS CONSCENDAT IN ETHRA
INTER APOSTOLICOS CAELORV GAVDIA METAT
GAVDEAT EXVLTET SOCIATVS COETIBVS ALMIS
DICITE CORDE PIO RELEGENTES CARMINA CVNCTI
XPE TVI FAMVLI MISERTVS SCELERA PVRGA
SANGVINE QVI SANCTO REDEMISTI CRIMINE MVNDVM
HIC VERO SVMMVS PONTIFEX IOHANNES IN APOSTOLICA SEDE
SEDIT ANNOS VII DEPOSITIONIS EIVS DI'ES VIII IDVS SJEPTEMBRIS
AB INCARNATIONE DNI ANNI DCCCCLXXII

Cool Archive

(2) 2. GIOVANNI (?-before 993)

Birth. (No date or place found).

Education. (No information found)

Cardinalate. Presbyter cardinalis of the title of Ss. XII Apostoli in 964.

Death. Before 993, (no place found). Buried (no information found).

Bibliography. Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888, p. 103; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux des 10 premiers siècles". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1926. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1927, p. 158, no. 4.


Top Consistories Catalogs Home

©1998-2023 Salvador Miranda.