Benedict VI.

Benedict VI. (* in Rome ; † July 974 ibid) was Pope from January 19, 973 to June or July 974.

Benedict was the son of the monk Hildebrand and before his pontificate was a cardinal deacon of San Teodoro . He was a supporter and probably also a candidate of Emperor Otto I and was contrary to the hopes of the Crescentier , a Roman noble family, which under John XIII. elected Pope on September 6, 972 after his death. The tradition is inconsistent, the period of the election ranges from a 13-day vacancy, which was still in mid-September, to one that only ended in December. Since the emperor's election confirmation still had to be awaited, he was only consecrated on January 19, 973. This reason is not certain, since Lampert von Hersfeld mentions the presence of Roman legates in Germany only for Easter on March 23, 973 in Quedlinburg. After Otto's death in May 973 he lost his support in Rome and in the following year a group of Roman nobles led by Crescentius de Theodora , who was a son of Johannes Crescentius and Theodora the Younger and thus brother of Pope John XIII. was. Benedict was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo , the city fortress of the Crescentier family, and Boniface VII raised to the position of antipope, Benedict VI. in July 974 by the bribed priest Stephan and his brother strangled. When King Otto II moved to Italy, the son of Otto I, Boniface left for Byzantium .

Sometimes between Benedict VI. and Benedict VII. Pope "Donus II." or "Damasus II." inserted probably never existed and got into the papal lists through a misunderstanding (the abbreviation "Dom." for Dominus , "Lord", was interpreted as another papal name).

Benedict VI. is said to have confirmed the foundation of the Archdiocese of Prague .

During construction work on the Campo Santo Teutonico in 1885, a tombstone fragment was discovered that could have come from Benedict's tombstone.

literature

Rudolf Schieffer : Benedict VI . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 1858 f.
Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : Benedikt VI .. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 483. ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )
Horace Mann: Pope Benedict VI . In: Catholic Encyclopedia , Volume 2, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1907.

Web links

Commons : Benedict VI. - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

↑ Holder-Egger, SS. Rer. G. 38/1894, 42.
^ Franz Xaver von Funk : Textbook of Church History. 6th edition, Paderborn 1911, p. 314.
^ Albrecht Weiland: The Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome and its grave monuments. Volume I. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, ISBN 3-451-20882-2 , p. 154.

predecessor	Office	successor
John XIII	Pope 973-974	Benedict VII

personal data
SURNAME	Benedict VI.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Pope Benedict VI.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Pope (973-974)
DATE OF BIRTH	9th century or 10th century
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rome
DATE OF DEATH	July 974
Place of death	Rome

[1] Holder-Egger, SS. Rer. G. 38/1894, 42.

[2] Franz Xaver von Funk : Textbook of Church History. 6th edition, Paderborn 1911, p. 314.

[3] Albrecht Weiland: The Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome and its grave monuments. Volume I. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, ISBN 3-451-20882-2 , p. 154.