Pope John XIV

Pope John XIV (Template:Langx; died 20 August 984), born Peter Canepanova, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from December 983 until his death. Upon the death of Pope Benedict VII in July 983, Emperor Otto II nominated Canepanova to the papal throne after the abbot Maiolus of Cluny refused the office. The decision to install the then bishop of Pavia was made without consultation with the clergy and the Roman people, nor was it confirmed by formal election.

Canepanova took the papal name John. Otto's death in December left the Pope without allies, and he was deposed and confined at Castel Sant'Angelo after the seizure of the papal throne by Antipope Boniface VII. John died, either by starvation or poisoning,<ref>Template:Cite EB1911</ref> on 20 August 984 and was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica.

Pontificate

John XIV was born as Peter Canepanova in Pavia.Template:Sfn When Pope Benedict VII died on 10 July 983, Emperor Otto II (Template:Reign) wished to enthrone Maiolus of Cluny, a renowned Burgundian abbot, as the new bishop of Rome, but Maiolus refused the office.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As a second option, the Emperor selected Canepanova, who was by then the bishop of Pavia and had previously served as Otto's archchancellor in Italy.Template:Sfn Negotiations with Canepanova stalled until December, at which point he accepted the papal throne.

Upon his accession, Canepanova decided to adopt a new papal name — John – to avoid taking the name of Saint Peter.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The appointment of John XIV occurred without the consultation of the clergy or the people of Rome,Template:Sfn and there is no evidence that a formal election ever took place.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn As such, John relied solely upon the Emperor's support.Template:Sfn The only extant document from John's pontificate is a bull that granted a pallium to Alo, the archbishop of Benevento; the action is indicative of Otto's political interests in southern Italy.Template:Sfn

Soon after John's installation, the Emperor fell ill with malaria and died on 7 December 983 in the Pope's arms after John performed the rites of absolution.Template:Sfn His widow, the Empress Theophanu, immediately left Rome to travel to Germany to protect the interests of her infant son Otto III (Template:Reign), leaving John isolated in the city without allies.Template:Sfn Upon the return of Antipope Boniface VII from Constantinople in April 984 and his installation as pope by the influential Crescentii family, John was assaulted, deposed, and confined at Castel Sant'Angelo.Template:Sfn Information regarding the charges laid against John do not survive, nor do any details surrounding his trial.Template:Sfn John died four months after his imprisonment, either of starvation or poisoning.Template:Sfn The historian Hans-Henning Kortüm wrote that, "Because of the brevity and weakness of his reign, very few documents bear his name".Template:Sfn John was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica;Template:Sfn his tomb was destroyed in the seventeenth century during the Basilica's demolition.Template:Sfn His epitaph there, erected under the pontificate of Antipope Boniface VII, records John's death date as 20 August 984, but does not state a cause of death.Template:Sfn Because Antipope Boniface VII was only considered an antipope in the 20th-century, Pope John XV was considered to be the successor of Antipope Boniface VII and not John XIV.Template:Sfn

Sources

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