Pope Benedict VI

Benedict VI
Papacy began	19 January 973
Papacy ended	June 974
Predecessor	John XIII
Successor	Benedict VII
Personal details
Birth name	???
Born	??? Rome, Papal States
Died	June 974 Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire
Other Popes named Benedict

Pope Benedict VI was pope from January of 973 to June of 974. His brief pontificate came in the political context of the founding of the Holy Roman Empire, during the transition between the reigns of German emperors Otto I and Otto II and the struggle for power of aristocratic families such as the Crescentii and Tusculani in the region of Rome.

Benedict VI was born in Rome, the son of Hildebrand. He was elected and installed as pope under the protection of Otto I, whose dominance in Roman and ecclesial affairs was resisted by local aristocracy. Record of his reign as pope is scant, though he is known to have confirmed privileges assumed by certain monasteries and churches.

Otto I died soon after Benedict's election in 973, and in 974 Benedict was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo, at that time a stronghold of the Crescentii. When Otto II sent an imperial representative, Count Sicco, to secure his release, Crescentius I and Cardinal-Deacon Franco Ferrucci, who would subsequently become Boniface VII, an antipope, had Benedict murdered while still in prison.

External links

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Benedict VI". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

• Encyclopædia Britannica

References

• 9th edition (1880s) of the Encyclopædia Britannica

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by John XIII	Pope 973–974	Succeeded by Benedict VII