Pope John XVII

For Coptic Pope, see Pope John XVII of Alexandria.

John XVII
Papacy began	16 May 1003
Papacy ended	6 December 1003
Predecessor	Sylvester II
Successor	John XVIII
Personal details
Birth name	Giovanni Sicco
Born	??? Rome, Papal States
Died	6 December 1003 Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire
Other popes named John

John XVII (Latin: Ioannes PP. XVII, Italian: Giovanni XVII; died 6 December 1003), born John Sicco, and the son of another John Sicco, was born in the region of Rome then referred to as Biveretica. He succeeded Pope Silvester II as Pope on 16 May 1003, but died less than six months later.

John XVII was nominated to the papacy by John Crescentius, a Roman noble who held power in the city in opposition to Emperor Otto III. John XVII's successor, Pope John XVIII, was also selected by Crescentius.

John died on 6 December 1003 and was buried in the Lateran Basilica between the two doors of the principal façade. According to John the Deacon, his epitaph began by stating that “here is the tomb of the supreme John, who is said to be Pope, for so he was called.”

Family

Before entering the priesthood, Sicco had been married and had three sons who also entered Holy Orders:

• John, Bishop of Praeneste
• Peter, a Deacon
• Andrew, a Secundicerius

Confusion over ordinals

See also: Pope John (numbering)

The previous legitimate Pope John is generally considered to be John XV (985–996). John XVI (997–998) was an antipope according to official reckoning, and thus his regnal number XVI should have been reused. But this did not occur, and the sequencing has never been corrected.

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• "Pope John XVII" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Volume 5: The Popes In The Days of Feudal Anarchy, from Formosus to Damasus II, Part 2 (London, 1910)

Footnotes

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Silvester II	Pope 1003	Succeeded by John XVIII