Pope John VIII

Pope John VIII
Papacy began	13 December 872
Papacy ended	16 December 882
Predecessor	Adrian II
Successor	Marinus I
Personal details
Born	??? Rome, Papal States
Died	(882-12-16)16 December 882 Rome, Papal States
Other popes named John

Pope John VIII (Latin: Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was Pope from 13 December 872 to his death in 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the 9th century.

Early life and career

He was born in Rome and as a young man witnessed the Sack of Rome by the Muslim Aghlabids. Among the reforms achieved during his pontificate was a notable administrative reorganisation of the papal Curia. He asked for military aid from Charles the Bald and later Count Boso of Provence, in response to Saracens who were raiding Campania and the Sabine Hills. His efforts failed and he was forced to pay tribute to the Emirate of Sicily. Due to the military presence of Muslims in southern Italy and the local Christians making alliances with them, John promoted a new and uncompromisingly hostile view of the Saracens and banned Christians from making alliances with them. However, in practice his efforts were unsuccessful.

In 873, John VIII learned of St. Methodius' imprisonment. Methodius had been imprisoned by his German enemies, who objected to his use of the Slavonic language in the liturgy. John forbade the celebration of Mass in Bavaria until Methodius was released. Following Methodius' release John allowed him to resume his episcopal duties in Illyricum, but forbid him to celebrate Mass in the Slavonic language.

In 876, John VIII traveled throughout Campania in an effort to form an alliance among the cities of Salerno, Capua, Naples, Gaeta and Amalfi against Muslim raids. By 877, all five cities sent delegates to Traietto to formalize an alliance.

In 879 he recognised the reinstatement of Photius as the legitimate patriarch of Constantinople; Photius had been condemned in 869 by Pope Adrian II. In 878 John crowned Louis II, king of France. He also anointed two Holy Roman Emperors: Charles II and Charles III. He was assassinated in 882.

Pope Joan and connection to the name John VIII

According to the legend of Pope Joan, a woman reigned as pope under the name of John earlier in the 9th century. Her true sex was discovered, and she would eventually be erased from the historical record because of this. If she existed, when regnal numbering was applied to papal reigns in the 10th century, she would have been designated John VIII and the Pope John that is the subject of this article would have been John IX. However, there are no contemporary references to a female pope; the legend was apparently created during the 13th century, and included in medieval mystery plays. The tarot scholar Paul Huson was persuaded by this inclusion to believe in the reality of the legend, but this is not supported by modern research. The historical John VIII is not otherwise connected with this legend.

However, according to Patrick Madrid, author of Pope Fiction, a book about the legend of Pope Joan, Pope John VIII *himself* may have been the origin of the legend. He writes,

He appears to have had a very weak personality, even perhaps somewhat effeminate.

Cardinal Caesar Baronius, in his history Church Annals, suggests that John VIII's reputation as effeminate gave rise to the legend. Indeed, it would seem that over time, the common folk added ever more lurid embellishments until the vulgar jokes about the hapless (and certainly male) pope ballooned and metamorphosed into a female "popessa."

External links

• Find-A-Grave profile for John VIII
• Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes

Further reading

• Fred E. Engreen, "Pope John the Eighth and the Arabs," Speculum, 20 (1945), pp. 318–330