Chosen Popes

131. Pope John XII (Latin: Ioannes XII; c. 930/937 14 May 964)
was Pope and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his
death in 964. He was related to the Counts of Tusculum and a
member of the powerful Roman family of Theophylact which had
dominated papal politics for over half a century. His pontificate
became infamous for the alleged depravity and worldliness with
which he conducted it.

132. Pope Leo VIII (died 1 March 965) was Pope from 23 June 964
to his death in 965; before that, he was an antipope from 963 to
964, in opposition to Pope John XII and Pope Benedict V. An
appointee of the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, his pontificate
occurred during the period known as the Saeculum obscurum.
133. Pope Benedict V (Latin: Benedictus V; died 4 July 965), was
Pope from 22 May to 23 June 964, in opposition to Pope Leo VIII.
He was overthrown by emperor Otto I. His pontificate occurred at
the end of a period known as the Saeculum obscurum.

134. Pope John XIII (Latin: Ioannes XIII; c. 930/935 6

September 972) was Pope from 1 October 965 to his death in 972.
[1] His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between
the Emperor, Otto I, and the Roman nobility.

135. Pope Benedict VI (Latin: Benedictus VI; died June 974) was
Pope from 19 January 973 to his death in 974. His brief pontificate
occurred in the political context of the establishment of the Holy
Roman Empire, during the transition between the reigns of German
emperors Otto I and Otto II, incorporating the struggle for power of
Roman aristocratic families such as the Crescentii and Tusculani.

136. Pope Benedict VII (Latin: Benedictus VII; died 10 July 983)
was Pope from October 974 to his death in 983. He governed Rome
quietly for nearly nine years, a somewhat rare thing in those days.
He also promoted monasticism and ecclesiastical reform along with
Emperor Otto II.
137. Pope John XIV (Latin: Ioannes XIV; died 20 August 984) was
Pope from December 983 to his death in 984. Otto II died shortly
after his election, his heir Otto III, being only 3 years old and
unable to protect John's position as Pope. Antipope Boniface VII
(974, 984985), on the strength of the popular feeling against the
new Pope, returned from Constantinople and placed John XIV in
prison in the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he died either from
starvation or poison.

138. Pope John XV (Latin: Ioannes XV; born in Rome, died March
996) was Pope from August 985 to his death in 996. He succeeded
Boniface VII. He was said to have been Pope after another Pope
John who reigned four months after Pope John XIV (983984) and
was named "Papa Ioannes XIV Bis" or "Pope John XIVb". This
supposed first John XIV never existed, rather he was confused with
a certain cardinal deacon John, son of Robert, who was opposed to
Boniface VII and is now excluded from the papal lists.
139. Pope Gregory V (Latin: Gregorius V; c. 972 18 February 999)
was Pope from 3 May 996 to his death in 999. He was the first
German Pope. Gregory V died suddenly, not without suspicion of
foul play, on 18 February 999. He is buried in St. Peter's Basilica
near Pope Pelagius I.
140. Pope Sylvester II or Silvester II (c. 946 12 May 1003) was
Pope from 2 April 999 to his death in 1003. Born Gerbert d'Aurillac
(Gerbert of Aurillac), he was a prolific scholar and teacher. He
endorsed and promoted study of Arab/Greco-Roman arithmetic,
mathematics, and astronomy, reintroducing to Europe the abacus
and armillary sphere, which had been lost to Europe since the end
of the Greco-Roman era. He is said to be the first to introduce in
Europe the decimal numeral system using the Arabic numerals
after his studies at the University of al-Karaouine in Morocco. He
was the first French Pope.