Pope John XIII
After long and arduous negotiations, he succeeded in arranging a Byzantine marriage for Otto II, in an effort to legitimize the Ottonian claim to imperial dignity.
[3] Brought up at the Lateran palace, he was a member of the schola cantorum, and his career during that time saw him pass through a number of positions, including that of Ostiarius, Reader, Exorcist and Acolyte before reaching the ranks of Subdeacon and then Deacon.
[4] After leaving the schola, he took an active part in papal administration, serving in the Chancery of Apostolic Briefs under popes John XII and Leo VIII.
The former king Adalbert of Italy had appeared in front of an army in Lombardy, whilst the Roman nobility, disliking John's behaviour, and resenting his imposition by a foreign power, staged a revolt.
The Prefect of the city, Peter, was handed over to John, who ordered him to be hung by his hair from the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, after which he was taken down, placed naked and backwards on an ass.
[16] In 969, he met Gerbert d'Aurillac, the future Pope Sylvester II, and was so impressed by his scholarly brilliance that he kept him on in Rome in order to learn from him.
Nikephoros retorted by instead demanding the restitution of the Exarchate of Ravenna, which included Rome and the Papal States, as the price for the imperial marriage.
[23] When negotiations broke down, Nikephoros refused to write to John XIII in his own hand, instead sending him a threatening letter written by his brother, Leo Phokas the Younger.
The eastern emperor ordered the patriarch to transform the bishopric of Otranto into a metropolitan see, and to ensure that services were no longer said in Latin, but in Greek only.
[25] In response, and at the request of the Western emperor, John convened a synod in 969, which elevated the bishopric of Benevento into a metropolitan see, thus reducing the influence of the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodox Church there.
[29] In 971, John XIII published a bull supporting the action of the English king Edgar the Peaceful and Archbishop Dunstan against the canons of Winchester Cathedral, who refused to give up their wives and concubines.
[30] In that same year, John confirmed the privileges which King Edgar had granted the monks of Glastonbury Abbey, and declared that it was under papal protection.
In one case, the monks of the monastery of St. Peter at Novalisa, asked for the pope to intervene to help protect them against a local count named Ardoin.
[38] Referred to by one chronicler after his death as "The Good",[37] John was noted for his reverence and piety, as well as being highly learned in both scripture and canon law.
[5] His epitaph used to be in the basilica where he was buried, between the front door and the first column, and it read: "Here, where in death the good pastor would have them placed, are the remains of Pope John.
Do you who piously read this epitaph pray that Christ, who with His sacred Blood redeemed the world, may have pity on His servant and free him from his sins.
According to Dietrich I of Metz, one of the nobles attached to the court of the emperor Otto I was possessed by an evil spirit, resulting in his tearing at his own face, and biting his hands and arms.
