Pope Leo VI (880 – 12 February 929) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States for just over seven months, from June 928 to his death.
Leo VI was born into a Roman family,[1] and his father was Christophorus, who had been primicerius under Pope John VIII around the year 876.
[3] He was chosen by the senatrix Marozia, who had gained control of Rome via the domination of her husband Guy, Margrave of Tuscany, and who had ordered the imprisonment and death of Leo’s predecessor, John X.
[3] He completed his predecessor’s investigations into the ecclesiastical situation in Dalmatia, and proceeded to give the pallium to Archbishop John of Salona, and ordered all the bishops of Dalmatia to obey him.
[6] He also issued an appeal for help against the Arab raiders who were threatening Rome, stating that: ”Whoever died faithful in this struggle will not see himself refused entry into the heavenly kingdom.”[7]The chronicler Flodoard said of him: ”Through the virtue of Peter, Leo the sixth was taken and received, he was preserved for seven months and five days, and like his predecessors, he joined the company of the prophets.”[3] Leo died in February 929, and was succeeded by Stephen VII.