Jean XIII

Jean XIII , Pope of October 1st 965 with the September 6th 972.

Born with Rome towards 938, he is the son of Jean of Crescenzi and Theodora II, brother of Crescenzio and brother-in-law of Marousie and thus related to the powerful family of the Crescenzi. Raised in the ecclesiastical medium, Jean becomes bishop of Narni, in Ombrie, and Roman librarian towards 961.

After the death of Jean XII in 964, Benedictus Grammaticus succeeded to him under the name of Benoît V. But Otton 1 {{er}} again brought back to Rome the antipape Leon VIII, which it had already installed into 963, and Benoit was sent in exile in Hamburg. After the death of Leon VIII, in March 965, the Romans asked the emperor to return Benoît V to them but he refused; moreover Benoît himself died little of time after in July 965. Jean XIII was then elected pope with the agreement of the Othon emperor Ist.

Ten weeks after its establishment, it is reversed by a riot carried out by the urban prefect Pierre Cesi and the army of the count Rotfred of Campanie, in reaction against the imperial faction. Insulted (nickname: “the white hen”), trailed in the streets, Jean XIII is initially imprisoned with the Château Saint-Angel then in a citadel in the mountain.

Managed to escape at the beginning from 966, it takes refuge with Capoue. It gathers troops thanks to the support of the emperor, and returns to Rome the November 14th 966. Rotfred is killed. Otton joined the pope the next month and repression is then without pity against the rioters: hangings, decapitations, blindnesses. Pierre Cesi is hung by the hair with the statue of Marc Aurèle on the place of the Lateran and is replaced by the brother of Jean XIII. Several consuls are off-set in Germany.

Thereafter, the pontificate of Jean XIII is characterized by an absence of clashes with the emperor. Jean XIII and Otton chair concert the Synode S of Rome and Ravenne in 967. The same year, Jean XIII confirms the decision of his predecessor, Jean XII: he sets up Magdeburg in archbishop's palace and subordinates to him like suffragan the dioceses of Brandebourg and Havelberg.

In Christmas 967, Jean XIII crowns Otton II (then 12 years old), wire of Otton Ier, according to the Carolingian tradition. The April 14th 972, it also celebrates the marriage, in the Basilique Saint-Pierre, of Otton II and Théophano, princess porphyrogénète of Byzance and niece of Jean Ier Tzimiskès. In exchange, Otton restores with the pope the exarchat of Ravenne. In parallel, Jean XIII reorganizes the Southern Italy, setting up Bénévent and Capoue in ecclesiastical metropolises.

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