**JOHN XIII, pope.** – A Roman, elected on 16 Dec. 955, died on 14 May 964. Octavian, son of Alberic, had been designated while still very young by his father’s wish, through the clergy and people of Rome, to succeed Agapitus II even before the latter’s death. After Alberic’s death (954), he inherited civil power; upon the Pope’s death, changing his name as was the new custom, he also gathered into his hands the religious power. Yet he appeared more as a great secular lord than as a pontiff. Nor did he display political wisdom. Allied with the Duke of Spoleto, he undertook an ill-fated expedition against Benevento and Capua. Suspicious of the interference of the kings of Italy, Berengar II and Adalbert, in the Duchy of Spoleto and in Romagna, or perhaps pressed by a faction favourable to Otto, King of Germany, he sought Otto’s aid, and after receiving Otto’s promise to respect the rights and promote the interests of the Church and its head, he crowned him emperor (2 Feb. 962), thus initiating what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The agreements between Pope and Emperor were solemnised in the *Privilegium Othonis* (13 Feb. 962).
According to the text now extant, probably altered, the Emperor formally confirmed, at least in appearance, the donations of Pepin and Charlemagne, comprising a large part of Italy; but the Romans were to swear not to allow the Pope to be consecrated before he had taken an oath of fidelity to the Emperor. Liutprand even asserts that the Pope and the Romans promised that not even the election would take place without imperial consent.
After the Emperor’s return to northern Italy, negotiations were opened with Adalbert and, it was said, with the Byzantine Emperor and the Hungarians. Then Otto returned to Rome, from which the Pope had fled, and convened a synod there on 6 Nov. 963, presiding over it himself. John, charged with incredible accusations and summoned to clear himself, threatened excommunication but was deposed on 4 Dec. and replaced by a layman, Leo VIII, who confirmed the promise made by the Romans not to elect a Pope without consent, or perhaps without imperial designation. But once the Emperor had departed, John left his retreat in Campania, re-entered Rome, and took bitter vengeance on his adversaries; he had the acts of the imperial synod annulled by a new synod (Feb. 964). He died suddenly as Otto was preparing to march on Rome.
Even in this troubled pontificate, one must note a vigorous assertion of papal authority and office: in a bull from the early months of his reign, it is stated that the Pope, “head of all Christendom after the Lord,” desires “that the Church remain in peace and honour for all and each of the Christian people.”
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JOHN XIII, POPE. – A Roman, elected on 1 Oct. 965, died on 6 Sept. 972. Born of a Giovanni “bishop,” perhaps of the Crescentii family, and possibly descended on his mother’s side from the other powerful house of Theophylact, he was first bishop of Narni and librarian of the Apostolic See. A supporter of John XII, he was sent by the latter as an envoy to Otto I; yet he later took part both in the synod that, at Otto’s behest, deposed John XII and in the one that restored him to the papacy.
His election to succeed the imperial pope Leo VIII, perhaps by imperial designation and certainly with the emperor’s consent, may have resulted from a compromise among Roman factions. Yet John soon clashed with part of the nobility and the populace, perhaps because of the favour shown to a nephew; he was imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo and then exiled to Campania (late 965–early 966). He returned to Rome with the backing of the Crescentii faction and of Otto, who, upon coming to the city, severely punished the Pope’s adversaries (autumn 966). Bound now to the imperial party, John crowned the thirteen-year-old Otto II on 25 Dec. 967, worked for Otto’s marriage to Theophano, and blessed their union on 14 Apr. 972. He favoured his own family, yet also displayed considerable religious activity, anticipating in some respects the reforming popes. Together with Otto I, he held a synod in Rome in Jan. 967 and another in Ravenna in Apr. 967; in the latter, Otto at least theoretically received back Ravenna from the Emperor and the decrees “de mulierositate relinquenda” were reconfirmed. He reorganised the bishoprics of northern Germany, elevating Magdeburg to metropolitan status to promote the spread of the Catholic faith among the Slavs, albeit under German influence; he also attended to the interests of the Churches in Spain and England.