GIOVANNI XVIII, POPE. – A Roman, elected in January 1004, died in July 1009. Named Fasano, cardinal of « Sancti Petri », after his elevation to the pontificate he attended only to ecclesiastical matters, leaving temporal government to the patrician Crescenzo. In Germany he created the bishopric of Bamberg, immediately subjecting it to the Holy See, in order, according to the desire of the emperor Henry II, to promote the evangelization of the Slavs. He ordered the archbishop of Sens and the bishop of Orléans to appear in Rome to clear themselves of having thrown certain papal bulls into the fire, and invited Robert, king of France, under penalty of excommunication,
to compel them to do so (1008?). He died in the abbey of S. Paolo, where he seems to have retired.