Having been hurried with unseemly haste through all the intermediate orders, he received consecration two days after his election, which was unacceptable to the people. In February 954, the emperor having withdrawn from the city, Leo found it necessary to seek safety in flight, whereupon he was deposed by a synod held under the presidency of John XI. On the sudden death of the latter, the populace chose Benedict V as his successor; but Otho, returning and laying siege to the city, compelled their acceptance of Leo. It is usually said that, at the synod which deposed Benedict, Leo conceded to the emperor and his successors as sovereign of Italy full rights of investiture, but the genuineness of the document on which this allegation rests is more than doubtful. Leo VIII was succeeded, after the deposition of Benedict, by John XIII
From the 9th edition (1882) of a famous encyclopedia
Preceded by: Pope John XII |
List of popes |
Succeeded by: Pope Benedict V |