Who he was
Octavian was the only son of Alberic, the prince who ruled Rome, who before he died made the Roman nobles swear to elect him pope at the next vacancy. He was chosen on 16 December 955, at about eighteen, and took the name John, so that the rule of the city and the papacy were joined in one young man. Catholic historians judge that his life was gravely unworthy of his office, and he cared more for war and hunting than for the government of the Church.
What he is remembered for
Threatened by Berengar, King of Italy, he called in the German king Otto I and crowned him emperor on 2 February 962; Otto in turn confirmed the lands of the Roman Church. At Otto's wish he founded the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. He soon turned against the emperor, was deposed by Otto's synod in December 963 in a way the Catholic Encyclopedia calls against the canons, returned to Rome in 964, and died there that May.
Sources
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