Who he was
Leo was a Roman, the son of John, from a well-known family near the Forum, and was a layman serving as protonotary when the Emperor Otto I had John XII deposed. Chosen on 4 December 963, he received all the orders in two days and was consecrated on 6 December, against the Church's rules. The Romans drove him out early in 964; he came back with Otto that summer, after the death of John XII.
What he is remembered for
He is remembered chiefly for the irregular way he came to the papacy. The Catholic Encyclopedia judges that, once Benedict V had accepted his own removal and no one disputed Leo's place, he may be counted a true pope from July 964 until his death in about March 965. No act of his from that time survives; documents claiming he gave the emperor the right to name popes are generally held to be later forgeries.
Sources
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