John XIV

Who he was

Peter Campanora was Bishop of Pavia and had served as imperial chancellor for Italy. He was chosen pope in 983 with the agreement of Emperor Otto II and took the name John. Only days after his crowning the young emperor died in Rome, with the pope at his side, leaving John without a protector.

What he is remembered for

He is remembered mainly for how his reign ended: in 984 the antipope Boniface VII came back from Constantinople, seized him and locked him in the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he died four months later, either of hunger or by murder. Little else is recorded of him, and he is known mostly to historians of the papacy.

Sources

• Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-14): Pope John XIV