Born
c. 970
Pope from
3 May 996
Pope until
February 999
Died
February 999
Who he was
Bruno, son of Duke Otto of Carinthia, was chaplain and cousin to the young King Otto III, who named him when the Romans asked whom they should elect. Consecrated in May 996, he was the first German pope and was known for his learning. Within weeks he crowned Otto emperor.
What he is remembered for
The Roman noble Crescentius drove him out and set up the antipope John Philagathus, but with Otto's help he returned in 998, when the antipope was harshly punished and Crescentius put to death. At a synod in Pavia he pressed King Robert of France to give up a marriage the Church held unlawful, and he gave his own pallium to Archbishop Ælfric of Canterbury. He died young, aged about thirty, and was buried in St Peter's.
Sources
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