Pope John XIV (Latin:Ioannes XIV; died 20 August 984), bornPeter Canepanova, was thebishop of Rome and ruler of thePapal States from December 983 until his death. Upon the death ofPope Benedict VII in July 983,Emperor Otto II nominated Canepanova to the papal throne after the abbotMaiolus of Cluny refused the office. The decision to install the thenbishop of Pavia was made without consultation with theclergy and the Roman people, nor was it confirmed by formal election.
John XIV was born as Peter Canepanova inPavia.[2] WhenPope Benedict VII died on 10 July 983,Emperor Otto II (r. 973–983) wished to enthroneMaiolus of Cluny, a renowned Burgundianabbot, as the new bishop of Rome, but Maiolus refused the office.[3][2] As a second option, the Emperor selected Canepanova, who was by then thebishop of Pavia and had previously served as Otto'sarchchancellor in Italy.[2] Negotiations with Canepanova stalled until December, at which point he accepted the papal throne.
Upon his accession, Canepanova decided to adopt a newpapal name — John – to avoid taking the name ofSaint Peter.[3][4] The appointment of John XIV occurred without the consultation of theclergy or the people ofRome,[5] and there is no evidence that a formal election ever took place.[3][2] As such, John relied solely upon the Emperor's support.[6] The only extant document from John's pontificate is abull that granted apallium to Alo, thearchbishop of Benevento; the action is indicative of Otto's political interests in southern Italy.[3]
Soon after John's installation, the Emperor fell ill withmalaria and died on 7 December 983 in the Pope's arms after John performed the rites ofabsolution.[6] His widow, theEmpressTheophanu, immediately left Rome to travel to Germany to protect the interests of her infant sonOtto III (r. 980–1002), leaving John isolated in the city without allies.[6] Upon the return ofAntipope Boniface VII fromConstantinople in April 984 and his installation as pope by the influentialCrescentii family, John was assaulted, deposed, and confined atCastel Sant'Angelo.[6] Information regarding the charges laid against John do not survive, nor do any details surrounding his trial.[6] John died four months after his imprisonment, either ofstarvation orpoisoning.[7] The historian Hans-Henning Kortüm wrote that, "Because of the brevity and weakness of his reign, very few documents bear his name".[5] John was buried inOld St. Peter's Basilica;[3] his tomb was destroyed in the seventeenth century during the Basilica's demolition.[8] Hisepitaph there, erected under the pontificate of Antipope Boniface VII, records John's death date as 20 August 984, but does not state acause of death.[6] Because Antipope Boniface VII was only considered anantipope in the 20th-century,Pope John XV was considered to be the successor of Antipope Boniface VII and not John XIV.[9]
