Born inRome in the region around theClivus Argentarius, Leo came from an illustrious noble family. He was the son of John, who held the office ofprotonotary.[1] Although a layperson, he was theprotoscriniarius (or superintendent of the Roman public schools for scribes) in the papal court during the pontificate ofJohn XII. In 963, he was included in a party that John sent to the newly crownedHoly Roman emperor,Otto I, who was besieging the deposed KingBerengar II of Italy at the castle of St. Leo inUmbria. His instructions were to reassure the emperor that the pope was determined to correct the abuses of the papal court, as well as protest Otto's actions in demanding that cities in thePapal States take an oath of fidelity to the emperor instead of the pope.[2]
By the time Otto entered Rome to deposePope John XII, Leo had been appointed protonotary to theApostolic See.[3] Asynod convened by the emperor uncanonically deposed John XII (who had fled toTibur). It proceeded to elect Leo VIII, who was the emperor's nominee, aspope on 4 December 963. Since Leo was still a layman,[4] he wasordained asostiarius,lector,acolyte,subdeacon,deacon andpriest in the space of a day by Sico, the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, who then proceeded to consecrate him asbishop on 6 December 963.[5] The deposed John, however, still had a large body of sympathisers within Rome; he offered large bribes to the Roman nobility if they would rise up and overthrow Otto and kill Leo, and so, in early January 964, the Roman people staged an uprising that was quickly put down by Otto's troops. Leo, hoping to reach out to the Roman nobility, persuaded Otto to release the hostages he had taken from the leading Roman families in exchange for their continued good behaviour.[6] However, once Otto left Rome around 12 January 964, the Romans again rebelled, and caused Leo to flee Rome and take refuge with Otto sometime in February 964.[7]
John XII returned, and in February convened asynod which in turn deposed Leo on 26 February 964, with Johnexcommunicating Leo in the process.[8] Leo remained with Otto, and, with the death of John XII in May 964, the Romans electedBenedict V. Otto proceeded to besiege Rome, taking Leo with him, and when the Romans eventually surrendered to Otto, Leo was reinstalled in theLateran Palace as Pope.
The former pope was brought before Leo with Benedict's clerical and lay supporters and clad in his pontifical robes. Benedict was asked how he dared to assume the chair ofSaint Peter while Leo was still alive. Benedict responded, "If I have sinned, have mercy on me."[9] Having received a promise from the emperor that his life would be spared if he submitted, Benedict threw himself at Leo's feet and acknowledged his guilt.[10] Brought before asynod convened by Leo, Benedict'sepiscopal ordination was revoked, hispallium was torn from him, and his pastoral staff was broken over him by Leo. However, through the intercession of Otto, Benedict was allowed to retain the rank ofdeacon.[11] Then, after having the Roman nobility swear an oath over the Tomb ofSaint Peter to obey and be faithful to Leo, Otto departed Rome in late June 964.[12]
Having been crowned by Otto, the remainder of Leo's pontificate was reasonably trouble-free. He issued numerousbulls, many of which detailed granting privileges to Otto and his successors. Some of the bulls were alleged to grant the Holy Roman emperors the right to choose their successors in theKingdom of Italy and the right to nominate the pope, and all popes, archbishops, and bishops were to receiveinvestiture from the emperor. In addition, Leo is also claimed to have relinquished to Otto all the territory of thePapal States that had been granted to theApostolic See byPepin the Short andCharlemagne. Although Leo certainly granted various concessions to his imperial patron, it is now believed that the "investiture" bulls associated with Leo were, if not completely fabricated during theInvestiture Controversy, at the very least so tampered with that it is now largely impossible to reconstruct them in their original form.[13]
Leo VIII died on 1 March 965 and was succeeded byJohn XIII. TheLiber Pontificalis described him as venerable, energetic, and honourable. He had some streets dedicated to him in and around theClivus Argentarius, including thedescensus Leonis Prothi.
Although Leo was considered anantipope for many years, his current status is still confusing. TheAnnuario Pontificio makes the following point about the pontificate of Leo VIII:
"At this point, as again in the mid-eleventh century, we come across elections in which problems of harmonizing historical criteria and those of theology and canon law make it impossible to decide clearly which side possessed the legitimacy whose factual existence guarantees the unbroken lawful succession of the Successors of Saint Peter. The uncertainty that in some cases results has made it advisable to abandon the assignation of successive numbers in the list of the Popes."[14]
Due to Leo's uncanonical original election, it is now accepted that, at least until the deposition of Benedict V, he was almost certainly an antipope. The deposition of John XII was almost certainly invalid, as John did not acquiesce, so the election of Benedict V almost certainly was canonical. However, if Benedict did consent to his deposition asLiutprand of Cremona (who chronicled the events of this period) wrote, and if, as seems certain, no further protest was made against Leo's position, it has been the consensus of historians that he may be regarded as a true pope from July 964 to his death in 965.[15] The fact that no one else attempted to claim the papacy during this time and that the next pope to assume the name Leo was consecratedLeo IX also seems to indicate that he is a true pope.
