Pope Sylvester III (c. 1000 – October 1063), bornJohn (Italian:Giovanni) inRome, wasbishop of Rome and ruler of thePapal States from 20 January to 10 March 1045.
Christened John, he was born into the powerful Roman patrician familyCrescentii. Upon the death ofPope John XIX in October 1032, the papal throne became the subject of dispute between rival factions of nobles. Theophylactus, a youth of about twenty, the son ofAlberic III, Count of Tusculum, was supported by the nobles of Tusculum. The nephew and namesake ofPope Benedict VIII, he took the nameBenedict IX. The young man was not only unqualified, but led a reportedly dissolute life, and factional strife continued. A revolt inRome led to Benedict IX being driven from the city in 1044.[1]
John,bishop of Sabina, was elected after fierce and protracted infighting, c. 21 January 1045.[2] He took the name Sylvester III. Benedict IX excommunicated him,[3] and in March returned to Rome and expelled Sylvester,[4] who himself returned to Sabina to again take up his office of bishop in that diocese.[5]
Nearly two years later, on 20 December 1046, theCouncil of Sutri, summoned and presided over by theEmperor Henry III, deprived him of his bishopric and priesthood, and ordered him sent to amonastery for the rest of his life.[6] This sentence was suspended, because he continued to function and was recognized asbishop of Sabina until at least 1062.[7] A successor bishop to the see of Sabina, Hubaldus, is recorded under Pope Alexander II, on October 1063, indicating that John must have died prior to that date.[7]
Though some consider him to have been anantipope, Sylvester III continues to be listed as an official pope (1045) in Vatican lists. A similar situation applies toPope Gregory VI (1045–1046). Sylvester's pontifical name was used again byAntipope Theodoric because at that time he was not considered a legitimate pontiff.
^Pham, p. 57. Pope VIctor III, "Dialogues" Book III, in: J. P. Migne (ed.),Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CXLIX (Paris), p. 1004: "...alterumque in loco ejus, Joannem videlicet Sabinensem episcopum (non tamen vacua manu) canonica parvipendentes decreta, substituunt; qui tribus non amplius mensibus Romanae usus est cathedrae successione....Urbe cum dedecore pulsus, suum ad episcopatum reversus est."
