Pope Leo VI served as the head of the papacy and the temporal ruler of the Papal Estates in some of the most tumultuous years of the Catholic Church. He faced division among the bishops within one of the ecclesiastical provinces and threats from Arab raiders who were harrying the Papal territories and threatening Rome.
As the pontiff, he held the position for slightly over seven months from June of 928 A.D. until he died in office in February of the next year. Leo’s pontificate took place in the chaotic era for the Western Church called the Saeculum obscurum.
Brief History and Background of Pope Leo VI
Early Life of Pope Leo VI
Compared to other popes who served in this dark and dangerous time for the papacy, a good deal of information on the life and acts of Leo VI survives to this day. Leo was born to a father named Christophorus in an important Roman family. His father had served as primicerius during the papal reign of Pope John VIII in the year of 876 A.D. approximately. Church tradition holds that Leo belonged to the Sanguini family. Before he became the bishop of Rome, Leo held the role of cardinal-priest for Santa Susanna.
Election and Papacy of Pope Leo VI
Leo rose to the papacy in the year 928 around the month of June. Because he served as the pontiff in a period of extreme anarchy Leo was not chosen by the traditional means of the Catholic Church in this era.
The woman who selected him was the Senatrix Marozia. Using her husband the Margrave Guy of Tuscany, she had come to dominate the eternal city Rome. The new pope’s patrons were responsible for the imprisonment and execution of Pope John X, the unfortunate predecessor of Leo VI.
Acts of Pope Leo VI
Pope Leo VI only served for slightly over seven months in the role as spiritual head of Western Christendom. Despite this short time in the office of the Holy See, he did manage to carry out a number of acts and Papal bulls. The new pope affirmed those decisions that the Synod of Spalato had made.
He also finished the work of his predecessor Pope John X who had been carrying out an investigation of the ecclesiastical affairs of the province of Dalmatia. Leo VI appointed John the Archbishop of Salona as the head of the church in this province, requiring that all of the bishops serving in Dalmatia follow his orders.
Besides this, the pope required that the bishop of Nona and other area leaders of the regional church restrict their authority and acts to the limits of their own ecclesiastical dioceses. Another instruction that Leo issued was for the Bishop Gregory to be satisfied with his role as the leader of the Diocese of Scodra. Leo also banned some church leaders from marrying.
Leo VI found himself in a difficult position with Arab raiders threatening the very city of Rome during his short time in the office of the papacy. As he did not have the sufficient military forces himself to effectively deal with the invaders, he called on all Christians to help him repulse the Arab attackers.
With his promise that anyone serving in the cause against the Muslim invaders who died in the effort would not be refused entry into the kingdom of heaven, he sounded one of the first crusading calls that would soon see hundreds of years of the Crusades starting only a few generations later.
Pope Leo VI Quick Facts
– Born – in Rome during the ninth century
– Birth Name – Leo
– Died – February 929 A.D. in Rome
– How he died
Leo died in the office that he held so briefly in February of 929 A.D. of natural causes. The church buried him in St. Peter’s Basilica. Following his death, Pope Stephen VII succeeded him.
– Papacy began – June 928
– Papacy ended – February 929
– Successor – Pope Stephen VII
Interesting Facts About Pope Leo VI
Pope Leo VI served for exactly seven months and five days as the pontiff according to the historical sources of his time.
Leo was among the first popes to call for a crusading struggle against marauding Arabs.
Leo VI served as the prime minister of Pope John VIII, one of his predecessors.
The most important act of Pope Leo VI while in the office of the papacy was to regulate the jurisdiction of the Dalmatian church hierarchy.
Leo took over the papacy from his predecessor, Pope John X who was deposed and then executed.
See the full list of Popes here.
More Popes Named “Leo”
Leo I (St.) (#45) (the Great) (440 – 461)
Leo II (St.) (#80) (682 – 683)
Leo III (St.) (#97) (795 – 816)
Leo IV (St.) (#104) (847 – 855)
Leo V (#119) (903 – 904)
Leo VI (#124) (928)
Leo VII (#127) (936 – 939)
Leo VIII (#132) (963 – 964)
Leo IX (St.) (#153) (1049 – 1054)
Leo X (#218) (1513 – 1521)
Leo XI (#233) (1605)
Leo XII (#253) (1823 – 1829)
Leo XIII (#257) (1878 – 1903)