965, c. March 1
Pope Leo VIII dies on March 1, 965, ending the only reign by a layman in papal history. He was succeeded Pope John XIII.
Leo served two terms; the Catholic Church considers Leo to have been an antipope during the first period and the legitimate pope during the second. Leos first period was when Otto I deposed John XII in 963 and had Leo hastily ordained to fill the office. In February of the following year, John returned to Rome and drove Leo out. Otto reinstated Leo three months later, and Leo was pope, uncontested, until his death in 965. Leo VIII's pontificate occurred after the period known as the saeculum obscurum.
The 60 year period, seen as one of the lowest points of the history of the papal office, beginning in 904 with the installation of Pope Sergius III and lasting until the death of Pope John XII in 964. The period was characterized by the popes being strongly influenced by a powerful and allegedly corrupt aristocratic family, the Theophylacti, (The counts of Tusculum or Tuscolo,) a family of secular noblemen from Latium and their relatives and allies that maintained a powerful position in Rome.
