Pope Leo VI

The exact dates of the election and death of Leo VI are uncertain, but it is clear that he was pope during the latter half of 928. If, as some suppose, he was elected in June, 928, then he died in February, 929, as he reigned seven months and five days. Others, however, believe he became pope before the month of June. He was a Roman, the son of the primicerius, Christopher, who had been prime-minister of John VIII. When Leo became pope, he was Cardinal-Priest of St. Susanna. His immediate predecessor, John X, had been engaged in settling questions of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Dalmatia; some of these were decided by Leo VI, and there is extant a Bull of his in which he states that he has granted the pallium to Archbishop John of Spalato, orders all the bishops of Dalmatia to obey him, and to confine their operations within the limits of their own dioceses, and instructs Bishop Gregory to be content with the Diocese of Scodra. The only other item of information regarding Leo which has reached us is that "according to most writers he was buried in St. Peter's".

Liber Pontifcalis, ed. DUCHESNE, II (Paris, 1892), 242: MANN, Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, IV, 188.

Horace K. Mann