Editing Pope Leo VIII (section)

==Early life==

Born in [[Rome]] in the region around the ''[[Clivus Argentarius]]'', Leo came from an illustrious noble family. He was the son of John, who held the office of [[Protonotary apostolic|protonotary]].<ref>Mann, pgs. 255 & 280</ref> Although a layperson, he was the ''protoscriniarius'' (or superintendent of the Roman public schools for scribes) in the papal court during the pontificate of [[Pope John XII|John XII]]. In 963, he was included in a party that John sent to the newly crowned [[Holy Roman emperor]], [[Otto I]], who was besieging the deposed King [[Berengar II of Italy]] at the castle of St. Leo in [[Umbria]]. 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 the [[Papal States]] take an oath of fidelity to the emperor instead of the pope.<ref>Mann, pgs. 255–256</ref>