Editing Pope Benedict VI (section)

==Pontificate==
On the death of [[Pope John XIII]] in September 972, the majority of the electors who adhered to the imperial faction chose Benedict VI to be his successor. He was not consecrated until January 973, due to the need to gain the approval of the [[Holy Roman emperor]], [[Otto I]].<ref>Mann, pg. 307; Gregorovius, pg. 377</ref> Installed as pope under the protection of Otto I, Benedict was seen as a puppet of the emperor by the local Roman aristocracy who resented the emperor's dominance in Roman civil and ecclesiastical affairs.<ref>Roger Collins, ''Keepers of the keys of heaven: a history of the papacy'', (Basic Books, 2009), 187.</ref>

Record of Benedict VI's reign as pope is scant. There is a letter dated to Benedict's reign from [[Pilgrim of Passau]], asking for Benedict to confer on him the [[pallium]], and make him a bishop so that he could continue his mission to convert the [[Hungarian people]] to [[Christianity]]. However, the response from Benedict is considered to be a forgery.<ref>Mann, pgs. 308-309</ref> Benedict VI is also known to have confirmed privileges assumed by certain monasteries and churches. At the request of [[Lothair of France|King Lothair]] and [[Emma of Italy|Queen Emma]] of France, Benedict placed the monastery of Blandin under papal protection. There is also a [[papal bull]] from Benedict in which Frederick, [[archbishop of Salzburg]], and his successors are named [[papal vicar]]s in the former [[Roman Empire|Roman]] provinces of Upper and Lower [[Pannonia]] and [[Noricum]]; however, the authenticity of this bull is also disputed.<ref>Mann, pg. 309</ref>