Editing Pope Leo VIII (section)

==Pontificate==

Having been crowned by Otto, the remainder of Leo's pontificate was reasonably trouble-free. He issued numerous [[papal bull|bulls]], many of which detailed granting privileges to Otto and his successors. Some of the bulls were alleged to grant the Holy Roman emperors the right to choose their successors in the [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Kingdom of Italy]] and the right to nominate the pope, and all popes, archbishops, and bishops were to receive [[investiture]] from the emperor. In addition, Leo is also claimed to have relinquished to Otto all the territory of the [[Papal States]] that had been granted to the [[Apostolic See]] by [[Pepin the Short]] and [[Charlemagne]]. Although Leo certainly granted various concessions to his imperial patron, it is now believed that the "investiture" bulls associated with Leo were, if not completely fabricated during the [[Investiture Controversy]], at the very least so tampered with that it is now largely impossible to reconstruct them in their original form.<ref>Mann, pg. 281; Gregorovius, pg. 356</ref>

Leo VIII died on 1 March 965 and was succeeded by [[Pope John XIII|John XIII]]. The ''[[Liber Pontificalis]]'' described him as venerable, energetic, and honourable. He had some streets dedicated to him in and around the ''[[Clivus Argentarius]]'', including the ''descensus Leonis Prothi''.