Editing Pope Leo V

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church in 903}}

{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Leo V
| image =
| birth_name = Leo
| term_start = Second half of 903
| term_end = Second half of 903
| predecessor = [[Pope Benedict IV|Benedict IV]]
| successor = [[Pope Sergius III|Sergius III]]
| cardinal = 
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = Priapi, near [[Ardea, Lazio|Ardea]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = 903/904
| death_place = [[Rome]], Papal States
| other = Leo
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
}}

'''Pope Leo V''' was the [[bishop of Rome]] and nominal ruler of the [[Papal States]] in 903. He was [[pope]] immediately before the period known as the ''[[Saeculum obscurum]]'', when popes wielded little temporal authority. His papacy occurred in the second half of 903, with exact months being difficult to discern.<ref name=":0" />

Leo V was born at a place called Priapi, near [[Ardea, Lazio|Ardea]]. Although he was a priest when he was elected [[pope]] following the death of [[Pope Benedict IV]] (900–903),<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Platina
  | first = Bartolomeo
  | author-link = Bartolomeo Platina
  | title = The Lives of the Popes From The Time Of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to the Accession of Gregory VII
  | publisher = Griffith Farran & Co.
  | location = London
  | pages = 242
  | volume = I
  | year= 1479
  | url = https://archive.org/details/thelivesofthepop01platuoft
   | access-date= 2013-04-25
}}</ref> he was not a [[cardinal priest]] of [[Rome]].<ref>Mann, pg. 111</ref>

During his brief pontificate, Leo granted the [[Canon (priest)|canons]] of [[Bologna]] a special [[papal bull|bull]] ''(epistola tuitionis)'' where he exempted them from the payment of taxes. However, after a reign of a little over two months, Leo was captured by [[Antipope Christopher|Christopher]], the cardinal-priest of [[San Lorenzo in Damaso]], and thrown into prison. Christopher then had himself elected pope (903–904); until the 19th century he was often considered to have been a legitimate pope.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pope Christopher}}</ref> Papal scholar Horace Mann on the other hand, argued in 1910 that Christopher was likely an antipope.<ref name=":0">Mann, pg. 112-115</ref> 

Leo died shortly after being deposed.<ref name=O'Malley>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sWHwrmZowu8C&dq=Cadaver+Synod&pg=PA80 O'Malley, John W., ''A History of the Popes'', New York, Sheed & Ward, 2010]</ref> He was either murdered on the orders of Christopher in 903, who was in turn executed by [[Pope Sergius III|Sergius III]] (904–911) in 904, or, possibly, both were ordered to be killed at the beginning of Sergius’ pontificate, either on the orders of Sergius himself, or by the direction of Sergius' patron, [[Theophylact I of Tusculum]].<ref>Mann, pgs. 114-116</ref> According to [[Horace K. Mann]], it is more likely that Leo died a natural death in prison or in a monastery.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09159b.htm Mann, Horace. "Pope Leo V." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 21 September 2017</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{catholic|wstitle=Pope Leo V}}

==References==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
* DeCormenin, Louis Marie; Gihon, James L., ''A Complete History of the Popes of Rome, from Saint Peter, the First Bishop to Pius the Ninth'' (1857)
* Mann, Horace K., ''The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891-999'' (1910)
* Norwich, John Julius, ''The Popes: A History'' (2011) {{ISBN|0099565870}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Benedict IV|Benedict IV]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=903-904}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Sergius III|Sergius III]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo 05}}
[[Category:9th-century births]]
[[Category:900s deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ardea, Lazio]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:10th-century popes]]
[[Category:Italian murder victims]]