Editing Pope Sylvester III

{{short description|Head of the Catholic Church in 1045}}

{{Infobox Christian leader | type = Pope
|honorific-prefix=Pope
|name=Sylvester III
|image=
|title=[[Bishop of Rome]]
|birth_name=Giovanni dei Crescenzi – Ottaviani
|church = [[Catholic Church]]
|term_start=20 January 1045
|term_end=10 March 1045
|other=Sylvester
|predecessor=[[Benedict IX]]
|successor=Benedict IX 
|birth_date=c. 1000
|birth_place=[[Rome]], [[Papal States]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
|death_date=1063 (aged 63)
|death_place=[[Sabina (region)|Sabina]], Papal States, Holy Roman Empire |
}}
'''Pope Sylvester III''' (c. 1000 – October 1063), born '''John''' ({{Langx|it|Giovanni}}) in [[Rome]], was [[Bishop of Rome]] and hence ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 20 January to 10 March 1045.

==Background==
Christened John, he was born into the powerful Roman patrician family [[Crescentii]]. Upon the death of [[Pope John XIX]] in October 1032, the papal throne became the subject of dispute between rival factions of nobles. Theophylactus, a youth of about twenty, the son of [[Alberic III, Count of Tusculum]], was supported by the nobles of Tusculum. The nephew and namesake of [[Pope Benedict VIII]], he took the name [[Benedict IX]]. The young man was not only unqualified, but led a reportedly dissolute life, and factional strife continued. A revolt in [[Rome]] led to Benedict IX being driven from the city in 1044.<ref>Lynch and Adamo, p. 156.</ref>

==Papacy== 
John, [[bishop of Sabina]], was elected after fierce and protracted infighting, c. 21 January 1045.<ref>Jaffé, p. 523, calculating backward the 49 days of his papacy, from c. 11 March 1045, the date of his expulsion.</ref> He took the name Sylvester III. Benedict IX excommunicated him,<ref>McBrien, p. 172.</ref> and in March returned to Rome and expelled Sylvester,<ref>McLaughlin, p. 63.</ref> who himself returned to Sabina to again take up his office of bishop in that diocese.<ref>Pham, p. 57. Pope VIctor III, "Dialogues" Book III, in: J. P. Migne (ed.), ''Patrologiae Latinae Tomus CXLIX'' (Paris), p. 1004: "...alterumque in loco ejus, Joannem videlicet Sabinensem episcopum (non tamen vacua manu) canonica parvipendentes decreta, substituunt; qui tribus non amplius mensibus Romanae usus est cathedrae successione....Urbe cum dedecore pulsus, suum ad episcopatum reversus est."</ref>

Nearly two years later, on 20 December 1046, the [[Council of Sutri]], summoned and presided over by the [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry III]], deprived him of his bishopric and priesthood, and ordered him sent to a [[monastery]] for the rest of his life.<ref>Logan, p. 96. Jaffé, p. 524 and 525.</ref> This sentence was suspended, because he continued to function and was recognized as [[bishop]] of Sabina until at least 1062.<ref name="Kelly144">Kelly, p. 144.</ref> A successor bishop to the see of Sabina, Hubaldus, is recorded under Pope Alexander II, on October 1063, indicating that John must have died prior to that date.<ref name="Kelly144" />

Though some consider him to have been an [[antipope]], Sylvester III continues to be listed as an official pope (1045) in Vatican lists.  A similar situation applies to [[Pope Gregory VI]] (1045–1046). Sylvester's pontifical name was used again by [[Antipope Theodoric]] because at that time he was not considered a legitimate pontiff.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|author=Philipp Jaffé|editor=G. Wattenbach|title=Regesta pontificum romanorum: ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9VAAQAAMAAJ|edition=2nd|volume=Tomus I|year=1885|publisher=Veit|location=Leipzig|language=la|pages=523–525}}
*J.N.D. Kelly and Michael J. Walsh, ''A Dictionary of Popes'', second edition, Oxford University Press, 2010.
*F. Donald Logan, ''A History of the Church in the Middle Ages'', 2nd edition, Routledge, 2013.
*Joseph H. Lynch, and Philip C. Adamo, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I2gKBAAAQBAJ&dq=Pope+Sylvester+III&pg=PA156 ''The Medieval Church''], Routledge, 2014. {{ISBN|9781317563334}}
*Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of the Popes'', HarperCollins, 2000.
*Megan McLaughlin, ''Sex, Gender, and Episcopal Authority in an Age of Reform, 1000-1122'', Cambridge University Press, 2010.
*John-Peter Pham, ''Heirs of the Fisherman : Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession'', Oxford University Press, 2004.

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Benedict IX]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1045}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]]}}
{{s-end}}

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

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester 03}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Cardinal-bishops of Sabina]]
[[Category:11th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:1000s births]]
[[Category:1060s deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:11th-century popes]]