Pope John XVII

John Sicco was the son of another John Sicco,[2] and was born in the region of Rome then referred to as Biveretica.[3] Before entering the priesthood, Sicco had been married and had three sons who also entered holy orders: John, bishop of Praeneste; Peter, a deacon; and Andrew, a secundicerius.

John XVII succeeded Silvester II as pope on 16 May 1003. He was nominated to the papacy by John Crescentius, a Roman noble who held power in the city in opposition to Emperor Otto III.[1] John XVII approved of a mission led by Bruno of Querfurt to Eastern Europe. Bruno also requested John XVII to authorize his companion Benedict to evangelize among the Slavs.[4]

John died on 6 November 1003 and was buried in the Lateran Basilica between the two doors of the principal façade. According to John the Deacon, his epitaph began by stating that "here is the tomb of the supreme John, who is said to be pope, for so he was called."[1] John XVII's successor, John XVIII, was also selected by Crescentius.

• Kirsch, Johann Peter (1910). "Pope John XVII" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Mann, Horace Kinder (1906). The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages. Vol. 5: The Popes In The Days of Feudal Anarchy, from Formosus to Damasus II, Part 2. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.

Attribution:

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John XVII". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

• Udo Tavares (1992). "Johannes XVII.". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 3. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 217–220. ISBN 3-88309-035-2.
• John N. D. Kelly: Reclams Lexikon der Päpste. 2nd edition, Reclam, Stuttgart, 2005 ISBN 3-15-010588-9, sub voce.
• Antonio Sennis: Giovanni XVII. In: Massimo Bray (ed.): Enciclopedia dei Papi, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Vol. 2  (Niccolò I, santo, Sisto IV), Rome, 2000, OCLC 313581688, pp. 125–126.