John XII
(937 - 964) Rome
 
Pope
Né Ottaviano, he was the son of Alberic II and was elected at the age of 18. He entered into a conflict with Otto who came to Italy taking advantage of the licentious life of the pope (he was bisexual, and was accused of running a gay brothel out of St. Peter's) and had him deposed in favor of his secretary Leo. Otto established that the election of the pope had to be approved by the emperor.
John fled Rome and succeeded to return with an army in order to take revenge. But he died at the age of 27, before Otto arrived in Rome. Formerly Octavian, he became the second pope to change his name (John II, formerly Mercury was the first in the early 6th century). An important point is that he was responsible for the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire.
Alberic was hostile toward Otto, but John offered him the imperial crown because he needed military help against the Byzantines in the South. John crowned Otto in 962 as emperor. John's conflict came when he intrigued against Otto with the son of Berengar II, now King of Italy. John led an openly licentious life and was reputed to have died of a stroke while in bed with a married woman.
He allegedly ordained a ten-year-old boy lover as bishop.
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