Pope John X

John X became bishop of Rome in March 914, backed by the counts of Tusculum during the Saeculum obscurum — the church's so-called dark age. He pushed to unify Italy under Berengar of Friuli and personally helped orchestrate the defeat of the Saracens at the Battle of Garigliano, a rare papal turn as military strategist. The alliance with Marozia, a Roman noblewoman of staggering influence, eventually collapsed. She had him deposed and thrown into prison. He died there on 28 May 928, almost certainly murdered.