Pope John XIV

Peter Canepanova was bishop of Pavia when Emperor Otto II nominated him to the papacy in December 983, after the abbot Maiolus of Cluny turned it down. The appointment bypassed the Roman clergy and people entirely, no formal election held. He took the name John. Otto's death that same month stripped him of protection. Antipope Boniface VII seized the throne and locked John in Castel Sant'Angelo. He died there on 20 August 984, either starved or poisoned, and was buried in Old St. Peter's.