The numbering of
popes named John does not occur in strict numerical order. Although there have been twenty-one legitimate
pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
s named John, the numbering has reached XXIII because of two clerical errors that were introduced in the Middle Ages: first,
antipope John XVI
John XVI (; born ; ; ) was an antipope from 997 to 998.
Biography
John was of Greek descent and was a native of Rossano in Calabria, southern Italy. The region was at the time a territory of the Byzantine Empire, while John was the chaplain of ...
was kept in the numbering sequence instead of being removed; then, the number XX was skipped because Pope John XXI counted
John XIV twice.
List of Johns since the errors
John XX
The number XX was skipped due to confusion over
John XIV (983–984), which resulted from an error in the textual transmission of his entry in the ''
Liber Pontificalis
The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...
''. This entry originally specified not only the duration of his pontificate ''("VIII mens."'' = eight months), but also the duration of his ensuing imprisonment by
antipope
An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...
Boniface VII, ''"per IV menses"'' ("for four months"). In the 11th century, some time after
John XIX
Pope John XIX (; died October 1032), born Romanus, was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1024 to his death. He belonged to the family of the powerful Counts of Tusculum, succeeding his brother, Benedict VIII. Papal relatio ...
's pontificate, this entry on John XIV was misread to be referring to two different "Popes John", the first reigning for eight months who was directly succeeded by another John reigning for four months:
*''Iohannes m. VIII'' ("John, eight months")
*''Iohannes m. IV'' ("John, four months")
In distinguishing these two Johns, the second one came to be numbered ''"Iohannes XIV. bis"'' ("John XIV the second") and it was confused with a historic character, the cardinal deacon John son of Robert, who opposed Boniface VII after John XIV's death. Since
John XV through XIX seemed to have neglected the existence of John XIV "bis",
Pedro Julião
Pope John XXI (, , ; – 20 May 1277), born Pedro Julião (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 September 1276 to his death in May 1277. He is the only ethnically Portuguese pope in history.Richard P. McBrien, ...
"corrected" this "error" by taking the name John XXI.
Since these calculations were discovered in the 19th century, the popes are now listed using the numbers they used during their reigns. There is no real John XX. However, "Popes John XV" through "XIX" are dual-numbered "XVI" through "XX" because some sources had already used the altered numbering sequence. John XXI is also dual-numbered XX in older works.
John XXIII
During the
Western Schism
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...
, there were two claimants to the papacy. The
Council of Pisa
The Council of Pisa (; , also nicknamed the , "secret meeting", by those who considered it illegitimate) was a controversial council held in 1409. It attempted to end the Western Schism by deposing both Benedict XIII (Avignon) and Gregory XII ...
(1409) tried to end the schism by electing
Alexander V
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are ...
as pope. However, neither the Avignon antipope nor the Roman pope was willing to abdicate, so there were now three papal claimants. The Pisan antipope Alexander V was succeeded by
John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
, who abdicated in 1415 as part of a deal to end the schism.
Until the mid-20th century, the ''
Annuario Pontificio
The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides nam ...
'' regarded the Roman line as legitimate until 1409, followed by the Pisan line until 1415. The last three popes of the schism were listed as
Gregory XII
Pope Gregory XII (; ; – 18 October 1417), born Angelo Corraro, Corario," or Correr, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 November 1406 to 4 July 1415. Reigning during the Western Schism, he was opposed by the Avignon claimant Benedi ...
(1406–1409),
Alexander V
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are ...
(1409–1410), and
John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
(1410–1415).
[''Annuario pontificio per l'anno 1942'', Rome, page 21, nrs. 205, Gregorio XII, Veneto, Correr (c. 1406, cessò a. 1409, m. 1417) – Pont. a. 2, m. 6, g. 4, 206, ''Alessandro V, dell'Isola di Candia'', Filargo (c. 1409, m. 1410) – Pont. m. 10, g. 8, 207, ''Giovanni XXII o XXIII o XXIV, Napoletano, Cossa'' (c. 1410, cessò dal pontificare 29, mag. 1415).] However, the Western Schism was reinterpreted when
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
(1958–1963) chose to reuse the ordinal XXIII, citing "twenty-two
icJohns of indisputable legitimacy."
"I Choose John..."
in ''Time'', 10 November 1958, p 93. This is reflected in modern editions of the ''Annuario Pontificio'', which extend Gregory XII's reign to 1415. The Pisan popes Alexander V and John XXIII are now considered to be antipopes.
See also
* List of popes#Numbering of popes
References
Source
*Reginald L. Poole: "The Names and Numbers of Medieval Popes", in: ''The English Historical Review'', Vol. 32, No. 128 (1917), pp. 465–478, see especially pp. 474–475
{{DEFAULTSORT:John (Numbering)
Popes
Antipopes