Pope John VIII

Pope John VIII can also refer to Pope John VIII of Alexandria.
Pope John VIII (Latin: Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was pope from 14 December 872 to his death in 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the 9th century.
He devoted much of his papacy attempting to halt and reverse the Muslim gains in southern Italy and their march northwards, which was "destroying the economy of papal patrimony."

He was born in Rome and as a young man witnessed the Arab raid against Rome by the Muslim Aghlabids. Among the reforms achieved during his pontificate was a notable administrative reorganisation of the papal Curia. He asked for military aid from Charles the Bald and later Count Boso of Provence, in response to Saracens who were raiding Campania and the Sabine Hills. His efforts failed and he was forced to pay tribute to the Emirate of Sicily. The threatening Muslim military presence (which he believed was God's punishment against "bad Christians"), coupled with alliances they formed with the local Christians, prompted John to promote "a new and uncompromisingly hostile view of the Saracens." This included a ban on forming alliances with the Muslims. However, his efforts proved unsuccessful, partly because Christian leaders viewed his calls for unity as an excuse to assert papal authority in southern Italy.

In 873, John VIII learned of St. Methodius' imprisonment. Methodius had been imprisoned by his German enemies, who objected to his use of the Slavonic language in the liturgy. John forbade the celebration of Mass in Bavaria until Methodius was released. Following Methodius' release John allowed him to resume his episcopal duties in Illyricum, but forbid him to celebrate mass in the Slavonic language.

In 876, John VIII traveled throughout Campania in an effort to form an alliance among the cities of Salerno, Capua, Naples, Gaeta and Amalfi against Muslim raids. By 877, all five cities sent delegates to Traietto to formalize an alliance.

In 879 he recognised the reinstatement of Photius as the legitimate patriarch of Constantinople; Photius had been condemned in 869 by Pope Adrian II. This was undertaken mainly to appease the Byzantines, since in them he saw the only hope of removing the Arabs from Italy.

In 878 John crowned Louis II, king of France. He also anointed two Holy Roman Emperors: Charles II and Charles III.

During the solemn divine service in St. Peter's church in Rome in 879, John VIII gave his blessing to duke Branimir of Croatia and the whole Croatian people, about which he informed Branimir in his letters. His country received papal recognition as a state. John brought the very decision on 21 May and confirmed it in his letter from 7 June 879.

John VIII was assassinated in 882—the first pope in history to suffer such a fate. The assassination has been blamed upon such factors as his exhaustion of the papal treasury, his lack of support among the Carolingians, his gestures towards the Byzantines and his failure to resolve the Muslim problem.