Pope John XIV

Pope John XIV can also refer to Pope John XIV of Alexandria.

Pope John XIV (Latin: Ioannes XIV; died 20 August 984) was Pope from December 983 to his death in 984. He was the successor to Pope Benedict VII.

John XIV was born at Pavia, and before his elevation to the papal chair was imperial chancellor of Emperor Otto II, yet still only the latter's second choice for pope.

His original name was Pietro Canepanova, but he took the name John XIV to avoid being linked to St. Peter himself.

Otto II died shortly after his election, his heir Otto III, being only 3 years old and unable to protect John's position as Pope. Antipope Boniface VII (974, 984–985), on the strength of the popular feeling against the new Pope, returned from Constantinople and placed John XIV in prison in the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he died either from starvation or poison.

There has been considerable confusion of the number of Popes John. There was only the one John XIV. However, by the 13th century, clerical authorities in the Vatican came to wrongly believe that there were two John XIVs and began to double-count John XIV accordingly. This led to a pope calling himself John XXI, instead of John XX, in 1276.