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Pope Agapetus II was Pope from 10 May 946 to his death in 955. A nominee of the Princeps of Rome, Alberic II, his pontificate occurred during the period known as the Saeculum obscurum.
Agapetus was elected pope on 10 May 946 after the death Pope Marinus II. The existence of an independent republic of Rome, ruled by Alberic II, (932–954), son of Marozia and the self-styled "prince and senator of the Romans", meant that Agapetus was prevented from exercising any temporal or secular power in Rome and the Papal States. Tensions between the rival kings of Italy, Berengar II and Otto I allowed Alberic to exercise complete control over Rome and Agapetus, meaning the pope was largely limited to managing internal church affairs.
Agapetus died on 8 November 955, and was succeeded by Alberic’s son, Octavianus, who took the papal name of John XII. |
