Pope John XVII

For the Coptic Pope, see Pope John XVII of Alexandria.

Pope John XVII
Papacy began	16 May 1003
Papacy ended	6 November 1003
Predecessor	Sylvester II
Successor	John XVIII
Personal details
Birth name	Giovanni Sicco
Born	??? Rome, Papal States
Died	6 November 1003 Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire
Other popes named John

Pope John XVII (Latin: Ioannes XVII; died 6 November 1003) was Pope for about seven months from 16 May to 6 November 1003. He was born John Sicco, the son of another John Sicco, in the region of Rome then referred to as Biveretica. He succeeded Pope Silvester II.

John XVII was nominated to the papacy by John Crescentius, a Roman noble who held power in the city in opposition to Emperor Otto III. John XVII's successor, Pope John XVIII, was also selected by Crescentius.

John died on 6 November 1003 and was buried in the Lateran Basilica between the two doors of the principal façade. According to John the Deacon, his epitaph began by stating that “here is the tomb of the supreme John, who is said to be Pope, for so he was called.”

Family

Before entering the priesthood, Sicco had been married and had three sons who also entered Holy Orders:

• John, Bishop of Praeneste
• Peter, a Deacon
• Andrew, a Secundicerius

Confusion over ordinals

See also: Pope John (numbering)

The previous legitimate Pope John is generally considered to be John XV (985–996). John XVI (997–998) was an antipope according to official reckoning, and thus his regnal number XVI should have been reused. But this did not occur, and the sequencing has never been corrected.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
• "Pope John XVII" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Volume 5: The Popes In The Days of Feudal Anarchy, from Formosus to Damasus II, Part 2 (London, 1910)

Footnotes

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Silvester II	Pope 1003	Succeeded by John XVIII