John owed his election to the influence and power of the
Crescentii clan. During his whole pontificate, he was allegedly subordinate to the head of the Crescentii, who controlled Rome, the
patricius (an aristocratic military leader)
John Crescentius III. This period was disrupted by continuing conflicts between the
Ottonian Emperor Henry II and
Arduin of Ivrea, who had claimed the
Kingdom of Italy in 1002 after the death of
Emperor Otto III. Rome was wracked with bouts of
plague, and
Saracens operated freely out of the
Emirate of Sicily ravaging the
Tyrrhenian coasts. As
pope, John XVIII occupied his time mainly with details of ecclesiastical administration. He authorized a new
Diocese of Bamberg to serve as a base for missionary activity among the
Slavs, a concern of Henry II. He also adjudicated the over-reaching of the bishops of
Sens and
Orléans regarding the privileges of the abbot of
Fleury. John was successful in creating, at least temporarily, a rapprochement between the Eastern and Western churches. His name could be found on Eastern
diptychs and he was prayed for in Masses in Constantinople. John XVIII
abdicated in July 1009 and, according to one
catalogue of popes, retired to a monastery, where he died shortly afterwards. His successor was
Pope Sergius IV. ==References==