Johannes Philagathos, called by Latin chroniclers Piligato…
997 CE
Johannes Philagathos, called by Latin chroniclers Piligato or Filagatto, had been the chaplain of Theophanu, the Empress consort of Emperor Otto II, who had come from Constantinople.
Twice he had acted as Imperial chancellor in Italy for Otto II, in 980-982, whereupon he was appointed Abbot of Nonantola, and in 991-992.
Between his sojourns in Italy he had been appointed tutor to the Emperor's then seven-year-old son, Otto III, in 987.
By the Empress's persuasion he had been appointed bishop of Piacenza, and had been sent to Constantinople to accompany home an imperial princess for the younger Otto.
After Otto leaves Rome in 997, the city magnate Crescentius II violently unseats Pope Gregory and, with the active support of the Eastern Emperor, Basil II, acclaims Philagathos as Pope John XVI, chosen in revolt against the will of the youthful Emperor.