On the death of Pope John XIII…
973 CE
On the death of Pope John XIII in September 972, the majority of the electors who adhered to the imperial faction had chosen Benedict to be his successor.
He is not consecrated until January 973, due to the need to gain the approval of the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I.
Installed as pope under the protection of Otto I, Benedict is seen as a puppet of the emperor by the local Roman aristocracy, who resent the emperor’s dominance in Roman civil and ecclesiastical affairs.