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Pope Benedict V
The current pope isn't the only Benedict to have stepped down. During a tumultuous time in the Catholic Church's history known as the saeculum obscurum (sometimes called the Rule of the Harlots), the popes engaged in corrupt venal behavior and were too closely allied to one aristocratic family. Fed up, the people in Rome raised Benedict V to the highest position in A.D. 964. But the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, King Otto, wasn't having it: He elected an antipope, Leo VIII, instead. Benedict V chose to step down a few months after being elected. (At this chaotic time, it wasn't unheard of to have two popes elected.)
The next Benedict, Benedict VI, also faced an ignominious end to his reign: When King Otto died in 974, Benedict VI was imprisoned and put to death by his antipope successor.
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