Boniface VII

(Cardinal Franco or Francone), elected in a popular tumult, when Benedict VI was seized and strangled in 974. Boniface himself was expelled from Rome in the following year, having incurred general detestation through his licentiousness and cruelty. Boniface is not considered a legitimate pope, though his name is registered as such in most chronological tables. He returned to Rome in 985, and put John XIV in prison, where he died of hunger, as it is reported. Boniface again assumed the papal dignity, which he retained till his death near the close of 985. His corpse is said to have been treated with great indignity. He was succeeded by John XV.