LANDO, POPE

Pontificate: July or Nov. 913 to Mar. 914. A Roman of Sabinian ancestry, Lando was one of several popes created in the tenth century by the house of Theophylactus. Pope formosus had appointed the original theophylactus as vestararius (or vestiarius ), an office of considerable influence and importance in the control of the temporalities of the Holy See. In Rome Theophylactus held the titles of consul and senator—a distinction shared by his wife theodora and his daughters theodora and marozia. These women dictated the election of papal candidates for half a century, and thus gave grounds for the legend that in this period of history a woman wore the tiara (see joan, popess, fable of). Like most popes of this tragic era, Lando enjoyed a very brief pontificate. During the six months of his tenure nothing good or evil is recorded of the papacy. It is probable that Lando was simply the instrument of the Roman aristocracy, especially the elder Theodora. He was succeeded by john x.

Bibliography: Liber pontificalis, ed. l. duchesne (Paris 1886–92) 2:239. p. jaffÉ, Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum 1198, ed. s. lÖwenfeld (repr. Graz 1956) 1:448. liutprand, Antapodosis, Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Germanicarum (Berlin 1826–) v. 41. h. k. mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages from 590 to 1304 (London 1902–32) 4:147–148. a. fliche and v. martin, eds., Histoire de l'église depuis les origines jusqu'à nos jours (Paris 1935) 7: 32–34. r. benericetti, La cronologia dei Papi dei secoli IX–XI secondo le carte di Ravenna (1999) 35–36. s. scholz, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche 6 (3d. ed. Freiburg 1997). j. n. d. kelly, Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New York 1986) 121.

[p. j. mullins]