Longtime Ottonian supporter Pope Benedict VII, after having reigned for almost ten years, had died of natural causes in July 983.

Otto II had returned to Rome in September to name a new Pope, selecting the Bishop of Pavia Pietro Canepanova (who reigns as Pope John XIV) in November or early December.

While Otto II is in Rome overseeing the election of the new pope, a malaria outbreak in central Italy prevents the resumption of military activity in southern Italy.

The outbreak ultimately leads to the death of the Emperor himself: he dies in his palace in Rome at the age of twenty-eight on December 7, 983, after having reigned for just over a decade.

Otto II's money and possessions are divided among the Catholic Church, the poor of the Empire, his mother Adelaide and sister Matilda, and those nobles loyal to him.

Otto II is then buried in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, becoming the only German ruler to be buried in a foreign country instead of in Germany.

The death of the Emperor clearly marks the end of Pope John XIV, who is not popular among most of the Romans.

With the heir of Otto II only being of the age three, the people of Rome finally feel free of the hated emperor and desire a Roman Pope.

To this point, Boniface VII had spent nine years in Constantinople, but he still is striving for the papal throne.

After seeing his opening with the death of Emperor Otto II, Boniface joins the league of Greeks and Saracens and heads for Rome in April 984.

With the help of both his treasury he had stolen from his first attempt at the papacy as well as the gold of his Greek followers, he is able to strike relationships with several powerful people.

With the help of Crescentius’ sons, John and Crescentius II, along with his Greek followers, Boniface has Pope John XIV imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo.

Four months later, on August 20, 984, John XIV dies in Sant’Angelo either due to starvation, poison, or by the order of Boniface.

The death of Pope John XIV means that Boniface is the only remaining pope, and so he once again secures the papal throne.

He still believes himself to be the only rightful pope, and dates back his reign to 974.