Pope Leo V was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States in 903. He was pope immediately before the period known as the Saeculum obscurum, when popes wielded little temporal authority. His papacy occurred in the second half of 903, with exact months being difficult to discern.
Leo V was born at a place called Priapi, near Ardea. Although he was a priest when he was elected pope following the death of Pope Benedict IV (900–903), he was not a cardinal priest of Rome.
Pope Sergius III (c. 860 − 14 April 911) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 29 January 904 to his death. He was pope during a period of violence and disorder in central Italy, when warring aristocratic factions sought to use the material and military resources of the papacy. At the behest of Theophylact I of Tusculum, Sergius seized the papal throne from Antipope Christopher, who in turn had deposed Pope Leo V. Sergius' reign was subsequently marked by Theophylact's influence. As pope, Sergius continued many ecclesiastical controversies of his predecessors, including conflict over Pope Formosus' legacy, annulling all ordinations made by the late pope, and the filioque controversy with eastern patriarchs. His pontificate was similarly marked by temporal conflicts, with Sergius' refusal to crown Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor, and his support of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise's fourth marriage. Sergius also saw the restoration of the Lateran Palace.
Sergius III today is largely seen as an unscrupulous character as contemporary records had included a number of accusations against him; Sergius III had reputedly ordered the murder of his two immediate predecessors, Leo V and Christopher, and allegedly fathered an illegitimate son who later became pope, John XI. His pontificate has been variously described as "dismal and disgraceful", and "efficient and ruthless".
Pope Leo is the name of fourteen heads of the Catholic Church: