Pope Benedict VII975-984 An antipope, named Franco, who had caused Pope Benedict to be put to death, usurped the pontificate, and in a month plundered the Vatican of its most valuable contents. He then escaped to Constantinople, whence he returned in 985, to commit a fresh crime upon the person of John XIV. Benedict VII, a Roman, son of David, of the Conti family, was elected pope before the 25th of March, 975. Benedict held two councils at Rome. In one he excommunicated the antipope Boniface; in the other, the simoniacs. After a reign of more than eight years, he died in the year 984, and was interred at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. It is believed that Benedict occupied the see eight years and some months, setting an example of all the pastoral virtues, and ruling the Church prudently in those difficult times. Benedict VII was a wise, prudent, and virtuous pope. This biographical data is from The Lives and Times of the Popes by The Chevalier Artaud De Montor. Published by The Catholic Publication Society of New York in ten volumes in 1911. The pictures, included in the volumes, were reproduced from Effigies Pontificum Romanorum Dominici Basae.