Reigned from 1032 to 1044, in 1045, and from 1047 to 1048. Probably died in Grottaferrata, Italy. Count of Tusculum and nephew of the two preceding popes, he was placed on the papal throne by his father, Alberic, when a youth of twenty. He was driven from office in 1044 by a Roman faction, as unfit to rule. Returning he expelled the antipope, John of Sabina, and reinstated himself, but resigned in favor of Pope Gregory VI. Regretting this action he attempted to regain the chair but Emperor Henry III intervened, and at the Congress of Sutri the three claimants were deposed and Clement II elected pope. Upon Clement's death Benedict seized the throne again but was forced out by Clement's successor, Pope Damasus II.