Sergius III returned from exile to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. Pope Sergius III: Pope Sergius III 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 Christopher, who in turn had deposed Leo V. January 29, 904. Wiki link