• Pope John XII-  The Christian Caligula

    In previous posts, we have discussed the pornocracy period in papal history.  In our last one, we discussed Marozia, the mistress and mother of popes and power behind the papal throne.  In this post, we are discussing her grandson, who has the dubious honor of being a contender for the worst popes in history.  I’m sure she is very proud…somewhere. John XII was born Octavianus in 937.  His father was Alberic II, the man who overthrew his mother, Marozia, and took control in Rome.  His mother was either Alberic’s wife, Alda of Vienne, or a concubine.  No one is really sure.  When Octavianus was around 18 years old, he was…

  • Marozia- The Woman who Ruled the Papacy

    In a previous post, we discussed how the period of history ushered in by the Cadaver Synod was called the pornocracy by historians.  Europe was effectively in pieces.  Attacks were coming from the Vikings in the North, Muslim pirates in the South and the Magyars in the East.  Rome was ruled by the Popes, and the Popes were ruled by one woman, Marozia. Marozia was born between 890 and 892, and she was the daughter of the Roman consul Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, and of Theodora, a senatrix and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome.  The two were the power couple of Rome and had made their share of enemies.  One of…

  • The Cadaver Synod

    The history of the papacy has many twists and turns, but probably the strangest is the Cadaver Synod or Synodus Horrenda as it was called in Latin.  It was ushered in one of the Era of the Bad Popes, one of the most corrupt periods in the history of the papacy.  It is seriously called by historians the pornocracy.  Seriously. How did this start?  The empire Charlemagne had cobbled together was falling apart.  Minor kingdoms were breaking off and the Italian peninsula descended into anarchy.  Different groups were demanding protection money from Rome, which was still recovering from the sack by the Saracens in 846.  Each kingdom wanting a piece…