''Saeculum obscurum'' (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Pornocracy or the Rule of the Harlots, was a period in the history of the Papacy during the first two-thirds of the

10th century The 10th century was the period from 901 ( CMI) through 1000 ( M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China the Song dynasty was established. The Muslim World experienced a cultural zenith, ...

, following the chaos after the death of

Formosus Pope Formosus (896) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, th ...

in 896 which saw seven or eight papal elections in as many years. It began with the installation of

Pope Sergius III 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 ...

in 904 and lasted for sixty years until the death of

Pope John XII Pope John XII ( la, Ioannes XII; c. 930/93714 May 964), born Octavian, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his death in 964. He was related to the counts of Tusculum, a powerful Roman family which had do ...

in 964. During this period, the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

s were influenced strongly by a powerful and allegedly corrupt

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

family, the

Theophylacti The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came from ...

, and their relatives and allies. The era is seen as one of the lowest points of the history of the Papal office.

Periodisation

The ''saeculum obscurum'' was first named and identified as a period of papal immorality by the Italian cardinal and historian

Caesar Baronius Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), w ...

in his '' Annales Ecclesiastici'' in the sixteenth century. Baronius's primary source for his history of this period was a contemporaneous writer, Bishop

Liutprand of Cremona Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 920 – 972),"LIUTPRAND OF CREMONA" in '' The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 1241. was a historian, diplomat, ...

. Baronius himself was writing during the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

, a period of heightened sensitivity to clerical corruption. His characterisation of the early 10th-century papacy was perpetuated by Protestant authors. The terms "

pornocracy ''Saeculum obscurum'' (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Pornocracy or the Rule of the Harlots, was a period in the history of the Papacy during the first two-thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Formosu ...

" (german: Pornokratie, from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''pornokratiā'', "rule of prostitutes"), hetaerocracy ("government of mistresses") and the Rule of the Harlots (german: Hurenregiment) were coined by Protestant German theologians in the nineteenth century. Historian

Will Durant William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains 11 volumes and details the history of eastern a ...

refers to the period from 867 to 1049 as the " of the papacy".

10th-century popes

The

family sprung from Theophylactus. They held positions of increased importance in the Roman nobility, such as ''iudex'' ("judge"),

vestararius The ''vestararius'' was the manager of the medieval Roman Curia office of the ''vestiarium'' (cf. the Byzantine imperial wardrobe and treasury, the '' vestiarion''), responsible for the management of papal finances as well as the papal wardrobe.L ...

, ''gloriosissimus dux'' ("most-glorious duke"),

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, and ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

''. Theophylact's wife Theodora and daughter

Marozia Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza ( 890 – 937), was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles ''senatrix'' ("senatoress") and ''patricia'' of Rome by ...

held a great influence over the papal selection and religious affairs in Rome through conspiracies, affairs, and marriages. Fedele, Pietro (1910 & 1911). "Ricerche per la storia di Rome e del papato al. sec. X". ''Archivo della Reale Società Romana di Storia Patria'', 33: 177–247; & 34: 75–116, 393–423. Marozia became the

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of 45-year-old

when she was 15 and later took other lovers and husbands. She ensured that her son John (who was rumoured to have been fathered by Sergius III) was seated as

Pope John XI Pope John XI ( la, Ioannes XI; c. 910 – December 935) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 931 to his death. The true ruler of Rome at the time was his mother, Marozia, followed by his brother Alberic II. Hi ...

according to ''Antapodosis sive Res per Europam gestae'' (958–962), by

(c. 920–972). Liutprand affirms that Marozia arranged the murder of her former lover

Pope John X Pope John X ( la, Ioannes X; died 28 May 928) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 914 to his death. A candidate of the counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli, ...

(who had originally been nominated for office by Theodora) through her then husband Guy of Tuscany possibly to secure the elevation of her current favourite as

Pope Leo VI Pope Leo VI (880 – 12 February 929) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States for just over seven months, from June 928 to his death. His pontificate occurred during the period known as the ''Saeculum obscurum''. Family an ...

. There is no record substantiating that Pope John X had definitely died before Leo VI was elected since John X was already imprisoned by Marozia and was out of public view. Theodora and Marozia held great sway over the popes during this time. In particular, as political rulers of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

they had effective control over the election of new popes. Much that is alleged about the ''saeculum obscurum'' comes from the histories of Liutprand,

Bishop of Cremona The Diocese of Cremona ( la, Dioecesis Cremonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan. ...

. Liutprand took part in the ''Assembly of Bishops'' which deposed

and was a political enemy of the Roman aristocracy and its control over papal elections. Lindsay Brook writes:

List of popes during the ''saeculum obscurum''

(904–911), alleged lover of Marozia *

Pope Anastasius III Pope Anastasius III (Latin: ''Anastasius Tertius''; c. 865 - June 913) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from April 911 to his death. Anastasius was a Roman by birth. A Roman nobleman, Lucian, is sometimes recognized as his f ...

(911–913) *

Pope Lando Pope Lando (also known as Landus) was the bishop of Rome and the ruler of the Papal States from around September 913 to his death around March 914.J. N. D. Kelly and Michael Walsh, "Lando", ''The Oxford Dictionary of Popes'', 2nd ed. (Oxford Uni ...

(913–914) *

(914–928), alleged lover of Theodora (the mother), allegedly killed by Marozia *

(928–928) * Pope Stephen VII (928–931) *

(931–935), son of Marozia, alleged son of Pope Sergius III * Pope Leo VII (936–939) *

Pope Stephen VIII Pope Stephen VIII ( la, Stephanus VIII; died October 942) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 14 July 939 to his death. His pontificate occurred during the ''Saeculum obscurum'', when the power of popes was diminish ...

(939–942) *

Pope Marinus II Pope Marinus II (died May 946) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 30 October 942 to his death. He has also been mistakenly called Martinus III. He ruled during the ''Saeculum obscurum''. He was also erroneously called Mar ...

(942–946) * Pope Agapetus II (946–955) *

(955–964), grandson of Marozia, by her son Alberic II of Spoleto.

Family tree

The Tusculan Papacy, 1012–1059

After several

Crescentii The Crescentii (in modern Italian Crescenzi) were a baronial family, attested in Rome from the beginning of the 10th century and which in fact ruled the city and the election of the popes until the beginning of the 11th century. History Several ...

family popes up to 1012, the

still occasionally nominated sons as popes: *

Pope Benedict VIII Pope Benedict VIII ( la, Benedictus VIII; c. 980 – 9 April 1024) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 18 May 1012 until his death. He was born Theophylact to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum. Unusually for a medieva ...

, son of Count Gregory I; (1012–1024) *

Pope John XIX Pope John XIX ( la, Ioannes XIX; died October 1032), born Romanus, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1024 to his death. He belonged to the family of the powerful counts of Tusculum, succeeding his brother, Benedict VIII ...

, son of Count Gregory I; (1024–1032) *

Pope Benedict IX Pope Benedict IX ( la, Benedictus IX; c. 1012 – c. 1056), born Theophylactus of Tusculum in Rome, was the bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious inst ...

, son of

Alberic III Alberic III (died 1044) was the Count of Tusculum, along with Galeria, Preneste, and Arce, from 1024, when his brother the count Roman was elected Pope John XIX, until his own death. He was a son of Gregory I and Maria, brother of Popes Benedict ...

; (1032–1044; 1045; 1047–48) *

Antipope Benedict X Benedict X (died 1073/1080), born Giovanni, was elected to succeed Pope Stephen IX on 5 April 1058, but was opposed by a rival faction that elected Nicholas II. He fled Rome on 24 January 1059 and is today generally regarded as an antipope.Mary ...

, son of Alberic III (1058–59); driven out of Rome after a small war Pope Benedict IX went so far as to sell the Papacy to his religious godfather, Pope Gregory VI (1045–46). He then changed his mind, seized the

Lateran Palace The Lateran Palace ( la, Palatium Lateranense), formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran ( la, Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome. Located on St. ...

, and became Pope for the third time in 1047–48. The Tusculan Papacy was finally ended by the election of

Pope Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II ( la, Nicholaus II; c. 990/995 – 27 July 1061), otherwise known as Gerard of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1059 until his death in 27 July 1061. At the time of his ...

five years after the Great Schism of 1054 who was assisted by Hildebrand of Sovana against Antipope Benedict X. Hildebrand was elected

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

in 1073 and introduced the

Gregorian Reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...

s, increasing the power and independence of the papacy that would lead to help ignite the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

in about 20 years.

Notes

References

''Church and Society in a Crisis Age: Tenth and Eleventh Century Europe'' by Harlie Kay Gallatin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saeculum Obscurum Historical eras Lists of Catholic popes History of the papacy 10th-century Christianity Women and the papacy Medieval Rome 10th century in the Papal States Dark ages