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 , 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 ...

by Pope John X.

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, i ...

wrote of her that the "influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and TheodoraHere Gibbon (the author of the famous ''The History of the Decline of the Roman Empire'') confused Theodora (the mother of Marozia) with Theodora (the sister of Marozia) was founded on their wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues: the most strenuous of their lovers were rewarded with the Roman tiara, and their reign may have suggested to darker ages the fable of a female pope. The bastard son, two grandsons, two great grandsons, and one great great grandson of Marozia—a rare genealogy—were seated in the

Chair of St. Peter The Chair of Saint Peter ( la, Cathedra Petri), also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, is a relic conserved in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the sovereign enclave of the Pope inside Rome, Italy. The relic is a wooden throne that tradi ...

." Pope John XIII was her nephew, the offspring of her younger sister Theodora. From this description, the term "

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 ...

" has become associated with the effective rule in Rome of Theodora and her daughter Marozia through male surrogates.

Early life

Marozia was born about 890. She was the daughter of the Roman

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 ...

Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, and of Theodora, the real power in Rome, whom bishop Liutprand of Cremona characterized as a "shameless whore... hoexercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man." At the age of fifteen, Marozia became the mistress of Theophylact's cousin Pope Sergius III, whom she knew when he was bishop of Portus. The two had a son, John (the later

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 ...

). That, at least, is the story found in two contemporary sources, the '' Liber Pontificalis'' and the ''Antapodosis sive Res per Europam gestae'' (958–62), by Liutprand of Cremona (c. 920–72). But a third contemporary source, the annalist Flodoard (c. 894–966), says John XI was brother of Alberic II, the latter being the offspring of Marozia and her husband Alberic I. Hence John too may have been the son of Marozia and Alberic I. Marozia married Alberic I, duke of Spoleto, in 909, and their son Alberic II was born in 911 or 912. By the time Alberic I was killed at Orte in 924, the Roman landowners had won complete victory over the traditional bureaucracy represented by the papal curia. Rome was virtually under secular control, the historic nadir of the papacy.

Guy of Tuscany

In order to counter the influence of Pope John X (whom the hostile chronicler Liutprand of Cremona alleges was another of her lovers), Marozia subsequently married his opponent Guy of Tuscany. Together they attacked Rome, arrested Pope John X in the

Lateran 250px, Basilica and Palace - side view Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several buildings in Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the Roman Empire. The Laterani lost their properties to Emperor Constantin ...

, and jailed him in the Castel Sant'Angelo. Either Guy had him smothered with a pillow in 928 or he simply died, perhaps from neglect or ill treatment. Marozia seized power in Rome in a ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

''. The following popes, Leo VI and Stephen VII, were both her puppets. In 931 she managed to impose her twenty-one years old son as pontiff, under the name of John XI.

Hugh of Arles, and death

Guy died in 929, and Marozia negotiated a marriage with his half-brother Hugh of Arles, the

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

. While in Rome Hugh quarreled with Marozia's son Alberic II, who organized an uprising during the wedding ceremonies in 932. Hugh escaped, but Marozia was captured. Marozia died after spending some 5 years in prison. Her descendants remained active in papal politics, starting with Alberic II's son Octavian, who became

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 955. Popes Benedict VIII,

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 ...

, and Benedict IX, and

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 ...

of the House of Tusculani, were also descended from Marozia. By Guy of Tuscany she had a daughter named Berta Theodora, who never married.

Family tree

Sources

* * * di Carpegna Falconieri, Tommaso (2008)
''Marozia''
in ''Dizionario biografico degli italiani'', 70, pp. 681–685

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marozia 890s births 937 deaths Year of birth uncertain Nobility from Rome Italian queens consort Queens consort of Lower Burgundy 10th-century Italian women 10th-century Italian nobility Papal mistresses People of medieval Rome Women and the papacy Medieval Roman patricians Remarried royal consorts