(, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Rule of the Harlots or the Pornocracy, 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 (represented by the Roman numerals 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, with most of C ...

, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896, which saw seven or eight papal elections in as many years. It began with the installation of Pope Sergius III in 904 and lasted for 60 years until the death of Pope John XII in 964. During this period, the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

s were influenced strongly by a powerful and allegedly corrupt aristocratic family, the Theophylacti, and their relatives and allies. The era is seen as one of the lowest points of the history of the papal office.

Periodisation

The was first named and identified as a period of papal immorality by the Italian cardinal and historian Caesar Baronius in his ''

Annales Ecclesiastici (full title ; "Ecclesiastical annals from Christ's nativity to 1198"), consisting of twelve folio volumes, is a history of the first 12 centuries of the Christian Church, written by Caesar Baronius and Odorico Raynaldi and published betwee ...

'' in the 16th century. Baronius's primary source for his history of this period was the contemporaneous writer Bishop Liutprand of Cremona. Baronius himself was writing during the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

, a period of heightened sensitivity to clerical corruption. His characterisation of the early 10th-century papacy was perpetuated by Protestant authors. The descriptors " pornocracy" (, from Greek ''pornokratiā'', "rule of prostitutes"), hetaerocracy ("government of mistresses"), and the Rule of the Harlots (), were coined by Protestant German theologians in the 19th century. Historian Will Durant refers to the period from 867 to 1049 as the " of the papacy".

10th-century popes

The Theophylacti family were descended from Theophylactus. They held positions of increased importance in the Roman nobility, such as ''iudex'' ("judge"), vestararius, ''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 thro ...

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

, and ''

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

''. Theophylact's wife Theodora and daughter Marozia 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 of 45-year-old Pope Sergius III 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 (; 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. His pontificate occu ...

according to '' Antapodosis sive Res per Europam gestae'' (958–962) by Liutprand of Cremona (–972). Liutprand affirms that Marozia arranged the murder of her former lover Pope John X (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. 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 Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

they had effective control over the election of new popes. Much that is alleged about the comes from the histories of Liutprand, Bishop of Cremona. Liutprand took part in the Assembly of Bishops which deposed Pope John XII, and was a political opponent of the Roman aristocracy and its control over papal elections. Lindsay Brook writes:

List of popes during the ''saeculum obscurum''

* Pope Sergius III (904–911), alleged lover of Marozia * Pope Anastasius III (911–913) * Pope Lando (913–914) * Pope John X (914–928), alleged lover of Theodora (the mother), allegedly killed by Marozia * Pope Leo VI (928–928) * Pope Stephen VII (928–931) *

(931–935), son of Marozia, alleged son of Pope Sergius III *

Pope Leo VII Pope Leo VII (died 13 July 939) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 3 January 936 to his death. Election Leo VII's election to the papacy in 936, after the death of Pope John XI, was secured by Alberic II of Spol ...

(936–939) * Pope Stephen VIII (939–942) * Pope Marinus II (942–946) * Pope Agapetus II (946–955) * Pope John XII (955–964), grandson of Marozia, by her son Alberic II of Spoleto

Family tree

The Tusculan Papacy, 1012–1059

After several Crescentii family popes up to 1012, the Theophylacti still occasionally nominated sons as popes: * Pope Benedict VIII (1012–1024), son of Count Gregory I * Pope John XIX (1024–1032), son of Count Gregory I * Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, and 1047–1048), son of Alberic III * Antipope Benedict X (1058–1059), grandson of Alberic III, 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 (1045–1046). Benedict IX then changed his mind, seized the

Lateran Palace The Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (; ), informally the Lateran Palace (), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main pope, papal residence in Rome. Located on Saint John's Square in Lateran on the Caelian Hill, the palace is ...

, and became Pope for the third time in 1047–1048. The Tusculan Papacy was finally ended by the election of

Pope Nicholas II Pope Nicholas II (; c. 990/995 – 27 July 1061), otherwise known as Gerard of Burgundy, was 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 election, he was bish ...

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 (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), 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 the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

in 1073 and introduced the Gregorian Reforms, 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 Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

in about 20 years.

References

External links

''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