The counts of Tusculum or Tuscolo, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

that maintained a powerful position in

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, ...

between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several

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 and

antipope An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...

s during the 11th century came from their ranks. They created and perfected the political formula of noble-papacy, wherein the pope was arranged to be elected only from the ranks of the Roman nobles. The Pornocracy, the period of influence by powerful female courtesans of the family, also influenced papal history. The counts of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Classical Rome, Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable dist ...

remained arbiters of Roman politics and religion for more than a century. In addition to the papal influence, they held lay power through consulships and senatorial membership. Traditionally they were pro-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and anti-Germanic in their political affiliation. After 1049, the

Tusculan Papacy The Tusculan Papacy was a period of papal history from 1012 to 1048 where three successive relatives of the counts of Tusculum were installed as pope. Background Count Theophylact I of Tusculum, his wife Theodora, and daughter Marozia held g ...

came to an end with the election of

Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX (, , 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historica ...

. In fact, the Tusculan papacy was largely responsible for the reaction known as 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. 1050–1080, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...

. Subsequent events (from 1062 onwards) confirmed a shift in regional politics as the counts came to side with the

Holy Roman Emperors The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

against the Rome of the reformers. In 1059, the papal-decree 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 ...

established new rules for the papal election, therefore putting an end to the noble-papacy formula.

Counts and their titles

''This list is partially incomplete in the tenth century and the chronology and dates of the various countships are often uncertain. They were only counts from about 1013, lords before.'' *before 924 Theophylact I *until 924 Alberic I, (''Consul'') son-in-law of Theophylact I *924–954 Alberic II, son of Alberic I *before 1013

Gregory I Gregory I may refer to: * Gregory the Illuminator (250s–330s), Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church in 288–325 * Gregory of Nazianzus (329–390), Patriarch Gregory I of Constantinople, in office 379–381 * Pope Gregory I (540–604), i ...

, (''Excellentissimus vir – Praefectus navalis'') son of Alberic II *until 1012 Theophylact II, son of Gregory I *1012–1024 Romanus, (''Consul et dux, senator'') brother of Theophylact II and son of Gregory I *1024–1032 Alberic III, (''Imperialis palatii magister Consul et dux – Comes sacri palatii Lateranensis'') brother of Theophylact II and Romanus *1032–1045 Theophylact III son of Alberic III *1044–1058 Gregory II, (''Consul, nobilis vir, senator Comes Tusculanensis'') son of Alberic III *1058 – c. 1108 Gregory III, (''Comes Tusculanensis Consul, illustris'') son of Gregory II *c. 1108 – 1126

Ptolemy I Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pt ...

(Tolomeo I), (''Consul, comes Tusculanus'') son Gregory III *1126–1153

Ptolemy II Ptolemy II Philadelphus (, ''Ptolemaîos Philádelphos'', "Ptolemy, sibling-lover"; 309 – 28 January 246 BC) was the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 284 to 246 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy I, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the G ...

(Tolomeo II), (''Illustrissimus, dominus Consul et dux'') son of Ptolemy I *1153 – c. 1167 Jonathan, (''Comes de Tusculano'') co-ruler with Raino son of Ptolemy II *1153–1179 Raino, (''Nobilis vir, dominus'') brother of Jonathan, co-ruler with Jonathan

Tusculan popes

* John XI, son of Alberic I, pope 931–935 * John XII son of Alberic II, pope 955–964 *

Benedict VII Pope Benedict VII (; died 10 July 983) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death on 10 July 983. Family and early career Benedict was born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus and nephew of Alberic II ...

, nephew of Alberic II, pope 974–983 *

Benedict VIII Pope Benedict VIII (; – 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 medieval pope, he had strong autho ...

, son of Gregory I, pope 1012–1024 (also count) * John XIX, son of Gregory I, pope 1024–1032 (also count) * Benedict IX, son of Alberic III, pope 1032–1048 (also count) * Benedict X, antipope 1058–1059

Successors

According to tradition, the successors of the Tusculum counts were the

Colonna family The House of Colonna is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin V, Martin V), 23 cardinals and many ot ...

, founded by Peter (1099–1151), son of Gregory III and called Peter "de Columna" from his fief of Colonna, east of Rome.

References

Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death in 1018, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynas ...

– Chronicle *

Ferdinand Gregorovius Ferdinand Gregorovius (; 19 January 1821 – 1 May 1891) was a German historian who specialized in the medieval history of Rome. Biography Gregorovius was the son of Neidenburg district justice council Ferdinand Timotheus Gregorovius and his wi ...

''Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter'' (1859–1872)

External links

*{{cite EB1911 , wstitle=Tusculum , volume=27 , short=1 People from Lazio

de:Tusculum#Grafen von Tusculum