Tusculan Papacy

Count Theophylact I of Tusculum, his wife Theodora, and daughter Marozia held great sway over the appointment of popes from 904 to 964.

[1] The Crescentii had cooperated with German empress Theophanu and Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, who resided in Rome from 999 to 1001.

"[3] Abbot Odilo of Cluny flourished during this period, receiving support from Benedict VII and John XIX for monastic immunity.

[4] The Counts of Tusculum were centered at Tuscolo, above Frascati, protected by an ancient fortress in Borghetto; their principal monasteries were Grottaferrata and Subiaco; they also controlled many churches and religious houses in and around Rome.

[5] In 1012, Rome saw a violent political upheaval which ended Crescentii domination and elevated Theophylact, the son of Count Gregory I of Tusculum, as Pope Benedict VIII (1012–1024).

[3] The Henricianum, as much as the forged "Donation of Constantine", played a central role in papal territorial and sovereignty claims in the coming centuries.

[15] In 1016, a Pisan and Genoese fleet defeated the Arabs, in a victory which Benedict VIII may have something to do with; he also possibly schemed with the Normans against the Byzantines in southern Italy.

[2] John XIX did not resign his secular titles ("senatorial dignity") upon his election as pope; documents would refer to him not as "Senator" but as "Count Palatine and Consul".

"[19] According to Cushing, "the report of [his] crimes and deviance became ever more squalid as the latter reformers grew in power" but was for the first 12 years of his papacy "adequate and credible, if not perhaps immensely pious".

[2] Another interpretation of his first twelve years is provided by successor Victor III: Leading a life so shameful, so foul, so execrable that he shuddered to describe it.

[4] Sylvester III had long since given up being pope and returned to acting as Bishop of Sabina but he too was deprived of his orders and forced to retire to a monastery.

[4] Three days later, in Rome, Benedict IX was excommunicated for simony and Henry III's candidate, Bishop Suidger of Bamberg, was installed as Pope Clement II (1046–1047).

[3] A synod following Henry II's coronation in 1014 agreed to adopt the Frankish custom of reciting the Nicene Creed along with other prayers at mass on Sundays and other Holidays.