Marozia
|
|
Marozia also known as Mariuccia, given the unprecedented titles senatrix ("senatoress") and patricia of Rome by Pope John X, was born about 890, and died, imprisoned by her son Alberic II, duke of Spoleto, between 932 and 937. She was the daughter of the Roman consul Theophylact, Count of Tusculum and of Theodora, the real power in Rome, whom Liutprand characterized as a "shameless whore...[who] exercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man."
Edward Gibbon (though confusing Theodora (the mother of Marozia) with Theodora (the sister of Marozia)) wrote memorably of her that the "influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora, was founded on their wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues. The most strenuous of their lovers were rewarded with the Roman mitre, and their reign may have suggested to darker ages the fable of a female pope. The bastard son, the grandson, and the great grandson of Marozia—a rare genealogy—were seated in the Chair of St. Peter." From this inaccurate description the term pornocracy has become associated with the effective rule in Rome of Theodora and her daughter Marozia through male surrogates.
Life
The alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III, her first husband was Alberic I, duke of Spoleto (died 926). In order to counter the influence of Pope John X (who Luitprand alleges was another of her lovers) she married Guy of Tuscany, who loved his beautiful wife as much as he loved power. Together they attacked Rome, arrested Pope John X, and jailed him in the Castel Sant' Angelo. Guy had him smothered with a pillow in 928, and Marozia seized power in Rome in a coup d 'etat.
When Guy died in 929, Marozia negotiated a marriage with his half-brother, Hugh of Arles, who had been elected King of Italy. Hugh was already married, but Marozia's son Pope John XI annulled that marriage so Hugh and Marozia could be wed. Alberic II, Marozia's son, led the opposition to the rule of Marozia and Hugh. After deposing them in 932, at the very wedding ceremonies, Alberic II imprisoned his mother until her death. Hugh escaped the city.
Marozia had the great misfortune of having eloquent detractors. The Liber Pontificalis recorded that by Pope Sergius III she was mother of Pope John XI, whose pontificate marked the complete supremacy in Rome of the house of Theophylactus. From Pope John X she received the extraordinary titles of senatrix and patricia, yet she had him assassinated in 928.
By her first husband, Alberic I, she was mother of Alberic II, Duke of Spoleto and Prince of the Romans, who appointed four popes in the years 932 to 954, and was in his turn was father of Octavian, who became Pope John XII. Pope John XIX, of the House of Tusculani, was also her descendant. By Guy of Tuscany she had a daughter named Berta Teodora, who never married.
Marozia died in prison, sometime between 932 and 937.
Sources
Williams, George. Papal genealogy, the families and descendants of the popes, 1998.