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He is one of the most controversial popes in papal history. A pontiff who was corrupt to the core, Benedict IX was barely out of his teens when he became leader of the Holy See. Totally unsuitable for the role as head of the Catholic Church, Benedict quickly won enemies with his disgraceful conduct and complete disregard for the institution he represented. And yet, despite his vile and unholy behavior, he went on to hold the position of pope an unprecedented three times. How was this allowed to happen, and just what kind of a man was this maniacal individual?
Click through and be shocked by the scandalous life of Benedict IX.
He is regarded as one of the worst popes in history. But who exactly was Benedict IX (c. 1012–c. 1056), and why is he so reviled?
Benedict IX was born Theophylactus of Tusculum in Rome, Italy.
He was the nephew of two previous popes, Benedict VIII and his immediate successor, John XIX.
As a youth, Theophylactus was thrust into the papacy in 1032 by the powerful and wealthy Italian Tusculani family, his father securing his election through bribery. Effectively crowned Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States, Theophylactus was ill-prepared for such high office.
From the outset of his pontificate, the 20-year-old Benedict IX ran riot in his new role. His unconventional conduct extended to outbursts of violence and unbridled immorality. Dubious revelry under the roof of the Lateran Palace were commonplace.
Unsurprisingly, the unprincipled pontiff soon made virulent political enemies. Dismayed and disgusted by his debauchery, some even accused him of consorting with the devil at night.
Detractors quickly decided to dispatch the errant pope. With murder on their mind, assassins slipped into St. Peter's Basilica clutching garottes.
As they crept up on their unsuspecting quarry, fate intervened in Benedict's favor. An eclipse of the sun suddenly shrouded the basilica in shadow, alarming the would-be killers. In the confusion, the pope fled the building.
Deemed highly unsuitable for the Chair of St. Peter, Benedict IX was drummed out of the city in 1045 by a mob of disgruntled Romans. He was replaced by Pope Sylvester III. But the disgraced pontiff refused to give up the papacy.
Sylvester's reign was short. Within weeks amid scenes of chaos and confusion, Benedict marched back into Rome. He kicked out his successor to greedily claim the papal crown for a second time.
Benedict IX was back home in Lateran Palace (during the era of the Papal States, popes rarely resided in the Vatican. Instead, the palace was their habitual residence for about a thousand years).
It quickly became apparent that old habits die hard. The pope took great pleasure in excommunicating ecclesiastical leaders who were hostile to him. And his dissolute lifestyle once again revolved around cruelty and feasts of fornication.
And then, out of the blue, Benedict IX suddenly decided he'd had enough of the papacy and waved goodbye to the position. But not before profiting from his office.
In 1045 in an extraordinary act of betrayal, Benedict IX selfishly sold the papacy to his godfather, Giovanni Graziano, a Roman priest, who in return offered Benedict a sizeable pension. Graziano subsequently became Pope Gregory VI, in May 1045. His ascension to the papacy should have drawn a line under the whole squalid affair. But the episode was about to take another dramatic turn.
The following year in a plotline worthy of a modern-day soap opera, both Benedict and Sylvester returned to Rome, each claiming to be pope instead of Gregory. The Roman gossip columns were alive with suspense and intrigue.
On December 10, 1046, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III chaired the Synod of Sutri. The council was convened to settle once and for all the disorder over the papacy. Two of the rival popes—Sylvester and Gregory—each argued their legitimacy in front of the emperor. Benedict stayed away, hiding in his castle. In the end, Henry rejected all three claims and installed the Saxon bishop Suidger of Bamberg as Pope Clement II.
Great things were expected of Pope Clement II, but less than a year after taking the Papal Coronation Oath, Clement was dead. Rumors circulated that the hapless pontiff had been poisoned, possibly by the disgruntled Benedict. But whatever the cause of his demise, his passing left a vacancy in the palace, and one man couldn't resist reapplying for the position.
In fact, Benedict didn't reapply so much as reinstall himself as pope, doing so on November 8, 1047. His was an unprecedented third pontificate.
Rome, however, had never forgiven Benedict for selling out the papacy, and the charge against him of simony—the buying or selling of something spiritual or closely connected with the spiritual—still stood.
Furthermore, Benedict's scandalous predilection for black magic, illicit flesh, and other people's money attracted the wrath of a by now very angry Henry III.
Seething with fury and contempt for the unscrupulous governor of the Holy See, Henry ordered his prompt removal from the Lateran Palace.
On July 17, 1048, Boniface of Tuscany, on Henry's command, entered Rome and confronted the beleaguered pope. Boniface came from the family of the lords of Canossa, and was one of the most powerful nobles in Italy. He was not a man to be argued with.
Benedict was finally banished from Rome. The thorn in the side of the Chair of St. Peter was never again seen in the city.
Benedict was replaced by Bavarian native Bishop Poppo of Brixen as Damasus II. His papacy began on July 17, 1048 and ended on August 9, the same year—one of the shortest papal reigns. Speculation reared its ugly head as to the cause of his death, with some suggesting poison and pointing the finger, yet again, to Benedict IX.
The fate of the former pontiff, by now excommunicated, remains a mystery. He most likely ended up at Grottaferrata, a small town 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Rome.
Having given up any claim to the papal throne, Benedict probably sought sanctuary in the Abbey of Grottaferrata, where he is supposed to have lived, traditionally as a penitent, until 1055 or 1056.
In fact, it's been suggested that the catacombs under the abbey may hold the mortal remains of the vice-ridden pope.
What is certain is that Benedict IX remains one of the most controversial popes in papal history, and probably its most corrupt.
Sources: (Britannica) (New World Encyclopedia) (Memim)
The despicably unholy life of Pope Benedict IX
Who was this maniacal pontiff?
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He is one of the most controversial popes in papal history. A pontiff who was corrupt to the core, Benedict IX was barely out of his teens when he became leader of the Holy See. Totally unsuitable for the role as head of the Catholic Church, Benedict quickly won enemies with his disgraceful conduct and complete disregard for the institution he represented. And yet, despite his vile and unholy behavior, he went on to hold the position of pope an unprecedented three times. How was this allowed to happen, and just what kind of a man was this maniacal individual?
Click through and be shocked by the scandalous life of Benedict IX.