The Crescentii

Yesterday I talked about the end of Crescentius II at the hands of Otto III, because he caused too much trouble in Rome even after having been pardoned for earlier offenses. His family had been a force in Rome for awhile. He was often called "the Younger" and his father called "Crescentius the Elder." The family was the same that started with Theophylact I.

The Elder Crescentius saw an opportunity to become more prominent in Rome after the Carolingian dynasty lost power through their own fraternal wars between Charlemagne's grandsons. Crescentius was around during the time of Otto I when a synod removed Pope John XII. Pope John XIII was Crescentius' brother, which helped support the Elder's grasp on Roman politics.

But when John XIII died and Otto I designated a successor (Benedict VI), Romans resented the outside interference from the emperor. When Otto II became emperor and was involved in foreign wars, the Romans under Crescentius took over, imprisoning Benedict VI into the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he was killed in 974.

The Romans then chose Boniface VII, against the advice of the emperor's envoy. When members of the imperial faction reasserted their authority, Boniface fled Rome, going to Constantinople and being replaced by Benedict VII, who was then succeeded by John XIV.

When Otto II died, Boniface returned from Constantinople in 984, supported by Crescentii the Younger. Pope John XIV was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo and died four months later. Otto III eventually (and brutally) dealt with the matter of who controlled Rome and the papacy.

By this time, however, Crescentius the Elder had changed his lifestyle. He chose to join the monastery of St. Alexius on the Aventine Hill in Rome, taking up monastic habit and dropping out of public life.

Now, Alexius was a 4th-century saint who has been mentioned before, but the monastery was only a few years old. I'll tell you a little more tomorrow.

Otto III's Regency, Part 3

After the death of his mother, Holy Roman Empress Theophanu, the responsibility for the regency of Otto III (still only 11 years old) passed to his grandmother, Holy Roman Empress Adelaide. Each of these women had been heavily involved in her husband's administration and was quite capable of managing important affairs.

Adelaide helped govern during the 992 war between Bohemia and Poland, in which the Ottonian regime supported Poland.

Her regency lasted only a few years, since in 994 Otto turned 14. In September of that year he was granted the right to govern Germany without the need of a regent. A letter from Otto to his grandmother suggests that she was happy to give up the responsibility:

According to your wishes and desires, the divinity has conferred the rights of an empire on us with a happy outcome.

Otto now became King of Italy as well as King of Germany, but was not yet crowned Holy Roman Emperor. That was coming soon.

At this point, Adelaide was active in charity work, founding and restoring monasteries and churches. A nunnery she had founded in 991 was her final residence, retiring there when Otto no longer needed her at court. She died there on 16 December 999 and was buried in the abbey. Pope Urban II canonized her in 1097 for her service to the Church.

On his own now, Otto faced and put down a Slavic rebellion. He then had trouble in Italy; he mounted an expedition to support Pope John XIV (a Lombard who had been Otto's father's chancellor), but was being beset by a Roman faction who wanted their own Italian pope put in place. A leader of the Roman aristocracy, Crescentius II, was calling himself Patrician of the Romans and trying to rule the place. They imprisoned John XIV in the Tomb of Hadrian and put antipope Boniface VII in his place. (The clan of the Crescentii figured largely in papal positions for several generations.)

Pope John XIV died in his prison. When Boniface VII died, Pope John XV succeeded him, but Crescentius had too much influence over him to satisfy Otto. John XV actually fled Rome to get away from Crescentius. Otto's goal was to restore proper order as well as the pope. This would be the greatest challenge of his reign, and I'll tell you about it tomorrow.