Marozia

The daughter of Theophylact I and Theodora, Marozia, was wedded to Alberic I of Spoleto in 909. Alberic's link to the counts of Tusculum (who were the chief power in Rome) was advantageous for him. With the death of Theophylact in 924 or 925, Alberic (via Marozia) became the ruler of Rome.

Their first child, John, was born in 910, shortly after they were married, but Liudprand of Cremona claimed John was the result of an affair between Marozia and Pope Sergius III, whom Alberic and Theophylact had put on the throne after ousting an antipope.

Marozia would have known Sergius for years as her father's cousin, and the story of the affair is found not only in Liudprand but also in the Liber Pontificalis ("Book of the Popes"). Another historian of the time, Floduard, refers to John as the brother of Alberic II, another of Marozia's sons (but that to me does not mean they could not have different fathers).

After Alberic I died in 924, Marozia married Guy of Tuscany, who was an enemy of the then-Pope John X. John had been supported by the counts of Tusculum, especially Marozia's mother, Theodora. John's dream of a unified Italy meant supporting powerful lords who might assume that role. This did not sit well with Marozia and Guy. They imprisoned Pope John in 928. He either died in a dungeon due to its horrible conditions, or was smothered with a pillow.

Marozia made sure the next two popes were under her control, Leo VI and Stephen VII.

Guy of Tuscany died in 929, and Marozia planned to marry Guy's half-brother Hugh of Arles (seen in the illustration). Hugh was considered King of Italy (which at the time was the northern part of the Italian Peninsula and Corsica). This marriage would be illegal under canon law because of their affinity.* The teenaged Alberic II was opposed to this. There are two stories that explain his hostility to Hugh. One is that during the wedding banquet Alberic spilled some water on Hugh, who slapped the boy in public. The other is that Alberic discovered a plot by Hugh to have him blinded and therefore disqualify him from ruling when his time came. In either case, Alberic raised troops and prevented the wedding, causing Hugh to flee and imprisoning Marozia.

Marozia spent five years in prison. In 931, Marozia's son became Pope John XI. Several more popes were descended from her. Alberic II's son Octavian became Pope John XII in 955. Popes Benedict VIII, John XIX, and Benedict IX, and antipope Benedict X were also descended from her.

We should probably take a closer look at Liudprand of Cremona, from whom we may be getting lots of (mis?)information. But that's for tomorrow.

*This was the same case as Henry VII and Catherine of Aragon, who was his brother's widow.

Constantine IV

Constantine's father, Constans II, died in 668 while in Sicily, and immediately some Sicilian bishops wanted someone else to take over, even though Constans had made his son co-emperor years before (in 654, when Constantine was four years old), marking his son as the rightful successor. The bishops did so because they considered Constans a heretic for his tacit support of Monothelitism. The bishops' choice—the Armenian Mizizios, a general in the Byzantine army—was not the choice of Pope Vitalian.

Reportedly, Mizizios did not want the position, but he stayed at the head of this rebellion for seven months until Constantine led an expedition to Sicily to suppress the rebels, killing Mizizios and the man who killed Constans. On the other hand, the Liber Pontificalis ("Book of Popes") recorded that it was the Exarchate of Africa (a Byzantine administrative district) that suppressed the revolt and sent Mizizios' head to Constantinople. (Years later, Mizizios' son John also rebelled in Sicily, and we are told Constantine went to Sicily to stop him; this revolt lasted seven months. It is possible that early historical records have conflated these two rebellions.)

With this slightly rocky start, the 18-year-old emperor went on to reign for 17 years. As well as rebellion to the west, he had to focus on danger from the east. There was a desire by an Umayyad Caliph, Muawiyah I, to overthrow the emperor in Constantinople. Carthage and Sicily were attacked in 667. Fleets captured or attacked other coastal cities for the next two years, and by the start of 668, Constantinople was besieged by both a land army and a fleet.

The countryside was ravaged, but the city itself was merely blockaded, not attacked. It became a waiting game. By June of 668, the Arab armies encamped around Constantinople were running out of food and malnourished. Famine followed, and an outbreak of smallpox caused the leaders to lift the siege and retreat to the town Cyzicus across the water. They continued to raid outlying Byzantine territory until they returned to Syria in 669/70.

Although he had done nothing to oppose the invaders except keep the city together, Constantine's popularity rose after the unsuccessful siege. He had other problems, however, including an economic crisis, which we'll talk about tomorrow.

Pagan Pope

Pope Innocent I was an early-5th century Italian pope. The Liber Pontificalis ["Book of Popes"] says he was the son of a man who was also named Innocent. It is believed, however, that the Liber was composed over a hundred years after Innocent's death—and its purpose seems to be one of papal propaganda—and so its accuracy is often questioned. Jerome, who was a contemporary of Innocent and wrote about the popes, claims Innocent was the son of Pope Anastasius I (died 19 December 401), who was Innocent's immediate predecessor as pope—a unique occurrence.

He was mentioned in Daily Medieval previously, when John Cassian appealed to him on behalf of the exiled (St.) John Chrysostom. This opportunity to weigh in would have pleased Innocent: he seemed to be concerned with formalizing and centralizing the authority of the Catholic Church in the person of the pope. He also wrote to various bishops, "confirming" authority they had been granted by previous popes, and thereby establishing the papacy itself as the authority. Through various letters (that still exist), we see Innocent using Roman Catholic practices to settle disputes and establish discipline and policy in far-flung dioceses.

Innocent did everything he could to quell heresies among the faithful, such as Montanism, which seemed to differ from mainstream Christianity in that inspiration received directly from the Holy Spirit superseded any words of Jesus or the popes; and Pelagianism, which taught that Original Sin did not stain each human, that Adam died through natural causes (and not because Sin had flawed him), that good works were possible without God's grace, and other beliefs.

So what's this rumor about allowing pagan practices (reported by the historian Zosimus)?

Well, Innocent was in Rome when Alaric I and the Goths arrived, bringing Arianism. Although the Goths respected Roman culture and wanted to rule it rather than destroy it, they so thoroughly overwhelmed the Roman forces and civil structure that perhaps there was pressure to accommodate their Arianism, and this is what Zosimus refers to. As it happens, Catholic Christianity was so ingrained in Roman society by that time that apparently there was no noteworthy rise in pagan ceremonies.

Innocent died on 12 March, 417. He was succeeded by Pope Zosimus (no relation to the historian), who also struggled with Pelagianism.