Alberic II of Spoleto

The House of Theophylact (the counts of Tusculum) ruled Rome for four generations. A grandson of the founding Theophylact I was Alberic II of Spoleto.

His parents were Alberic I and Marozia (Theophylact's daughter). Their eldest son, John, was Pope John XI as of 931. (According to Liudprand of Cremona, John was the son of Marozia and her lover, Pope Sergius III.)

Alberic I died when Alberic was young, and Marozia retained power in Rome, marrying a couple more times. According to one historian, Benedict of Soracte, Marozia's third husband (seen here between the young Alberic and Marozia) intended to have Alberic blinded (disqualifying him from being a ruler). When Alberic found out, he raised a mob that stormed the palace, drove the man out of Rome and imprisoned Marozia, allowing him to rule unencumbered.

His reign from 932 to 954 was peaceful. He styled himself princeps ("prince") of Rome, a title that was twice used in official documents by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. He controlled Rome firmly, and the popes. When his brother Pope John XI died, Alberic pressured Leo VII to become pope. Leo did not want the position, but Alberic wanted someone pliable. After Leo died (in 939), Pope Stephen VIII succeeded him.

After a number of bishops were involved in an assassination attempt against Alberic, he (it is reported) imprisoned and tortured Stephen. Stephen was succeeded by Pope Marinus II (sometimes called Martin III) on 30 October 942. Marinus supported many monasteries. Alberic was also in favor of restoring monasteries that had been devastated by Muslim attacks. The two got along, but it was said Marinus did nothing without Alberic's approval.

After Marinus came Pope Agapetus II. Alberic's hold on the papacy was so complete that in 951 he was able to prevent the coronation of Otto the Great as Holy Roman Emperor (which needed a pope as celebrant) until after Alberic died.

Before Alberic died in 954, he had made the nobles of Rome promise to make his son the next pope. Agapetus was succeeded in 955 by Alberic's son Octavian, who took the name John XII. Otto the Great was finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by John in 964.

Several more popes were descended from or related to Alberic, which means they were descended from Marozia, and we really ought to find out more about her and her family before perhaps exploring her descendants. See you tomorrow.

Pope Agapetus II

In 946, Rome was an independent republic ruled by Alberic II of Spoleto (and we'll be taking a closer look at his whole family soon), who prevented the popes from exercising any secular power. This was during a period called the Saeculum obscurum ("the Dark Age"), which was also known by less-polite names.

At the death of Pope Marinus II, Albert nominated Agapetus (born c.901) as Bishop of Rome. Agapetus II had very little authority in anything other than religious matters. The See of Reims was being fought over by two bishops, so he sent a legate, Marinus of Bomarzo, to oversee a synod there. Agapetus showed his support for King Louis IV of France by appointing Louis' favorite to Reims.

Agapetus also intervened in a dispute between an archbishop and a bishop who each wanted to declare himself the metropolitan of Pannonia, a province of the old Roman Empire that includes the modern regions of western Hungary, western Slovakia, eastern Austria, northern Croatia, north-western Serbia, northern Slovenia, and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Agapetus pointed out that, because of historical invasions and subsequent divisions, Pannonia was logically split into two regions, and each man could be metropolitan of his own half of old Pannonia.

He argued with dukes of Beneventum and Capua to turn over possession of monasteries to the monks who lived there. He also wanted to revive one of the monasteries outside the Vatican walls and requested for some monks from the Gorze Abbey in the Lorraine to come and live there. Even this needed the support of Alberic, however.

When Agapetus died in 955, he was succeeded by John XII, who began life as Octavian, the son of (drum roll) Alberic II of Spoleto. It sounds like we really ought to look at Alberic and his influence on the papacy.Turns out it was very much a family affair for him. I'll explain next time.