The Saeculum Obscurum of the Papacy

SAECULUM OBSCURUM/ PORNOCRACY

The Saeculum Obscurum (the dark age) of the Papacy is a name given to a period in the history of the Papacy during the first half of the 10^th century, beginning with the installation of Pope Sergius III in 904 and lasting for sixty years until the death of Pope John XII in 964.

Actually, the Saeculum Obscurum is a more polite term. The more vulgar term for this period is Pornocracy. If democracy is ruled by the people, and theocracy is ruled by religious body, then what about pornocracy? In the 10^th century, the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church fell under the influence of harlots in an era termed Pornocracy. It is the Rule of the Prostitutes/ Harlots coinciding with the Saeculum Obscurum. The Pope was completely under the control of Theodora, the beautiful wife of Roman consul Theophylactus, who used sex to wield power. Theodora's 15-year-old daughter Marozia became the concubine of Pope Sergius III. Their son later became Pope John XI - the only illegitimate son of a Pope that later became Pope himself. The era of Pornocracy ended with Pope John XII (the grandson of Marozia) in 963. He was so immoral that the Basilica of Rome was said to be converted into a brothel under his rule.

Historical Context of the Saeculum Obscurum

The Saeculum Obscurum, Latin for “the Dark Age,” refers to an infamous period of roughly 60 years in the tenth century when the papacy fell into severe moral and political disarray. Between 896 and 964 AD, about twenty popes occupied the throne of Peter, many meeting untimely, violent ends amidst scandal and factional strife. This era followed the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire, which had previously provided a measure of stability and protection for Rome. With imperial authority waning in Italy, Rome was largely left to govern itself, and local aristocratic factions vied for dominance. Crucially, the once-sacrosanct process of papal succession became a prize of these power struggles: Roman noble families fought to install their own candidates as pope, treating the papal office as an asset of secular politics. Historians often trace the onset of this dark chapter to events surrounding Pope Formosus (r. 891–896) and his successors. After Formosus’s death, Pope Stephen VI infamously put Formosus’s corpse on trial in the “Cadaver Synod” of 897, a spectacle that epitomized the chaos of the times. Stephen VI himself was soon strangled by his opponents, setting a precedent of turbulence that continued into the 900s. By 904, as Pope Sergius III took the throne, the stage was set for what Cardinal Caesar Baronius later dubbed the Saeculum Obscurum—a “Dark Age” of the papacy characterized by intrigue, misrule, murder, and general mayhem in Rome. Contemporary churchmen and later historians alike viewed this as the nadir of papal dignity. It is important to note, however, that not every pope of this era was personally corrupt or incompetent; a few attempted modest reforms or governed as well as circumstances allowed. Nonetheless, the papacy as an institution had unquestionably fallen under the domination of secular Roman nobility. This climate of corruption and instability would not only tarnish the moral authority of the Church, but also spur calls for reform in the decades to come.

Rise of the Theophylacts and the “Rule of the Harlots”

The turmoil of the Saeculum Obscurum was fueled largely by one noble clan—the house of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum—whose members seized control of Rome and the papacy. Theophylact I emerged as a powerful leader in Rome around 905 and was the city’s effective ruler until his death in 924. Holding titles such as magister militum and judex, Theophylact used military and political might to dominate the papal court. He played kingmaker in papal elections: with his backing, Sergius III was elected pope in 904 after Theophylact helped overthrow an antipope, and thereafter many popes until his death were essentially hand-picked by him. His wife, the formidable Theodora, bore the title senatrix and was said to influence papal appointments alongside her husband. According to Liutprand of Cremona, a contemporary (albeit biased) chronicler, “for at least a generation in the early tenth century, the Bishop of Rome was to be found in the bedchamber of the house of Theophylact.” Liutprand alleges that Theodora became the lover of Pope John X (r. 914–928), whom the family had elevated to the papacy, while Theodora’s eldest daughter Marozia was the mistress of Pope Sergius III. Modern historians approach these salacious claims with caution. Some earlier scholars took them at face value—coining the term “Pornocracy” to describe a papacy allegedly dominated by Theophylact’s “harlot” wife and daughter. Others have dismissed Liutprand’s tales as malicious gossip, noting his partisan agenda and the misogynistic tone of his descriptions. What is clear, however, is that the Theophylact women were politically visible and active—highly unusual for the time—and later writers hostile to their family seized upon their gender to smear their reputation.

Marozia, Theophylact’s elder daughter, emerges as the most pivotal figure of the Saeculum Obscurum. Born around 890 to Theophylact and Theodora, Marozia grew up amid the intrigues of the Roman court. While still a teenager, she was introduced to Pope Sergius III and reputedly became his lover, later giving birth to a son named John around 910 (though the paternity remains debated). To strengthen her family’s secular position, Marozia married Alberic I of Spoleto, a powerful duke; through this marriage she bore another son, Alberic II. After Theophylact’s death in 924, Marozia moved swiftly to consolidate her dominance. In 928, she and her second husband, Guy of Tuscany, staged a violent coup against Pope John X; the pope was imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo and soon after died in custody. Marozia then controlled the papal succession, orchestrating the election of two short-lived popes (Leo VI and Stephen VII) as placeholders until her own son was old enough for office. In 931, her teenage son John XI was installed as pope (r. 931–935). With her son as pontiff, Marozia took the titles Patrician of Rome and Senatrix, ruling the city outright. At the height of her power, she sought imperial rank by marrying Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, in 932. But her eldest son, Alberic II, led a popular revolt during the wedding festivities, toppled Marozia’s regime, imprisoned her, and reduced Pope John XI to a puppet under his control.

Alberic II and Secular Control of the Papacy

With Marozia removed, Prince Alberic II (r. 932–954) became the undisputed ruler of Rome. For over two decades, he governed as a de facto prince, restoring order while keeping the popes as figureheads. After John XI died in 935, Alberic personally selected each subsequent pope—Leo VII (936–939), Stephen VIII (939–942), Marinus II (942–946), and Agapetus II (946–955)—ensuring none would challenge his supremacy. When Pope Stephen VIII conspired against him, Alberic had him imprisoned and mutilated, and he died from his injuries in 942. Alberic also courted monastic reform, inviting Odo of Cluny to Rome and appointing him archimandrite of the city’s monasteries. By the early 950s, Alberic sought to secure a legacy: on his deathbed in 954 he extracted an oath from the Roman nobility to elect his son Octavian as the next pope upon the first vacancy. When Agapetus II died in 955, the 18-year-old Octavian duly became Pope John XII—an extraordinary instance of hereditary succession to the papacy.

Pope John XII and the Intervention of Otto I

Pope John XII (Octavian of Tusculum; r. 955–964) epitomizes the notoriety of the Saeculum Obscurum. Ascending as a teenager, he quickly gained a reputation for dissolute living and political ineptitude. Threatened by King Berengar II of Ivrea, John sought aid from the German king Otto I. Otto entered Rome and on 2 February 962 John XII crowned him Holy Roman Emperor. The associated charter, the Diploma Ottonianum, affirmed imperial protection of the papacy and asserted oversight over papal elections. Almost immediately, however, John chafed under Otto’s constraints and secretly negotiated with Otto’s enemies. Otto returned to Rome in 963, convened a synod that deposed John XII (in absentia) on charges including simony, perjury, murder, and incest, and installed Leo VIII. When Otto departed, Romans restored John XII, who reversed the synod’s acts and punished his opponents. On 14 May 964, John XII died suddenly—reportedly while committing adultery, though the details are likely embellished by hostile sources. In the aftermath, Otto deposed Benedict V and restored Leo VIII, cementing imperial involvement in papal affairs and effectively ending the Saeculum Obscurum.

The Theophylact Family and Noble Domination of the Papacy

A defining feature of the Saeculum Obscurum was the outsized role of Roman nobility—particularly the Theophylact family—in controlling the papacy. They amassed civil authority and leveraged it to control Church appointments, reducing papal elections to contests between armed aristocratic factions. The influence of Theodora and Marozia has been portrayed in gendered and sensationalist terms in some sources; modern historians urge caution, noting the biases of chroniclers like Liutprand of Cremona. Even so, Marozia’s orchestration of papal successions and Alberic II’s effective sequestration of the papacy reveal how feudalization of ecclesiastical office undermined the sanctity and autonomy of the Roman See. Through the Tusculan branch, the family continued to produce popes in the 11th century (e.g., Benedict VIII, John XIX, Benedict IX), underscoring the long shadow of dynastic control.

Theological and Institutional Implications for the Church

Theologically, the era forced Christians to distinguish between the office and the person of the pope. While sacramental validity does not depend on a minister’s moral state, the moral authority of the papacy suffered grievously. The scandal helped galvanize reform movements—especially the Cluniac and later Gregorian reforms—aimed at curbing simony, enforcing clerical celibacy, and insulating church offices from secular capture. Institutionally, Otto I’s intervention inaugurated a period of imperial oversight that protected the papacy from local barons but raised new problems of secular interference. These tensions eventually led to the Investiture Controversy and, in 1059, to Pope Nicholas II’s decree In Nomine Domini, which vested papal elections in the College of Cardinals—an institutional antidote to the abuses laid bare in the 10th century.

Modern Historical Interpretations and Debates

Older Catholic and Protestant narratives alike cast the 10th-century papacy as an unmitigated nadir. Modern scholarship, while not denying grave abuses, treats sources such as Liutprand with skepticism and contextualizes the role of women like Theodora and Marozia within aristocratic power politics. Some historians emphasize that despite Rome’s turmoil, broader Christian life and learning (e.g., the Ottonian renaissance) continued elsewhere, and that the papacy began recovering even before the millennium. The Saeculum Obscurum is thus read as a symptom of early medieval fragmentation and a catalyst for the robust ecclesiastical reforms that followed.

Selected Bibliography (Scholarly References)

1. Benedict of Soracte. Chronicon (10th c.). In: The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 919–966, ed. & trans. Steven Fanning and Bernard S. Bachrach. Broadview Press, 2004.

2. Collins, Paul. The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century. PublicAffairs, 2013.

3. Duffy, Eamon. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press, 2014.

4. Gregovorius, Ferdinand. History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 3. Trans. Annie Hamilton. George Bell & Sons, 1895.

5. Leyser, Conrad. “Episcopal Office in the Italy of Liudprand of Cremona, c.890–c.970.” English Historical Review 125, no. 515 (2010): 795–817.

6. Liutprand of Cremona. Antapodosis (958–962). In: The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona, trans. Paolo Squatriti. CUA Press, 2007.

7. Partner, Peter. The Lands of St Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance. University of California Press, 2023.

8. West-Harling, Veronica. “The Visibility of Women in Tenth-Century Rome.” Early Medieval Europe 29, no. 3 (2021): 400–426.

9. Wollasch, Joachim. “Cluny and the Popularization of the Reform.” In The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 3, c.900–c.1024, Cambridge University Press, 1999.

10. Zacour, Norman. “The Papacy in the Saeculum Obscurum.” In The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, ed. Philippe Levillain. Routledge, 2002. 

o-o-O-o-o

Most of the 48 popes at this time were bad. It may be shocking to know the events at this time; however, this is part of history. Our pilgrim church is composed of both sinners and saints. The grace and love of God are both given to the good and to the bad.  The history of the papacy is also filled with saints and sinners. A greater number of bad popes incidentally were concentrated in this period called saeculum obscurum. A survey of some of the popes who reigned at this time is given below:

Pope Sergius III (904–911), alleged lover of Marozia

Sergius III was a pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 904 to 911. Because he was possibly the only pope known to have ordered the murder of another pope (Pope Leo V) and his anti-pope (Christopher) and the only pope to father an illegitimate son who later became pope (John XI), his pontificate has been described as "dismal and disgraceful."

Pope Anastasius III (911–913)

A Roman nobleman, Lucian, is sometimes recognized as his father, although other sources assert that he was the illegitimate son of his predecessor Pope Sergius III (904–911). Practically nothing is recorded of Pope Anastasius III, his pontificate falling in the period when Rome and the Papacy were in the power of Theophylactus, Count of Tusculum, and his wife Theodora, who approved Anastasius III's candidacy.

Pope Lando (913–914)

He was elected pope in either July or August 913 and died six months later. He is thought to have had powerful friends who helped him to be elected pope.

Pope John X (914–928), alleged lover of Theodora (the mother), allegedly killed by Marozia

He was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylactus, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of Ravenna.

Pope Leo VI (928–928)

Little is known about him who reigned for only 7 months and 5 days. He was elected pope around June 928, during a period of anarchy. He was chosen by the senatrix Marozia, who had gained control of Rome via the domination of her husband Guy, Margrave of Tuscany, and who had ordered the imprisonment and death of Leo’s predecessor, Pope John X.

Pope Stephen VII (928–931)

He was elected—probably handpicked—by Marozia from the Tusculani family, as a stop-gap measure until her own son John was ready to assume the throne of Peter. He had been before cardinal-priest of St. Anastasia.

During his reign as Pope, he confirmed the privileges of a few religious houses in France and Italy. The validity of his papacy is disputed. Like his predecessor, Pope Leo VI, he was elected while Pope John X was still alive and in prison.

Pope John XI (931–935), son of Marozia, alleged son of Pope Sergius III

The parentage of John XI is still a matter of dispute. According to Liutprand of Cremona (Antapodosis, ii. c. 48) and the "Liber Pontificalis," he was the natural son of Pope Sergius III (904–911), 

His mother was the Roman ruler at the time, resulting in his appointment to the Papacy. Marozia was thus allegedly able to exert complete control over the Pope.

At the overthrow of Marozia around 932, John XI reportedly became subject to the control of Alberic II, his younger brother. The only control left to the Pope was the exercise of his purely spiritual duties. All other jurisdiction was exercised through Alberic II. This was not only the case in secular, but also in ecclesiastical affairs.

Pope Leo VII (936–939)

Leo VII's election to the papacy was secured by Alberic II of Spoleto, the monarch in Rome. Alberic wanted to choose the pope so that the papacy would continue to yield to his authority. Leo was the priest of St. Sixtus in Rome, thought to be a Benedictine monk. He had little ambition towards the papacy, but consented under pressure.

Pope Stephen VIII (939–942)

During his pontificate, he was subject to Alberic II of Spoleto, Prince of the Romans, and did not effectively rule the Papal States.

Pope Marinus II (942–946)

He was elevated to the papacy through intervention of Alberic II (932–954) of Spoleto and concentrated on administrative aspects of the papacy.

Pope Agapetus II (946–955)

He was the Pope at the time when Alberic II(932–954), son of Marozia, was governing the independent republic of Rome under the title of "prince and senator of the Romans." He was born in Rome.

Agapetus, a man of some force of character, attempted to put a stop to the so-called Pornocracy. His appeal to Otto I the Great to intervene in Rome remained without immediate effect, since Alberic II's position was too strong to be attacked, but it bore fruit after his death.

Pope John XII (955–963), grandson of Marozia, by her son Alberic II of Spoleto.

- In 855, a teenager became a pope

An account of the charges leveled against him from Patrologia Latina includes:

“Then, rising up, the cardinal priest Peter testified that he himself had seen John XII celebrate Mass without taking communion. John, bishop of Narni, and John, a cardinal deacon, professed that they themselves saw that a deacon had been ordained in a horse stable, but were unsure of the time. Benedict, cardinal deacon, with other co-deacons and priests, said they knew that he had been paid for ordaining bishops, specifically that he had ordained a ten-year-old bishop in the city of Todi. They testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse. They said that he had gone hunting publicly; that he had blinded his confessor Benedict, and thereafter Benedict had died; that he had killed John, cardinal subdeacon, after castrating him; and that he had set fires, girded on a sword, and put on a helmet and cuirass. All, clerics as well as laymen, declared that he had toasted to the devil with wine. They said when playing at dice, he invoked Jupiter,Venus and other demons. They even said he did not celebrate Matins and the canonical hours nor did he make the sign of the cross.”

Source: The Patrologia Latina is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865.

 These are some of the popes during the saeculum obscurum. Some are honorable like Benedict IV (900-903) but generally there was a decline in the papal universal significance. The papacy was reduced to the level of local bishopric.