Counts Of Tusculum
   HOME
*



picture info

Counts Of Tusculum
The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came from their ranks. They created and perfected the political formula of noble-papacy, wherein the pope was arranged to be elected only from the ranks of the Roman nobles. The Pornocracy, the period of influence by powerful female courtesans of the family, also influenced papal history. The counts of Tusculum remained arbiters of Roman politics and religion for more than a century. In addition to the papal influence, they held lay power through consulships and senatorial membership. Traditionally they were pro-Byzantine and anti-Germanic in their political affiliation. After 1049, the Tusculan Papacy came to an end with the appointment of Pope Leo IX. In fact, the Tusculan papacy was largely responsible for the reaction known as the Gregorian re ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Counts Of Tusculum
The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came from their ranks. They created and perfected the political formula of noble-papacy, wherein the pope was arranged to be elected only from the ranks of the Roman nobles. The Pornocracy, the period of influence by powerful female courtesans of the family, also influenced papal history. The counts of Tusculum remained arbiters of Roman politics and religion for more than a century. In addition to the papal influence, they held lay power through consulships and senatorial membership. Traditionally they were pro-Byzantine and anti-Germanic in their political affiliation. After 1049, the Tusculan Papacy came to an end with the appointment of Pope Leo IX. In fact, the Tusculan papacy was largely responsible for the reaction known as the Gregorian re ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Pope Benedict VIII
Pope Benedict VIII ( la, Benedictus VIII; c. 980 – 9 April 1024) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 18 May 1012 until his death. He was born Theophylact to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum. Unusually for a medieval pope, he had strong authority both in Rome and abroad. Early life Theophylact was born to Count Gregory I of Tusculum. The family had already produced three popes: Pope John XI, John XI (r. 931–935), and Pope John XII, John XII (r. 955–964), and Benedict VII (r. 973–974). Theophylact became pope on 18 May 1012 and took the name Benedict VIII. Pontificate Benedict VIII was opposed by an antipope, Antipope Gregory VI, Gregory VI, who compelled him to flee Rome. He was restored by King Henry II of Germany, whom he coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, crowned emperor on 14 February 1014. He remained on good terms with Henry for his entire pontificate. In Benedict VIII's pontificate, the Saracens renewed their attacks on the southern ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Antipope Benedict X
Benedict X (died 1073/1080), born Giovanni, was elected to succeed Pope Stephen IX on 5 April 1058, but was opposed by a rival faction that elected Nicholas II. He fled Rome on 24 January 1059 and is today generally regarded as an antipope.Mary Stroll, ''Popes and Antipopes: The Politics of Eleventh Century Church Reform'' (Brill, 2012), pp. 69–71. He was a son of Guido, Lord of Poli who was the youngest son of Alberic III, Count of Tusculum, a member of the dominant political dynasty in the region at that time.Gregorovius, p. 111. Giovanni was a nephew of the notorious Pope Benedict IX, who was deposed in 1048. Benedict X reportedly later was given the nickname of ''Mincius'' (thin) due to his ignorance. His mother was present at his trial in April 1060. Biography Giovanni, Bishop of Velletri, was created a cardinal by Pope Leo IX in 1050. He was highly esteemed, however, by those who wanted to reform the Church, and was one of five men proposed by Cardinal Frederick of Lorrain ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Pope Benedict VII
Pope Benedict VII ( la, Benedictus VII; died October 983) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death. Family and early career Benedict was born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus and nephew of Alberic II of Spoleto. He was also connected to the Conti family.De Montor, Artaud. ''The Lives and Times of the Popes'', The Catholic Publication Society of New York, 1911 Before his accession to the papacy, he served as bishop of Sutri. Pontificate Benedict VII was elected pope by the Roman clergy and people in October 974 under the influence of Sicco, envoy of Emperor Otto II. He ascended as a compromise candidate to replace Boniface VII, who had caused the death of Pope Benedict VI, usurped the pontificate, and in a month plundered the Vatican of its most valuable contents. He then escaped to Constantinople. The new pope's authority was opposed by Boniface VII and his supporters, and although the antipope himself was forced to flee, his party ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pope John XII
Pope John XII ( la, Ioannes XII; c. 930/93714 May 964), born Octavian, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his death in 964. He was related to the counts of Tusculum, a powerful Roman family which had dominated papal politics for over half a century. He became pope in his late teenage years or early twenties. In 960, he clashed with the Lombards to the south. Unable to control Rome easily, he sought help from King Otto I of Germany and crowned him emperor. John XII's pontificate became infamous for the alleged depravity and worldliness with which he conducted his office. He soon fell out with Otto, but died before Otto succeeded in his attempt to depose him. Family and election Octavianus was the son of Alberic II of Spoleto, patrician and self-styled prince of Rome. His mother is believed to have been Alda of Vienne, Alberic's stepsister and the daughter of King Hugh of Italy. However, there is some doubt about this. Benedict of Soract ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Pope John XI
Pope John XI ( la, Ioannes XI; c. 910 – December 935) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 931 to his death. The true ruler of Rome at the time was his mother, Marozia, followed by his brother Alberic II. His pontificate occurred during the period is known as ''Saeculum obscurum''. Parentage John was the son of Marozia, the most powerful woman in Rome and the wife of Alberic I at the time of John's birth. According to hostile chronicler Liutprand of Cremona and the '' Liber Pontificalis'', John's father was not Alberic but Marozia's lover Pope Sergius III. However, neither Auxilius of Naples nor Eugenius Vulgarius, both of whom were exact contemporaries of Sergius, and both of whom were hostile towards Sergius for his attacks on Formosus, mention this allegation at all. The highly reliable chronicler Flodoard also refers to John as the brother of Alberic II, and does not mention the allegation either. Ferdinand Gregorovius, Ernst Dümmle ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Raino, Count Of Tusculum
Raino, also ''Rayno'', ''Ranulf'', or ''Reginulf'' (died after 1179), was the last count of Tusculum from an unknown date when he was first associated with his elder brother, Jonathan, to his own death. His father, Ptolemy II, died in 1153. His mother was Bertha, illegitimate daughter of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. He appears first in 1147, mortgaging Castrum Algidi to Pope Eugene III for 200 pounds. Pope Adrian IV granted the fortress of Tusculum, which mortgage had bought from Oddo Frangipani, who in turn had purchased it from Oddo Colonna after Ptolemy was forced to mortgage it, to Jonathan in 1155. The Senate of Rome, however, refused to ratify the grant of the fortress to the count. In 1167, Raino appears for the first time as sole count. Pope Alexander III tried at that time to dissuade the citizens from attacking Tusculum, but to no avail. Raino called in the aid of Rainald of Dassel, the archchancellor of Italy and archbishop of Cologne. Raino and Rainald were besiege ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jonathan, Count Of Tusculum
Jonathan (died before 1167) was the count of Tusculum from the death of his father, Ptolemy II, in 1153 to his own death. His mother was Bertha, illegitimate daughter of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. He was, by inheritance, an imperial vassal, but Pope Adrian IV granted him the papal property (the great fortress) in Tusculum and invested him as a papal vassal as well. He swore homage on 9 July 1155 to the pope ''excepto contra Imperatorem''—"except against the emperor." In turn, he surrendered Montisfortini and Faiola to the papacy. The Senate of Rome The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ..., however, refused to ratify the grant of the fortress to the count. In 1163, he was invested with the port of Astura, which his father had illegally held from the church, by t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Ptolemy II, Count Of Tusculum
Ptolemy IIAlso Bartholomew, which means "son of Ptolemy." (also ''Ptolemæus'' or ''Tolomeo'') (died 1153) was the count of Tusculum and consul of the Romans (''consul Romanorum'') from 1126 to his death. He was the son and successor of Ptolemy I. The younger Ptolemy entered the political scene of central Italy for the first time in 1117, when he appears as joint count with his father and is given in marriage to Bertha, illegitimate daughter of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. At this time, the counts of Tusculum first claimed descent through the ''gentes'' Julii and Octavii, a claim Ptolemy continued. The counts were also confirmed in their possession of all the territory of the Consul Gregory, Ptolemy I's grandfather. When the Emperor Lothair II marched home from Southern Italy in 1137, Ptolemy II met him at Tivoli. There, Lothair confirmed all of Ptolemy's possessions and his title of "Prince of Latium." In turn, Ptolemy gave his son Raino over to the emperor as a pledge of loyal ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ptolemy I, Count Of Tusculum
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the ''Almagest'', although it was originally entitled the ''Mathēmatikē Syntaxis'' or ''Mathematical Treatise'', and later known as ''The Greatest Treatise''. The second is the ''Geography'', which is a thorough discussion on maps and the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the astrological treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the ''Apotelesmatika'' (lit. "On the Effects") but more commonly known as the '' Tetrábiblos'', from the Koine Greek meaning "Four Books", or by its Latin equivalent ''Quadriparti ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Gregory III, Count Of Tusculum
Gregory III (died about 1108) was the son of Gregory II. He was the Count of Tusculum from 1058, when his father died. He is usually considered to stand at the fore of the family of the Colonna. Unlike his father, he did not bear the ducal and senatorial titles, nor any title to Rome, but simply was ''patricius et consul'', (''Comes Tusculanensis, Consul, illustris''). Gregory was succeeded by his eldest son, Ptolemy I. He had sons named: *Ptolemy I (1099–1129)-(''Consul comes Tusculanus''); *Gregory IV (1109–1128)-(''Iudex Tusculanensis''); *Peter de Columpna (1099–1151) - (Colonna family The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in Middle Ages, medieval and Roman Renaissance, Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Pope Martin ...); *Egidius (1128–1137); *Iadara (daughter). SourcesFoundation of Medieval Genealogy: Northern Italy — 21. Counts of Tusculum. 110 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Gregory II, Count Of Tusculum
Gregory II (died 1058) was the son of Alberic III, Count of Tusculum and Ermelina. He was the Count of Tusculum and the Lateran (''Lateranensis et Tusculanensis comes'') from 1044 to his death. The ''Chronicon Monasterii Casinensis'' of Leo of Ostia records him as ''Gregorius de Alberico''. The placement of this passage implies his death around 1058. Like his many forefathers, he carried the illustrious title of ''Romanorum patricius, consul, dux et senator'' ("Patrician, consul, duke, and senator of the Romans"), implying his secular command over Rome and its militia. His dual comital title implied his land- and fortress-holding power in both Rome itself and Tusculum, as supported by his alliance with the Papacy. In 1044, he led the expedition to restore his brother, Pope Benedict IX. Before 1054, when he is last attested, Gregory had three sons and a daughter. His daughter, Theodora, married Pandulf (or Landulf), lord of Capaccio (1040–1052), son of Guaimar III of Salerno and G ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]