Pope Benedict IX (Latin:Benedictus IX;c. 1012 – c. 1056), bornTheophylact of Tusculum inRome, was thebishop of Rome and ruler of thePapal States for three periods between October 1032 and July 1048 (1032–1044; 1045; 1047–1048).[1] Aged about 20 when first elected, he may have been the youngest Pope in the history of theCatholic Church. He is the only person to have been Pope more than once[a] and the only person ever accused of selling the papacy.
Benedict was the nephew of his two immediate predecessors,Benedict VIII andJohn XIX. In October 1032, Benedict's father obtained his election through bribery. However, his reputedly dissolute activities provoked a revolt on the part of the Romans. Benedict was driven out of Rome andSylvester III elected to succeed him. Some months later, Benedict and his supporters managed to expel Sylvester. Benedict then decided to resign in favor of hisgodfather,Gregory VI, provided he was reimbursed for his expenses.
Benedict subsequently had second thoughts, returned, and attempted to depose Gregory VI. A number of prominent clergymen appealed toHenry III,King of the Romans, to restore order. Henry and his forces crossed theBrenner Pass into Italy, where he summoned theCouncil of Sutri to decide the matter. Benedict IX, Sylvester III, and Gregory VI were all deposed. Henry then hadClement II elected in December 1046.
Benedict IX was about twenty whenmade pontiff in October 1032.[4][5] Other sources state that he was 11 or 12, based upon the unsubstantiated testimony ofRodulfus Glaber, a monk of St. Germanus at Auxerre.[6][5] If Glaber was correct, Benedict IX was the youngest Pope in history. If he was incorrect, that honor may belong toPope John XII, who was between the ages of 17 and 25 when he was elected.[7][8]
Benedict IX's reign was allegedly "scandalous", and factional strife continued.[9]Ferdinand Gregorovius, wrote that in Benedict, "It seemed as if a demon from hell, in the disguise of a priest, occupied the chair of Peter and profaned the sacred mysteries of religion by his insolent courses."[10] Horace K. Mann called him "a disgrace to the Chair of Peter".[4]Pope Victor III, in his third book ofDialogues, referred to "his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts of violence and sodomy. His life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it."[11]
According toReginald Lane Poole, "In a time of acute political hostility, accusations, as we know too well, are made and are believed, which in a calmer time would never have been suggested."[6] He further suggests the credibility of such accusations was determined by probability rather than proof, and a reaction to theTusculan hegemony. Poole observes that "we have to wait until he had discredited himself by his sale of the Papacy before we hear anything definite about his misdeeds; and the further we go in time and place, the worse his character becomes". Poole considers Benedict "a negligent Pope, very likely a profligate man",[12] but notes that the picture presented of Benedict is drawn at a time when the party opposed to him was in the ascendant, and he had neither friends nor supporters.[13]
Pope Benedict IX was briefly forced out of Rome in 1036, but returned with the help ofEmperor Conrad II, who had expelled the bishops of Piacenza and Cremona from their sees.[9] Bishop Benno of Piacenza accused Benedict of "many vile adulteries and murders".[14] He was accused byPeter Damian in hisLiber Gomorrhianus of routine sodomy and bestiality and sponsoring orgies.[15] In September 1044, opposition to Benedict IX's dissolute lifestyle forced him out of the city again and electedSylvester III to replace him.[9]
Benedict IX's forces returned in April 1045 and expelled his rival, allowing Benedict to resume the papacy. Doubting his own ability to maintain his position, and wishing to marry his cousin, Benedict decided toresign in May 1045.[9] He consulted his godfather, the pious priest John Gratian, about the possibility of resigning. He offered to give up the papacy into the hands of his godfather if he would reimburse him for his election expenses.[16] John Gratian paid him the money and was recognized as pope in his stead, asGregory VI.[4] Peter Damian hailed the change with joy and wrote to the new pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the church in Italy, singling out the wicked bishops ofPesaro, ofCittà di Castello and ofFano.[17]
Benedict IX soon regretted his resignation and returned to Rome, taking the city and remaining on the throne until July 1046, although Gregory VI continued to be recognized as the true pope. At the time, Sylvester III also reasserted his claim. A number of influential clergy and laity besoughtEmperor Henry III to cross the Alps and restore order.[4] Henry intervened, and at theCouncil of Sutri in December 1046, Benedict IX and Sylvester III were declared deposed while Gregory VI was encouraged to resign because the arrangement he had entered into with Benedict was considered simoniacal; that is, to have been paid for. A German,Clement II, was chosen to succeed Gregory VI. Benedict IX had not attended the council and did not accept his deposition.
19th-century illustration of the Council of Sutri
When Clement II died in October 1047, Benedict seized theLateran Palace in November, again becoming pope, but was driven away by German troops in July 1048. To fill the power vacuum, the German-bornDamasus II was elected pope and universally recognized as such. Benedict IX refused to appear on charges ofsimony in 1049 and wasexcommunicated.
Benedict IX's eventual fate is obscure, but he seems to have given up his claims to the papal throne.Leo IX may have lifted the ban on him. Benedict IX was buried in theAbbey of Grottaferrata c. 1056. According to theabbot, SaintBartholomew of Grottaferrata, he was penitent and turned away from the sins he committed aspontiff.
^Victor III, Pope (1934),Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite (in Latin) (Dialogi de miraculis Sancti Benedicti Liber Tertius auctore Desiderio abbate Casinensis ed.), Hannover: Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters, p. 141, archived fromthe original on 15 July 2007, retrieved3 January 2008,Cuius vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda extiterit, horresco referre
^“Post multa turpia adulteria et homicidia manibus suis perpetrata, postremo, etc.”Dümmler, Ernst Ludwig (1891),Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite (in Latin), vol. I (Bonizonis episcopi Sutriensis: Liber ad amicum ed.), Hannover: Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters, p. 584, archived fromthe original on 13 July 2007, retrieved3 January 2008
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