Pope John XI (Latin:Ioannes XI; 910 – December 935) was thebishop of Rome and nominal ruler of thePapal States from March 931 to his death. The true ruler of Rome at the time was his mother,Marozia, followed by his brother DukeAlberic II of Spoleto. His pontificate occurred during the period known asSaeculum obscurum.
John was the son ofMarozia, the most powerful woman in Rome and the wife of DukeAlberic I of Spoleto at the time of John's birth. According to hostile chroniclerLiutprand of Cremona and theLiber Pontificalis, John's father was not Alberic but Marozia's loverPope Sergius III. However, neitherAuxilius of Naples norEugenius Vulgarius, both of whom were exact contemporaries of Sergius, and both of whom were hostile towards Sergius for his attacks onFormosus, mention this allegation at all.[1] The highly reliable chroniclerFlodoard also refers to John as the brother of Alberic II, and does not mention the allegation either.[2]
Marozia was thede facto ruler of Rome at the time and she used her power and influence to ensure that John, who held thetitulus ofSanta Maria in Trastevere, was elected to thepapacy in March 931.[10] Following the overthrow of Marozia and her husbandHugh of Italy around late 932, John XI fell under the control of his brotherAlberic II. After being initially imprisoned, he was confined to theLateran Palace for the remainder of his pontificate.[11] During this time only authority left to John 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.[12]
Following the deposition of thePatriarch of ConstantinopleTryphon in September 931, theByzantine emperorRomanos I Lekapenos attempted get his young sonTheophylactus placed on the Patriarchal throne. Due to internal church resistance, Romanos approached John XI to seek the Pope's confirmation and to approve Theophylactus taking thepallium. This was eventually granted by John in February 933. This delay of over a year is seen by Horace Mann as evidence of the Pope's initial reluctance to agree to the emperor's request, and was only forced to do it at his brother Alberic II's insistence following the fall of Marozia.[13] However, as negotiations also involved a suggested marriage between a sister of Alberic and John's and one of Romanos's sons, such a delay would not be unusual, and in fact it is possible that these marriage negotiations were actually begun by Marozia herself and this policy was continued jointly by her sons.[14][15]
It was also at Alberic II's insistence that the pallium was also granted to ArchbishopArtold of Reims in 933, setting up a conflict with the incumbent archbishopHugh of Vermandois and his supporters.[16] John was kept a virtual prisoner in theLateran until his death.[17]
John XI sat in the Chair of Peter during what some traditional Catholic sources consider its deepest humiliation, subjugated under the authority of the Prince of Rome, but it was also he who granted many privileges to the Congregation ofCluny, which was later apowerful agent of Church reform.[12]
^Baxmann, Rudolf (1869),Die Politik der Päpste von Gregor I. bis Gregor VII, vol. II, Elberfeld, pp. 58–125{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Norwich, John Julius,The Popes: A History (2011), pg. 76
^ab One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913), "Pope John XI",Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company
