Pope Benedict IX

Pope Benedict IX (Latin: Benedictus IX; c. 1012 – c. 1056), born Theophylact of Tusculum in Rome, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States for three periods between October 1032 and July 1048 (1032–1044; 1045; 1047–1048). Aged about 20 when first elected, he may have been the youngest Pope in the history of the Catholic Church. He is the only person to have been Pope more than once and the only person ever accused of selling the papacy.

Benedict was the nephew of his two immediate predecessors, Benedict VIII and John 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 and Sylvester III elected to succeed him. Some months later, Benedict and his supporters managed to expel Sylvester. Benedict then decided to resign in favor of his godfather, 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 to Henry III, King of the Romans, to restore order. Henry and his forces crossed the Brenner Pass into Italy, where he summoned the Council of Sutri to decide the matter. Benedict IX, Sylvester III, and Gregory VI were all deposed. Henry then had Clement II elected in December 1046.

Benedict was the son of Count Alberic III of Tusculum. He was closely related to several popes, being a nephew of Benedict VIII and John XIX, grandnephew of John XII, great-grandnephew of John XI, first cousin twice removed of Benedict VII, and possibly a distant relative of Sergius III. His father obtained the papal chair for him by bribing the Romans.

Benedict IX was about twenty when made pontiff in October 1032. Other sources state that he was 11 or 12, based upon the unsubstantiated testimony of Rodulfus Glaber, a monk of St. Germanus at Auxerre. If Glaber was correct, Benedict IX was the youngest Pope in history. If he was incorrect, that honor may belong to Pope John XII, who was between the ages of 17 and 25 when he was elected.

Benedict IX's reign was allegedly "scandalous", and factional strife continued. 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." Horace K. Mann called him "a disgrace to the Chair of Peter". Pope Victor III, in his third book of Dialogues, 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."

According to Reginald 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." He further suggests the credibility of such accusations was determined by probability rather than proof, and a reaction to the Tusculan 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", 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.

Pope Benedict IX was briefly forced out of Rome in 1036, but returned with the help of Emperor Conrad II, who had expelled the bishops of Piacenza and Cremona from their sees. Bishop Benno of Piacenza accused Benedict of "many vile adulteries and murders". He was accused by Peter Damian in his Liber Gomorrhianus of routine sodomy and bestiality and sponsoring orgies. In September 1044, opposition to Benedict IX's dissolute lifestyle forced him out of the city again and elected Sylvester III to replace him.