Crescenzio de Theodora | |
|---|---|
 Coat of Arms of Crescenzi family. | |
| Born | ? |
| Died | 7 July 984 Rome, Papal States |
| Known for | Roman patrician |
| Children | John Crescentius Crescentius the Younger |
| Family | Crescentii |
Crescentius the Elder, also known as Crescenzio de Theodora, (died 7 July 984) was a politician and aristocrat in Rome who played a part in the papal appointment. [1]
With the disappearance of the Carolingian dynasty the papal government of Rome lost its most powerful protector, and the Romans took matters into their own hands. Out of the local aristocracy there arose a powerful family, which assumed the practical charge of all governmental affairs in Rome, controlled the nominations to the papal throne, and held the power for many years. [1]
At the beginning of the tenth century the family was represented by Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum, vestararius or high dignitary of the papal palace and the pontifical government, by his wife Theodora, and their two daughters Marozia and Theodora. Theophylact had the titles of Consul and Senator of the Romans. Crescentius was a descendant of this family, being a grandson of Theophylact's daughter Theodora. [1]
Crescentius ("Crescentius of the Marble Horse") was first mentioned as being one of the nobles who attended the Synod of Rome which deposed Pope John XII in 963, on the orders of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I (936-73). His presence there signified that, at this point, Crescentius was aligned to the imperial party. [2]
According to the records, he took an active hand in Roman affairs for the first time in 974. At the death of Pope John XIII (965-72), who was a brother of Crescentius, the emperor Otto I designated as his successor the Cardinal-Deacon Benedict, who took the name Benedict VI (972-74). The Romans bore the constant interference of the emperor in the papal elections with ill-concealed indignation.
About a year after the death of Otto I, when his successor Otto II (973-83) was engaged in wars at home, they rebelled against the imperial regime under the headship of Crescentius.
The unfortunate Pope Benedict VI was dethroned, thrown into the Castel Sant'Angelo, and strangled there in July, 974.
The deacon Franco, a Roman, son of Ferrucius, was chosen to succeed, and took the name of Boniface VII (974). The protests of the imperial envoy Sicco were of no avail against this manifestation of national aspirations on the part of the Romans. Soon, however, the imperial party gained the upper hand; Pope Boniface VII was forced to flee to Constantinople; Benedict VII (974-83) was chosen in his place, and Crescentius disappeared for a time. [3]
In all likelihood Crescentius took an active part in the restoration of Boniface VII in 984. After the death of the Emperor Otto II (December, 983) the anti-imperial party believed that the time had come for reasserting itself. In April, 984, Boniface VII returned from Constantinople and took possession of Rome. Pope John XIV (983-4), who had been appointed by the Emperor Otto II, was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he perished about four months afterwards, and Boniface VII (984-5) ruled again as pope up to the time of his death in July, 985. [4]
Towards the end of his life, whether before or after the restoration of Boniface VII is uncertain, Crescentius took the monastic habit in the monastery of St. Alexius on the Aventine, where he died, 7 July 984, and was buried within the cloister. The epitaph on his tomb (Armellini, Le Chiese di Roma, 586) is still visible. [4]
Pope Benedict VI was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 19 January 973 to his death in 974. His brief pontificate occurred in the political context of the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, during the transition between the reigns of Otto I and Otto II, incorporating the struggle for power of Roman aristocratic families such as the Crescentii.
Pope Benedict VII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death.
Pope Benedict VIII 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.
Antipope Boniface VII, otherwise known as Franco Ferrucci, was a Catholic prelate who claimed the Holy See in 974 and from 984 until 985. A popular tumult compelled him to flee to Constantinople in 974; he carried off a vast treasure, and returned in 984 and removed Pope John XIV (983–984) from office. He is supposed to have put Pope Benedict VI to death. After a brief second rule, he died under suspicious circumstances. He is today considered an antipope.
Pope Gregory V, born Bruno of Carinthia, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 3 May 996 to his death. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was made pope by his cousin, Emperor Otto III.
Year 984 (CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Otto III was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Otto II, called the Red, was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.
Year 974 (CMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza, was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles senatrix ("senatoress") and patricia of Rome by Pope John X.
Pope John XIII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and the Roman nobility. After long and arduous negotiations, he succeeded in arranging a Byzantine marriage for Otto II, in an effort to legitimize the Ottonian claim to imperial dignity. He also established church hierarchy in Poland and Bohemia.
Pope John XIV, born Peter Canepanova, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from December 983 until his death. Upon the death of Pope Benedict VII in July 983, Emperor Otto II nominated Canepanova to the papal throne after the abbot Maiolus of Cluny refused the office. The decision to install the then bishop of Pavia was made without consultation with the clergy and the Roman people, nor was it confirmed by formal election.
The Crescentii were a baronial family, attested in Rome from the beginning of the 10th century and which in fact ruled the city and the election of the popes until the beginning of the 11th century.
Theophylact I was a medieval count of Tusculum who was the effective ruler of Rome from around 905 through to his death in 924. His descendants controlled the papacy for the next 100 years.
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 antipopes 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.
Crescentius the Younger, son of Crescentius the Elder, was a leader of the aristocracy of medieval Rome. During the minority of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, he declared himself Consul of Rome and made himself de facto ruler of Rome. After being deposed, he led a rebellion, seized control of Rome, and appointed an antipope, but the rebellion failed and Crescentius was eventually executed.
Gregory I was the Count of Tusculum sometime between 954 and 1012. Consul et dux 961, vir illustrissimus 980, praefectus navalis 999. He was the son of Alberic II, and Alda of Vienne. His half-brother was Pope John XII.
Papal appointment was a medieval method of selecting the Pope. Popes have always been selected by a council of Church fathers, however, Papal selection before 1059 was often characterized by confirmation or nomination by secular European rulers or by the preceding pope. The later procedures of the Papal conclave are in large part designed to prohibit interference of secular rulers, which to some extent characterized the first millennium of the Roman Catholic Church, e. g. in practices such as the creation of crown-cardinals and the claimed but invalid jus exclusivae. Appointment may have taken several forms, with a variety of roles for the laity and civic leaders, Byzantine and Germanic emperors, and noble Roman families. The role of the election vis-a-vis the general population and the clergy was prone to vary considerably, with a nomination carrying weight that ranged from nearly determinative to merely suggestive, or as ratification of a concluded election.
The selection of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, prior to the promulgation of In Nomine Domini in AD 1059 varied throughout history. Popes were often putatively appointed by their predecessors or by political rulers. While some kind of election often characterized the procedure, an election that included meaningful participation of the laity was rare, especially as the Popes' claims to temporal power solidified into the Papal States. The practice of Papal appointment during this period would later result in the putative jus exclusivae, i.e., the claimed but invalid right to veto the selection that Catholic monarchs exercised into the twentieth century.
The Tusculan Papacy was a period of papal history from 1012 to 1048 where three successive relatives of the counts of Tusculum were installed as pope.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Crescentius". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.