Editing Pope Sergius III (section)

===Alleged affair with Marozia===
Sergius' ties with the family of Theophylact were made even closer, at least according to rumour, by Sergius' supposed affair with Theophylact's daughter, [[Marozia]]. This relationship was promoted by Marozia's mother, [[Theodora (senatrix)|Theodora]], and the result of this affair was a male child who in time became [[Pope John XI]] (931–935).<ref>Gregorovius 1895, pp. 244–245; Mann 1910, p. 137</ref> The only source of this alleged affair is the chronicler [[Liutprand of Cremona]], writing some 50 years after the events of Sergius' pontificate. 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.<ref>Mann 1910, pp. 137–139</ref> The highly reliable chronicler [[Flodoard]], who also is a contemporary does not mention it either. It should also be noted that Liutprand, as a firm supporter of Emperor [[Otto I]] was often heavily biased against the papacy.<ref>{{Catholic Encyclopedia | last = Mann  | first = Horace Kinder  | wstitle=Pope Sergius III  | volume=13  | page=729  | prescript=}}</ref>

The affair, while not an impossibility, would certainly not have persisted beyond Marozia's marriage to [[Alberic I of Spoleto]] in 909. The question of whether Theophylact and Theodora needed to tie Sergius to them by such means, particularly when Sergius was already deeply indebted to them for his elevation to the papacy, as well as wasting Marozia in a relationship when, as the daughter of an important house, she would have been a valuable tool to link via marriage to another noble house, is open to debate. The birth of the future John XI in 910, after her marriage to Alberic, would seem to indicate that Sergius was not the father.<ref>Gibbon, Edward, Milman, H. H., ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, with Notes'' Vol. 3 (1841), pg. 518</ref>