Editing Pope Benedict IX

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church variously from 1032 to 1048}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Benedict IX
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = October 1032 (first time)<br>10 March 1045 (second time)<br>8 November 1047 (third time)
| term_end = 20 January 1045 (first time)<br>1 May 1045 (second time)<br>17 July 1048 (third time)
| image = 
| birth_name = Theophylactus of Tusculum ({{langx|it|Teofilatto di Toscolo}})
| birth_date = {{c.|1012}}
| birth_place = [[Rome]], Papal&nbsp;States
| death_date = {{c.|lk=no|December 1055/January 1056}} (aged 43)
| death_place = [[Grottaferrata]], Papal&nbsp;States
| predecessor = {{ubl|[[John XIX]] (1032)|[[Sylvester III]] (1045)|[[Clement II]] (1047)}}
| successor = {{ubl|Sylvester III (1044)|[[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]] (1045)|[[Damasus II]] (1048)}}
| other = Benedict
}}
[[File:Robert abbaye COlombs Benoist IX 17002.jpg|thumb|Grant of [[Robert II of France]] in favour of Abbaye Notre-Dame de Coulombs ([[Coulombs, Eure-et-Loir]]), also signed by Benedict IX]]
'''Pope Benedict IX''' ({{langx|la|Benedictus IX}}; {{c.|1012|1056}}), born '''Theophylactus 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).<ref>{{cite book |last=Coulombe |first=Charles A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tbYF51StSQC |title=Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes |publisher=[[Citadel Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8065-2370-5 |page=198}}</ref> 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{{efn|[[Pope John XII|John XII]] was deposed invalidly by [[Otto the Great|Emperor Otto]] and replaced for a few months by [[antipope]] [[Pope Leo VIII|Leo VIII]] (who later became a legitimate pope after [[Pope Benedict V|Benedict V]] accepted his own deposition).}} and the only person ever accused of selling the papacy.

Benedict was the nephew of his immediate predecessor, [[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 [[Godparent|godfather]], [[Pope Gregory VI|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, Holy Roman Emperor|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.

==Early life==
Benedict was the son of Count [[Alberic III of Tusculum]].{{sfn|Pham|2004|p=56}} He was closely related to several popes, being a nephew of [[Benedict VIII]] and John XIX, grandnephew of [[Pope John XII|John XII]], great-grandnephew of [[Pope John XI|John XI]], first cousin twice removed of [[Benedict VII]], and possibly a distant relative of [[Pope Sergius III|Sergius III]]. His father obtained the papal chair for him by [[simony|bribing]] the Romans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miranda |first=Salvador |title=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church |date=30 April 2010 |chapter=Pope Benedict VIII (1012-1024) |chapter-url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/biosunknowndate1012-1024.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215124017/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/biosunknowndate1012-1024.htm |archive-date=15 February 2018 }}</ref> 

Benedict IX was about twenty when [[papal selection before 1059|made pontiff]] in October 1032.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Mann |first=Horace |year=1909 |title=Pope Gregory VI |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06791a.htm |journal=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |volume=6 |via=[[New Advent]]}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Mathis |first=Agostino |year=1915 |title=Il Pontefice Benedetto IX. Appunti critici di storia mediovale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXT_akD9sg8C |journal=[[La Civiltà Cattolica]] |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=549–571 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Other sources state that he was 11 or 12, based upon the unsubstantiated testimony of [[Rodulfus Glaber]], a monk of St. Germanus at Auxerre.<ref name="Poole" /><ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-27 |title=Pope John XII - The 130th Pope - PopeHistory.com |url=https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-john-xii/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=popehistory.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-04 |title=John XII {{!}} Pope, Death, Roman Catholicism, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-XII |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Family tree===
{{Marozia's popes}}

==First pontificate (1032–1044)==
Benedict IX's reign was allegedly "scandalous", and factional strife continued.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Hauck |first=Albert |date=1908 |title=Benedict IX |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02/encyc02/Page_40.html |journal=[[Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge|The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge]] |volume=2 |pages=40–41 |via=[[Christian Classics Ethereal Library]]}}</ref> [[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."<ref>{{cite book |author=Ferdinand Gregorovius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8z2ZEOE-azoC&pg=PA47 |title=History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages |date=10 June 2010 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781108015035 |access-date=}}</ref> Horace K. Mann called him "a disgrace to the Chair of Peter".<ref name=":1" /> [[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."<ref>{{Citation|quote=Cuius vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda extiterit, horresco referre |last=Victor III |first=Pope |author-link=Pope Victor III |title=Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite |language=la |publisher=Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters |year=1934 |location=Hannover |page=141 |edition=Dialogi de miraculis Sancti Benedicti Liber Tertius auctore Desiderio abbate Casinensis |url=http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/(volumiID)/D8115E7BB6446DC9C1256D660075CE62/$FILE/AlimDesiderioDialogi.doc?openelement |access-date=3 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715072854/http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/(volumiID)/D8115E7BB6446DC9C1256D660075CE62/$FILE/AlimDesiderioDialogi.doc?openelement |archive-date=15 July 2007 }}</ref>

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."<ref name="Poole">{{Cite journal |last=Poole |first=Reginald L. |date=1917 |title=Benedict IX and Gregory VI |url=https://archive.org/stream/benedictixgregor00pooluoft#page/14/mode/2up |journal=[[Proceedings of the British Academy]] |volume=8 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> He further suggests the credibility of such accusations was determined by probability rather than proof, and a reaction to the [[Tusculan Papacy|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",{{sfn|Poole|1917|p=20}} 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.{{sfn|Poole|1917|pp=20–21}}

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.<ref name=":2" /> Bishop Benno of Piacenza accused Benedict of "many vile adulteries and murders".<ref>“Post multa turpia adulteria et homicidia manibus suis perpetrata, postremo, etc.”{{Citation
 |last        = Dümmler
 |first       = Ernst Ludwig
 |author-link  = Ernst Dümmler
 |title       = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite
 |language    = la
 |publisher   = Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters
 |year        = 1891
 |location    = Hannover
 |page        = 584
 |volume      = I
 |edition     = Bonizonis episcopi Sutriensis: Liber ad amicum
 |url         = http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/(volumiID)/A9E60829767DA2D2C1256D6B0074177B/$FILE/AlimBonizoAdamicum.doc?openelement
 |access-date  = 3 January 2008
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070713211642/http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/%28volumiID%29/A9E60829767DA2D2C1256D6B0074177B/%24FILE/AlimBonizoAdamicum.doc?openelement
 |archive-date = 13 July 2007
}}</ref> He was accused by [[Peter Damian]] in his ''[[Liber Gomorrhianus]]'' of routine sodomy and bestiality and sponsoring orgies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Damian |first=Saint Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTDZAAAAMAAJ |title=Liber Gomorrhianus: omosessualità ecclesiastica e riforma della Chiesa |date=2001 |publisher=Edizioni dell'Orso |isbn=978-88-7694-517-5 |language=it}}</ref> In September 1044, opposition to Benedict IX's dissolute lifestyle forced him out of the city again and elected [[Sylvester III]] to replace him.<ref name=":2" />

==Second pontificate (1045)==
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 to [[papal renunciation|resign]] in May 1045.<ref name=":2" /> 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.<ref name="Blumenthal">{{Cite book |last=Kleinhenz |first=Christopher |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2CTAgAAQBAJ&dq=Pope+Gregory+VI&pg=PT488 |title=Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia |date=2004-08-02 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-94880-1 |language=en |chapter=Gregory VI}}</ref> John Gratian paid him the money and was recognized as pope in his stead, as [[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]].<ref name=":1" /> 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 of [[Pesaro]], of [[Città di Castello]] and of [[Fano]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toke |first=Leslie |year=1911 |title=St. Peter Damian |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11764a.htm |journal=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |volume=11 |via=[[New Advent]]}}</ref>

==Third pontificate (1047–1048)==
[[File:Benedetto-ix-Teofilatto.jpg|thumb|19th-century religious card depicting Benedict IX]]{{More citations needed section|date=April 2025}}
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 besought [[Emperor Henry III]] to cross the Alps and restore order.<ref name=":1" /> Henry intervened, and at the [[Council 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. 
[[File:Synod-Sutri-1046.jpg|thumb|19th-century illustration of the Council of Sutri]]
When Clement II died in October 1047, Benedict seized the [[Lateran Palace]] in November, again becoming pope, but was driven away by German troops in July 1048. To fill the power vacuum, the German-born [[Damasus II]] was elected pope and universally recognized as such. Benedict IX refused to appear on charges of [[simony]] in 1049 and was [[excommunicated]].

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 the [[Territorial Abbacy of Saint Mary of Grottaferrata|Abbey of Grottaferrata]] c. 1056. According to the [[abbot]], Saint [[Bartholomew of Grottaferrata]], he was penitent and turned away from the sins he committed as [[pontiff]].

==See also==
* ''[[Liber Gomorrhianus]]''
* [[List of sexually active popes]]
*''[[The Bad Popes]]''

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |first=John-Peter |last=Pham |title=Heirs of the Fisherman : Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_1032-1045-_Benedictus_IX.html Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes] {{inlang|la}}

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{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope John XIX|John XIX]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1032–1044}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Sylvester III|Sylvester III]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Sylvester III|Sylvester III]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1045}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Clement II|Clement II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1047–1048}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Damasus II|Damasus II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict 09}}
[[Category:Popes]]
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[[Category:11th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:1010s births]]
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[[Category:Cardinal-nephews]]
[[Category:Popes who abdicated]]
[[Category:Simony]]
[[Category:11th-century popes]]