Facts on Popes

[barnabas]

Nationality of Popes

Of the 264 popes (262 to be exact because Pope Benedict IX, during the dreadful medieval fights between popes and anti-popes, was elected three times) 205 were Italians, (of whom 106 were Romans), and 57 foreigners; comprised of 19 Frenchmen, 14 Greeks, 8 Syrians, 5 Germans, 3 Africans, 2 Spaniards, 1 Austrian, 1 Palestinian, 1 Englishman, 1 Dutchman, and 1 Pole.

Names of Popes

The most commonly used name is John (23 times), followed by Gregory (16 times), Benedict (15 times); 43 names were used only once. Only two Popes have taken two names; John Paul I and II.

Ages of Popes

The oldest Pope was Adrian I (772 AD), elected at 80 years of age

The Youngest was Benedict IX (1032 AD) at 12 years of age

Length of Pontificate

The longest was Pius IX (1846/1878 AD) 32 years

The shortest was Stephen II (752 AD) one day

Other Points of Interest

81 Popes have been canonized

7 have been beatified

There have been 38 antipopes

Pope Sergius III arranged for Pope Anastasius III

(his illegitimate child) to become Pope after him.

Pope John XII turned St. John Lateran into a brothel and was accused of adultery, fornication, and incest.

Pope Leo VIII died during an act of adultery.

Benedict IX, one of the youngest ever Popes, grew up "in unrestrained license, and shocked the sensibilities even of a dull and barbarous age."

Antipope John XXIII. Elected Pope to end the Great Schism, later admitted to incest, adultery, fornication, and other crimes ("two hundred maids, matrons and widows, including a few nuns, fell victims to his brutal lust").

Pope Alexander VI and father of Cesare Borgia and Lucrezia Borgia (1431-1503)Pope Alexander VI kept many mistresses, and prostitutes were called to dance naked before the assembly, after which prizes were offered to those men who, in the opinion of the spectators, managed to copulate with the greatest number of prostitutes.

[barnabas]

In the Middle Ages many popes were elevated to office following the murder of their predecessors. During one particularly grim period from 882 to 1046, there were 37 popes, some of whom served only a few weeks.

Leo V (903), for instance, had been pope for only a month before being imprisoned and tortured by one Christophorus, who then enthroned himself. Both men were killed in 904 on the orders of Pope Sergius III (904-911). Sergius later had a son by his teenaged mistress Marozia who became Pope John XI (931-935). In 914, according to one chronicler, Marozia's mother Theodora installed her lover on the papal throne as John X (914-928). (Theodora and Marozia effectively controlled the papacy through their menfolk and may be the source of the Pope Joan legend.) John XII (955-963), who ascended to the papacy at 19, was accused, perhaps falsely, of sleeping with his father's mistress, committing incest with his niece, and castrating a deacon.

Murder gave way to bribery as a route to the papacy in later centuries; some 40 popes are believed to have bought their jobs. But the lax attitude toward celibacy remained unchanged. In large part this was because the Church was an important route to wealth and power. Sons of influential families were pushed into Church careers much as we might send a kid to MBA school, apparently with similar expectations regarding morals. Noblemen with mistresses saw no reason to adjust their life-styles just because they had taken vows.

The spectacle of cardinals and popes putting their "nephews" into cushy jobs was a standing joke in Rome for centuries. Innocent VIII (1484-1492) had a son and daughter who lived with him in the Vatican. The notorious Alexander VI (1492-1503), born Rodrigo Borgia, had at least four illegitimate children while still a cardinal, among them the cutthroat Cesare Borgia and the reputed poisoner Lucrezia Borgia (actually, she probably never poisoned anybody). Clement VII (1523-1534), himself illegitimate, had a son whom he attempted to make duke of Florence. Paul III (1534-1539) had four kids; two teen grandsons he made cardinals. Pius IV (1559-1565) had three children, and the list goes on.

[Leonard]

Aside from interesting historical stuff, what's your point?

[nebula]

Yeh - anything good to say?