Thread by @Arby_K

In an ancient city where men ruled, she ruled (informally) for most of her life with her influence lasting a century after her death.

The reforms made to remove her influence would prove to be the foundation of how a nation's rulers are elected now.

Story in the evening ...

https://twitter.com/Arby_K/status/1325267513324662789

Marozia was born around 890 when the hold the Carolingian empire had on Rome was weakening. Her father, Teofilacto di Tusculo, was a Roman Senator and with his wife, Theodora, who was allegedly the mistress of a Pope, the most powerful nobles in Rome. 1/10

Aged 15, she was supposed to have been the mistress of Pope Sergius III. Sergius had been part of the Cadaver Synod a decade earlier and became Pope with the backing of Marozia's father. In 909, she married Alberico of Spoleto and her son Iohannes was born a year later. 2/10

Iohannes, who would become Pope later as John XI in 931, was said to be the son of Sergius III, since it was his younger brother Alberico that succeeded as ruler, when the norm was for younger sons to be destined for church, and not the eldest. 3/10

After the death of Sergius in 911, it would be the nominees of Marozia's parents that became Pope. The last among them, John X, would ally himself with Marozia's husband Alberico and Berengar of Ivrea to defeat the Saracens in battle. 4/10

Death of Berengar whom John X crowned Emperor, Marozia's parents and Alberico in quick succession made Marozia the most powerful noble in Rome leading to a power struggle between the Pope and his patron, one in which Marozia would prevail. 5/10

After disposing off John X, Marozia, now Senatrix of Rome, would nominate her candidates as Popes after that till she installed her son as Pope in 931. In the meantime, she would ally herself with Hugues d'Arles crowned King of Italy in 926, whom she married in 932. 6/10

But the marriage would lead to her younger son Alberico rebel. He would capture the city, imprisoning his mother and kick out the king. Alberico would install his son as Pope John XII in 955, continuing the line of Tusculan Popes, which would last another century. 7/10

Having become Pope when practically a teenager, John XII would revive the Holy Roman Empire by crowning Otto of Saxony as Emperor in 962. The last Tusculan Pope would also become one near his teens. By 1048, the Romans had had enough. 8/10

The Church decided to reform itself and free itself from the control of the nobles, first by writing down election rules. These reforms were supposed to have been led by Hildebrand of Savona who would become Pope later in 1073 as Gregory VII. 9/10

The Gregorian reforms would provide the cornerstone for papal election, which now determine to ruler of Vatican. @JohnJjnorwich 's The Popes provide a detailed overview of Marozia and the Tusculan Popes. amazon.in/Popes-Viscount… 10/10