His lover was:
Marozia (890-936)
Roman aristocrat & papal mistress
Wife of:
1. Alberic, Count of Tusculum
Natural Offspring:
Pope John XI.
Lover in 904.
"It was during this time that a woman named Marozia entered the scene. Born between 890 and 892, she was the daughter of the Roman consul Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, and of Theodora, a senatrix and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome. This couple had risen to dominate Roman politics, and made their share of enemies. One of them was Liudprand of Cremona, a diplomat and historian. He called Theodora a “shameless harlot…whose very mention is most foul, was holding the monarchy of the city of Rome, and not in an unmanly way.”
"When Sergius III became Pope in 904 Theophylact and Theodora made sure that their teenage daughter was introduced to the Pontiff – soon Sergius and Marozia were lovers, until she became pregnant and bore him a son named John. For the Pope to have any children was a serious embarrassment, but it probably gave the House of Theophylact political leverage. Meanwhile Marozia was then married off to Alberic I of Spoleto." (The Woman Who Ruled the Papacy @ medievalists.net)
" . . . Many of the Popes who sat on the papal throne were put there by their powerful women were also their mistresses. Pope Sergius III 904-911 AD had a mistress whose name was Marozia, she was known as the mistress of Rome. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
"...Marozia had been the wife of Alberic, Count of Tusculum, and after his death had married Guido, margrave of Tuscia. This woman was the mistress of Pope Sergius III, who was a son of Count Benedict of Tusculum. Marozia was only fourteen when Sergius became her lover. Through the influence of the mother of his mistress over the Counts of Tuscany, Sergius was elevated to the Papal throne, as Pope Sergius III." (Rappoport, pp. 63-64)
"When Sergius III became Pope in 904 Theophylact and Theodora made sure that their teenage daughter was introduced to the Pontiff – soon Sergius and Marozia were lovers, until she became pregnant and bore him a son named John. For the Pope to have any children was a serious embarrassment, but it probably gave the House of Theophylact political leverage. Meanwhile Marozia was then married off to Alberic I of Spoleto." (The Woman Who Ruled the Papacy @ medievalists.net)
" . . . Many of the Popes who sat on the papal throne were put there by their powerful women were also their mistresses. Pope Sergius III 904-911 AD had a mistress whose name was Marozia, she was known as the mistress of Rome. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
"...Marozia had been the wife of Alberic, Count of Tusculum, and after his death had married Guido, margrave of Tuscia. This woman was the mistress of Pope Sergius III, who was a son of Count Benedict of Tusculum. Marozia was only fourteen when Sergius became her lover. Through the influence of the mother of his mistress over the Counts of Tuscany, Sergius was elevated to the Papal throne, as Pope Sergius III." (Rappoport, pp. 63-64)
"904 Roman noblewoman Marozia, daughter of a papal official, gets her lover installed as Pope Sergius III. In 914, her mother, Theodora, secures the election of Pope John X. The family's influence continues for decades; In 931, after having John X thrown into prison, Marozia gets the papal seat for John XI, allegedly her son by Pope Sergius III. In 995, her grandson (through her son Alberic) will become John XII." (Olsen: 37).
"...She had already had a remarkable career herself, having been mistress of Pope Sergius III (to whom she bore Pope John XI), the wife of Marquis Alberic of Spoleto (to whom she bore Prince Alberic of Rome, and the wife of Hugh's half-brother Gui, marquis of Tuscany. After Gui died, around 920, Marozia and her sons, Pope John and Prince Alberic, held Rome against Hugh. But after Marozia and Hugh reached a stalemate, they decided to become allies and married. Marozia was of great help to Hugh in his subsequent campaigns, and a few years later she married her son Alberic to Hugh's daughter Alda, born of an earlier marriage." (Bouchard, 2001, pp. 86-87)
"Marosia, the wife of Guide, Marquis of Tuscany, was the daughter of Theodora, a Roman lady, celebrated for her beauty and her crimes, and, by her intrigues and her gallantry, had governed Rome for a series of years. Marosia, equally abandoned, was not less ambitious of reigning. Before she married the Marquis of Tuscany, she had been the mistress of a pope, (Sergius III), and the wife of a senator of Rome. Her influence within the city was therefore paramount." (Halliday, 1826, p. 117)
" . . . Theodora's daughter Marozia had a grandson whose name was Octavian (who) also became Pope and called himself Pope John XII 955-963 AD. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
" . . . Marozia and Pope Sergius III had an illegitimate son together who later became Pope John XI. Additionally, Marozi'a grandson, Octavian, became Pope John XII at the age of 18. And notably, Pope John XII died in 964 C.E. at the age of 27 in bed with a married woman." (The Truth: 321) [Bio2] [Bio3:Archelaos] [Ref1:77] [Ref2:CargoCulte] [Ref1]
"...She had already had a remarkable career herself, having been mistress of Pope Sergius III (to whom she bore Pope John XI), the wife of Marquis Alberic of Spoleto (to whom she bore Prince Alberic of Rome, and the wife of Hugh's half-brother Gui, marquis of Tuscany. After Gui died, around 920, Marozia and her sons, Pope John and Prince Alberic, held Rome against Hugh. But after Marozia and Hugh reached a stalemate, they decided to become allies and married. Marozia was of great help to Hugh in his subsequent campaigns, and a few years later she married her son Alberic to Hugh's daughter Alda, born of an earlier marriage." (Bouchard, 2001, pp. 86-87)
"Marosia, the wife of Guide, Marquis of Tuscany, was the daughter of Theodora, a Roman lady, celebrated for her beauty and her crimes, and, by her intrigues and her gallantry, had governed Rome for a series of years. Marosia, equally abandoned, was not less ambitious of reigning. Before she married the Marquis of Tuscany, she had been the mistress of a pope, (Sergius III), and the wife of a senator of Rome. Her influence within the city was therefore paramount." (Halliday, 1826, p. 117)
" . . . Theodora's daughter Marozia had a grandson whose name was Octavian (who) also became Pope and called himself Pope John XII 955-963 AD. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
" . . . Marozia and Pope Sergius III had an illegitimate son together who later became Pope John XI. Additionally, Marozi'a grandson, Octavian, became Pope John XII at the age of 18. And notably, Pope John XII died in 964 C.E. at the age of 27 in bed with a married woman." (The Truth: 321) [Bio2] [Bio3:Archelaos] [Ref1:77] [Ref2:CargoCulte] [Ref1]
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| Pope John X |
(860-928)
Giovanni da Tossignano
Pope
914-928
Archbishop of Ravenna 905
Bishop of Bologna
Deacon
His lover was:
Theodora, Senatrix of Rome (870-916).
Serenissima Vestaratix of Rome
Wife of: Theophylactus, Count of Tusculum & Roman Senator
Theodora, Senatrix of Rome (870-916).
Serenissima Vestaratix of Rome
Wife of: Theophylactus, Count of Tusculum & Roman Senator
Theodora not a concubine of Pope John X?.
" . . . Shortly afterwards, owing to the influence of the nobles dominant in Rome, he was made pope in succession to Lando. The real head of this aristocratical faction was the elder Theodora, wife of the Senator Theophylactus. Liutprand of Cremona ('Antapodosis,' II, ed. in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script.," II, 297) affirms that Theodora supported John's election in order to cover more easily her illicit relations with him. This statement is, however, generally and rightly rejected as a calumny. Liutprand wrote his history some fifty years later, and constantly slandered the Romans, whom he hated. At the time of John's election Theodora was advanced in years, and is lauded by other writers (e.g. Vulgarius). John was a relative of Theodora's family, and this explains sufficiently why she secured his election. . . ." (Catholic Encyclopedia)
Violently enamoured of his beauty: "John the Tenth, a clerk of Ravenna, succeeded the pontiff Lando. He was a Roman by birth---the son of a nun and a priest. His beauty caused him to be remarked by Theodora, the mistress of Pope Sergius, who became violently enamoured of him. The ambitious youth yielded to the passion of Theodora, and thus prepared the way of arriving at the sovereign pontificate. His mistress, who was all-powerful at Rome, caused him first to be named to the bishopric of Bologna; but before he was consecrated, the prelate of Ravenna having died, he was chosen archbishop of that city. At last Theodora, fearful of the infidelity of her lover, if he remained in an archbishopric remote from Rome, caused him to be ordained pope on the death of Lando. (The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome: 295)
" . . . Theodora fell in love with a certain John, an ambitious young cleric in Ravenna who frequently came to Rome on official business. Under Theodora's protection, the young man progresses steadily in his career and was at last made a bishop, a post that ended his frequent trips to Rome. 'Thereupon Theodora, like a harlot fearing that she would have few opportunities of bedding with her sweetheart, forced him to abandon his bishopric and take for himself . . . the Papacy of Rome.' In 914 Bishop John of Ravenna became Pope John X." (Chamberlin: 28)
" . . . Pope John X had a famous mistress named Theodora who eventually betrayed her lover and helped select his successor. Theodora also had a daughter named Marozia, who was a papal mistress. . . ." (The Truth: About the Five Primary Religions and the Seven Rules of Any Good Religion: 321)
" . . . Marozia was the daughter of Theodora of Rome, who was the wife of a high ranking Roman senator. Theodora herself was mistress to several high ranking members of the Roman Catholic clergy. After Marozia's lover Pope Sergius III died her mother Theodora quickly maneuvered one of her lovers into position to become Pope. This was Pope Anastasius III 911-913 AD. The next of Theodora's lovers to sit on the papal throne was Pope Lando who reigned from 913-914 AD. That two of Theodora's lovers became Popes one after the other speaks for itself. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
" . . . Theodora fell in love with a certain John, an ambitious young cleric in Ravenna who frequently came to Rome on official business. Under Theodora's protection, the young man progresses steadily in his career and was at last made a bishop, a post that ended his frequent trips to Rome. 'Thereupon Theodora, like a harlot fearing that she would have few opportunities of bedding with her sweetheart, forced him to abandon his bishopric and take for himself . . . the Papacy of Rome.' In 914 Bishop John of Ravenna became Pope John X." (Chamberlin: 28)
" . . . Pope John X had a famous mistress named Theodora who eventually betrayed her lover and helped select his successor. Theodora also had a daughter named Marozia, who was a papal mistress. . . ." (The Truth: About the Five Primary Religions and the Seven Rules of Any Good Religion: 321)
" . . . Marozia was the daughter of Theodora of Rome, who was the wife of a high ranking Roman senator. Theodora herself was mistress to several high ranking members of the Roman Catholic clergy. After Marozia's lover Pope Sergius III died her mother Theodora quickly maneuvered one of her lovers into position to become Pope. This was Pope Anastasius III 911-913 AD. The next of Theodora's lovers to sit on the papal throne was Pope Lando who reigned from 913-914 AD. That two of Theodora's lovers became Popes one after the other speaks for itself. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
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| Pope John XII |
Son of: Alberic II di Spoleto & Alda de Vienne, daughter of King Ugo d'Italia.
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| Anonymous, Otto I met John XII by Laboratorio di Diebold Lauber, 1459 |
His lovers were:
1) Widow of Rainier.
2) Stephana.
2) Stephana.
His father's concubine.
3) Widow Anna.
4) His own niece.
5) "Pope Joan".
6) Marcia.
3) Widow Anna.
4) His own niece.
5) "Pope Joan".
6) Marcia.
"Pope John XII (Octavian, c. 937—964, pope 955—964, The Popes, A Concise Biographical History, ibid., pp. 166-7) was another in the succession of impious popes and he opened his inglorious career by invoking pagan gods and goddesses as he flung the dice in gambling sessions. He toasted Satan during a drinking spree and put his notorious mistress/prostitute Marcia in charge of his brothel in the Lateran Palace (Antapodosis, ibid.).
"He "liked to have around him a collection of Scarlet Women", said the monk-chronicler Benedict of Soracte, and at his trial for the murder of an opponent his clergy swore on oath that he'd had incestuous relations with his sisters and had raped his nuns (Annals of Beneventum in the Monumenta Germaniae, v). He and his mistresses got so drunk at a banquet that they accidentally set fire to the building. It would be difficult to imagine a pontiff who was farther removed from saintliness, yet in an age when the average life of a pope was two years, he held the throne for 10 years.
"However, his life came to a sudden and violent end when, according to pious chroniclers, he was killed by the Devil while raping a woman in a house in the suburbs. The truth is that the Holy Father was thrashed so severely by the enraged husband of the woman that he died of injuries eight days later. Emperor Otto then demanded that the clergy select a priest of respectable life to succeed John XII, but they could not find one." (The Criminal History of the Papacy)
" . . . Theodora's daughter Marozia had a grandson whose name was Octavian (who) also became Pope and called himself Pope John XII 955-963 AD. Pope John XII was obsessed with sex and though he had many regular mistresses, they were not enough. It is recorded that it was not safe for any woman to enter St. Peter's for fear of being raped by him. This man was so evil that he even toasted Satan at the altar in St. Peter's. Finally Pope John XII was killed by an irate husband who found him in bed with his wife. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
"Onofrio Panvinio, in the revised edition of Bartolomeo Platina's book about the popes, added an elaborate note indicating that the legend of Pope Joan may be based on a mistress of John XII: Panvinius, in a note to Platina's account of pope Joan, suggests that the licentiousness of John XII, who, among his numerous mistresses, had one called Joan, who exercised the chief influence at Rome during his pontificate, may have given rise to the story of 'pope Joan'." (Wikipedia)
" . . . It is rumoured that he was killed by the husband of one of his mistresses. An account of the charges against him in the Patrologia Latina states: They testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse. They said the he had gone hunting publicly; that he had blinded his confessor Benedict, and thereafter Benedict had died; that he had killed John, cardinal subdeacon, after castrating him; and that he had set fires, girded on a sword, and put on a helmet and cuirass." (Top 10 Most Wicked Popes)
" . . . Theodora's daughter Marozia had a grandson whose name was Octavian (who) also became Pope and called himself Pope John XII 955-963 AD. Pope John XII was obsessed with sex and though he had many regular mistresses, they were not enough. It is recorded that it was not safe for any woman to enter St. Peter's for fear of being raped by him. This man was so evil that he even toasted Satan at the altar in St. Peter's. Finally Pope John XII was killed by an irate husband who found him in bed with his wife. . . ." (The Roman Catholic Church: The Cold Hard Facts: 64)
"Onofrio Panvinio, in the revised edition of Bartolomeo Platina's book about the popes, added an elaborate note indicating that the legend of Pope Joan may be based on a mistress of John XII: Panvinius, in a note to Platina's account of pope Joan, suggests that the licentiousness of John XII, who, among his numerous mistresses, had one called Joan, who exercised the chief influence at Rome during his pontificate, may have given rise to the story of 'pope Joan'." (Wikipedia)
" . . . It is rumoured that he was killed by the husband of one of his mistresses. An account of the charges against him in the Patrologia Latina states: They testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse. They said the he had gone hunting publicly; that he had blinded his confessor Benedict, and thereafter Benedict had died; that he had killed John, cardinal subdeacon, after castrating him; and that he had set fires, girded on a sword, and put on a helmet and cuirass." (Top 10 Most Wicked Popes)
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| Pope Boniface VIII |
(1235-1303)
Benedetto Caetani di Agnani
Pope
1294-1303.
Son of: Roffredo I Caetani & Emilia Conti dei Patrasso di Alatri, niece of Pope Alexander IV.
A promiscuous pope: " . . . The libertine Gaetani was well known for his propensities before and after he became pope. They were widely published in the History of Naples by Pandulphus Colenucius. He had at least two homosexual lovers. Giacomo de Pisis and Guglielmo de Santa Floria. It was well known that he had abused a father, his wife, his son and his daughter." (A Corrupt Tree: An Encyclopaedia of Crimes Committed by the Church of Rome: 174)
His lovers were:
1) Giacomo de Pisis.
2) Guglielmo de Santa Floria.
Love Life: "...On ascending the throne, the 80-year old Boniface proclaimed: "I am pontiff, I am emperor". Boniface conducted simultaneous affairs with both his mistress and his daughter and also had at least two male lovers (Giacomo de Pisis and Guglielmo de Santa Floria). On the subject of homosexuality he remarked that "it is no more a sin than to rub your hands together." (freetruth.50webs.org)
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| Pope Sixtus IV |
(1414-1484)
Francesco della Rovere
Pope
1471-1484
Son of: Leonardo della Rovere & Luchina Monleone.
"As Pope, says the Catholic Encyclopedia, Sixtus 'fell more and more under his dominating passion of nepotism, heaping riches and favours on his unworthy relations.' He gave cardinal's hats to his sexually profligate nephews Giuliano della Rovere and Pietro Riario, as well as to Sanseverino (loose and worldly), Giovanni Cibo (the father of several illegitimate children), Venier (loose and luxurious), Ascanio Sforza (more passionate about hunting and gambling than about the Church, and notoriously loose), Christoforo della Rovere (another loose nephew), Battista Orsini (whose mistresses were the worst-kept secret in Rome), and Savelli, Sclafenati, and Giovanni Colonna (all of whom were sexually profligate and luxury-loving)." (Meyer, 2003, n.p.)
"Educated by the Franciscans, Francesco della Rovere was a priest and skilled theologian by the time of Pope Paul II's death. When elevated, he took the name Sixtus. Immediately after his election, he appointed two nephews, Pietro Riario and Giuliano della Rovere (who later became Pope Julius II), as cardinals. In all, Sixtus elevated six of his nephews to cardinal. Nephew Pietro was the Pope's lover, and Sixtus lavished riches on him." (Willdorf, 2011)
"Onuphre, Machiavel (sic), and Peter Volatteran, affirm, that the holy father had conducted himself very outrageously when cardinal; that he had deflowered each of his sisters in turn, and that he even pushed his lubricity so far as to use his monstrous debauches to young children, the fruits of an incestuous commerce between him and his eldest sister. 'Never,' add the historians, 'had the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah been the theatre of such abominations! and as if the scandal was not yet great enough, Sixtus the Fourth had the impudence to publish a bull, which declared that the nephews and bastards of the popes should be of right, Roman princes.' In consequence of this decree, Peter and Jerome de Riario, his two bastards, took rank among the Italian princes. Peter also obtained a cardinal's hat, and an annual pension of a million five hundred thousand crowns of gold, an enormous sum for the times, and which, however, was barely sufficient to maintain the luxuriousness of the courtezan (sic) Theresa Fulgora, his mistress. Happily for the people, this depraved woman, who had already abandoned herself to the caresses of all the debauchees of Rome, was taken with a terrible disease, with which she infected her lover, and after two years of horrid sufferings, Peter died, a victim of his debauchery. Jerome, who had been created, by the holy father, prince of Forli and Imola, was more fortunate that his brother in his loves, and after a year of debauchery, he married the natural daughter of the duke of Milan. Jerome, not content with all the honours and riches with which his father had heaped on him, thought of raising himself still higher, and cast hi eyes on Florence and the small states adjoining it, to make of them an independent principality---His Holiness approved of the plans of his bastard, and turned his thoughts towards the means of defeating the Medici, who governed Florence, and were the only obstacles to the success of their efforts. . . ." (The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome, Volume 2 : 139)
His lovers were:
1) Bianca della Rovere.
Pope Sixtus IV's sister.
"During his period as a senior member of the Franciscan Order there is clear evidence that Francesco della Rovere fathered several illegitimate children through a number of affairs . . . possibly one or more sons of Bianca della Rovere who married Paolo Riario." (Influential People: Pope Sixtus IV)
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| Cardinal Pietro Riario |
"Michaelangelo's Sixtus IV, the lover of his handsome nephew Pietro Riario, whom he made a cardinal at the age of twenty-five and upon whom he lavished unheard of wealth, so that his extravagance was compared to a Roman emperor's. Sixtus is repeatedly called a 'sodomite' in the diaries of Stefano Infessura, a charge usually discounted by modern historians since Infessura was 'an ardent republican and the pope's political enemy.' But a century ago John Addington Symonds pointed out that the accusation appears also in the dispatches of the Venetian ambassador and is confirmed by the usually reliable diaries of Johann Burchard, the papal master of ceremonies." (Crompton, 2006, p. 278)
Cardinal Sins: "The Cardinal Peter Riario, his nephew or son, died at the age of twenty-eight, ruined by excesses which were not very decent, particularly in an ecclesiastic. His prodigality and dissipation were scandalous, and were carried so far as to give his mistress shoes covered entirely with pearls. He was only two years cardinal, in which he spent 200,000 dollars, and left 60,000 of debt...." (History of Tuscany: 225)
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| Pope Innocent VIII |
Bishop of Savona 1467
Bishop of Molfetta 1472
Cardinal 1473
Son of: Aran Cibo, Roman Senator & Teodorina de' Mari.
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| Pope Innocent VIII |
" . . . The new Pope was of a Genoese noble family and of a peaceful disposition when compared with Sixtus IV. He was the father of several illegitimate children, of whom Francescheto Cybo was the favourite, and as he was only fifty-five years of age he might reasonably hope for a long pontificate. . . ." (Edinburgh Revuew, Volunes 145-146: 131)
"While Bishop of Savona, Giovanni Battista Cibo fathered a number of illegitimate children many of which were openly acknowledged and documented as being his sons and daughters including his eldest son Franceschetto. By the time of his death, the Vatican was overrun with more than 100 illegitimate children, with the cost of maintaining his women, sons, daughters and grandchildren causing itself a financial crisis." (Influential People: Pope Innocent VIII)
"While Bishop of Savona, Giovanni Battista Cibo fathered a number of illegitimate children many of which were openly acknowledged and documented as being his sons and daughters including his eldest son Franceschetto. By the time of his death, the Vatican was overrun with more than 100 illegitimate children, with the cost of maintaining his women, sons, daughters and grandchildren causing itself a financial crisis." (Influential People: Pope Innocent VIII)
Natural offspring: Innocent had two illegitimate children born before he entered the clergy 'towards whom his nepotism had been as lavish as it was shameless.' In 1487 he married his elder son Franceschetto Cybo (d. 1519) to Maddalena de' Medici (1473–1528), the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, who in return obtained the cardinal's hat for his thirteen-year-old son Giovanni, later Pope Leo X. His daughter Teodorina Cybo married Gerardo Usodimare and had a daughter. Savonarola chastised him for his worldly ambitions." (Wikipedia)
"In the eyes of the critics of the Holy See the reign of Innocent VIII (1484-1492) was not improvement. He was the first Pope who dared to acknowledge his son in public, and one of his chief aims was to procure him wealth and position. If Sixtus had secured money through the sale of spiritual indulgences and dignities, Innocent and his son obtained it through a bank of secular pardons where amnesty for murder could be had at high fees. A hundred and fifty ducats of every fine went to the papal treasury, the rest to the Pope's son, Francesco Cibo. Special traps were set in Rome to catch the criminals who were able to pay the Pope for their misdeeds. In the meantime Innocent looked on complacently from his well-guarded palace at the increasing criminality of Rome. This Franceschetto had only one aim n life, and this was to get the papal treasure-chests in his hands as soon as his father died. When in 1490 a false rumor spread that the Pope had died, he attempted in fact to carry off all the available cash of the papal Camera. He even tried to take along the Turkish Prince Zizim who lived as a prisoner at the papal court, hoping to sell him at a high price to one of the many foreign rulers who were anxious to get possession of him." (Pope Alexander VI and His Court: xiii)
". . . After a licentious youth, during which he had two illegitimate children, Franceschetto and Teodorina, he took orders and entered the service of Cardinal Calandrini. . . ." (Catholic Encyclopedia)
(1443-1513)
Giuliano della Rovere
Pope
1503-1513
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| Pope Paul III |
Alessandro Farnese
Pope
1534-1549
Bishop of Venice 1508-1511
Bishop of Saint-Pons de Thomieres 1514-1534.
Son of: Pier Luigi Farnese, Signore di Montalto & Giovanella di Onorato Caetani.
Son of: Pier Luigi Farnese, Signore di Montalto & Giovanella di Onorato Caetani.
"Alexander Farnese (1468-154) . . . became Pope Paul III in 1534. Aided and abetted by his beautiful aunt Vandozza Farnese, herself the former mistress of Rodrigo Borgia (who was Pope Alexander VI from 1492 until his death in 1503), he led an exciting life of reckless debauch before a reformation of character, be it real or apparent, cleared the path to his election as pope. Whether he was abducting a young woman from her carriage in the middle of the countryside after killing one of her attendants, or being imprisoned in the Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome and then escaping by means of a very long rope, or becoming a cardinal and having four children by his high-born mistress Cleria, the younger Alessandro Farnese does not appear to have paid much attention even to the more salient aspects of Christian morality. . . ." (The Charterhouse of Parma: xiii)
"The already unstable political situation in the region became even more complicated when Pope Alexander VI Borgia made Alessandro Farnese (1468-1549) a cardinal in 1493, though he was not ordained till 1519. Despite the appointment Farnese kept his worldly ways, siring four children with his mistress Silvia Ruffini. In 1509 Farnese was appointed bishop of Parma and visited the city three times: 1516, 1519, and 1527. With his election as pope in 1534 as Paul III, Farnese consolidated his alliances and established his family as a major power by embarking on a policy of improving his status through nepotism, building a dynasty for his family. He maneuvered his four children into positions with both French and imperial forces and arranged dynastic marriages for his two grandsons with the two most powerful monarchs in Europe: in 1538 Ottavio Farnese (1534-86) married Margarita of Austria (1522-86), the illegitimate daughter of Charles V, and in 1547, Orazio (1532-53) was betrothed to Diane of France (f.1556), the granddaughter of Francis I." (Women, Art and Architecture in Northern Italy, 1520-1580: Negotiating Power: 9)
His lovers were:
1) Cleria.
2) Lola Bernieri.
2) Lola Bernieri.
3) Silvia Ruffini (1475-1561)
Roman aristocrat.
Natural offspring:
1. Costanza Farnese (1500-1545)
2. Pier Luigi Farnese (1503-1547)
3. Ranuccio Farnese (1519-1528)
"Pope Paul III (1534–1549) held off ordination in order to continue his promiscuous lifestyle, fathering four illegitimate children (three sons and one daughter) by his mistress Silvia Rufina. He broke his relations with her ca. 1513 and there's no evidence of his sexual activity during his papacy." (Omega, 2011)
" . . . Paul fathered four children by his own mistress and abandoned her to become a priest in 1519. He made sure that his sons and grandsons benefited from his papacy, granting them part of the Papal States and other property belonging to the church. . . ." (Sider: 33)
"...While a cardinal, Alessandro kept a mistress -- probably more than one -- and had at least four children, whose names were Pier Luigi, Paolo, Ranuccio and Costanza. There may have also been another daughter, Lucrezia. (Litta is not sure if Lucrezia was the daughter of Alessandro or of his brother Bartolomeo). Pier Luigi and Paolo were legitimized by Pope Julius II on July 8, 1505. Ranuccio's 'deed of legitimation' was issued by Pope Leo X in 1518. As for the mistresses of Cardinal Alessandro, Litta reports that Farnese had loved a certain Ruffina, a Roman aristocrat. Another source indicates that her given name was Lola. Others thought that his beloved was from the Bernieri family of Parma. It is said that the cardinal sent his lover to have her baby in Rome, where Pier Luigi was indeed born on November 19, 1503. Pastor presents similar information about the mistresses of Paul III. Pastors document show that one of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese's mistresses belonged to the aristocracy and that she lived in the cardinal's house in the Arenula section of Rome. It appears that his daughter Costanza's mother was from Bolsena. She was probably born of a different mother from her brothers, and she was not legitimized." (Williams: 76)
"...In 1527 Pallavicina-Sanvitale began to negotiate the terms of a marriage between Virginia and Ranuccio Farnese (1503-28), the illegitimate son of the future Pope Paul III and his mistress, Silvia Ruffini. Not a stranger to controversy, this arrangement illustrates Pallavicina-Sanvitale's courage and tenacity. Once again she acted in the role of matriarch, taking on the duties normally assigned to a male relative. Although Pope Clement VII was bitterly opposed to the marriage between Virginia and Ranuccio, Pallavicina-Sanvitale wrote numerous letters and even made a trip to Rome to see the pope, who eventually gave in to Laura's demands. Unfortunately in 1528 Ranuccio, a condottiero, died in battle, and it is unclear as to whether or not the marriage ever took place -- it may never have been more than a contract...." (McIver: 26)
Natural Offspring: "...Silvia Ruffini, the mistress of Alessandro Farnese prior to his rise to the papacy; she was a married woman who had a son by her husband, as well as children fathered by Alessandro, including Costanza." (McIver: 174)
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| Pope Julius III |
(1487-1555)
Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte
Pope
1550-1555
Archbishop of Siponto 1513
Bishop of Pavia 1520
Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina 1536.
His lovers were:
1) Bertuccino.
His illegitimate son.
"Historians confirmed that Pope Julius III took Bertuccino, his illegitimate son and a 15-year-old boy, Innocente, as his lovers. Both were appointed as cardinals. It made the other cardinals furious. . . Julius continued to appoint handsome teen-age (sic) boys as cardinals. It was widely reported that he brought them together for orgies so he could watch them sodomize each other. . . . ." (Dogma Evolution & Papal Fallacies: 272)
"Historians confirmed that Pope Julius III took Bertuccino, his illegitimate son and a 15-year-old boy, Innocente, as his lovers. Both were appointed as cardinals. It made the other cardinals furious. . . Julius continued to appoint handsome teen-age (sic) boys as cardinals. It was widely reported that he brought them together for orgies so he could watch them sodomize each other. . . . ." (Dogma Evolution & Papal Fallacies: 272)
"Born in Borgo San Donnino (now Fidenza), the son of a female beggar, the illiterate but vivacious and good-looking 14 year old was picked up on the streets of Parma by Cardinal Giovanni Maria Del Monte who had fallen in love with him, and who used favors to ensure the cooperation of the boy's father. Later he was officially adopted by the Cardinal's brother, Baldovino Ciocchi Del Monte. The boy was given a position in Giovanni's household as a valero, a menial role combining the offices of footman and dogsbody, then provost of the cathedral chapter of Arezzo, a title involving only nominal duties but with certain rights of income." (Wikipedia) [Bio1] [Bio2]
"...This new Julius did not care about religious reform or art---or anything intellectual, for that matter. He had fallen in love with a thirteen-year-old boy of the streets four years earlier and forced his wealthy brother to adopt the lad. His first act upon being crowned pope was to ordain the boy, now seventeen, with his adoptive name, as Cardinal Nephew Innocent Ciocchi del Monte. While the Inquisition was persecuting and burning homosexuals around Europe, the pope and his almost illiterate teenaged lover were holding private parties in their newly constructed pleasure palace of Villa Giulia...." (Blech & Doliner, 2009, p. 284)
"Giovanni del Monte was born in Rome, September 10, 1487 and took the name Julius III. Julius was always “out,” but in his sixties he got really far out. He brazenly plucked a cute 14-year-old boy, ironically named Innocenzo, off the streets of Parma, had his brother adopt the kid, and then promptly named him a Cardinal. The Venetian ambassador reported that Innocenzo shared the pope's bedroom and bed. The relationship became a staple of anti-papal polemics for over a century." (Willdorf, 2011)
"Giovanni del Monte was born in Rome, September 10, 1487 and took the name Julius III. Julius was always “out,” but in his sixties he got really far out. He brazenly plucked a cute 14-year-old boy, ironically named Innocenzo, off the streets of Parma, had his brother adopt the kid, and then promptly named him a Cardinal. The Venetian ambassador reported that Innocenzo shared the pope's bedroom and bed. The relationship became a staple of anti-papal polemics for over a century." (Willdorf, 2011)
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| Pope Gregory XIII |
(1502-1585)
Ugo Boncompagni
Pope 1572
Son of: Cristoforo Boncompagni & Angela Marescalchi.
His lover was:
Maddalena Fulchini.
"Cardinal Ugo came from Bologna. Early in life he studied law in the University of Bologna where he became a professor. He taught such prominent men as Borromeo and Reginald Pope. At the request of Cardinal Parizzio he came to Rome where he became a member of the Roman Curia. He was still a layman. He was not free from the vices of the times. He too had a mistress and an illegitimate son, Giacomo. But when he was appointed bishop of Vieste in 1558, he left his sinful life, took up Holy Orders and was ordained a bishop. n 1558 he was sent to Trent to take part in the General Council. On his return from Trent he was made a Cardinal. He was elected pope on May 13, 1572 and at his coronation he took the name Gregory XIII." (A Compact History of the Popes: 145)
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| Pope Innocent X |
Son of: Camillo Pamphili.
Family background, physical appearance & personal qualities.
"The holy father was a Roman by birth, and of an old family. He had been successively advocate, consistorial, auditor of the rota, nuncio to Naples, datary in the legations of France and Spain, and finally cardinal. His character was similar to that of most pries, dissimulative, vindictive, cruel, audacious in success, timid in danger, and implacable in its vengeance; his face was hideous and deformed; his mind worthy of his exterior." (The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome: 318)
His lovers were:
1) Camillo Astalli.
"Innocent the Tenth had not had a cardinal nephew since the marriage of Don Camillo Pamfili, and did not think of replacing him. Dona Olympia, who was desirous of creating new means of ruling his mind, persuaded him that it was necessary for him to adopt one of his relatives to occupy the post of Don Camillo Pamfili, and she presented to him a young man of extraordinary beauty, Camillo Astalli, whom she had made her lover in advance. At the sight of this handsome young man, Innocent the Tenth felt strange sensations in his heart; he received Astalli with extraordinary kindness, and declared that he consented to bestow the dignity of cardinal nephew on him. His holiness pushed his attentions towards his relative so far as to instal (sic) him, that same night, in a chamber of the Vatican adjoining his private apartments. The next day Camillo Astalli had become the minion of the pope, and the elevation of the new favourite was celebrated by public festivals and salvos of artillery. From that day, the cardinal nephew was invested with the confidence of the sovereign pontiff, and directed, at his pleasure, all the affairs of the church. This was not what Dona Olympia had wished; she had contributed to the elevation of Camillo Astalli to obtain an ally against the young Olympia, and not to create a rival still more dangerous than her daughter-in-law, and it turned out that she had given a minion to her brother-in-law, and a lover to the young Olympia. She was then occupied in overthrowing the cardinal Astalli from power before he was entirely confirmed in it, and essayed to represent to the pontiff the fatal consequences into which his deplorable passion for this young man would infallibly draw him. (The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome: 321)
Shame and scandal in the family.
"Instead of listening, with his usual indulgence, to the reproaches of his old mistress, Innocent replied in the same tone, and a most disgraceful quarrel ensued. She threatened the pope to unveil to Christendom his turpitudes and his infamies, his double incest with her and her daughter-in-law, his amours with the handsome cardinal Astalli, his shameful orgies, and execrable debaucheries. His holiness, who recoiled before no scandal, saw no other means of restoring tranquility to his palace but to expel his sister-in-law, which he did, without at all disturbing himself about her threats." (The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome: 322)
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| Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphili |
2) Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphili (1591-1657)
Daughter of: Sforza Maidalchini, Italian condottiere, & Vittoria Gualterio, Roman aristocrat.
Wife of:
1. Paolo NIni
2. Pamphilio Pamphili, brother f Pope Innocent X.
"One of the most interesting forgotten stories is that of Donna Olimpia Maidalchini...Pamphili--donna being the Italian title for 'lady.' The widowed sister-in-law of the indecisive Pope Innocent X (reigned 1644-1655), Olimpia was presumed to be the pope's mistress. Regardless of whether she was mistress of the pope, she certainly was mistress of the Vatican, appointing cardinals, negotiating with foreign powers, and taking in immense sums from the papal treasury. In a church that firmly excludes women from officiating as priests and even from marrying priests, Olimpia's story is clearly a discomfiting one for the Vatican." (Herman, p. 1)
"One of the most interesting forgotten stories is that of Donna Olimpia Maidalchini...Pamphili--donna being the Italian title for 'lady.' The widowed sister-in-law of the indecisive Pope Innocent X (reigned 1644-1655), Olimpia was presumed to be the pope's mistress. Regardless of whether she was mistress of the pope, she certainly was mistress of the Vatican, appointing cardinals, negotiating with foreign powers, and taking in immense sums from the papal treasury. In a church that firmly excludes women from officiating as priests and even from marrying priests, Olimpia's story is clearly a discomfiting one for the Vatican." (Herman, p. 1)
" . . . The relationship between Donna Olimpia and the pope was so close that it had been reported that they were lovers, but the historian Ranke maintains" 'We may confidently affirm that of all this [sexual intimacy between them], not one word is true.'" (Papal Genealogy: 110)
"On the advent of Innocent the Tenth to the Holy See, the policy of the court of Rome was singularly modified, not from the action of the pope, but from the new direction impressed on affairs by his sister-in-law, the widow Dona Olympia Maldachini de Viterba, who carried on incestuous intercourse with him, and so publicly, that she was known by the name of the popess. By the wishes of this shameless courtezan, the Medici, and the cardinals of the Spanish faction, were placed in possession of all the most important offices of the church, which took from the French party the preponderance they had enjoyed during the former reign." (The Private and Public History of the Popes of Rome: 318)
Olimpia's high degree of power: "After having accomplished the ruin of the Barberini, the new pope was engaged in the elevation of his own family. Already had his incestuous mistress Dona Olympia attained so high a degree of power, the embassadors, who came to Rome, commenced by visiting her, before they presented themselves at the Vatican. Cardinals had her portrait suspended in their apartments by the side of that of Innocent, as a testimonial of their deference for the favourite; and foreign courts openly brought her protection by presents or pensions. Those soliciting preferment sought equally to interest her in their favour by the same means, so that from all sides riches flowed with such abundance in her coffers, that she was enabled in a short time to acquire palaces and immense estates. The holy father then thought of the establishment of the children of his dear Olympia. He married the eldest of her daughters to a Ludoviso, and the second to a Gustiniani. As for his bastard Done Camillo, a young man of notorious incapacity, who had been judged capable at the most of being made a cardinal, the opportunity of a brilliant marriage offering to him, he relieved him from his vows, and made him espouse Dona Olympia Aldobrandina, the richest widow in Rome, young, beautiful, full of grace and spirit, but who, at the same time, joined to these brilliant qualities the insatiable thirst for ruling. As soon as she was installed in the pontifical palace, the young Dona Olympia sought to supplant her mother-in-law, by disputing the price of incest with her. Frightful quarrels of jealousy broke out between these two women, and were carried so far, that in order to arrest the scandal, his holiness was compelled to separate himself momentarily from his new mistress. The disgrace, however, of the young Olympia lasted but a short time; the pope himself recalled her to the Vatican, and appeared to grant her a marked preference over his sister-in-law. The intestine dissensions then became more violent that ever, and in consequence of reproaches which these two rivals addressed to each other in the midst of the Corso, the whole city was apprised of the outrageous orgies of Innocent the Tenth, and of the mysteries of the gardens of the palace of the Lateran." (The Public and Private History of the Popes of Rome: 318-319)
"In another notorious case of Bernini's willing commerce with unsavory patrons, we meet the infamous Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, the real power behind the throne for most of the reign of her brother--in-law and reputed former lover, Pope Innocent X (1644-55). During her reign of terror as the 'first lady' of Rome---she was effectively 'la popessa' in the eyes of many Romans---Donna Olimpia was one of the most hated figures in the city. Much of that hatred was, regrettably, rooted in justifiable grounds...." (Mormando, 2011, n.p.) [Ref1:319] [Ref2:251-252]
.jpg/552px-Pompeo_Batoni_-_Ritratto_di_Papa_Pio_VI_(National_Gallery_of_Ireland).jpg) |
| Pope Pius VI Giovanni Angelo Braschi @ National Gallery of Ireland |
(1717-1799)
Pope
1775-1799
His lover was:
Signora Giulia Mallini.
References.
Biography @ Geneagraphie.
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