List of sexually active popes

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This is a list of sexually active popes, Catholic priests who were sexually active before becoming pope, and popes who were legally married. Some candidates were sexually active before their election as pope, and it has sometimes been claimed that other popes were sexually active during their papacies. Such relationships were undertaken outside the bond of matrimony and broke the vow of chastity.

There are various classifications for those who were sexually active at some time during their lives. Periods in parentheses refer to the years of their papacies.

Background

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Main articles: Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church) and Catholic teachings on sexual morality

For many years of the Church's history, celibacy was considered optional. Based on the customs of the times, it is assumed by many that most of the Apostles, such as Peter, were married and had families. It is clear from the New Testament (Mk 1:29–31; Mt 8:14–15; Lk 4:38–39; 1 Tim 3:2, 12; Tit 1:6) that at least Peter had been married, and that bishops, presbyters and deacons of the Early Church were often married as well. It is also clear from epigraphy, the testimony of the Church Fathers, synodal legislation, papal decretals and other sources[not specific enough to verify] that in the following centuries a married clergy, in greater or lesser numbers, was a normal feature of the life of the Church. Celibacy was not required for those ordained, but still was a discipline practised in the early Church, particularly by those in the monastic life.

Although various local Church councils had demanded celibacy of the clergy in a particular area,[1] it was not until the Second Lateran Council (1139) that whole of the Latin (Western) Rite of the Catholic Church decided to accept people for ordination only after they had taken a promise of celibacy.[2]

Popes who were married

Name Reign Relationship Offspring Notes
Saint Peter (Simon Peter) -- mother-in-law is mentioned in the Gospel verses Matthew 8:14–15, Luke 4:38, Mark 1:29–31 and who was healed by Jesus at her home in Capernaum. This clearly depicts Peter as a married man, and 1 Cor. 9:5 suggests Peter's wife accompanied him on his mission. Clement of Alexandria wrote: "When the blessed Peter saw his own wife led out to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home, and called to her very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, and saying, 'Remember the Lord.' Such was the marriage of the blessed, and their perfect disposition toward those dearest to them."[3] Yes[4] Later legends, dating from the 6th century onwards, suggested that Peter had a daughter - identified as Saint Petronilla. This, however, is likely to be a result of the similarity of their names.[5][6]
Pope Hormisdas (514–523) married and widowed before he took Holy Orders Yes father of Pope Silverius.[7]
Pope Adrian II (867–872) married to Stephania before he took Holy Orders,[8] she was still living when he was elected Pope and resided with him in the Lateran Palace Yes (a daughter) His wife and daughter both resided with him until they were murdered.[9]
Pope John XVII (1003) married before his election as Pope Yes (three sons) all became priests.[10]
Pope Clement IV (1265–1268) married before taking holy orders Yes (two daughters) both entered a convent[11]
Pope Honorius IV (1285–1287) married before he took Holy Orders widowed before entered the clergy Yes at least two sons[12]

Fathered illegitimate children before Holy Orders

Name Reign Relationship Offspring Notes
Pope Pius II (1458–1464) not married Yes at least two illegitimate children, one in Strasbourg and one in Scotland, both born before he entered the clergy. Delayed becoming a cleric because of the requirement of chastity.[13]
Pope Innocent VIII (1484–1492) not married Yes two illegitimate children during his youth, both born before he entered the clergy.[14] Nepotism described as "lavish as it was shameless." [15] Married elder son Franceschetto Cybo to the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, who in return obtained the cardinal's hat for his 13-year-old son Giovanni, who became Pope Leo X.[16]
Pope Clement VII (1523–1534) not married. Relationship with a nubian slave girl - possibly Simonetta da Collevecchio Yes had one illegitimate son before he took holy orders, identified as Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence.[17]

Fathered illegitimate children after receiving Holy Orders

Name Reign Relationship Offspring Notes
Pope Julius II (1503–1513) not married Yes three illegitimate daughters, one of whom was Felice della Rovere (born in 1483, twenty years before his election as pope, but twelve years after his enthronement as Bishop of Lausanne).[18] The schismatic Conciliabulum of Pisa, which sought to depose him in 1511, also accused him of being a "sodomite".[19]
Pope Paul III (1534–1549) not married. Silvia Ruffini as mistress Yes held off ordination in order to continue a promiscuous lifestyle, fathering four illegitimate children (three sons and one daughter) by Silvia Ruffini after his appointment as Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Cosimo and Damiano. He broke his relations with her ca. 1513. He made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the first Duke of Parma.[20][21]
Pope Gregory XIII (1572–1585) not married. Affair with Maddalena Fulchini. Yes received the ecclesiastical tonsure in Bologna in June 1539, but subsequently had an affair which resulted in the birth of Giacomo Boncompagni in 1548. Giacomo remained illegitimate but Gregory later appointed him Gonfalonier of the Church, governor of the Castel Sant'Angelo, as well as governor of Fermo.[22][23]
Pope Leo XII (1823–1829) not married. Yes as a young prelate was suspected of having had a liaison with the wife of a soldier of Swiss Guard and as nuncio in Germany allegedly fathered three illegitimate children.[24]

Popes sexually active during pontificate

Name Reign Relationship Offspring Notes
Pope Sergius III (904–911) not married Yes accused by opponents of being the illegitimate father of Pope John XI by Marozia.[25] Such accusations found in Liutprand of Cremona's Antapodosis,[26] as well as the Liber Pontificalis.[27][28][29] The accusations are disputed by another early source, the annalist Flodoard (c. 894–966): John XI was brother of Alberic II, the latter being the offspring of Marozia and her husband Alberic I, so John too may have been the son of Marozia and Alberic I. Fauvarque emphasizes that contemporary sources are dubious, Liutprand being "prone to exaggeration" while other mentions of this fatherhood appear in satires written by supporters of Pope Formosus.[30]
Pope John X (914–928) not married. Affairs with Theodora and Marozia. No had romantic affairs with both Theodora and her daughter Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis.[31][32](See also Saeculum obscurum)
Pope John XII (955–963) not married No accused by adversaries of adultery and incest.[33][34] Benedict of Soracte noted that he had "a collection of women". According to Liutprand of Cremona,[26] "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." According to Chamberlin, John was "a Christian Caligula whose crimes were rendered particularly horrific by the office he held".[35] Some sources report that he died 8 days after being stricken by paralysis while in the act of adultery,[33] others that he was killed by the jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery.[36][37][38][39]
Pope Benedict IX (1032– became pope in 1044, again in 1045 and finally 1047–1048). not married No accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of "many vile adulteries."[40][41] Pope Victor III referred in his third book of Dialogues to "his rapes... and other unspeakable acts."[42] His life prompted Peter Damian to write an extended treatise against illicit sex in general, and homosexuality in particular. In his Liber Gomorrhianus, Damian accused Benedict IX of routine sodomy and bestiality and sponsoring orgies.[43] In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to get married.[44]
Pope Paul II (1464–1471) not married No thought to have died of indigestion arising from eating melon,[45][46] though detractors insisted that he died while engaging in sodomy with a page.[47][48][49]
Pope Sixtus IV (1471–1484) not married No according to Stefano Infessura, Sixtus was a "lover of boys and sodomites" - awarding benefices and bishoprics in return for sexual favours, and nominating a number of young men as cardinals, some of whom were celebrated for their good looks.[50][51][52] However, Infessura had partisan allegiances to the Colonna family and so is not considered to be always reliable or impartial.[53]
Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) not married. Relationships with Vanozza dei Catanei and Giulia Farnese. Yes had a long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei while still a priest, but before he became pope; and by her had his illegitimate children Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, Gioffre Borgia, and Lucrezia. A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, and she gave birth to a daughter (Laura) while Alexander was in his 60s and reigning as pope.[54] Alexander fathered at least seven, and possibly as many as ten illegitimate children, and did much to promote his family's interests – using his offspring to build alliances with a number of important dynasties.[55] He appointed Giovanni Borgia as Captain General of the Church, and made Cesare a Cardinal of the Church – also creating independent duchies for each of them out of papal lands.
Pope Leo X (1513–1521) not married. No accused, after his death, of homosexuality (Francesco Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio). It has been suggested he may have had ulterior motives in offering preferment to Marcantonio Flaminio.[56]
Pope Julius III (1550–1555) not married. No alleged to have had a long love affair with Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte which was a cause of public scandal. The Venetian ambassador at that time reported that Innocenzo shared the pope's bed.[57]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Priestly celibacy retrieved June 9, 2008
  3. ↑ Cited by Eusebius, Church History, III, 30. Full text at Clement of Alexandria, Stromata VII, 11.
  4. ↑ Clement of Alexandria wrote: "For Peter and Philip begat children" in Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ "St Petronilla", Catholic Encyclopedia.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) Pope St. Hormisdas
  8. ↑ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01156a.htm
  9. ↑ by Eleutherius, brother of Anastasius Bibliothecarius, the Church's chief librarian.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ * Wikisource-logo.svg "Pope John XVII" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[self-published source]
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911.
  16. ↑ <The Life of Girolamo Savonarola ,1959, by Roberto Ridolfi
  17. ↑ George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy: The Families And Descendants Of The Popes, page 74: "Clement now made Alessandro de Medici "his illegitimate son by a Nubian slave" into the first duke of Florence" , McFarland & Company, 1998, ISBN 0-7864-2071-5
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization, page 278 (Harvard University Press, 2006) ISBN 978-0-674-01197-7
  20. ↑ Jean de Pins, Letters and Letter Fragments, page 292, footnote 5 (Libraire Droze S.A., 2007) ISBN 978-2-600-01101-3
  21. ↑ Katherine McIver, Women, Art, And Architecture in Northern Italy, 1520–1580: Negotiating Power, page 26 (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2006) ISBN 0-7546-5411-7
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Letters from Rome in: The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, Tom 11, pp. 468-471.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20080413210922/http://fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages
  27. ↑ Liber Pontificalis (first ed., 500s; it has papal biographies up to Pius II, d. 1464)
  28. ↑ Reverend Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Volumes 1-13 quote: "Was John XI the son of Pope Sergius by the abandoned Marozia? Liutprand says he was, and so does the author of the anonymous catalogue in the Liber Pontificalis in his one-line notice of John XI." (1928)
  29. ↑ Anura Gurugé, The Next Pope: After Pope Benedict XVI, page 37: "John XI (#126) would also appear to have been born out of wedlock. His mother, Marozia, from the then powerful Theophylacet family, was around sixteen years old at the time. Liber Pontificalis, among others, claim that Sergius III (#120), during his tenure as pope, was the father." (WOWNH LLC, 2010). ISBN 978-0-615-35372-2
  30. ↑ Fauvarque, Bertrand (2003). "De la tutelle de l'aristocratie italienne à celle des empereurs germaniques". In Y.-M. Hilaire (Ed.), Histoire de la papauté, 2000 ans de missions et de tribulations. Paris:Tallandier. ISBN 2-02-059006-9, p. 163.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Joseph McCabe, Crises in The history of The Papacy: A Study of Twenty Famous Popes whose Careers and whose Influence were important in the Development of The Church and in The History of The World, page 130 (New York; London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1916)
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. p. 105
  35. ↑ The Bad Popes by E. R. Chamberlin
  36. ↑ Peter de Rosa, Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy, Poolbeg Press, Dublin 1988/2000, pages 211–215.
  37. ↑ Hans Kung, The Catholic Church: A Short History (translated by John Bowden), Modern Library, New York. 2001/2003. page 79
  38. ↑ The Popes' Rights & Wrongs, published by Truber & Co., 1860
  39. ↑ Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912
  40. ↑ “Post multa turpia adulteria et homicidia manibus suis perpetrata, postremo, etc.” Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ The Book of Saints, by Ramsgate Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, A.C. Black, 1989. ISBN 978-0-7136-5300-7
  42. ↑ "Cuius vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda extiterit,horresco referre." Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Liber Gomorrhianus, ISBN 88-7694-517-2
  44. ↑ Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912, pp. 81–82.
  45. ↑ Paolo II in Enciclopedia dei Papi", Enciclopedia Treccani, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/paolo-ii_%28Enciclopedia_dei_Papi%29/
  46. ↑ "Vita Pauli Secundi Pontificis Maximi", Michael Canensius, 1734 p.175
  47. ↑ Leonie Frieda, The Deadly Sisterhood: A Story of Women, Power, and Intrigue in the Italian Renaissance, 1427–1527, chapter 3 (HarperCollins, 2013) ISBN 978-0-06-156308-9
  48. ↑ Karlheinz Deschner, Storia criminale del cristianesimo (tomo VIII), Ariele, Milano, 2007, pag. 216. Nigel Cawthorne, Das Sexleben der Päpste. Die Skandalchronik des Vatikans, Benedikt Taschen Verlag, Köln, 1999, pag. 171.
  49. ↑ Claudio Rendina, I Papi, Storia e Segreti, Newton Compton, Roma, 1983, p. 589
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Stefano Infessura, Diario della città di Roma (1303–1494), Ist. St. italiano, Tip. Forzani, Roma 1890, pp. 155-156
  53. ↑ Egmont Lee, Sixtus IV and Men of Letters, Rome, 1978
  54. ↑ Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners: A history of the popes, Yale University Press, 2006
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ C. Falconi, Leone X, Milan, 1987
  57. ↑ Burkle-Young, Francis A., and Michael Leopoldo Doerrer. The Life of Cardinal Innocenzo del Monte: A Scandal in Scarlet, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 1997

References

  • The Bad Popes, Chamberlin, E.R., Sutton History Classics, 1969 / Dorset; New Ed edition 2003.
  • The Pope Encyclopedia: An A to Z of the Holy See, Matthew Bunson, Crown Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1995.
  • The Papacy, Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, Columbia University Press, New York, 1984.
  • Lives of the Popes, Richard P. McBrien, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1997.
  • Papal Genealogy, George L. Williams, McFarland& Co., Jefferson, North Carolina, 1998.
  • Sex Lives of the Popes, Nigel Cawthorne, Prion, London, 1996.
  • Popes and Anti-Popes, John Wilcock, Xlibris Corporation, 2005.
  • La véritable histoire des papes, Jean Mathieu-Rosay, Grancher, Paris, 1991
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