Benedict IX ( Theophylact of Tusculum ), born in Lazio to 1012 , died at Grottaferrata between 18 September 1055 and 9 January 1056 , Pope three times:
- of 21 October 1032 to September 1044
- of 10 March 1045 at a st May 1045
- of 8 November 1047 to 16 July 1048
Or a total of 12 years
First pontificate Derived from the powerful family of Tusculum , he is the son of Alberic III , the influentialCount of Tusculum , and nephew of Pope Benedict VIII and John XIX , who were brothers. At his death, his son Alberic was elected pope. Secular Theophylact is also very young. Raoul Glaber ( Histories , IV, 5) says he was 12 when he ascended the papal throne. Some contemporary historians doubt the plausibility of this claim, but the famous Mgr Duchesne , director of the French School of Rome, confirms in his very scholarly book "The early history of the Papal States" (p. 305-324 "The house of Theophylact"). Nevertheless, it is certain that with his distant relative John XII , Pope at 16, Benedict IX is one of the youngest popes in history. He was crowned the day after his election.
Benoit continues the policy of appeasement outlined by his predecessor vis-à-vis the nobility, his father retired from politics in part, gradually replaced by his brother, Gregory II. Contacts with the Emperor do not begin before the decision to Conrad II the Salic in 1037 , to file Aribert, Archbishop of Milan. Contrary to the hopes Imperial, Benedict does not approve of this decision immediately, but waiting for the next year to excommunicate Aribert, as requested. It also demonstrated its independence by breaking in 1044 the decision imposed by Conrad II to John XIX on the Patriarchate of Aquileia.
In ecclesiastical matters, Benedict IX supports the monastic orders against the ordinary. On the initiative of Peter Damian , he filed two bishops considered simony . He canonized Simeon of Syracuse , who died as a hermit in Trier .
Second pontificate
In September 1044 , a riot against the clan Tusculanum, led by Stephani - a branch of the powerful Crescentii, rivals of Tusculum - forced to flee Rome. Driven by Stephani, the Romans elect John, bishop of Sabina in January 1045 after a fierce struggle. He was inducted into the 13or 20 January 1045 under the name of Sylvester III .
Benedict IX reacts with an immediate excommunication. Three months later, he managed to take Rome and found the papal throne on March 10. It then becomes a pawn in the political Roman, where the major competing clans. The 1 st May 1045 , he resigned in favor of his uncle, John Gratian, who was elected under the name of Gregory VI . Large sums are exchanged on this occasion, under the pretext of compensating the clan Tusculum. Benedict IX retired to his family land and no longer appears in public.
Third pontificate
In 1046 , the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III , called for an end to anarchy, went to Italy. Gregory VI summoned the council of Sutri .Sylvester III was sentenced Gregory VI but can not deny that he acquired his tiara by simony : he was forced to abdicate.
Under pressure from Henry III, the council elects the pope, in December 1046 , Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, who took the name of Clement II. The latter died less than a year later, on 9 October 1047 . The Tusculum took the opportunity to reinstate Benedict IX on the throne of Peter .
It accesses and a third time in the papal seat, 8 November 1047 to 17 July 1048 . A Roman party protested to the Emperor, who is against Benedict IX was elected in late 1047 the Bavarian Poppo of Brixen, who took the name of Damasus II . The latter will be 23 days as pope: he died at Palestrina of malaria .
However, Benedict IX fled after Henry III had sent to Rome the Marquis Boniface of Canossa. It is then elect Lorrain, Bruno Eguisheim-Dagsbourg which takes the name of Leo IX . With the help of the Emperor, the new pope fights Tusculans and ravaged their strongholds.Refusing to answer the charges against him of simony, Benedict IX was excommunicated, along with his family.
At the death of Leo IX, in April 1054, Benedict IX tries again to get on the papal throne, in vain. After this final defeat, he retired to the monastery of Grottaferrata, which belongs to the sphere of influence of Tusculum. He died between 18 September 1055 and January 9, 1056, and was buried in the abbey church.
Later sources portray Benedict IX as a man of loose morals. However, according to Luke, the fourth abbot of Grottaferrata, he would have done penance on the rest of his life and would become a monk.
