The Pope Accused of Murder: Pope Sergius III

 

The Pope Accused of Murder: Pope Sergius III

Title: The Pornocracy Pope and Possible Fratricide
Date: 904–911

Story:
In early 10th-century Rome, power lay in the hands of urban aristocrats more than in papal robes. Pope Sergius III emerged victorious in this world, seizing the papacy after the violent death of John IX. But his reign is shrouded in scandal.

Rumors swirl that Sergius fathered a child, John XI, with Marozia, a noble wielding enormous influence during the era nicknamed the “Pornocracy.” The child later became pope, suggesting a dynastic scheme. Meanwhile, Sergius was accused of ordering the murder of the previous pope, John X, who had opposed Marozia’s clan. Chronicler Liutprand of Cremona hints at foul play, stating the new pope “entered the Lateran a sheep, but emerged a wolf.”

Though forensic proof is lost to time, the timing and political stakes are compelling: after John X’s suspicious death, Sergius swiftly moved into the Lateran and consolidated power. His papacy was marked by simony, violence, and control by the Tusculan family.

These allegations—sexual favoritism, dynastic plotting, and possible assassination—cast Sergius as one of the most morally ambiguous popes. His reign demonstrates how medieval papal politics played out less in Rome’s basilicas and more in its back alleys.

Key Characters:

Pope Sergius III

Marozia

Pope John X

Liutprand of Cremona (chronicler)

Reference:

Liber Pontificalis

Liutprand of Cremona’s Antiapodosis

Tusculan family archives