1.
Edward Gibbon
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Edward Gibbon FRS was an English historian, writer and Member of Parliament. Edward Gibbon was born in 1737, the son of Edward and Judith Gibbon at Lime Grove and he had six siblings, five brothers and one sister, all of whom died in infancy. As a youth, Gibbons health was under constant threat and he described himself as a puny child, neglected by my Mother, starved by my nurse. At age nine, he was sent to Dr. Woddesons school at Kingston upon Thames and he then took up residence in the Westminster School boarding house, owned by his adored Aunt Kitty, Catherine Porten. Following a stay at Bath in 1752 to improve his health, at the age of 15 Gibbon was sent by his father to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was enrolled as a gentleman-commoner. He was ill-suited, however, to the atmosphere and later rued his 14 months there as the most idle and unprofitable of his life. In that tract, Middleton denied the validity of such powers, Gibbon promptly objected and he was further corrupted by the free thinking deism of the playwright/poet couple David and Lucy Mallet, and finally Gibbons father, already in despair, had had enough. David Womersley has shown, however, that Gibbons claim to having been converted by a reading of Middleton is very unlikely, and was introduced only into the final draft of the Memoirs in 1792–93. Within weeks of his conversion, the adolescent was removed from Oxford and sent to live under the care and tutelage of Daniel Pavillard, Reformed pastor of Lausanne, Switzerland. It was here that he one of his lifes two great friendships, that of Jacques Georges Deyverdun, and that of John Baker Holroyd. Just a year and a later, after his father threatened to disinherit him, on Christmas Day,1754. The various articles of the Romish creed, he wrote, disappeared like a dream, Gibbon returned to England in August 1758 to face his father. There could be no refusal of the elders wishes, Gibbon put it this way, I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son. He proceeded to cut off all contact with Curchod, even as she vowed to wait for him and their final emotional break apparently came at Ferney, France in the spring of 1764, though they did see each other at least one more time a year later. The following year he embarked on the Grand Tour, which included a visit to Rome, Womersley notes the existence of good reasons to doubt the statements accuracy. In June 1765, Gibbon returned to his fathers house, and these years were considered by Gibbon as the worst five of his life, but he tried to remain busy by making early attempts towards writing full histories. His first historical narrative known as the History of Switzerland, which represented Gibbons love for Switzerland, was never published nor finished, even under the guidance of Deyverdun, Gibbon became too critical of himself, and completely abandoned the project, only writing 60 pages of text. However, after Gibbons death, his writings on Switzerlands history were discovered and published by Lord Sheffield in 1815, soon after abandoning his History of Switzerland, Gibbon made another attempt towards completing a full history
2.
Pope Joan
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Pope Joan was, according to popular legend, a woman who reigned as pope for a few years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe, the story was widely believed for centuries, but most modern scholars regard it as fictional. Most versions of her story describe her as a talented and learned woman who disguised herself as a man, in the most common accounts, due to her abilities, she rose through the church hierarchy and was eventually elected pope. Her sex was revealed when she gave birth during a procession, the accounts state that later church processions avoided this spot, and that the Vatican removed the female pope from its official lists and crafted a ritual to ensure that future popes were male. In the 16th century, Siena Cathedral featured a bust of Joan among other pontiffs, Jean de Maillys chronicle, written around 1250, contains the first mention of an unnamed female pope, and it inspired several more accounts over the next several years. The most popular and influential version is that interpolated into Martin of Opavas Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, Martin introduced details that the female popes birth name was John Anglicus of Mainz, that she reigned in the 9th century, and that she entered the church to follow her lover. Pope Joan is now accepted to be fictional, though the legend remains influential in art, literature, drama. The earliest mention of the female pope appears in the Dominican Jean de Maillys chronicle of Metz, Chronica Universalis Mettensis. In his telling, the pope is not named. One day, while mounting a horse, she gave birth to a child, however, the legend gained its greatest prominence when it appeared in the third recension of Martin of Opavas Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum later in the 13th century. This version, which may have been by Martin himself, is the first to attach a name to the figure and it also changes the date from the 11th to the 9th century, indicating that Joan reigned between Leo IV and Benedict III in the 850s. According to the Chronicon, John Anglicus, born at Mainz, was Pope for two years, seven months and four days, and died in Rome, after there was a vacancy in the Papacy of one month. It is claimed that this John was a woman, who as a girl had led to Athens dressed in the clothes of a man by a certain lover of hers. There she became proficient in a diversity of branches of knowledge, until she had no equal, a high opinion of her life and learning arose in the city, and she was chosen for Pope. While Pope, however, she became pregnant by her companion, after her death, it is said she was buried in that same place. The Lord Pope always turns aside from the street, and it is believed by many that this is done because of abhorrence of the event. Nor is she placed on the list of the Holy Pontiffs, one version of the Chronicon gives an alternative fate for the female pope. According to this, she did not die immediately after her exposure and her son from the affair eventually became Bishop of Ostia, and ordered her entombment in his cathedral when she died
3.
Legitimacy (family law)
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Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, illegitimacy is the status of a child born outside marriage, depending on the cultural context, legitimacy can affect a childs rights of inheritance to the putative fathers estate and the childs right to bear the fathers surname or title. Illegitimacy has also had consequences for the mothers and childs right to support from the putative father, in medieval Wales, a bastard was defined simply as a child not acknowledged by its father. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, that were acknowledged by the father enjoyed the legal rights. Englands Statute of Merton stated, regarding illegitimacy, He is a bastard that is born before the marriage of his parents and this definition also applied to situations when a childs parents could not marry, as when one or both were already married or when the relationship was incestuous. The Poor Law of 1576 formed the basis of English bastardy law and its purpose was to punish a bastard childs mother and putative father, and to relieve the parish from the cost of supporting mother and child. By an act of 1576, it was ordered that bastards should be supported by their putative fathers, if the genitor could be found, then he was put under very great pressure to accept responsibility and to maintain the child. Under English law, a bastard was unable to be an heir to real property, in contrast to the situation under civil law, a younger non-bastard brother would have no claim to the land. The Legitimacy Act 1926 of England and Wales legitimized the birth of a if the parents subsequently married each other. The Legitimacy Act 1959 extended the legitimization even if the parents had married others in the meantime, neither the 1926 nor 1959 Acts changed the laws of succession to the British throne and succession to peerage titles. The Family Law Reform Act 1969 allowed a bastard to inherit on the intestacy of his parents, in canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have also been considered legitimate. Since 2003 in England and Wales,2002 in Northern Ireland and 2006 in Scotland, still, children born out of wedlock may not be eligible for certain federal benefits unless the child has been legitimized in the appropriate jurisdiction. Many other countries have abolished by any legal disabilities of a child born out of wedlock. In France, legal reforms regarding illegitimacy began in the 1970s, the European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock came into force in 1978. Countries which ratify it must ensure that children born outside marriage are provided with legal rights as stipulated in the text of this Convention, the Convention was ratified by the UK in 1981 and by Ireland in 1988. Use of the illegitimate child is now rare, even in legal contexts. It has been stricken from passports and legal documents as needlessly insulting and stigmatizing to the child, terms such as extra-marital child, love child and child born out of wedlock are more commonly used. Also used in Britain and other English-speaking countries is bastard, though such as natural child are preferred in polite society
4.
Pope
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The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
5.
Liber Pontificalis
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The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V, although quoted virtually uncritically from the 8th to 18th century, the Liber Pontificalis has undergone intense modern scholarly scrutiny. The title Liber Pontificalis goes back to the 12th century, although it only became current in the 15th century, in the earliest extant manuscripts it is referred to as Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae and later the Gesta or Chronica pontificum. The attribution originated with Rabanus Maurus and is repeated by Martin of Opava, other sources attribute the early work to Hegesippus and Irenaeus, having been continued by Eusebius of Caesarea. Most scholars believe the Liber Pontificalis was first compiled in the 5th or 6th century, because of the use of the vestiarium, the records of the papal treasury, some have hypothesized that the author of the early Liber Pontificalis was a clerk of the papal treasury. The Liber Pontificalis originally only contained the names of the bishops of Rome, from Stephen V through the 10th and 11th centuries, the historical notes are extremely abbreviated, usually with only the popes origin and reign duration. It was only in the 12th century that the Liber Pontificalis was systematically continued, Duchesne refers to the 12th century work by Petrus Guillermi in 1142 at the monastery of St. Gilles as the Liber Pontificalis of Petrus Guillermi. Boso drew on Bonizo of Sutri for popes from John XII to Gregory VII, an independent continuation appeared in the reign of Pope Eugene IV, appending biographies from Pope Urban V to Pope Martin V, encompassing the period of the Western Schism. A later recension of this continuation was expanded under Pope Eugene IV, the two collections of papal biographies of the 15th century remain independent, although they may have been intended to be continuations of the Liber Pontificalis. The first extends from popes Benedict XII to Martin V, or in one manuscript to Eugene IV, the second extends from Pope Urban VI to Pope Pius II. The Liber Pontificalis was first edited by J. Busæus under the title Anastasii bibliothecarii Vitæ seu Gesta, a new edition, including the Historia ecclesiastica of Anastasius, was edited by Fabrotti. Another edition, editing the older Liber Pontificalis up to Pope Adrian II, muratori reprinted Bianchinis edition, adding the remaining popes through John XXII. Migne also republished Bianchinis edition, adding several appendixes, modern editions include those of Louis Duchesne and Theodor Mommsen. Duchesne incorporates the Annales Romani into his edition of the Liber Pontificalis, mommsens edition is incomplete, extending only until 715. Translations and further commentaries appeared throughout the 20th century, list of popes Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs. Liverpool, University of Liverpool Press,1989, Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs. Liverpool, University of Liverpool Press,2000, ISBN 0-85323-545-7 Stops with Pope Constantine, 708-715. Contains an extensive and up to date bibliography, Raymond Davis, The Lives of the Eighth Century Popes Liverpool, Raymond Davis, The Lives of the Ninth Century Popes Liverpool, University of Liverpool Press,1989
6.
Lateran Palace
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The Lateran Palace, formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran, is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome. Located on St. Johns Square in Lateran on the Caelian Hill, the edifice is adjacent to the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome. From the fourth century, the palace was the residence of the popes. The palace is now used by the Vatican Historical Museum, which illustrates the history of the Papal States. The palace also houses the offices of the Vicariate of Rome, as well as the apartments of the Cardinal vicar. Until 1970, the palace was home to the important collections of the Lateran Museum. Following the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the palace and adjoining basilica are extraterritorial properties of the Holy See, the site on which the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano sits was occupied during the early Roman Empire by the domus of the Plautii Laterani family. The Laterani served as administrators for several emperors, their ancestor Lucius Sextius Lateranus is said to have been the first plebeian to attain the rank of consul, one of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the emperor. The accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties, the Domus Laterani fell into the hands of the emperor when Constantine I married his second wife Fausta, sister of Maxentius. Known by that time as the Domus Faustae or House of Fausta, the equites singulares had allegedly supported Maxentius against Constantine. He commissioned the construction of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano the site, the domus was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine. As Byzantium grew less able to help prevent Lombard incursions, the became more independent of the Empire. Author Erik Thunø notes that the incentive to refurbish the Lateran Palace was to create a residence from which the pope could exercise not only spiritual. The pope’s palace at the Lateran in Rome was extensively added to in the eighth century by Pope Hadrian I. Leo III, built an enormous Triclinium and it was one of the most famous halls of the ancient palace and was the state banqueting hall, lined with mosaics. Nothing remains of this, but in 1743 copies of the mosaics were made from drawings, the Triclinium and the sala del concilio, an oblong hall with apse mosaic and five ornate niches on each side, were built around 800 to serve as the heart of papal ceremonial. Architecturally they were reminiscent of Byzantine imperial buildings in Constantinople, in the tenth Century Sergius III restored it after a disastrous fire, and later it was greatly embellished by Innocent III. This was the period of its greatest magnificence, when Dante speaks of it as all human achievements
7.
Castel Sant'Angelo
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The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel SantAngelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself, the building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The Castle was once the tallest building in Rome, the tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian, also called Hadrians mole, was erected on the right bank of the Tiber, between 134 and 139 AD. Originally the mausoleum was a cylinder, with a garden top. Hadrians ashes were placed here a year after his death in Baiae in 138, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who also died in 138. Following this, the remains of succeeding emperors were also placed here, the urns containing these ashes were probably placed in what is now known as the Treasury room deep within the building. Much of the contents and decorations have been lost since the buildings conversion to a military fortress in 401. The use of spolia from the tomb in the period was noted in the 16th century — Giorgio Vasari writes. Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, thus lending the castle its present name. A less charitable yet more apt elaboration of the legend, given the militant disposition of this archangel, was heard by the 15th-century traveler who saw a statue on the castle roof. He recounts that during a season of the plague, Pope Gregory I heard that the populace. A vision urged the pope to lead a procession to the church, upon arriving, the idol miraculously fell apart with a clap of thunder. Returning to St Peters by the Aelian Bridge, the pope had another vision of an angel atop the castle, wiping the blood from his sword on his mantle, and then sheathing it. While the pope interpreted this as a sign that God was appeased, leo X built a chapel with a Madonna by Raffaello da Montelupo. In 1536 Montelupo also created a statue of Saint Michael holding his sword after the 590 plague to surmount the Castel. Later Paul III built an apartment, to ensure that in any future siege the pope had an appropriate place to stay. Montelupos statue was replaced by a statue of the same subject, executed by the Flemish sculptor Peter Anton von Verschaffelt. Verschaffelts is still in place and Montelupos can be seen in a court in the interior of the Castle
8.
King of Italy
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King of Italy was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a military leader, in the late 5th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, the last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, although Napoleon I used the title from 1805 to 1814, it was not until the Unification of Italy in the 1860s that a Kingdom of Italy was restored. From 1861 the House of Savoy held the title as monarchs of the peninsula until the last King of Italy, Umberto II. After the deposition of the last Western Emperor in 476, Heruli leader Odoacer was appointed Dux Italiae by the reigning Byzantine Emperor Zeno. Later, the Germanic foederati, the Scirians and the Heruli, as well as a segment of the Italic Roman army. In 493, the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great killed Odoacer, Ostrogothic rule ended when Italy was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in 552. In the 8th century, estrangement between the Italians and the Byzantines allowed the Lombards to capture the remaining Roman enclaves in northern Italy. However, in 774, they were defeated by the Franks under Charlemagne, after the death of Charles III the Fat in 887, Italy fell into instability and a number of kings attempted to establish themselves as independent Italian monarchs. During this period, known as the Feudal Anarchy, the title Rex Italicorum was introduced, after the breakup of the Frankish empire, Otto I added Italy to the Holy Roman Empire and continued the use of the title Rex Italicorum. The last to use this title was Henry II, subsequent emperors used the title king of Italy until Charles V. At first they were crowned in Pavia, later Milan, in 1805, Napoleon I was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at the Milan Cathedral. The next year, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his imperial title, from the deposition of Napoleon I until the Italian Unification, there was no Italian monarch claiming the overarching title. The Risorgimento successfully established a dynasty, the House of Savoy, over the peninsula, uniting the kingdoms of Sardinia. The monarchy was superseded by the Italian Republic, after a referendum was held on 2 June 1946 after the World War II. The Italian monarchy formally ended on 12 June of that year, Guy of Spoleto opponent of Berengar, ruled most of Italy but was deposed by Arnulf. Lambert of Spoleto subking of his father Guy before 894, reduced to Spoleto 894–895, Arnulf of Carinthia Ratold In 896, Arnulf and Ratold lost control of Italy, which was divided between Berengar and Lambert, Berengar I seized Lamberts portion upon the latters death in 898
9.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
10.
Tiara
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A tiara is a jeweled, ornamental crown traditionally worn by women. It is worn during formal occasions, particularly if the code is white tie. Today, the tiara is often used interchangeably with the word diadem. Both words come from head ornaments worn by ancient men and women to high status. As Geoffrey Munn notes, The word tiara is actually Persian in origin — the name first denoted the high-peaked head-dresses of Persian kings, now, it is used to describe almost every form of decorative head ornament. Ancient Greeks and Romans used gold to make wreath-shaped head ornaments, the use of tiaras and diadems declined along with the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. In the late 18th century, Neoclassicism gave rise to a revival of tiaras, jewelers taking inspiration from Ancient Greece and Rome created new wreaths made from precious gemstones. Napoleon and his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais are credited with popularizing tiaras along with the new Empire style, napoleon wanted the French court to be the grandest in Europe and had given his wife many fabulous Parures which included tiaras. Queen Elizabeth II is said to have the largest and most valuable collection of tiaras in the world and she is often seen wearing them on state occasions. The Queen received many of them through inheritance, especially from Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, consort of King George V, purchased the Grand Duchess Vladimir tiara in the 1920s. It consists of numerous interlocking diamond circles, pearl drops can be attached inside the circles or emeralds. Queen Mary had a made for the Delhi Durbar held in 1911 in India. It is now on loan for wearing by the Duchess of Cornwall, wife of Charles, Queen Elizabeth II commissioned a ruby and diamond tiara. A gift of aquamarines she received as a present from the people of Brazil were added to diamonds to make a new tiara, other queens, empresses, and princesses regularly wear tiaras at formal evening occasions. The Swedish Royal Family have a magnificent collection as do the Danish, the Dutch, many of the Danish royal jewels originally came into the collection when Princess Louise of Sweden married the future King Frederick VIII of Denmark. The Romanov dynasty had a superb collection up until the revolution of 1917, the Iranian royal family also had a large collection of tiaras. Since the Iranian Revolution, they are housed at the National Jewelry Museum in Tehran, although usually associated with women of reigning and noble families, tiaras have been worn by commoners as well, especially rich American socialites like Barbara Hutton. Tiaras are generally a semi-circular or circular band, usually of precious metal, Tiaras are worn by women around their head or on the forehead as a circlet on very formal or high social occasions
11.
Pope John X
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It can also refer to John X of Antioch. Pope John X can also refer to Pope John X of Alexandria, Pope John X was Pope from March 914 to his death in 928. A candidate of the Counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli and he eventually fell out with Marozia, who had him deposed, imprisoned, and finally murdered. John’s pontificate occurred during the known as the Saeculum obscurum. John X, whose name was also John, was born at Tossignano. He was made a deacon by Peter IV, the Bishop of Bologna, where he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome. It was alleged by Liutprand of Cremona that John became her lover during a visit to Rome, regardless, it was through Theodora’s influence that John was on the verge of succeeding Peter as bishop of Bologna, when the post of Archbishop of Ravenna became available. He was consecrated as Archbishop in 905 by Pope Sergius III, during his eight years as archbishop, John worked hard with Pope Sergius in an unsuccessful attempt to have Berengar of Friuli crowned Holy Roman Emperor and to depose Louis the Blind. After the death of Pope Lando in 914, a faction of the Roman nobility, headed by Theophylact of Tusculum, nevertheless, whilst Theophylact was alive, John adhered to his patron’s cause. The first task that confronted John X was the existence of a Saracen outpost on the Garigliano River, which was used as a base to pillage the Italian countryside. John consulted Landulf I of Benevento, who advised him to help from the Byzantine Empire, and from Alberic, marquis of Camerino. John took his advice and sent Papal legates to King Berengar of Italy, various Italian princes, as well as to Constantinople, the result was a Christian alliance, a precursor to the Crusades of the following century. Meanwhile, Berengar brought with him troops from the parts of Italy, and the campaign was coordinated by John X. After some preliminary engagements at Campo Baccano and at Trevi, the Saracens were driven to their stronghold on the Garigliano. There, at the Battle of Garigliano, the allies proceeded to lay siege to them for three months, at the end of which the Saracens burnt their houses and attempted to burst out of the encirclement. With John leading the way, all were caught and killed, achieving a great victory. John then confirmed the granting of Traetto to the Duke of Gaeta, since King Berengar had defeated and driven the Roman Emperor Louis the Blind out of Italy in 905, he had eagerly pressed for the imperial crown. John X used this as a lever to push Berengar into supporting and providing troops to John’s great Saracen campaign, having completed his end of the bargain, Berengar now insisted that John do likewise
12.
Pope Sergius III
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Pope Sergius III was Pope from 29 January 904 to his death in 911. He was pope during a period of violence and disorder in central Italy. He also actively participated in the farcical Cadaver synod that condemned the pontificate of Formosus, although Sergius was actually elected, a rival candidate, Pope John IX, was also elected. With Lambert’s support, John was successfully installed as pope, and one of his first acts was to convene a synod which excommunicated Sergius and his followers. Sergius was then exiled by Lambert, fleeing to his see at Caere. Putting himself at the head of a faction of the nobility, Theophylact revolted against Christopher, Sergius accepted, and with the armed backing of Adalbert II, he entered Rome, by which stage Christopher had already been cast into prison by Theophylact. Sergius was then consecrated Pope on 29 January 904, all real power now devolved onto Theophylact, and Sergius essentially became his puppet. Perhaps the first clear sign of shift in power was the fate of Sergius’ two predecessors, Pope Leo V and the Antipope Christopher. According to the pro-Formosan Eugenius Vulgarius, Sergius ordered both men to be strangled in prison sometime in early 904 and that both men were murdered during Sergius’ pontificate appears probable, although other accounts state that Christopher at least was allowed to retire to a monastery. Given where the power lay, it seems more likely that either Theophylact gave the orders directly. For the remainder of his pontificate, Sergius promoted his family and members of his party to positions of authority. Pope Sergius III convoked a synod which annulled all the ordinations of Formosus and it was alleged that Sergius managed to get the consent of the Roman clergy at the synod by threatening them with exile, violence or through the use of bribery. The ruling was reversed again after his death. For centuries it was believed that Sergius then had the corpse of Formosus exhumed once more, tried, found guilty again. However, the source for this was Liutprand of Cremona, who placed the cadaver synod in the pontificate of Sergius III, instead of Stephen VI. ”Sergius rebuilt the Lateran Palace, which had been shattered by an earthquake in 896. Sergius refurbished it with objects, images and crucifixes, and decorated its newly built walls with frescos, in 905 he provided funds to the Church of Silva Candida, which had been devastated by a Saracen raid. He also helped with the rebuilding of Nonantola Abbey, which had suffered attacks from the Magyars, Sergius, like his predecessors, continued to defend the Filioque clause of the Nicene Creed, which was at odds with the position of the eastern church. Almost a century later, this led to the removal of Sergius’s name from the Diptychs by Patriarch Sergius II of Constantinople
