Pope Sergius IV: The Last of the Crescenti Popes

Sergius is the pope who made the taking of another name common among popes. He was born Peter, son of Peter the Shoemaker and his spouse Stephanie. Apparently, he was referred to as Peter Pig Snout. Young Peter was born around 970 and grew up in the Pina area of Rome,...

POPE JOHN XVIII: THE SECOND ABDICATION

Giovanni Fasano was born into a priest’s family in Rome in the mid-900s. It was a time of extreme control of the Catholic Church by politicians, especially the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. John XVII died and Fasano, the pastor of St....