by Deb McCoy | Sep 4, 2021 | Popes
This, in some ways is the story of two families who used to be close, but over the generations, grew to hate each other. You may remember Theophylact, the Roman dictator, who married Theodora, a member of the Crescenti family. Their daughter, Marozia, became a...
by Deb McCoy | Aug 26, 2021 | 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,...
by Deb McCoy | Aug 16, 2021 | Popes
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....
by Deb McCoy | Jul 20, 2021 | Uncategorized
The years 1002 and 1003 were very difficult for the papacy. In the previous year, the Roman nobles, under the leadership of the son of the slain Crescentius II, John Crescentius, had begun a revolt. It was a serious enough threat to the papacy that the young emperor,...
by Deb McCoy | Jul 10, 2021 | Popes
You may recognize Sylvester II under his given name, Gerbert of Auxillac, the phenomenal scholar of the early Middle Ages. Gerbert was born around 946 in Bellise, south central France. At around 17 years of age, he entered the Monastery of St. Gerald of Auxillac to...
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