Sexually active during their pontificate
Along with other complaints, the activities of the popes between 1458 to 1565, helped encourage the Protestant Revolt.
Pope Sergius III (904–911) was supposedly the father of Pope John XI by Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis
fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, “Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages”, as well as the Liber PontificalisLiber Pontificalis (first ed., 500s; it has papal biographies up to Pius II, d. 1464). However it must be noted that this is disputed by another early source, the annalist Flodoard (c. 894-966), John XI was brother of Alberic II, the latter being the offspring of Marozia and her husband Alberic I. Hence John too may have been the son of Marozia and Alberic I. Bertrand Fauvarque underlines that the contemporary sources backing up this parenthood are dubious, Liutprand being “prone to exaggeration” while other mentions of this fatherhood appear in satires written by supporters of late Pope Formosus.Fauvarque, Bertrand (2003). “De la tutelle de l’aristocratie italienne à celle des empereurs germaniques”. In Y.-M. Hilaire (Ed.), Histoire de la papauté, 2000 ans de missions et de tribulations. Paris:Tallandier. ISBN 2-02-059006-9, p. 163.
Pope John X (914–928) had romantic affairs with both Theodora and her daughter Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis
fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, “Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages”: “The first of the popes to be created by a woman and now destroyed by her daughter”. (See also Saeculum obscurum)
Pope John XII (955–963) (deposed by Conclave) was said to have turned the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano into a brothel and was accused of adultery, fornication, and incest (Source: Patrologia Latina).Template:Cite book p. 105 The monk chronicler Benedict of Soracte noted in his volume XXXVII that he “liked to have a collection of women”. According to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis
fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, “Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages”, “they testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father’s concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse.” According to The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, John XII was “a Christian Caligula whose crimes were rendered particularly horrific by the office he held”.The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, 1986He was killed by a jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery with the man’s wife.Peter de Rosa, “Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy”, Poolbeg Press, Dublin 1988/2000, pages 211-215.Hans Kung, “The Catholic Church: A Short History” (translated by John Bowden), Modern Library, New York. 2001/2003. page 79"The Popes’ Rights & Wrongs", published by Truber & Co., 1860Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912 (See also Saeculum obscurum)
Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, again in 1045 and finally 1047–1048) was said to have conducted a very dissolute life during his papacy.Catholic Encyclopedia article on Benedict IX Accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of “many vile adulteries and murders.”“Post multa turpia adulteria et homicidia manibus suis perpetrata,
postremo, etc.” Template:CitationThe Book of Saints, by Ramsgate Benedictine Monks of St.Augustine’s Abbey, A.C. Black, 1989. ISBN 9780713653007 Pope Victor III referred in his third book of Dialogues to “his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts. His life as a Pope so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it.”“Cuius vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda extiterit, horresco referre.” Template:Citation It prompted St. Peter Damian to write an extended treatise against sex in general, and homosexuality in particular. In his Liber Gomorrhianus, St. Peter Damian recorded that Benedict “feasted on immorality” and that he was “a demon from hell in the disguise of a priest”, accusing Benedict IX of routine sodomy and bestiality and was said to have sponsored orgies.Liber Gomorrhianus, ISBN 8876945172 In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to pursue marriage, selling his office for 1,500 pounds of gold to his godfather, the pious priest John Gratian, who named himself Pope Gregory VI.Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912, pp. 81-82.
Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) had a notably long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei before his papacy, by whom he had his famous illegitimate children Cesare and Lucrezia. A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. Alexander fathered a total of at least seven, and possibly as many as ten illegitimate children.The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Rodrigo Borja (See also Banquet of Chestnuts)