Marozia

Marozia
Senatrix and Patricia of Rome
BornMaria
c. 890
Rome
Died937
Rome
SpouseAlberic I of Spoleto
Guy, Margrave of Tuscany
Hugh of Italy
IssuePope John XI
Alberic II of Spoleto
David
Berta Theodora
FatherTheophylact I, Count of Tusculum
MotherTheodora

Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza (c. 890 – 937), was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles senatrix ("senatoress") and patricia of Rome by Pope John X.

Engraving depicting the wedding of Marozia and Hugh of Italy, from Francesco Bertolini, Historia de Roma.

Edward Gibbon wrote of her that the "influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora[1] was founded on their wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues: the most strenuous of their lovers were rewarded with the Roman tiara, and their reign may have suggested to darker ages the fable of a female pope. The bastard son, two grandsons, two great grandsons, and one great great grandson of Marozia—a rare genealogy—were seated in the Chair of St. Peter." Pope John XIII was her nephew, the offspring of her younger sister Theodora. From this description, the term "pornocracy" has become associated with the effective rule in Rome of Theodora and her daughter Marozia through male surrogates.

  1. ^ Here Gibbon (the author of the famous The History of the Decline of the Roman Empire) confused Theodora (the mother of Marozia) with Theodora (the sister of Marozia)