John X (Pope)

Early career

John X was from Emilia-Romagna , from the village of Tossignano, near the Santerno River. His father was also called John. ^[3] He was made Deacon Peter IV, Bishop of Bologna, and in this post he attracted the attention of Theodora the Elder , the wife of Theophilactus I, Count of Tuskulum , the most powerful aristocrat of Rome. Chronist Liutprand of Cremona claimed that John became her lover during a visit to Rome ^[4] . Under the patronage of Theodora, John replaced Peter IV in the bishop's department of Bologna ^{[3] [5]} . He was ordained archbishop of Ravenna in 905 by Pope Sergius III, another nominee of the Counts of Tuskulum.

For eight years, as archbishop, John helped Pope Sergius III in his unsuccessful attempt to crown Berengar I of Friul by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and to remove Louis III the Blind ^[3] . He also had to defend himself against the usurper who tried to occupy his pulpit, as well as to confirm his authority in the Abbey of Nonantola, when the local abbot tried to get out of the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Ravenna ^[6] .

After the death of Pope Landon in 914, a faction of Roman nobles led by Count Theophilactus І called John to Rome to offer him the vacant papal throne. Although Liutprand argues that this was the result of the protection of Theodora the Elder, it is much more likely that John X’s elevation was promoted by his close relationship with Count Theophilactus I Tuskulumsky and his opposition to the acts of Pope Formosa ^[7] . Contemporaries criticized John for ignoring the decrees of the Lateran Council of 769 , which forbade the enthronement of the pope without an election ^[8] . However, as long as Theophilact I was alive, John X held to the business of his patron.

Saracen war and Berengar I coronation

The first task facing John X was the elimination of the outpost of the Arabs (the “Saracens”) on the Garigliano river, which they used to loot the Italian population. John X consulted with Landulf I, Prince Benevento , who recommended him to seek help from Byzantium and Alberich I, the Marquis of Camerini , the governor of the duchy of Spoleto ^[9] . John X followed his advice and sent papal legates to the king of Italy, Berengar I and the Italian princes, as well as to Constantinople , urging them to unite against the Saracens.

The result of the negotiations was the Christian alliance, the forerunner of the next century crusades. The forces of the new Byzantine strategist Bari , Nikolai Pichinglia, joined the troops of the southern Italian princes: Landulf I , John I and Dotsibilis II from Gaeta, Gregory IV and John II of Naples and Gwemar II of Salerno . Meanwhile, Berengar I brought with him troops from the northern part of Italy, and the campaign was agreed upon by John X, who called for the participation of Alberich I of Spoleto ^[10] .

After preliminary maneuvers in Campo Bakcano and Trevi, the Saracens were driven into their fortress on the Garigliano River. In the battle of Garigliano in June 915, the Allies besieged the fortress for three months, at the end of which the Saracens burned down their houses and tried to escape from the encirclement. John X stepped ahead of the troops, and Christian forces put the Saracens to flight, eliminating the Arab threat to mainland Italy ^[11] . Then, John X confirmed the provision of Traetto to the Duke of Gaeta as a reward for the rejection of his alliance with the Saracens ^[12] .

In 905, Berengar I defeated Louis III the Blind and was looking forward to his coronation with the imperial crown. John X used this as a lever to push Berengar I to support and provide troops with the anti-Saras campaign of John X ^{[10] [13]} . After completing his part of the transaction, Berengar І insisted that his father fulfill his obligations ^[14] . Thus, in December 915, Berengar I entered Rome and, after meeting with Count Theophilact I (whose support was provided for him), went to Pope John X in the Basilica of St. Peter. On Sunday , December 3, John X crowned Berengar I by the Roman emperor, while Berengar I, in turn, confirmed donations made to the Throne of St. Peter by previous emperors ^[15] .

Changes in the political situation in 924-926

Although Berengar I had the support of the Roman nobility and the Pope, he had enough enemies. In 923, the unification of the Italian princes against him led to the defeat of Berengar I and the disruption of the attempt to unite Italy. In 924, he was killed. ^[16] In 925, Count Theophilactus І Tuskulumsky died. Alberich I Spoletsky established his tyranny in Rome and was expelled by the townspeople and Pope John H. In order to restore power over the city, Alberich I called for the help of the Hungarians. However, the Hungarians were rejected by the Romans. Alberich І was killed in 925 for collaborating with the enemies of Rome. Pope John X, as a result of political regrouping, was threatened by the daughter of Theophilactus I, Marosia , who allegedly was unhappy with the connections of John X with her mother, Theodora the Elder ^[17] .

To combat this growing threat, John X invited Hugh of Provence to become the next king of Italy, sending a representative to Pisa to be among the first to greet Hugo. Shortly after Hugo was recognized king of Italy in Pavia , he met John X in Mantua and concluded a contract with him, which probably should have protected the interests of John X in Rome ^[18] . However, the rival of the Italian king Rudolf II of Burgundy demonstrated that Hugo was unable to help the pope, and the next few years were a time of anarchy and disorder in Italy.

Maroziya, meanwhile, married the marquis of Tuscany Guido . A power struggle began between them and John X. The brother of John X, Peter, was involved in it ^[19] . John X made Peter the duke of Spoleto after the death of Alberich I, and the growth of his influence was threatened by Guido and Marosia ^[3] . Peter was forced to flee to Lake Orta, where he sought help from the Hungarians. In 926, he returned to Rome accompanied by the Hungarians and was able to intimidate Guido and Marosia, and Peter was allowed to return to his former role as chief adviser and supporter of Pope John X. ^[20]

Relations with the East

Despite serious problems in Rome, John X was able to participate in church and political disputes throughout Europe. In 920, the Byzantine emperors Roman I and Constantine VII , as well as the Patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas Mystic, asked the pope to send legates to Constantinople to confirm the acts of the synod condemning the fourth marriage of Leo VI , and thereby end the split between the two churches ^[21] .

In 925, John X attempted to stop the use of Slavic liturgy in Dalmatia and impose mass in Latin on the local population. He wrote to Tomislav I of Croatia and Prince Mikhail Vishevich, asking them to follow the instructions received from the legates of John X ^{[22] [23]} .

A year later, a synod was held in Split, which confirmed the request of John X: he banned the ordination of priests who did not know Latin and forbade mass in Slavic, except when there is a shortage of priests ^[24] . Decrees of the Synod were sent to Rome to confirm the pope, who signed them and instructed the Croatian Bishop Nona to come under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop Spalatro.

At about the same time, Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria sent ambassadors to John X, proposing to abandon the obedience of his state to the Patriarch of Constantinople and go under the authority of the pope. However, John X sent two legates, urging Simeon I to reconcile with Byzantium ^[25] . At the same time, the pope confirmed the royal title of Simeon I and his descendants and sent the legates to crown the son of Simeon I - Peter I in 927 ^[26] . In addition, John X instructed the legates to act as intermediaries to try to stop the war between the Bulgarians and the Croats ^[27] .

Relations with Western Europe

John X was also active in Western Europe. At the very beginning of his pontificate, he spoke out in support of the German King Conrad I in his struggle against the German princes. He sent the papal legate to the synod of bishops, convened by Conrad I in Altheim in 916 , as a result of which the Synod ordered the opponents of Conrad I to appear before the pope in Rome, otherwise they could be excommunicated ^[28] .

In 920, John X was called upon by King Charles III of the Most Simple to intervene in the dispute over the bishopric of Liege, where the candidate of Charles III, Ildwin, turned away from him and supported the rebellion of the Duke of Lorraine Gieselbert . Karl III tried to replace him with another candidate, Richet from Prüm Abbey, but Ilduin captivated Richet and forced him to ordain himself a bishop. John X ordered both of them to appear before him in Rome, as a result of which the pope confirmed the appointment of Richet and excommunicated Ilduin ^[29] . When in 923 Herbert II de Vermandois captured Charles III, and John X was the only one who protested against this. He threatened Herbert II with excommunication if he did not return freedom to Karl III, but Herbert II ignored this threat ^[30] . Disregarding the pope, in 925, Herbert II made his five-year-old son, Hugo, Archbishop of Reims . Moreover, he stated that if the pope protested, he would divide the bishopric and divide his land among his supporters ^[31] .

John X also supported the spiritual side of the Church, in particular, in 914, he gave advice to Archbishop Reims Herve on the Christianization of the Normans ^[32] . He wrote:

“Your letter filled me with both sadness and joy. Woe is from the sufferings that you will have to endure not only from the Gentiles, but also from Christians; joy comes from the transformation of the northerners, who once revel in the blood of man, but who you say are now happy that they are redeemed by the life-giving blood of Christ. To this end, we, thank God, and beg Him to strengthen them in faith. Since they are converts, they must be subjected to serious canonical repentance for their return to paganism, the killing of priests and sacrifices to idols, we leave it to your judgment, because no one else knows more than you about the customs and customs of this people. You, of course, understand well enough that it is not recommended to handle them with the weight required by the canons, so that, thinking that they will never be able to bear unusual loads, they will not return to their old mistakes. ” ^[33]

In addition, John X supported the monastic reform movement of Cluny Abbey . He confirmed the strict rules of Cluny for local monks ^[32] . He then wrote to King of France Raul I , as well as to local bishops and counts, instructing them to put the monastery under their protection ^[34] .

In 924, John X sent a legate named Zanello to Spain to investigate the Mozarabic rite . Zanello responded positively about the ceremony, and the pope gave new permission to it, demanding only to change the words of sanctification ^[35] . The pontificate of John X was marked by the arrival of a large number of pilgrims from England to Rome, including Wulfhelm , Archbishop of Canterbury in 927 . Three years before the king of the Anglo-Saxons, Etelstan sent one of his nobles, Alfred, accused of plotting to blind the king, to Rome, where he had to swear to the pope about his innocence, but he soon died in Rome ^[36] . In 917, John X gave the Archbishop of Bremen the jurisdiction of bishops in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Greenland ^[37] .

Finally, during his pontificate, John X also restored the Lateran Palace, which collapsed in 897. ^[38]

Overthrow and death

The power struggle between John X, on the one hand, and Guido of Tuscany and Marosia, on the other, ended in 928 . Guido secretly gathered a detachment of soldiers and together with them attacked the Lateran Palace, which was guarded by the brother of John X Peter with a bodyguard and several soldiers. Peter was hacked away in front of his brother's eyes, and John X himself was thrown into a dungeon, where he remained until he died ^[39] . There are two opinions in the sources about the circumstances of the death of John X. The first version says that he was strangled in a dungeon for several months after the overthrow. According to another, he died somewhere in the year 929 in prison with his own death, from ill-treatment and depression ^[40] .

John X was buried in the atrium of the Lateran Cathedral, near the main entrance ^[41] .

Reputation and Legacy

For centuries, the pontificate of John X was rated as one of the most disgraceful in the history of the papacy. This was largely due to the fact that the chronicler Liutprand of Cremona was extremely hostile towards him ^[42] . He characterized John as an unprincipled clergyman, who became Theodora's lover for the sake of attaining the papal throne, and who occupied the throne of St. Peter as the puppet of Theophylact of Tuskulum. According to his version, he was killed to make room for the son of Marosia, Pope John XI ^[43] .

In accordance with the opinion of Louis-Marie Cormenin , John was:

“The son of a nun and a priest ... he was more occupied with his lust and debauchery than with the affairs of Christianity ... he was ambitious, stingy, devoid of shame, faith and honor, and sacrificed everything for his passions; he occupied the Holy See for about sixteen years. ” ^[44]

Nevertheless, the estimates of his pontificate have recently been revised, and now he appears as a man who tried to resist aristocratic domination over the papacy, helped unite Italy under the hand of the emperor, and it was for this that he was killed ^[45] .

Thus, even an ardent critic of the papacy, Ferdinand Gregorovius, saw in John X an outstanding statesman of his time. He wrote:

“John X, a man whose sins are known in history more than all his other qualities, seems to be one of the most memorable figures among the popes. Acts of the history of the Church praise his activities and his relations with the countries of the Christian world. And since he confirmed the rules of the Cluny movement, he is extolled as one of the reformers of monasticism. ” ^[46]

• Korelin M. S. John, the Popes / / Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons. (82 tons and 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Norwich, John Julius, The Popes: A History (2011)
• Levillain, Philippe, The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies, Routledge (2002)
• Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891–999 (1910)