The Unspeakable Things Pope John XII Did During His Reign

“Our” pope, John XII, ruled over Western Christendom from 955-963 some six hundred years after
Pope Damasus. Damasus had been appointed by the Emperor Theodosius, but by the time of John XII,
popes were elected by the people of Rome. Well, that's kind of misleading, for while the people of the
city did vote for the pope, the vast majority of those votes were bought by powerful families who either
had a son or other family member “running” for the position. Essentially, the position of pope went to
the highest bidder. What's more the candidates for the position were oftentimes not exactly “paragons
of virtue.”

As a matter of fact, some of them, like John XII did not know or care much about religion at
all. What many popes and their backers cared about was POWER, and in the Middle Ages, the pope
was considered infallible. In other words, he could make no mistakes, at least as far as it concerned
most the people.
Kings and emperors were another matter, and at many times in history, the popes were tools of those
who held military power. The pope, however, held the balance, for winning the pope over to your side
was costly. In return for his support, rulers often had to pay bribes, give up land and at least to some
degree, listen to what the pope “suggested”, for the pope had the ultimate weapon – excommunication.
Being “excommunicated” meant that a person was no longer able to take part in Church rites. The
practices, such as Holy Communion, confession, and attending Mass. Without these rites and practices,
a person could NOT ever ascend to Heaven, and could not, at least in theory, associate with any
Christian, and all of the Christians in Western Europe at the time were Catholic.

The pope had
tremendous power.
John XII
Before he took his “papal name” of John, he was known as “Octavianus.” His father, the powerful ruler
of Rome, Duke Alberic II, named him after the first Roman emperor, Octavian – also known as
Augustus, for Alberic wanted his son to follow him not only as the political leader of Rome, but as
pope. Alberic's family, the Tusculum clan, had ruled the area for decades. They were rich, powerful and
respected, and Alberic himself was well-loved. After his death in 954, the rich and powerful in Rome
made certain that Octavianus was elected pope, and the 18 year old became one of the most powerful
and richest men in the world as “John XII.”

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