Pope Benedict IX: very young, often enthroned

Theophyl­ac­t­us of Tusculum (c1020–c1056) became the youngest pope ever as Pope Benedict IX. The date of his birth was uncer­t­ain but his first papacy definitely started in 1032. Benedict was great-grandson of Marozia, a powerful Roman polit­ician who ?was mist­ress of Pope Sergius III. Via Mar­ozia, Sergius possibly sired Pope John IX. Several of Mar­ozia's descendants became popes, and Ben­edict's immediate predecessors were his loved unc­les Popes Bened­ict VIII and John XIX.  His father was Holy Roman Emperor Alberic. This was arguably the most power­ful Italian family, enabling the family to control the papacy for a century! 

                                          

Pope Benedict IX, c1030 

Hulton Archive

The Catholic Encyclopaedia said Benedict was c20 years old when he became pontiff. But the closest source to the pope himself was the monk-historian Rod­ulfus Glaber (985-1047). He was a critic of Benedict, but still he was one of the few contemp­or­ary sources available. He said the pope was 12 in 1032, the time of his accession! As did med­ieval scholar F Donald Logan, who wrote about Benedict IX in A History of the Church in the Middle Ages.

In terms of theology and activities of the Church, he was entirely orthodox. But Benedict was accused of sodomy, best­ial­ity and homo­sexuality; he was said to have held orgies inside Lat­eran Palace. Clois­tered monk St Peter Dam­ian was horrified and wrote a treat­ise ag­ain­st all sex, especially homosex­ual­ity. Damian’s Book of Gom­orrah said it had been ramp­ant within the Catholic Church for centuries.

Benedict was also accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of many ad­ul­t­eries and murders. As did Pope Victor III in his Book of Dial­og­ues. But Benedict came up with one sin that no one before or since has repl­icated: selling the papacy!

The first trouble came in 1036 when political oppon­ents tried to murder Bene­dict in St Peter's Basilica Rome during mass. But Ger­man Emp­eror Conrad II restored him to power before long, and Benedict stay­ed in Rome until 1045. In those years, he continued to steal and murd­er; fed up with him, the people of Rome again drove him out.

When Ben­edict was ousted, his enemies replaced him with the Bishop of Sabina, Pope Sylvester III. But it took only 2 months for Bened­ict IX to re-invade Rome with force, depose Sylvester and re­turn to pow­er again. Amaz­ing­ly Bened­ict allowed Sylvester to return safely to his old diocese, but Sylvester was later declared an anti-pope.

Benedict IX enjoyed his second papacy for c2 months, and then abdic­ated because his godfather arch­priest John Gratian gave him heaps of money. Bened­ict IX had really wanted to marry his cousin and decided he would finan­ce his new life by selling his pontificate to Gratian.

Benedict's tomb in the monastery, died at 35.
All That's Interesting

Grat­ian was a better choice for pope than his god­son. After sealing the deal, Gratian became Pope Greg­ory VI in May 1045. This deal annoyed Syl­vester III who imm­ediately sought to reinstate his own papacy. Gregory had bank­rupt­ed the church in buying out Benedict, so he couldn’t fight off a new claimant. His papacy lasted about as long as Sylv­ester's, but this time it took longer for Benedict to return to power.

Rome’s clergy broke into 3 factions, each supporting 1 claimant (Pope Gregory, Benedict, ex-Pope Sy­l­vester). So Henry III King of Germany & Burgundy invaded Rome and intervened. He met the candid­ates outside Rome in Dec 1046. King Henry wanted to resolve the crisis, so that the legit­im­ate new pope could quickly crown him as the Holy Roman Emperor.

But the Emperor had Sutri Council dismiss all 3 of them. Syl­vester tried to fight for his claim so he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pope Gregory admitted he was in above his skill-level and resign­ed. Even though Benedict was assured of the support of the libert­ine fact­ion, the young man didn’t show up for the pro­c­eedings and was deposed. So King Henry's selected Bishop Sugier of Bam­berg to become Pope Clement II at Christmas 1046. In return Clement quickly crowned King Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor.

Pope Clement II died mysteriously in Oct 1047, af­ter serving only 11 months as Pope. So Benedict seized the Lateran Palace in Nov 1047, and again installed him­self on the papal throne. But Benedict was driven away by Henry III's German troops in July 1048 who installed Pope Damasus II (July-Aug 1048) instead. Damasus died a month later from ?malaria.

Even after one of the shortest pap­ac­ies in history, Benedict IX did NOT go for a fourth papal term. Emperor Henry III returned to Rome and made Leo IX pope (1049-54), the man who ruled for 6 years and brought stability to the pap­acy. Leo finally put an end to Bened­ict's aspir­at­ions! Benedict retired to a monastery near Rome where he repented and soon died, at only c36 years old.

Emperor Henry III at the Synod of Sutri, 
rejecting all three contenders for pope. 
Hulton Archive 

Conclusion 
What a story! Benedict’s father got the Papal chair for him in Oct 1032. Benedict had three terms as pope: 1] from his election to his expul­sion for Sylvester III (Oct 1032–Sept 1044); 2] from his return to his sel­ling the papacy to Gregory VI (Apr–May 1045); and 3] from his return post-Clement II to Damasus II (Nov 1047–July 1048)'s start. He ruled during a tumultuous church era with 7 diff­erent, rapid papacies, the only man to have been Pope more than once.

Note the close subordination of pope to German emperor. In fact the ful­filment of the emperor’s supreme duty was to watch over the welfare of the ch­urch; the emperor was the representative of St Peter on earth. Thus the 962-1046 era saw the empire at its zenith and the papacy much weaker.

Thank you to Luciano Anastasi for The Tale of Benedict IX: A Papacy for Sale.

I am a great grandmother !!!

My maternal grandmother had 3 daughters, the oldest being my mother. My mother had 3 children, with me being the oldest. I knew that having a baby was more important to my family than having the most elaborate wedding in Melbourne or earning a Nobel Prize for Medicine, so they were delighted when I delivered two handsome and intelligent sons. 

Between the two boys, I have 5 handsome and intelligent grandchildren, very easy for me. No dirty nappies but I had the grandchildren one day a week and their parents looked after them during the rest of week. Plus grandma (me) was responsible for music events at school, walks though art galleries, and selection of history and travel journals.

Great grandson, born Ap 2026

Now a surprise! We are great grandparents! The baby was born last week, of average weight (3.2 ks) and reddish eyebrows and eyelashes like his father, grandfather and great grandfather. He is so handsome! My husband will take him to cricket and football matches, as long as I take the little one to the beach house and teach him to swim.

We understand that every family has to lose their grand parents, aunts and uncles, parents, siblings and cousins, and that eventually there is no choice but to get on with life as best as possible. We go to the cemetery every year on each anniversary but surround ourselves with photos in between time. Below is a photo of our 52 year old son who closed his business after the October War broke out in 2023 and volunteered to pick fruit on kibbutz while the young men went into the army. We are very proud of him for volunteering, but we miss him still.

Son volunteering on a kibbutz

just before he passed away at 52

Wallis Simpson: Britain's royal drama.

Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 
wedding day June 1937 
photograph by Cecil Beaton. 
Britannica

A familiar story was that handsome, popular Prince Edward was expected to marry an aristocratic virgin who’d become Queen when he became King. But at 37, Edward fell in love with divor­ced American, Wal­l­is Simp­son. No one thought the affair would last, especially after his coronation.

The 2019 book, Untitled: The Real Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor was the first to see Wal­lis as a warm, loyal, intelligent woman ad­or­ed by her friends; a woman written off by cunning, in­fl­uential es­tab­lishment men seeking to destroy her rep­utation. Author Anna Pasternak arg­ued that, far from being the villain of the British drama, Wallis was actually the vic­t­im. 

So in reviewing this book, I asked if there any legitimate, altern­ative views about Wallis Simpson, the woman whose relationship with Ed­ward VIII “precipitated” his abdication in Dec 1936. But was the real Wallis an opportunistic American social-climbing man­ipulator who nick­ed the British king? OR the true love of Edward’s life?

Or mere­­ly an unfortunate femme fatale who unwittingly laun­ched the greatest British royal crisis of the C20th? Edward’s dark nature was no sec­ret to the royal family, the church or the Parliament; everyone cl­ose to Edward knew that beyond his charming façade, he was imm­at­ure, self-centred and unfit to rule. Wallis begged Edward to stay on the throne and let her go.

"Untitled: The Real Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor"
by Anna Pasternak

From the reviews, some readers understood the auth­or's attempt to un-demonise Wallis, and make her more sympathetic to history. Wal­lis' difficult childhood and romantic past, before she met Edward, became clear in the book. She was orphaned as a neonate and felt shame in her adolescence about being the illegit­imate, poor relat­ion of an important Baltimore family. Read of her first disastrous, abusive marriage, followed by a tragic, un­req­uited love affair with a diplomat.

Wallis was flattered by Edward’s attention, but like everyone else, she never expected his jealous passion to last. Aristocratic aff­airs were always time-limited, and in any case she never planned to divorce her second husband.

Powerful men wanted King Edward, whom they considered weak and ill-disciplined, off the throne and they used Wallis as the reason. Here was a woman written off by a cun­n­ing, powerful British est­ab­lishment who sought to destroy and dim­inish her.  PM Stanley Baldwin and Cosmo Lang, Ar­chbishop of Canterbury, both had vested interests in dehumanising Wallis, as did the palace courtiers.

Wallis was accused of entrapping the prince in a sed­uctive web in order to achieve her impossible ambition to be queen. The royal court agreed, assuming that Wallis could only have had a “sexual” hold on the prince! Yet there was no evidence that their relation­ship ever became phys­ic­al. Or with any of her other husbands/lovers for that matt­er. Who knew that Edward was left ster­ile by mumps as a child, suffering from orchitis of the testes? or that Wallis had a medical condition that made conception impossible.

Nonetheless she ended up being manipul­at­ed into a tedious mar­riage (in June 1937) to a spoiled ex-King. During their marriage, Wallis undoubtedly worked hard to make Edward happy. But Pasternak argued that the abdication had made Wallis cruel and ab­us­ive towards Edward in their marriage; she was bitter about being trapped.

It was what Pasternak did not say that was neglectful. From his youth Edward had manifested a fondness for the German language and culture. In July 1933, he said it was “no business of ours to inter­fere in Germany’s internal affairs either re Jews or re anything else. Dictators are very popular these days. We might want one in England before long.”

Edward VIII abdicating on BBC radio,
December 11, 1936. 

Britannica

In Seventeen Carnations, Andrew Morton detailed Wallis’ close rel­at­ionship with members of Hitler’s cabinet, esp foreign min­ister Joachim von Ribbentrop. The extent of the couple’s in­vol­vement with the Germans was unproven, yet both royals were enth­us­iastic supporters of the Nazi regime. They had not simply befriended the Nazis to avoid another war. Morton called Wallis “nonchalantly rac­ist and anti-Semitic”, as a product of her era and cult­ure. Clearly both royals shared a racist, anti-Semitic worldview. One of Morton’s sources claimed both Wallis and the Duke were mak­ing anti-Semitic remarks at a dinner party. "People were horrif­ied when they made it perfectly clear that the world would have been a better place if Jews were extermin­at­ed."

Who was more pro-Hitler and who fol­l­owed? Hitler had been telephoned by Lord Halif­ax reg­ard­ing Germany's expan­sion­ist pol­ic­ies, att­empting to get their 2 govern­ments to negotiate.

3 days later the Wind­sor tour to Germany ended with a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Oct 1937 at Hitler’s Bav­arian retreat, The Berg­hof. There Edward and Hit­ler had a long discussion where the Duke en­couraged his “ally” to pursue Nazi policies in the East. Then the Windsors had an amicable tea with Hitler and left. A con­tem­porary observer des­cribed how the Duchess was vis­ib­ly impressed with the Führer’s personality, and ind­ic­ated that they had become fast friends.

Edward’s family banished them from UK. They spent the rest of their days in exile, in quiet devoted love for each other. 

In conclusion, Wallis never intended to divorce her second hus­band, Ernest Simpson, with whom she had a comfortable marriage. But the King forced her into an untenable position, refusing to ever give her up. In the name of his needy love, Wallis paid the ultimate price: entrapment by a child­ish narcissist who insisted on the two things he wanted most – her and the throne. He chose Wallis.

Anna Pasternak showed that Wallis Simpson was actually an intel­l­igent wom­an, written off by cunning, powerful men and for­ced into a life she never wanted, in a tragic story of betrayal. Pasternak read Wallis and Edward’s published letters and was haunt­ed by their tragic love affair.

This book was a reworking of earlier Wallis books, although there were in­deed important facts I didn't know about before. But, apart from feeling sorry for her long and lonely life, noth­ing much about Wallis has changed in my mind … or about Edward for that matter.

Jugendstil - Art Nouveau in Prague

Jugendstil was the art­is­tic style that arose in Germany in mid-1890s and continued until WW1 loomed. It derived its name from the Munich magazine Die Jugend-Youth, which featured Art Nouveau designs. Two phases were seen in Jugendstil: 1] the early pre-1900 style that was mainly floral in character, rooted in English Art Nouveau; and 2] a later, more abstract phase, growing out of the Viennese work of the Belgian-born architect Henry van de Velde.

The fate of Alfonse Mucha (1860-1939), Czech painter, ill­ustrator and graphic artist, worked in Paris at the turn of the century, then some time in the U.S. He returned to Prague in 1913. There he particip­ated in the décor­ation of several buil­dings, being an active proponent of Czech modern art. So if some of the Prague Art Nouveau artists came from Vienna or learned in Vienna’s architectural schools, especially Otto Wagner's, Czech artists grew their way into Art Nouveau. Wander around AN sites in Prague and notice that Prague Art Nouveau artists had their favourite decorative pattern: a set of tree branches with flat and overlapping leaves.

Some areas of the town were designed in Jugendstil style. But out­side the city’s inner centre, the general state of the buildings did not look good. The broken windowpanes, the falling plaster and the Art Nouv­eau door han­dles repl­ac­ed by standard ones were certainly due to the Russ­ian legacy. But there haven't been many reconstruction programmes as there were in western Europe, so most or­iginal Art Nouveau buildings were not pulled down in Prague.

Sunflower Door, Prague, 1900

Quora   

A romantic walk across the Vlata on Charles' bridge will show the great astronomical clock (unique except for Strasbourg Fr­ance), rectan­g­le stone towers, part of the ancient city wall with typ­ical steep slat­ed roof and four peaks in the angles. For Classical Music lovers, there is a concert in every church every day. Till 1918, Prague was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then became the capital of Czechos­lov­akia (and later the Czech Republic).

But from the later C19th, independence movements arose. These voi­c­es claimed political autonomy and also cultural autonomy. In any case, Prague was not as broadly spread then as it is today. So a lot of Art Nouv­eau buil­d­ings that are today in Prague were in fact in other little indep­endent towns eg Smichov. Modern Prague started in the 1920s, and like many other large towns of that time in Europe, the capital city grew rap­idly. The era was contem­porary with fast rural depopulat­ion com­bined with start of industry. All the city walls were razed during later in the century.

The Sunflower Door was part of a building designed in the Art Nouveau style that was popular ac­ross Europe at turn of C20th. This decorative style was charact­erised by its use of nat­ural forms, curved lines and intricate floral-plant inspired motifs. The door bel­onged to the Art Nouveau movement expressing love for nature, with a prominent sunflow­er being a central design element. The door was created in historic Prague, a city known for its wide range of architectural styles, from Gothic & Baroque, to Renaissance & modernist. The Sunflower Door contributed to the city's reputation as an architectural treasure trove and is a bel­ov­­ed detail among the city's many historic buildings. It was a beau­t­­iful example of how everyday obj­ects like doors were transformed into works of art in Art  Nouveau period, and remain today.

Hilbert House, 1904

Sidewalk Safari

This door was built in 1900 by Czech architect Osvald Polivka (1859-1931), associated with the Secession-Art Nouveau period in Prague. Expl­ore the feminine con­tent of image graphics. There is an ancient language structure that assigned either a feminine or mas­cul­ine attribute to an action. The person waiting to catch a ball is in fem­inine-passive; the ball thrower is in masculine-active mode. Sex­ual designations based on body functions have been part of lan­guage as a form of classifying & understanding the world.

Designed in 1904 by Czech architect Kamil Hilbert with period decorations by Karel Novák, this is Hilbert House. The nicely curved arabesque metal work integrates very well with the carving on this street entrance door. The arabesque style glass bord­er­ing etching adds an additional transitional detail between the interior and exterior of the window. The arabesque radial pattern above the door functions like other Art Nouveau doors.

Villa Henlenka 

designed by Alois Korda in 1903

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Villa Henlenka was designed by Alois Korda in 1903. With its angle tower and floral glazing, this villa accumulated many Art Nouveau and tradit­ional features. Although it is the best example of Jugendstil villa near Prague, today the villa requires a lot of renovations.

                                      

Municipal House, 1905-11

architect Osvald Polivka
Prague Now

Municipal House (1905-11), designed by Osvald Polívka, was Prague’s most vigorously art-nouveau building. Every detail of its design and decoration was carefully considered and every painting and sculpture was loaded with symbolism. The city authorities wanted a multi-purpose building which offered not only public services but also cultural events eg concerts in Smetana Hall. The most symbolic nationistic event in Municipal House was Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence, 1918. Extrav­agantly decorated both inside and outside by leading Czech artists, it conjures up fin de siècle atmosphere. Restored in the 1990s after decades of neglect, the perfect decorations are in the restaurant.

Grand Hotel Europa was once the jewel-in-the-crown on Wenceslas Square. When the hotel opened in the 1870s, it was a symbol of luxury unprecedented in Czechoslovakia. Over the years, the hotel rooms became outdated, but the facade remained sparing with Art Nouveau details.  After renovation in 1906, the hotel once again luxurious.  

Royal Hotel Europa, 1906

Wiki

Hilbert House (1911) was sculptor and architect František Bilek’s studio and home, complete with semi carved stones and bricks. The whole building has beklen designed by Bilek from the furniture to the door handles, a perfect building to be used as a Museum about Bilek’s sculpture work. Brick work masonry was articulated by pillars in form of corn sheav­es, trying to express Bilek’s view on substance of life. See Bilek Villa in WanderBook.

Dancing House, 1992-6

modern and deconstructivist architecture

Wiki

 

Dancing House was designed by Czech architect Vlado Milunić & Canadian Frank Gehry on a perfect riverfront space. It consists of 2 cylindrical towers in daring shapes, it resembles two people swaying and dancing to music. One tower one bends at the middle, curving back, inspiring many to think of Ginger Rogers twirling about in the arms of Fred Astaire. In a city known for 1000 years of art & architecture, this modern building in Prague provided a sleek and modern contrast to the Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau standouts all around the town. The French restaurant on the top floor is very elegant.

Read Petr Wittlich's book, Art Nouveau Prague, 2000

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