In the history of the papacy to the period between the appointment of Sergio III in 904 and the death of John XII in 964 it was called Saeculum Obscurum (the dark ages) although it is better known as Whore Rules or Pornocracy as collected in his Ecclesiastical Annals the 16th-century cardinal and historian Cesare Baronio . During this period the Popes were under the influence of two prostitutes:Teodora and Mazoria , mother and daughter.
Theodora and Mazoria
After the death of Leo V, supported by the Spoleto family and his cousin Theophylact , senator and magister militum of Rome, Sergio III is elected new Pope in 904. As a reward Theophylact was appointed vestararius (the one who controlled the finances) and later consul, and the wife of his senatrix from Rome. Theodora , his wife, also supported the new Pope… but from bed , where she helped him to make the most important decisions. At the age of 15, and following in the footsteps of her mother, Mazoria also passed through the Pope's bed with whom she had a son, Juan . After the death of Sergius III, Theodora would appoint the following three:Anastatius III (911-913), Lando (died after 6 months) and Juan X in 914. Two years later Teodora died and Mazoria took over.
In addition to Juan, Mazoria had another son, Alberico II , with her first husband Alberico I of the Spoletos. Her discrepancies with John X came shortly after and using the power of her second husband, Guy of Tuscany , she imprisoned him and he passed away under mysterious circumstances while in prison. Just as her mother did, he chose the following three Popes: Leo VI (for seven months in 928), Stephen VII (928-931) and John XI (931-935) (the son she had had with Sergio III). Her son, granting her absolute power, named her Senatrix Patricia Romanorum . After the death of her second husband, Mazoria tried to continue gaining power by marrying Hugo, King of Italy, but there was a big little problem… small because although she needed to annul her marriage her son was the Pope and big because her other son, Alberic II, led the opposition to that wedding.
Wedding of Hugo and Mazoria
Alberic II assumed the title of prince and senator of the Romans and he ruled Rome. On the day of his mother's betrothal to King Hugo, he had her arrested and locked up until his death in 936. The son assumed the role of the mother and continued to elect Popes until in 955 he appointed his own son, and therefore grandson of Mazoria and great-grandson of Teodora, Juan XII that he will occupy the throne of Saint Peter until 964.
Sources:Italy and the Papal Pornocracy, Saeculum Obscurum, Christian Pornocracy &The Rule of the Whore