“Our” pope, John XII, ruled over Western Christendom from 955963 some six hundred years afterPope 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 thecity did vote for the pope, the vast majority of those votes were bought by powerful families who eitherhad a son or other family member “running” for the position. Essentially, the position of pope went tothe highest bidder. What's more the candidates for the position were oftentimes not exactly “paragonsof virtue.” As a matter of fact, some of them, like John XII did not know or care much about religion atall. What many popes and their backers cared about was POWER, and in the Middle Ages, the popewas considered infallible. In other words, he could make no mistakes, at least as far as it concernedmost the people.Kings and emperors were another matter, and at many times in history, the popes were tools of thosewho held military power. The pope, however, held the balance, for winning the pope over to your sidewas costly. In return for his support, rulers often had to pay bribes, give up land and at least to somedegree, 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. Thepractices, 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 hadtremendous power.John XIIBefore he took his “papal name” of John, he was known as “Octavianus.” His father, the powerful rulerof Rome, Duke Alberic II, named him after the first Roman emperor, Octavian – also known asAugustus, for Alberic wanted his son to follow him not only as the political leader of Rome, but aspope. Alberic's family, the Tusculum clan, had ruled the area for decades. They were rich, powerful andrespected, and Alberic himself was wellloved. After his death in 954, the rich and powerful in Romemade certain that Octavianus was elected pope, and the 18 year old became one of the most powerfuland richest men in the world as “John XII.”#popejohnxii #history #vatican #pope #holyromanempireCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com Managed by PodcastPayouts.com ----------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices