Pope John XI
Pope|English name=John XI|image=
|birth_name=John|term_start=
931|term_end=
935|predecessor=
Stephen VII|successor=
Leo VII|birth_date=
910?|birthplace=
Rome,
Italy|dead=dead|death_date=
936|deathplace=
Rome,
Italy|other=John}}
John XI (910? –
935) was
Pope from
931 to
935.
John XI was the son of
Marozia and
Alberic. According to
Liutprand of Cremona and the "
Liber Pontificalis", he was the natural son of
Pope Sergius III (904–911), ("Johannes, natione Romanus ex patre Sergio papa", "Liber Pont." ed.
Duchesne, II,
243).
His mother was the Roman ruler at the time, resulting in his appointment to the
Chair of Peter. Marozia was thus able to exert complete control over the Pope.
At the
overthrow of Marozia, John XI became subject to the control of
Alberic II (932–954), his younger brother. The only control left to the Pope was the exercise of his purely spiritual duties. All other jurisdiction was exercised through Alberic II. This was not only the case in secular, but also in ecclesiastical affairs.
It was at the insistence of Alberic II that the
pallium was given to
Theophylactus,
Patriarch of Constantinople (
935), and also to
Artold,
Archbishop of Reims (
933). It was John XI who sat in the Chair of Peter during its deepest humiliation, but it was also he who granted many privileges to the Congregation of
Cluny, which was later on so powerful an agent of Church reform.
*
John XI at Find-A-Grave*
Marozia
