Who is the most notorious pope in history?

The Bad Popes

• Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber.
• Pope John XII (955–964), who gave land to a mistress, murdered several people, and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife.

How many evil popes were there?

7 wicked popes, and the terrible things they did.

Who was the only pope to have 3 discontinuous periods?

Pope Benedict IX
Pope Benedict IX (Latin: Benedictus IX; c. 1012 – c. 1056), born Theophylactus of Tusculum in Rome, was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States on three occasions between October 1032 and July 1048.

How many of history’s most infamous popes are there?

Here are the seven of history’s most infamous popes. Dan Jones discusses his book ‘The Knights Templar’ at the Temple in Central London, the physical embodiment of this medieval religious order that also trained warrior monks. 1. Stephen VI Pope Stephen VI began his reign on 22 May 896 and held the papacy for only a year.

Who are the 7 popes of the Catholic Church?

1 Stephen VI. 2 Sergius III. 3 John XII. 4 Benedict IX. 5 Boniface VIII. 6 Alexander VI. 7 Pope Leo X.

Who was the most controversial pope in history?

Alexander VI Alexander VI was an ambitious and ruthless politician, and is commonly considered one of the most controversial popes in history. When he came to power his contemporary Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici stated, “Now we are in the power of a wolf, the most rapacious perhaps that this world has ever seen”.

Who was the Young Pope?

Long before Jude Law played a scandalous pope in the television series The Young Pope, history’s actual youngest Pope ever, John XII (937 – 964), led a papacy that was even more scandalous in real life. He was elevated to the Holy See in 955 at age 18, and unsurprisingly, making a callow teenager pope did not turn out well.