youngest, most enthroned Pope Benedict IX

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 ArchiveThe 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…