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{{Short description|none}}{{pp|small=yes}}File:Portrait of Pope Paul III Farnese (by Titian) - National Museum of Capodimonte.jpg|thumb|Pope Paul III Farnese had 4 illegitimate children and made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the first duke of Parmaduke of ParmaThis is a list of sexually active popes, Catholic priests who were not celibate before they became pope, and those who were legally married before becoming pope. Some candidates were allegedly sexually active before their election as pope, and others were accused of being sexually active during their papacies. A number of them had offspring. There are various classifications for those who were sexually active during their lives. Allegations of sexual activities are of varying levels of reliability, with several having been made by political opponents and being contested by modern historians.

Background

For many years of the Church's history, celibacy was considered optional. Based on the customs of the times, it is assumed{{By whom|date=June 2021}} by many that most of the Twelve Apostles were married and had families. The New Testament (Mark 1:29–31;{{bibleverse|Mark|1:29–31}} Matthew 8:14–15;{{bibleverse|Matthew|8:14–15}} Luke 4:38–39;{{bibleverse|Luke|4:38–39}} 1 Timothy 3:2, 12;{{bibleverse|1 Timothy|3:2–12}} Titus 1:6){{bibleverse|Titus|1:6}} depicts at least Peter as being married, and bishops, priests and deacons of the Early Church were often married as well. In epigraphy, the testimony of the Church Fathers, synodal legislation, and papal decretals in the following centuries, a married clergy, in greater or lesser numbers, was a feature of the life of the Church. Celibacy was not required for those ordained and was accepted in the early Church, particularly by those in the monastic life.Although various local Church councils had demanded celibacy of the clergy in a particular area,CE1913, Celibacy of the Clergy, the Second Lateran Council (1139) made the promise to remain celibate a prerequisite to ordination, abolishing the married priesthood in the Latin Church. Subsequently sexual relationships were generally undertaken outside the bond of matrimony and each sexual act thus committed considered a mortal sin.

Popes who were legally married

{| class="wikitable"!width=10%|Name!width=10%|Reign(s)!Relationship!Offspring!Notes|Saint Peter|30/33–64/68

penthera) is mentioned in the Gospel verses {{bibleverse>	8:14–15		4:38		1:29–31	Healing the mother of Peter's wife>was healed by Jesus at her home in Capernaum. {{Bibleref2	9:5}} asks whether others have the right to be accompanied by Christian wives as does "Cephas" (Peter). Clement of Alexandria wrote: "When the blessed Peter saw his own wife led out to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home, and called to her very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, and saying, 'Remember the Lord.' Such was the marriage of the blessed, and their perfect disposition toward those dearest to them."Cited by Eusebius, Church History, III, 30. Full text at Clement of Alexandria, Stromata VII, 11.	Clement of Alexandria wrote: "For Peter and Philip begat children" in HTTP://WWW.NEWADVENT.ORG/FATHERS/250103.HTM	PUBLISHER=NEWADVENT.ORG, 2012-11-28,	Saint Petronilla. This is likely to be a result of the similarity of their names.ST. PETRONILLA, .HTTP://WWW.SAINTPETERSBASILICA.ORG/ALTARS/STPETRONILLA/STPETRONILLA.HTM >TITLE=ST. PETER'S – ALTAR OF ST PETRONILLA	ACCESS-DATE=2011-10-18,

Pope Felix III>Felix III|483–492|Widowed before his election as pope|Yes|Himself the son of a priest, he fathered two children, one of whom was the mother of Pope Gregory the Great.R.A. Markus, Gregory the Great and his world (Cambridge: University Press, 1997), p.8

Pope Hormisdas>Hormisdas|514–523|Widowed before he took holy orders|Yes	Pope Silverius.JOHANN PETER	WSTITLE=POPE ST. HORMISDAS, 7,

Pope Adrian II>Adrian II|867–872	Stephania (wife of Adrian II) >Stephania before he took holy orders,JAMES FRANCIS >LAST=LOUGHLIN	VOLUME=1, she was still living when he was elected pope and resided with him in the Lateran Palace|Yes (a daughter)	Anastasius Bibliothecarius, the Church's chief librarian.DOPIERAłA	TITLE=KSIęGA PAPIEżY	LOCATION=POZNAń	PAGE=106,

Pope John XVII>John XVII|1003|Married before his election as pope |Yes (three sons)		WSTITLE=POPE JOHN XVII (XVIII), 8,

Pope Clement IV>Clement IV|1265–1268|Married before taking holy orders|Yes (two daughters)	convent4	LAST=LOUGHLIN, Pope Clement IV,

Honorius IV|1285–1287|Widowed before entering the clergy		PUBLISHER=FIU.EDU	date=January 2013}}|

Fathered illegitimate children before holy orders

{| class="wikitable"!width=10%|Name!width=10%|Reign!Relationship!Offspring!Notes

Pope Pius II>Pius II|1458–1464|Not married|Yes (at least two)	Strasbourg with a Breton woman named Elizabeth died 14 months later. He delayed becoming a cleric because of the requirement of chastity.12	LAST=WEBER, Pope Pius II,

Pope Innocent VIII>Innocent VIII|1484–1492|Not married|Yes (two)		LAST=WEBER	Franceschetto Cybo to Maddalena di Lorenzo de' Medici>the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, who in return obtained the cardinal's hat for his 13-year-old son Giovanni, who became Pope Leo X.THE LIFE OF GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA >URL=HTTPS://ARCHIVE.ORG/DETAILS/LIFEOFGIROLAMOSA00RIDO	YEAR=1959	LAST=RIDOLFI, New York, Knopf, His daughter Teodorina Cybo married Gerardo Usodimare.

Pope Clement VII>Clement VII|1523–1534|Not married. Relationship with a slave girl – possibly Simonetta da Collevecchio|Yes (one)

Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence>Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence.George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy: The Families And Descendants Of The Popes, page 74: "Clement now made Alessandro de Medici "his illegitimate son by a slave" into the first duke of Florence", McFarland & Company, 1998, {{ISBN|0-7864-2071-5}}Mara Wade, Gender Matters: Discourses of violence in early modern literature and the arts, Editions Rodopi, 2013

Known to or suspected of having fathered illegitimate children after receiving holy orders {| class"wikitable"

!width=10%|Name!width=10%|Reign!Relationship!Offspring!Notes

Pope Julius II>Julius II|1503–1513|Not married|Yes (three daughters)	Felice della Rovere (born in 1483, twenty years before his election as pope, and twelve years after his enthronement as bishop of Lausanne).8	LAST=OTT	Conciliabulum of Pisa, which sought to depose him in 1511, also accused him of being a "sodomy>sodomite".Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization, page 278 (Harvard University Press, 2006) {{ISBN|978-0-674-01197-7}}

Pope Paul III>Paul III|1534–1549|Not married. Silvia Ruffini as mistress|Yes (three sons and one daughter)	Pier Luigi Farnese the first duke of Parma.Jean de Pins, Letters and Letter Fragments, page 292, footnote 5 (Libraire Droze S.A., 2007) {{ISBN>978-2-600-01101-3}}Katherine McIver, Women, Art, And Architecture in Northern Italy, 1520–1580: Negotiating Power, page 26 (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2006) {{ISBN|0-7546-5411-7}}

Pope Pius IV>Pius IV|1559–1565|Not married|Allegedly three		TITLE=PIUS IV AND THE FALL OF THE CARAFA: NEPOTISM AND PAPAL AUTHORITY IN COUNTER-REFORMATION ROME (PAGE 34)	LOCATION=OXFORD, 2013,

Pope Gregory XIII>Gregory XIII|1572–1585|Not married. Affair with Maddalena Fulchini|Yes	Giacomo Boncompagni in 1548. Giacomo remained illegitimate, with Gregory later appointing him Gonfalonier of the Church, governor of the Castel Sant'Angelo and Fermo.7	LAST=OTT		PUBLISHER=FIU.EDU	ACCESS-DATE=2011-10-18,

Pope Leo XII>Leo XII|1823–1829|Not married|Allegedly three|As a young prelate, he came under suspicion of having a liaison with the wife of a Swiss Guard soldier and as nuncio in Germany allegedly fathered three illegitimate children.Letters from Rome in: The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, Tom 11, pp. 468–471.

Popes alleged to be sexually active during pontificate

A majority of the allegations made in this section are disputed by modern historians.

Relationships with women{| class"wikitable"

!width=10%|Name!width=10%|Reign!Relationship!Offspring!Notes

Pope Sergius III>Sergius III{{efn	This allegation is disputed by some modern historians.}}|904–911|Not married|Yes (at least one)	Pope John XI by Marozia, the fifteen year old daughter of Theodora (senatrix)>Theodora and Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum.CE1913, 13	last=Mann	Papal Genealogy: The family and descendants of the Popes, McFarland, 1998 Such accusations lay in Liutprand of Cremona's AntapodosisHTTP://FMG.AC/FMG/POPES.PDF	LAST=BROOK	URL-STATUS=DEAD	ARCHIVE-DATE=2008-04-13, and the Liber Pontificalis.Liber Pontificalis (first ed., 500s; it has papal biographies up to Pius II, d. 1464)Reverend Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Volumes 1–13 quote: "Was John XI the son of Pope Sergius by the abandoned Marozia? Liutprand says he was, and so does the author of the anonymous catalogue in the Liber Pontificalis in his one-line notice of John XI." (1928)Anura Gurugé, The Next Pope: After Pope Benedict XVI, page 37: "John XI (#126) would also appear to have been born out of wedlock. His mother, Marozia, from the then powerful Theophylacet family, was around sixteen years old at the time. Liber Pontificalis, among others, claim that Sergius III (#120), during his tenure as pope, was the father." (WOWNH LLC, 2010). {{ISBN	Flodoard (c. 894–966): John XI was the brother of Alberic II of Spoleto>Alberic II, the latter being the offspring of Marozia and her husband Alberic I of Spoleto	, so John too may have been the son of Marozia and Alberic I.{{fact>date=October 2023}} Fauvarque emphasizes that contemporary sources are dubious, Liutprand being "prone to exaggeration" while other mentions of this fatherhood appear in satires written by supporters of Pope Formosus.Fauvarque, Bertrand (2003). "De la tutelle de l'aristocratie italienne à celle des empereurs germaniques". In Y.-M. Hilaire (Ed.), Histoire de la papauté, 2000 ans de missions et de tribulations. Paris:Tallandier. {{ISBN|2-02-059006-9}}, p. 163.

Pope John X>John X{{efn	This allegation is disputed by some modern historians.}}|914–928|Not married. Affairs with Theodora and Marozia.|No	Theodora (senatrix)>Theodora and her daughter Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis.George Williams, Papal Genealogy: The family and descendants of the Popes, McFarland, 1998Joseph McCabe, Crises in The history of The Papacy: A Study of Twenty Famous Popes whose Careers and whose Influence were important in the Development of The Church and in The History of The World, page 130 (New York; London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916) However, Monsignor Johann Peter Kirsch (ecclesiastical historian and Catholic priest) wrote, "This statement is, however, generally and rightly rejected as a calumny. Liutprand wrote his history some fifty years later, and constantly slandered the Romans, whom he hated."Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope John X." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 September 2017

Pope John XII>John XII|955–964|Not married|No	adultery and incest.8	LAST=KIRSCH		TITLE=DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN CHURCH	PUBLISHER=BANTAM BOOKS	ISBN=0-553-22944-3,weblink p. 105 Benedict of Soracte noted that he had "a collection of women". According to Liutprand of Cremona, "they testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse". According to Chamberlin, John was "a Christian Caligula whose crimes were rendered particularly horrific by the office he held".The Bad Popes by E. R. Chamberlin Some sources report that he died eight days after being stricken by paralysis while in the act of adultery, others that he was killed by the jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery.Peter de Rosa, Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy, Poolbeg Press, Dublin 1988/2000, pages 211–215.Hans Kung, The Catholic Church: A Short History (translated by John Bowden), Modern Library, New York. 2001/2003. page 79The Popes' Rights & Wrongs, published by Truber & Co., 1860Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912

Pope Alexander VI>Alexander VI|1492–1503|Not married. Relationships with Vanozza dei Catanei and Giulia Farnese.|Possibly	Vannozza dei Cattanei while still a priest, and before he became pope; and by her had his illegitimate children Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandia>Giovanni Borgia, Gioffre Borgia, and Lucrezia Borgia	.George Williams, Papal Genealogy: The family and descendants of the Popes, McFarland, 1998 G. J. Meyer has argued that the birth dates of the four in comparison with Alexander's known whereabouts actually preclude him having fathered any of them.G. J. MEYER	ISBN=978-0345526922	CHAPTER=BACKGROUND: THE PATERNITY QUESTION: AN APOLOGY, A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, giving birth to a daughter Laura while Alexander was in his 60s and reigning as pope.Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners: A history of the popes, Yale University Press, 2006

Relationships with men{| class"wikitable"

!width=10%|Name!width=10%|Reign!Relationship!Notes

Pope Paul II>Paul II|1464–1471	Page (servant)>page	indigestion arising from eating melon,Paolo II in Enciclopedia dei Papi", Enciclopedia Treccani,weblink"Vita Pauli Secundi Pontificis Maximi", Michael Canensius, 1734 p. 175 though his opponents alleged he died while being sodomized by a page.Leonie Frieda, The Deadly Sisterhood: A Story of Women, Power, and Intrigue in the Italian Renaissance, 1427–1527, chapter 3 (HarperCollins, 2013) {{ISBN>978-0-06-156308-9}}Karlheinz Deschner, Storia criminale del cristianesimo (tomo VIII), Ariele, Milano, 2007, pag. 216. Nigel Cawthorne, Das Sexleben der Päpste. Die Skandalchronik des Vatikans, Benedikt Taschen Verlag, Köln, 1999, pag. 171.Claudio Rendina, I Papi, Storia e Segreti, Newton Compton, Roma, 1983, p. 589

Pope Sixtus IV>Sixtus IV{{efn	This allegation is disputed by some modern historians.}}|1471–1484|Not married	Stefano Infessura, Sixtus was a "lover of boys and sodomy>sodomites" – awarding benefices and bishoprics in return for sexual favours, and nominating a number of young men as cardinals, some of whom were celebrated for their good looks.HTTPS://BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM/BOOKS?ID=BM6DAZ1TEFOC >TITLE=STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX â€” HAVELOCK ELLIS â€” GOOGLE BOEKEN	ACCESS-DATE=2013-06-23	FIRST1=HAVELOCK, CAWTHORNE >FIRST=NIGEL	PUBLISHER=PRION	PAGE=160	185375546X, uk, }}Stefano Infessura, Diario della città di Roma (1303–1494), Ist. St. italiano, Tip. Forzani, Roma 1890, pp. 155–156 Infessura had partisan allegiances to the Colonna family and so is not considered to be always reliable or impartial.Egmont Lee, Sixtus IV and Men of Letters, Rome, 1978

Pope Leo X>Leo X{{efn	This allegation is disputed by some modern historians.}}|1513–1521|Not married	Francesco Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio). Falconi suggests he may have offered preferment to Marcantonio Flaminio because he was attracted to him.C. Falconi, Leone X, Milan, 1987 Historians have dealt with the issue of Leo's sexuality at least since the late 18th century, and few have given credence to the imputations made against him in his later years and decades following his death, or else have at least regarded them as unworthy of notice; without necessarily reaching conclusions on whether he was homosexual.Those who have rejected the evidence include: Fabroni, Angelo, Leone X: Pontificis Maximi Vita, Pisa (1797) at p. 165 with note 84; {{harvnb>Roscoe	pp=478–486}}; and {{harv	1908	Ferdinand Gregorovius>Gregorovius, Ferdinand, History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages Eng. trans. Hamilton, Annie, London (1902, vol. VIII.1), p. 243; {{harvnb	1908	Carlton J. H. Hayes>Hayes, Carlton Huntley, article "Leo X" in The Encyclopædia Britannica, Cambridge (1911, vol. XVI); Mandell Creighton	, A History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome, London (new edn., 1919), vol. 6, p. 210; Pellegrini, Marco, articles "Leone X" in Enciclopedia dei Papi, (2000, vol.3) and Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (2005, vol. 64); and Paul Strathern>Strathern, Paul The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance (a popular history), London (2003, pbk 2005), p. 277. Of these, Ludwig von Pastor and Hayes are known Catholics, and Roscoe, Gregorovius, and Creighton are known non-Catholics.

Pope Julius III>Julius III|1550–1555|Not married. Alleged affair with enobled cardinal	Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte, who rose from beggar to cardinal under Julius' patronage.CROMPTOM	DATE=2007-10-11	URL=HTTP://WWW.GLBTQ.COM/SOCIAL-SCIENCES/JULIUS_III.HTML	ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20071011091614/HTTP://WWW.GLBTQ.COM/SOCIAL-SCIENCES/JULIUS_III.HTML		TITLE=IDEALIZED MALE FRIENDSHIP IN FRENCH NARRATIVE FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT	YEAR=2003	EDITION=1ST	PAGES=69, English,

Relationships with women and men

{| class="wikitable"!width=10%|Name!width=10%|Reign!Relationship!Offspring!Notes|Benedict IX|1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048|Not married|No

Piacenza of "many vile adulteries"."Post multa turpia adulteria et homicidia manibus suis perpetrata, postremo, etc." DüMMLER

AUTHOR-LINK=ERNST DüMMLER

PUBLISHER=DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FüR ERFORSCHUNG DES MITTELALTERS

LOCATION=HANNOVER

VOLUME=I

URL=HTTP://WWW.UAN.IT/ALIM/LETTERATURA.NSF/(VOLUMIID)/A9E60829767DA2D2C1256D6B0074177B/$FILE/ALIMBONIZOADAMICUM.DOC?OPENELEMENT

URL-STATUS=DEAD

ARCHIVE-DATE=2007-07-13, The Book of Saints, by Ramsgate Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, A. C. Black, 1989. {{ISBN

Victor III referred in his third book of Dialogues to "his rapes… and other unspeakable acts"."Cuius vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda extiterit, horresco referre." VICTOR III

AUTHOR-LINK=POPE VICTOR III

PUBLISHER=DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FüR ERFORSCHUNG DES MITTELALTERS

LOCATION=HANNOVER

EDITION=DIALOGI DE MIRACULIS SANCTI BENEDICTI LIBER TERTIUS AUCTORE DESIDERIO ABBATE CASINENSIS

ACCESS-DATE=2008-01-03

ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20070715072854/HTTP://WWW.UAN.IT/ALIM/LETTERATURA.NSF/%28VOLUMIID%29/D8115E7BB6446DC9C1256D660075CE62/%24FILE/ALIMDESIDERIODIALOGI.DOC?OPENELEMENT, 2007-07-15, In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to get married.Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912, pp. 81–82.

See also

• Pope Joan
• Antipope John XXIII
• Antipope Felix V
• History of clerical celibacy in the Christian Church

Notes

{{notelist}}{{reflist}}

References

• Bunson, Matthew, The Pope Encyclopedia: An A to Z of the Holy See, Crown Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1995.
• Cawthorne, Nigel, Sex Lives of the Popes, Prion, London, 1996.
• Chamberlin, E.R.,The Bad Popes, Sutton History Classics, 1969 / Dorset; New Ed edition 2003.
• Mathieu-Rosay, Jean, La véritable histoire des papes, Grancher, Paris, 1991
• McBrien, Richard P., Lives of the Popes, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1997.
• BOOK, Pastor, Ludwig von, Ludwig von Pastor, 1908, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages; Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican and other original sources, 8, London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, {{GBurl, uqUPAAAAMAAJ, }} (English translation)
• BOOK, Roscoe, William, William Roscoe, 1806, The Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth, 2nd, 4, London,
• Schimmelpfennig, Bernhard, The Papacy, Columbia University Press, New York, 1984.
• BOOK, Vaughan, Herbert M., 1908, The Medici Popes,weblink London, Methuen & Co.,
• Wilcox, John, Popes and Anti-Popes, Xlibris Corporation, 2005.{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}
• Williams, George L., Papal Genealogy, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina, 1998.