| abstract | - Although the pope, as the head of the catholic church is the spiritual leader for many christians, since the introduction papacy there have been a number of popes who have surrounded themselves with controversy.
* Pope Formosus, who was Posthumously' executed by his successor Pope Stephen VI, following the Cadaver Synod.
* Pope Stephen VI, who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber
* Pope Sergius III had his predecessors Pope Benedict IV and Leo V strangled to death in prission. In Rome, he was supported by 3 major families, one being the Theophylacts. One of their daughters, Marozia, he had a child, the latter Pope John XI. He is considered to be responsible for starting a period known as The Rule of the Harlots.
* Pope Stephen VII, who found himself being powerless under the rules of Marozia, Donna Senatrix of Rome and mother of Pope John XI.
* Pope John XI, who was just like Stephen VII powerless under the rules of his mother Marozia.
* Pope John XII, who was barely 18 years old, and showed no interest in anything spiritual. He was addicted to rude entertainment and was held back by nothing, doing as he wished regardless of his responsibilities.
* Pope John XII, who gave land to a mistress and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife.
* Pope Benedict VIII, who is lampooned in Dante's Divine Comedy.
* Pope Benedict IX, who was banned from Rome for his unholy behavious and was replaced by Pope Silvester III, who he sold the Papacy to. One year later he returned to marry and once more sold the Papacy, now to his godfater, Pope Gregory VI. Regretting the sale, he returned to try to depose Gregory VI, while at the same time, Silvester III also re-emerged to make a claim.
* Pope Urban VI, who complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured.
* Pope Alexander VI, who was guilty of nepotism and whose unattended corpse swelled until it could barely fit in a coffin.
* Pope Leo X, a spendthrift member of the Medici family who once spent 1/7 of his predecessors reserves on a single ceremony
* Pope Clement VII, also a Medici, whose power-politiking with France, Spain, and Germany got Rome sacked.
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