Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum
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Theophylact I (before 864 – 924 or 925) was a Roman nobleman[1] and Count of Tusculum of Germanic origin who, together with his wife Theodora, controlled the city of Rome and the Papacy in the early tenth century.
Theophylact is mentioned for the first time in a document of 901 as palatine judex of the Emperor Louis III. Remaining in Rome at the command of a group of soldiers after the former's return to Provence, he became sacri palatii vestararius and magister militum of Pope Sergius III, effectively seizing control of the city. All subsequent popes of the period were elected at Theophylact's will.
His wife Theodora, a former prostitute, prevailed upon him to support her lover as pope and he was installed as John X in 914. Theodora’s influence established her next two nominees on the papal throne: Anastasius III and Lando. The influence of Theodora and her descendants over the papacy is known as the Pornocracy.
The heirs of Theophylact, the Tusculani, were the rivals of the Crescentii in controlling Rome, and placed several popes on the Chair of St Peter. Their eventual heirs were the Colonna.
