Pornocracy: Rule by Harlots

If democracy is rule by the people (from the Greek words “demos” for people and “kratos” for power), and theocracy is rule by religious body, then what about pornocracy? Yes it’s real and no, it’s not what you’re thinking of.

In the tenth century, the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church fell under the influence of harlots in an era termed Pornocracy.

Pornocracy or the Rule of the Prostitutes/Rules of the Harlots or the more polite Saeculum obscurum (latin for the Dark Age) began in 904 AD with the installation of Pope Sergius III. The Pope was completely under the control of Theodora, the beautiful wife of Roman consul Theophylactus, who used sex to wield power.

Theodora’s 15-year-old daughter Morazia became the concubine of Pope Sergius III. Their son later became Pope John XI – the only illegitimate son of a Pope that later became Pope himself.

The era of Pornocracy ended with Pope John XII (the grandson of Marozia) in 963. He was so immoral that the Basilica of Rome was said to be converted into a brothel under his rule.