THEOPHYLACT. - A Roman figure who appears for the first time in 901 in a placitum of Emperor Louis III, in Rome.

He was vesterarius, that is, head of the papal administration, but the titles with which he is subsequently invested attest to the progressive growth of his authority. T. was the most prominent figure of the anti-Formosan party, and his political position, considerably strengthened by the accession to the throne of Sergius III (v.), an old friend of his and of his family, brought to Rome by Alberic of Spoleto, an adventurer who had seized the Duchy by killing the last duke, was further consolidated by the marriage of his daughter Marozia to Alberic and by the rise to the papacy of John X (v.), which had come about through his efforts. T., flanked by Alberic of Spoleto, effectively seconded John X in the military expedition against the Saracens of the Garigliano and in the negotiations that led to the imperial coronation of Berengar I (v.), from whom a valid support was hoped for against internal and external enemies

(915). Alberic and T. died a short time apart from each other, shortly before 926, and their political legacy was taken up by Marozia (v.).

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: L. Duchesne, Les premiers temps de l'Etat pontifical, Paris 1910, p. 310 ff.; G. Falco, Albori d'Europa, Rome 1942, p. 357 ff.; id., Sancta Romana Respublica, ibid. 1943, p. 235 ff.; P. Brezzi, Roma e l'Impero medievale, Bologna 1948, pp. 97-109.

Gina Fasoli

@incollection{ec11_teofilatto_2, author = {Fasoli, Gina}, title = {Teofilatto}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {1950--1951}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/teofilatto-2} }

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Theophylact

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