Marozia

Born Maria around 890, she rose through a combination of wealth, beauty, and ruthless political maneuvering in a Rome where noble families controlled the papacy as private property. She became mistress to Pope Sergius III and bore him a son; later popes granted her the extraordinary titles senatrix and patricia of Rome. Through calculated liaisons and dynastic marriages, she placed her bastard son, two grandsons, two great-grandsons, and one great-great-grandson in the Chair of St. Peter — a genealogy unmatched before or since. Alongside her sister Theodora, she ruled Rome through male surroga…