10. The pope was also fond of men, and sometimes ordered them to be procured for him
It wasn’t just women who were in danger around John. The issue of homosexuality remains a hot-potato for the modern Catholic Church, and despite a recent softening under Pope Francis many Catholics still see it as an abomination. So you can only imagine how anti-gay the 10th century church was, and how shocked it would have been to learn that Pope John XII, its head, was partial to young men ‘hung like a mule’. Indeed, he also housed male concubines in the Vatican Palace to cater for all of his desires, and was accused of hosting homosexual orgies.
When he decided that he needed a new lover, or his stock of male concubines had got sick of him and sneaked off, John would send his servants out to track down men meeting his aforesaid criteria. As with most of the accusations levelled at John, it’s hard to determine how much of the story about his activities with other men are true. After all, being accused of homosexuality was one of the worst insults you could receive in his day. Historians have suggested, alternatively, that John modelled himself on Roman Emperors, many of whom were known to be bisexual.
