This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosity's, A Production of IHeart Radio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

1,000 years ago, in October of 1032, a man named Theophalactus did the unthinkable.

He was named Pope at the age of 20.

He chose the name Benedict the 9th, and as far as we know, became the youngest person to ever hold the title.

Of course, this was no coincidence.

Two of his uncles had been popes, as well as his grand-uncle and great-grand-uncle. He was part of an unofficial papal dynasty, and his family's connections had been crucial to securing his election.

Unsurprisingly, his papacy was controversial almost from the start.

He was accused of making a mockery of Rome, living a hedonistic lifestyle.

We have no way of knowing which of these accusations were true and which were politically

motivated hearsay, but it's easy enough to conclude that he was not a popular

pope. In 1036, just four years later, Benedict found himself exiled from Rome. He would return

shortly after, thanks to the support of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, but he didn't get any more

popular, and rumors of his indiscretions only grew. In 1044, he was

exiled the second time, and this time local bishops appointed a replacement pope, Sylvester

the third. But Benedict 9th was not going to take this line down. Now in his early 30s, he rallied

and returned to Rome the following year, ousting his replacement. But something

had changed in his attitude. We don't know for sure if he was tired of being the Pope, or if the

...