Pope Benedict IX (2nd reign)

This second reign of Benedict IX—born Theophylactus of Tusculum—was a brief restoration in 1045 after he expelled Sylvester III and reclaimed Rome. Within weeks, however, weary of conflict or seeking gain (and, according to some accounts, hoping to marry), he agreed to relinquish the papacy to his godfather, the archpriest John Gratian, who became Gregory VI, in exchange for a sum of money. This unprecedented sale of the Apostolic See became the central scandal addressed at the Council of Sutri and a rallying point for the eleventh-century reformers who sought to purge the Church of simony.