The Crescentii clan (in modern Italian Crescenzi) — if they were
an extended family — essentially ruled Rome and controlled the
Papacy from the middle of the 10th century until the nearly
simultaneous deaths of their puppet pope Sergius IV and the
patricius of the clan in 1012. Several individuals named
Crescentius who appear in the very scanty documentation of the
period have been grouped together by historians as the
"Crescentii." Some do seem to bear family relationships, falling
into two main branches, the Ottaviani and the Stefaniani, and
their policies were consistent enough, especially as regards
confronting the rival gang of aristocratic thugs, the Tusculani,
who were descended from the influential curial official
Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, ruler of Rome at the beginning
of the 10th century. Their territorial strongholds were situated
mainly in the Sabine Hills. The Crescentii had another
formidable enemy, whose power did not always extend to Rome, in
the German kings and emperors of the Ottonian