The houses of Tusculum and Spoleto are together the dominant secular powers in the central Italian peninsula, the one representative of the papal power and the other of the imperial.

Pope John XIX, born Romanus in Rome, succeeds his brother Pope Benedict VIII, both members of the house of Tusculum, on April 19.

Prior to being elected Pope, he had been an unordained layman and was therefore ordained a bishop in order to enable him to ascend the papal chair, having previously been a consul and senator.

John XIX plays a role in the process leading to the Schism of 1054 by rejecting a proposal by Patriarch Eustathius of Constantinople to recognize this Patriarchate's sphere of interest in the east.

Against the grain of ecclesiastical history, John XIX agrees, upon being paid a large bribe, to grant the title of ecumenical bishop to the Patriarch of Constantinople.

However, this proposal excites general indignation throughout the Church, compelling him almost immediately to withdraw from the agreement.

On the death of the Emperor Henry II on July 13, 1024, the new pope gives his support to Emperor Conrad II.