Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope
  • Rated 0 stars
Read Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope (2008) (edit title/settings)

by Eleanor Herman (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

Now, Eleanor Herman, author of "Sex with the Queen", exposes one of the church's deepest secrets, laying bare facts that have been concealed for 350 years. Mistress of the Vatican brings to life not only a woman, and a church, but an entire civilization in all its greatness . . . and all... read more

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

"We have just elected a female pope." —Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644.

Today's Roman Catholic Church firmly states that women must be excluded from church leadership positions, but they neglect to mention that for over a decade in the seventeenth century a woman unofficially,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

"We have just elected a female pope." —Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644.

Today's Roman Catholic Church firmly states that women must be excluded from church leadership positions, but they neglect to mention that for over a decade in the seventeenth century a woman unofficially, but openly, ran the Vatican. Beginning in 1644 and for eleven years after, Olimpia Maidalchini, sister-in-law and reputed mistress of the indecisive Pope Innocent X, directed Vatican business, appointed cardinals, negotiated with foreign ambassadors, and helped herself to a heaping portion of the Papal State's treasury. Unlike the ninth century's Pope Joan, whose life is shrouded in mystery, Olimpia's story is documented in thousands of letters, news sheets, and diplomatic dispatches. Knowing of Pope Innocent's absolute dependence on his sister-in-law, Cardinal Alessandro Bichi angrily declared on the day of Innocent's election, "We have just elected a female pope." Mischievous Romans hung banners in churches calling her Pope Olimpia I. Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino bewailed the "monstrous power of a woman in the Vatican." One contemporary wrote that women might as well become priests, since one of them was already pope. Born in modest circumstances, Olimpia was almost forced into a convent at the age of fifteen due to the lack of a dowry. She used deceit to escape, and vowed never to be poor and powerless again. Throughout her life, Olimpia exacted excruciating vengeance on anyone who tried to lock her up or curb her power. But her grisly revenge on the pope who loved her would be reserved for after his death. . . . Seventeenth-century Rome boasted the world's most glorious art and glittering pageants but also suffered from famine, floods, swarms of locusts, and bubonic plague. Olimpia's world was kleptocratic; everyone from the lowliest servant up to the pope's august relatives unblushingly stole as much as they possibly could. Nepotism was rampant, and popes gave away huge sums and principalities to their nephews instead of helping the poor. Dead pontiffs were left naked on the Vatican floor because their servants had pilfered the bed and stripped the corpse

Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “It is amusing that the relationship of Olimpia and her brother-in-law, which would ultimately scandalize all Europe, got off on the wrong foot.”
    Eleanor Herman, author
  • “The word nepotism has its roots in nipote, the Italian word for "nephew."”
    Eleanor Herman, author
  • “I am like a beaten horse. The beatings just make my coat glossier.”
    Olimpia
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • By the reign of Boniface IX (1389–1404), cardinals usually wore red robes as a sign of their willingness to be martyred for the church, though by the seventeenth century the color was mostly appreciated for its ability to conceal wine stains.
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • As the droves of papal children proved, it wasn’t sex that bothered the church; it was marriage, with its rights of inheritance of ecclesiastical property. Mistresses, male lovers, and bastards posed no threat to the prosperity of the church, as they had no inheritance rights. And so the word celibacy came to denote lack of marriage, rather than lack of sex.
    Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
  • To excise traces of women’s role in the early church, the apostle Junia, whom Paul hailed in Romans 16:7 as “foremost among the apostles,” was transformed into Junias, a male name that incorrectly persists in Bibles today. In the ancient Roman Church of Saint Prassede, the mosaic of Bishop Theodora has had the feminine ending of her name scratched off, leaving Bishop Theodo wearing a woman’s headdress.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • The tradition of sending smoke out of the Sistine Chapel chimney after each scrutiny—black for an unsuccessful vote, white for a successful one—was not instituted until 1903.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • Even on the highest throne in the world, we are still sitting on our ass. —Michel de Montaigne
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • Some forty popes up until the seventh century were the sons of priests. Several popes were the sons of popes. The major attack on priestly marriage did not occur until the late eleventh century, and even then, most priests ignored it.
    Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
  • But in 1929, in return for a huge lump sum, the church accepted the 109-acre Vatican City as its temporal territory, making it the smallest nation in the world.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • The Treaty of Westphalia stipulated that the Lutheran and Calvinist religions were to be officially tolerated by the Catholic princes of Germany, and ecclesiastical lands, whether Protestant or Catholic, were to be returned to whomever owned them in a year arbitrarily chosen, which happened to be 1624.
    Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
  • When in Rome, do as the Romans do. —Saint Ambrose to Saint Augustine
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
  • Well-behaved women rarely make history. —Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
    Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
Show all 13 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

On May 26, 1591, as his wife's shrieks pierced the air, Sforza Maidalchini wiated impatiently for the birth of his child.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One: The Girl From Viterbo
1. The Convent
2. The Wealthy Landowner's Wife
3. The Roman Noblewoman
4. The Brother-in-Law
5. The Papal Nuncio
6. Cardinals
7. The Black Widow
8. Conclave

Part Two: The Female Pope
9. The Vicar of Christ
10. Celebrations
11. Women in the Vatican
12. Vengeance on the Barberinis
13. The Despised Daughter-in-Law
14. The Imbecile Cardinals
15. Brith, Famine, and Bitter Peace
16. The Shoulder of Saint Francesca
17. The Holy Jubilee Year
18. Crisis of Conscience

Part Three: Unforgiveness
19. Honor and Dishonor
20. Olimpia's Triumphant Return
21. The Sudden Disgrace of Cardinal Astalli
22. Death of the Dove
23. Unforgiveness
24. Pope Alexander VII
25. The Two Queens of Rome
26. The Scourge of God
27. After Olimpia

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Eleanor Herman (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: William Morrow
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-124555-8
Page Count: 452

Classification edit see section history

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide
  • Virgins of Venice
  • The Cardinal's Hat: Money, Ambition, and Everyday Life in the Court of a Borgia Prince
  • Lucrezia Borgia
  • The Genius in the Design : Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome

We’re hiding the errata, reading level, movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

© 2006-2013 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close