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"Well known for his histories of Norman Sicily, Venice, the Byzantine Empire and the Mediterranean, John Julius Norwich has now turned his attention to the oldest continuing institution in the world, tracing the papal line down the centuries from St Peter himself “ traditionally (though by no means historically) the first pope “ to the present Benedict XVI. Of the 280-odd holders of the supreme office, some have unquesationably been saints; others have wallowed in unspeakable iniquity. One was said to have been a woman “ and an English woman at that “ her sex being revealed only when she improvidently gave birth to a baby during a papal procession. Pope Joan never existed (though the Church long believed she did) but many genuine pontiffs were almost as colourful: Formosus, for example, whose murdered corpse was exhumed, clothed in pontifical vestments, propped up on a throne and subjected to trial;
ISBN : 9780701182908
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Pages : 528
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