The Bad Popes
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Narrated by:
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Nigel Patterson
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By:
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E.R. Chamberlin
About this listen
A dramatic account of some of the most notorious figures of medieval and Renaissance history who ruled from the Eternal City. It is sure to grip fans of John Julius Norwich, Tom Holland, and Peter Ackroyd.
The papal tiara has been worn by a number of infamous men through the course of its history.
Some have been accused of murder, many have had mistresses, while others sold positions in the church to their followers or gave land and wealth to their illegitimate children.
E. R. Chamberlin examines the lives of eight of the most controversial popes to have ruled over the Holy See, from the reign of Pope Stephen VI, who had his predecessor exhumed, put on trial and thrown in the Tiber, in the ninth century, through to Pope Clement VII, the second Medici pope, whose failed international policy led to the Sack of Rome in 1527.
The Bad Popes explains how during these six centuries the papal monarchy rose to its greatest heights, as popes attempted to assert not only their spiritual authority but also their temporal power, only for it to come crashing down.
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James Romm seamlessly weaves together the life and written words, the moral struggles, political intrigue, and bloody vengeance that enmeshed Seneca the Younger in the twisted imperial family and the perverse, paranoid regime of Emperor Nero, despot and madman.
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Outstanding
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Evil Roman Emperors
- The Shocking History of Ancient Rome's Most Wicked Rulers from Caligula to Nero and More
- By: Phillip Barlag
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Roman history, from the very foundation of the city, is replete with people and stories that shock our modern sensibilities. Evil Roman Emperors puts the worst of Rome's rulers in one place and offers a review of their lives and a historical context for what made them into what they became.
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Brisket and nu potato
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By: Phillip Barlag
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The White Ship
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By 1120, Henry was perhaps the most formidable ruler in Europe, with an enviable record on the battlefield, immense lands and wealth and unprecedented authority in his kingdoms. Everything he had worked so hard for was finally achieved, and he was ready to hand it on to his beloved son and heir, William Ætheling. Henry I and his retinue set out first. The White Ship - considered the fastest afloat - would follow, carrying the young prince. Spoilt and arrogant, William had plied his comrades and crew with drink from the minute he stepped aboard....
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Brilliant and concise
- By Kindle Customer on 11-28-20
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Crown & Sceptre
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Since William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, crossed the English Channel in 1066 to defeat King Harold II and unite England’s various kingdoms, 41 kings and queens have sat on Britain’s throne. “Shining examples of royal power and majesty alongside a rogue’s gallery of weak, lazy, or evil monarchs,” as Tracy Borman describes them in her sparkling chronicle, Crown & Sceptre.
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Great book for those new to the monarchy
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Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Her Successors
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The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, queen seductresses, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of southern Europe - these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill.
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A real Masterpiece!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-30-21
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Absolute Monarchs
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With the papacy embattled in recent years, it is essential to have the perspective of one of the world's most accomplished historians. In Absolute Monarchs, John Julius Norwich captures nearly 2,000 years of inspiration and devotion, intrigue and scandal. The men (and maybe one woman) who have held this position of infallible power over millions have ranged from heroes to rogues, admirably wise to utterly decadent.
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A relentless succession of very old men
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The Medici
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Against the background of an age that saw the rebirth of ancient and classical learning, Paul Strathern explores the intensely dramatic rise and fall of the Medici family in Florence as well as the Italian Renaissance, which they did so much to sponsor and encourage. Interwoven into the narrative are the lives of many of the great Renaissance artists with whom the Medici had dealings, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello as well as scientists like Galileo and Pico della Mirandola.
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Fun Story Bad History
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Crusaders
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For more than 1,000 years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in 1099, they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era.
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Gripping but not tidy
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The Brothers York is the story of three remarkable brothers, two of whom were crowned kings of England and the other an heir presumptive, whose antagonism was fueled by the mistrust and vendettas of the age that brought their family to power. The house of York should have been the dynasty that the Tudors became. Its tragedy was that it devoured itself.
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Absorbing detail
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Awful narration!
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By: Nancy Goldstone
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Beginning with Rodrigo Borgia, Chamberlin charts this intelligent but ruthless man's passage to the top. He uncovers how, as Pope Alexander VI, he directed his family to carve out a Borgia kingdom in the heart of Italy. The chaotic intrigues, alliances, and wars that Cesare and Lucrezia became embroiled with are exposed in fascinating detail as competing dynasties and cities struggled for survival before the family's fortunes crumbled.
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What listeners say about The Bad Popes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mike Stratton
- 08-02-21
A Lurid Delight
The author himself points out how difficult it is to be objective about the papacy. He rejects much nonsense but seems alert to genuine scandals. Not exactly a study guide but an interesting and informed read.
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- Christian Zimmerman
- 12-28-20
Very good, if somewhat outdated.
This is a very engaging history of the medieval papacy, however, it is presented as being a recent work of scholarship, rather than a book that was written in the late 1960s. Thus, you have to take all the details with a grain of salt, knowing that there has been an additional fifty years of scholarship since its publication. That said, Chamberlin’s broad point that the Papacy’s temporal authority undermined its spiritual authority still rings true today.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Matthew
- 07-06-22
Bad popes for 500 years
An interesting read of Catholic leadership during the dark ages. So much for continual line of authority…
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- Chris
- 04-23-24
astounding depth
this book covers so many of the little interactions and plots during one of the most interesting conflicts in European history at least to me. The performance by the reader was incredible too
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- George
- 07-16-21
Complete trash.
The author constantly confuses Hun vs Hungarians. Hungarians are actually called Magyars a completely different set of people who settled in Hungary. This is are huge mistakes. Huns arrived terrorized Europe in the 5th century the Magyars did the same in the 10th century. This would be ok if they were only mentioned here or there, but the author focuses a chapter on the effect of the "huns" in the 10 century. I can't see how you could make a mistake like this if you researched the topic since the sources clearly say Magyars. Would you trust an author about Roman history, if they stated that the Germans sacked Rome in 410 vs the Visigoths? How can I trust the rest of this book?
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11 people found this helpful
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- Virginia Gleason
- 06-22-24
Some weird stuff in here
Only a man would write a book where kidnap and rape is described as ‘kept her and enjoyed her for several days.” Then also try to convince readers that a 16 year old girl was desperately attracted to a 50+ year old man and begged to be his mistress.
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1 person found this helpful
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- AmazonUser
- 07-22-24
Needs more dates and character descriptions
Ok overall I guess but hard to follow sometimes due to lack of dates throughout. It would be a better read with more dates and character descriptions added. Getting lost in his sections is easy. I miss Gibbons and Josephus type vocabulary also. Overall hard to follow in my opinion.
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