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The Bad Popes
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
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
- By michael bobadilla on 05-04-23
By: James S. Romm
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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
- By Michael Ayers on 06-27-21
By: Phillip Barlag
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The White Ship
- Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream
- By: Charles Spencer
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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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
By: Charles Spencer
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Crown & Sceptre
- A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II
- By: Tracy Borman
- Narrated by: Tracy Borman
- Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins
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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
- By Chris Corsini on 04-05-22
By: Tracy Borman
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Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and Her Successors
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Esther Wane
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
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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
By: Alison Weir
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Absolute Monarchs
- A History of the Papacy
- By: John Julius Norwich
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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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
- By Nassir on 11-01-11
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The Medici
- Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
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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
- By Elizabeth Barrett on 05-09-16
By: Paul Strathern
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Crusaders
- The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
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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
- By Tad Davis on 01-06-20
By: Dan Jones
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Brothers York
- A Royal Tragedy
- By: Thomas Penn
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 23 hrs and 13 mins
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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
- By Tad Davis on 08-06-20
By: Thomas Penn
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In the Shadow of the Empress
- The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 23 hrs and 8 mins
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The vibrant, sprawling saga of Empress Maria Theresa - one of the most renowned women rulers in history - and three of her extraordinary daughters, including Marie Antoinette, the doomed queen of France.
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Awful narration!
- By Suanne Laqueur on 09-27-21
By: Nancy Goldstone
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Very interesting, but not in my truck
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To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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Ten remarkable women. One remarkable era. In the Tudor period, 1485 to 1603, a host of fascinating women sat on the English throne. The dramatic events of their lives are told in The Turbulent Crown: The Story of the Tudor Queens.
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From the illustrious George Washington and the infamous J. Edgar Hoover to brilliant imaginer Walt Disney and bad boy of baseball Ty Cobb, Freemasons have influenced every aspect of American life. Yet this secret society remains as controversial and mysterious as ever. In this tell-all audiobook, you'll learn the truth about the largest - and oldest - fraternal organization and unravel the mystery of this intriguing society - one secret at a time!
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The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.
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An absolute must for understanding Gnosticism.
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Four Princes
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John Julius Norwich - whom the Wall Street Journal called "the very model of a popular historian" - has crafted a big, bold tapestry of the early 16th century, when Europe and the Middle East were overshadowed by a quartet of legendary rulers, all born within a 10-year period. Against the vibrant background of the Renaissance, these four men laid the foundations for modern Europe and the Middle East, as they collectively impacted the culture, religion, and politics of their respective domains.
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For the most part, very informative.
- By Paula on 02-05-18
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Æthelflæd
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At the end of the ninth century, a large part of what is now England was controlled by the Vikings. In the early 900s, Edward led a great fight against the Viking armies, assisted by the English rulers of Mercia: Lord Æthelred and his wife Æthelflæd, who was also Edward's sister. Known to history as the Lady of the Mercians, she earned a reputation as a capable general who was feared by her enemies. In this authoritative biography, Tim Clarkson tells her remarkable life story from childhood to her vital role in saving England from the Vikings.
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Not a biography
- By L. Voss on 02-04-23
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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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1 person found this helpful