In this case I cannot do my usual playing with papal names and invented adjectives; some of my faithful followers might like to read about ‘Julian Popes’, as…
Category: History of Rome
Further thoughts on Thomas Becket, martyr and saint
Thomas Becket, or Thomas à Becket as he was called by my teacher of History, was not a Saxon. He was a son of a wealthy Norman merchant…
Some Alexander Popes
These four Italians and one Spaniard made a contribution to the history of the Catholic Church, positive or negative according to your view and that of historians. Each…
Ptolemys, poisons and Cleopatra
“There was a lady of Egypt, I’m told The barge she sat in was of burnished gold; Her moral code made the sphinx perspire, Her Roman scandals set…
Reformation in England and the Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Reformation in England was the process by which the English Church rejected the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and established a Litany and Doctrine of its…
Medieval and pre-medieval Ireland
Before the 5th century, Ireland was virtually unknown, except as a wilderness island too far away and consequently a dangerous target for ambitious figures during the last years…
Pope Pius the Twelfth
Eugenio Pacelli was born in 1876, and was elected Pope in 1939. He came from a familyprominent for its loyal service to the Vatican. He was ordained priest…
Reginald Cardinal Pole
Pole is one of those ancient English surnames that appear in various forms throughout the history of the British Isles. Reginald, born 1500 rose rapidly from being an…
Count Cavour
Camilo Benso Cavour was born in 1810, a Piedmontese aristocrat whose name and mother language were French. It is interesting to note that both Cavour and Garibaldi (q.v.)…