Mistress of the Vatican LP: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope | 
 enlarge | Author: Eleanor Herman
Publisher: HarperLuxe
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $15.36
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 238113
Format: Large Print
Media: Paperback
Pages: 736
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.5
ISBN: 006156270X
Dewey Decimal Number: 270
EAN: 9780061562709
ASIN: 006156270X
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
blockquote p "We have just elected a female pope." br #8212;Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644 /p /blockquote p 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. Now, Eleanor Herman, author of iSex with the Queen/i, exposes one of the church's deepest secrets, laying bare facts that have been concealed for 350 years. /p p 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. /p p 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. /p p 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. . . . /p p 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.i Mistress of the Vatican/i brings to life not only a woman, and a church, but an entire civilization in all its greatness . . . and all its ignominy. /p
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| Customer Reviews:
 A woman of power October 5, 2008
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Olimpia Maidalchini was one of those rare people who would have stood out no matter what century she was born into. She had guts, ruthlessness and a sharp brain. br / br /So it only made her more striking -- and more reviled -- that she was born in an age when women were rarely in charge of their own destinies. And in "Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini, The Secret Female Pope," Eleanor Herman paints a vivid, rich often funny portrait of Olimpia's rise to prominent in the rapidly changing world of seventeenth-century Europe. br / br /Olimpia's life was thrown into turmoil when her father tried to force her into a nunnery, so he wouldn't have to pay for a dowry. But she quickly lashed back, bringing disgrace both to her dad and to the priest who also tried to convince her. br / br /Not that the resulting scandal kept her from marrying twice, first to the wealthiest boy in her town and then to a stuffy nobleman. But her brother-in-law Gianbattista is who really captured Olimpia's interest, since he appreciated her intellect and abilities. Her advice and influence were used to make him an envoy, a cardinal -- and finally getting him elected to the papal throne. br / br /But Olimpia soon discovered that getting Gianbattista (now called Pope Innocent X) into the papacy was only the beginnings of their troubles. Younger rivals, a wastrel papal nephew, heretics, famine and a war with France's Cardinal Mazarin all came to trouble the woman who practically ran the Vatican -- especially when Innocent X started developing a mind of his own. br / br /Eleanor Herman has explored the lives of a lot of noblemen, noblewomen, kings and queens throughout "Sex With Kings" and "Sex With the Queen." "Mistress of the Vatican" is a very different book in some ways -- it charts only one woman's life, from her humble beginnings in a small town to a position of power behind the papal throne, and over political dealings and machinations that spanned Europe. br / br /But as with her prior work, Herman's writing manages to be both breezy and detailed. Her tone is that of a friendly teacher livening up a lecture with funny stories of Olimpia's -- such as an irascible duke bursting into the papal bedroom to rave at a presumably sleeping pope about his annoying nephew. But she also fills the pages with the fragrances, sounds and sights of post-Renaissance Rome -- elegant palaces and villas filled with exquisite art, dim mildewed churches, and the horrendously hot and sticky conclave. br / br /And as important as Olimpia's own story are the stories that surround her. Herman gives detailed background information on everybody of import that Olimpia encountered -- political rivals the Barberinis, glitzy artists, her rotund and grasping son-in-law -- and interweaves the story with background on rituals, customs (such as ransacking the house of a new pope), and half-forgotten disasters of the day. br / br /But Olimpia herself is the beating heart of this book. She could be pretty nasty at times -- she was vengeful, grasping, and accused a priest unjustly of sexually abusing her -- but it's impossible not to admire her guts and powerful personality, especially in an age when women were seen as chattel. She pushed her way to the top via brains and a far-seeing mind. It's impossible not to admire her spirit and sheer force of will. br / br /Forget the fictional Pope Joan. "Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini" is not only historically accurate but a ripping good read.
 Facinating Insight into the Time. September 30, 2008
DickWood (Venice FL USA)
This book is more of a diary of the time using Olimpia as the lead, but going beyond the principal character to paint a historical stage for these "actors". The story presents a terrible picture of the moral background, without much redeeming grace, surely the authors intent. A good but lengthy and sometimes confusing read.
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