Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female PopeEleanor Herman, the talented author of the New York Times bestselling Sex with Kings and Sex with the Queen goes behind the sacred doors of the Catholic Church in Mistress of the Vatican, a scintillating biography of a powerful yet little-known woman whose remarkable story is ripe with secrets, sex, passion, and ambition. For almost four centuries this astonishing story of a woman’s absolute power over the Vatican has been successfully buried—until now. |
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
9 | |
The Wealthy Landowners Wife | 29 |
The Roman Noblewoman | 38 |
The BrotherinLaw | 52 |
The Papal Nuncio | 66 |
Cardinals | 78 |
The Shoulder of Saint Francesca | 237 |
The Holy Jubilee Year | 257 |
Crisis of Conscience | 274 |
Part Three UNFORGIVENESS | 291 |
Honor and Dishonor | 293 |
Olimpias Triumphant Return | 311 |
The Sudden Disgrace of Cardinal Astalli | 331 |
Death of the Dove | 348 |
The Black Widow | 98 |
Conclave | 117 |
Part Two THE FEMALE POPE | 135 |
The Vicar of Christ | 137 |
Celebrations | 149 |
Women in the Vatican | 161 |
Vengeance on the Barberinis | 179 |
The Despised DaughterinLaw | 196 |
The Imbecile Cardinals | 209 |
Birth Famine and Bitter Peace | 223 |
Unforgiveness | 365 |
Pope Alexander VII | 372 |
The Two Queens of Rome | 384 |
The Scourge of God | 395 |
After Olimpia | 409 |
Notes | 421 |
Bibliography | 433 |
Index | 439 |
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Mistress of the Vatican LP: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The ... Eleanor Herman Limited preview - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
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