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Absolute Monarchs a History of the Papacy 1St Edition Ebook ABSOLUTE MONARCHS A HISTORY OF THE PAPACY 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John Julius Norwich | 9780812978841 | | | | | Absolute Monarchs A History of the Papacy 1st edition PDF Book This message will appear once per week unless you renew or log out. Show More. Disappointed by the renaissance Popes, I thought the era of the enlightenment would be better — nope. It was all just too jumbled for me. I've always been interested in religious history, probably comes from growing up in the Philippines. Some are more myths, rumors, and stories than historical fact, esp. And that is the book, pretty much: Names, dates, wars, and the judgments of an elderly British aristocrat. Welcome back. The worst problems of the book are in the first and the last one hundred pages. Reading two thousand years of history with this enormous cast of characters is hard work. The rest, unfortunately, is just history. Surprisingly, I enjoy this book quite a bit. And here, surely, is the crux of the matter. What I liked least was finding out that if the Pope was a good guy, he would probably be killed fairly soon. Critic Reviews "Norwich doesn't skirt controversies, ancient and present, in this broad, clear-eyed assessment. This is not necessarily because of its history, or what I view as a colossal waste of time and money that could be put to better use, but rather because the Catholic church, to this day, adheres to a set of dogmas that are clearly harmful and in my opinion immoral. Add to Cart failed. I have to say up front that I love John Julius Norwich's books. The first years of the Papacy focused on getting the church established, its rivalry with the Eastern Orthodox Church and squabbles over arcane issues of doctrine that no one would care about today, but which often led to warfare between rival factions in the church. Skip to main content Skip to main menu Skip to footer. Couldn't some of the Popes been clumped together in their insignificance, freeing up space for the better ones? But I've learned something very important about Mr. For most of its history the Catholic church has been virulently anti-Semitic, discriminating against Jews, forcing them to adhere to Catholic rituals, and in some cases, particularly during the middle ages, sanctioning genocidal action against them. Jan 15, Karla rated it liked it Shelves: ebook. Absolute Monarchs A History of the Papacy 1st edition Writer First, from the time of St. Even for Romans, to have murdered two popes was too much. And yet, paradoxically, this family lived when the Renaissance was coming into its full flowering in Italy. The Popes is an attempt to give the "average intelligent reader, believer or unbeliever", as the author says in his introduction, a background - and in some cases depth - to the office and men who have sat at the head of the Catholic church since Saint Peter. 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 year period. Overall I learned quite a bit, though that knowledge is miles wide and only an inch deep. I admit I skimmed over the modern times section at the end, since I picked the book up for a historical portrait. Eventually, he was allowed to resign and return to his cave. Not until did a Pope propound a decree which placed the selection of the Papal office squarely in the hands of the cardinals — who were, of course, themselves selected by the Pope. The Emperor Nero was accused of "fiddling", or singing to his lute, during the conflagration, and was later rumoured to have started it himself. Each time that the situation arose the family spent a presumably busy day having their man tonsured head hair close-cropped , ordained a priest, consecrated as Bishop of Rome, and then enthroned as the Pope. There was no attempt to be nice just because the truth might offend some people, but there was also clearly no agenda to smear the church either. I may be biased in this review. Great book, definitely listen to! Norwich does not actively distort. What did you love best about Absolute Monarchs? But for those sincerely interested in religious history, Lord Norwich is worth the effort. Norwich has done it all — he's been the host of a radio game show, the writer and narrator of 30 television documentaries on historical subjects, and the author of travel books a genre the British seem to own as well as a half-dozen quite distinguished histories set in medieval times. Nov 10, Greg Bailey rated it it was ok. I was surprised that the corruption of the Church was an ongoing thing, per this book at least. This website uses cookies to improve functionality and performance. Dec 14, Dave Holcomb rated it really liked it. But, when discussing a history of the papacy, Norwich is automatically at a disadvantage, in that he was unable to decide on a methodology used to discuss the popes themselves. He didn't want to be Pope and ran away at least once. The history of the papacy, for so many centuries, was the history of a temporal as much as a spiritual power. The sheer number of popes over such a long period means that many come and go in the space of one or two sentences. The author of "Absolute Monarchs" is John Julius Norwich, a productive and respected British author whose specialty is the history of the Mediterranean world during the first millennium AD. Norwich does not spare the Popes of the last years. This has subtle and annoying sexist, xenophobic and racist undercurrents. Is this a good pope? I burned right through it, learning and enjoying and being appalled by bad papal behavior all the way through. Modern day Popes have forgone the use of the Papal crown in favor of a bishop's mitre. Absolute Monarchs A History of the Papacy 1st edition Reviews They were constantly looking to line their own and their families' pockets with wealth and high office. How does this one compare? Is there an entire book out there on the Saeculum obscurum aka "The Pornoc This broad chronological history of the Papacy seemed to go on forever and, to be honest, I didn't get through the whole thing. Every pope So many popes, so few pages! Thus, the holocaust is somehow his fault. People who have no interest on papal history might find this book boring, as it's a bunch of stories regarding the different popes throughout the ages. No Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting? Norwich was the son of a titled Conservative British politician and diplomat, Duff Cooper. The book, written in ends with Pope Benedict XVI, so we will have to leave it to another historian to judge the influence of Pope Francis. Read more Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham argues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. But nowhere in the New Testament is there any evidence that he went to Rome at all. Is it done well? For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. These included a modernization of the mass, use of vernacular languages, opening a dialogue with other faiths, and a loosening of the notion that salvation could only be gained from within the Catholic Church. The more conservative popes usually the more spiritually minded tend to be dismissed as despotic and reactionary. What a complete pack of bastards". Eventually, he was allowed to resign and return to his cave. View 2 comments. Norwich has manged to maintain a relatively unbiased narrative about all of the pontiffs, telling their fascinating stories without hysteria or fawning. Who's who of the Popes. Reading two thousand years of history with this enormous cast of characters is hard work. Norwich certainly favours the humanist popes over the more spiritual ones, and I'm with him in that respect, as the spiritual ones would often use their faith to sanction extreme cruelty. By: Geoffrey Parker. If he had been executed - whether or not by crucifixion - his body would normally have been thrown into the Tiber and would have been difficult indeed to recover. Excavations undertaken in the sacre grotte - the crypt of the basilica, below the floor of the Constantinian church - during and immediately after the Second World War revealed a two-tiered, three-niched construction, usually known as the aedicula and datable to AD. Aug 09, Jonathan rated it it was amazing Shelves: history. It is; it just needs investment, time and some - for me at least - re-reading. More recently of course Popes have moderated these tendencies and have devoted more of their time to spiritual matters. Together they represent the Church's joint mission - Peter to the Jews of the diaspora, Paul to the Gentiles. This might just be a by-product of Great Man history in general, which is that it has very little to say about anything. That this isn't an area of Norwich's particular expertise is also evident just from looking at the bibliography, which relies heavily on older scholarship, largely English-language monographs. Cancel anytime. If you want the sketchiest outline of the papacy, this is the book for you, but I found it ultimately unsatisfying.
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