Anne de Courcy

The perils of being pope

The power of the medieval papacy resembled that of the Holy Roman Emperor – and like the first Roman emperors, popes attracted envy, scandal and violent retribution

Pope John X, smothered to death on the orders of Marozia, a Roman noblewoman and the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III. [Alamy]

  • City of Echoes: A New History of Rome, its Popes and its People

    Jessica Wärnberg

    Icon, pp. 448, £25

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