History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome, Volume V

The papacy's descent into Italian principality marks one of history's most consequential transformations of religious authority. From the chaos of the Great Schism through the magnificent corruption of the Borgia papacy to the catastrophic Sack of Rome in 1527, Mandell Creighton traces how the successors of Peter became players in the brutal game of Renaissance power politics. Alexander VI, the Borgia pope, treats the Church as dynastic property, merchandising his daughter Lucretia in matrimonial diplomacy while his son Cesare carves a warlord's empire across the Italian peninsula. Julius II, the Warrior Pope, wields both crosier and sword, bullying Michelangelo into painting the Sistine Chapel while commanding armies against his rivals. His successor Leo X, a Medici, plays the European powers like a violin while ignoring the thunderclap of Martin Luther's defiance. Creighton renders this turbulent century in granular detail, capturing the political machinations, artistic patronage, and religious turmoil that sowed the seeds of the Protestant Reformation. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the medieval Church's spiritual crisis became a political catastrophe that reshaped Western civilization.