Absolute Monarchs Quotes

“God has given us the Papacy,” the thirty-seven-year-old pope is said to have written to his brother Giuliano soon after his accession, “now let us enjoy it.” The”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“Charlemagne, however, was predictably furious. He had grown up with the filioque; if the East refused to accept it, the East was wrong. And who cared about the East anyway? He was the emperor now; the pope should nail his colors firmly to the Western mast and leave the heretics in Constantinople to their own devices. When Leo ordered him to remove the word from his liturgies, he took no action and sent no reply; and when, in 813, he decided to make his son Louis co-emperor, he pointedly failed to invite the pope to perform the ceremony.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“the pope was God’s representative here on Earth—and there the matter ended. Emperors might enjoy the privilege of protecting and defending the Church; they had no right to interfere in its affairs. The pope’s authority was absolute; synods were summoned merely to carry out his orders; bishops, archbishops, and even patriarchs were bound to him in loyalty and obedience.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“Photius even went so far as to propound a new and deeply heretical theory that he had just thought up, according to which man possessed two separate souls, one liable to error, the other infallible. His dazzling reputation as an intellectual ensured that he was taken seriously by many—including, of course, Ignatius, who should have known better; and after his doctrine had its desired effect by making the patriarch look thoroughly silly he had cheerfully withdrawn it. It was perhaps the only completely satisfactory practical joke in the history of theology, and for that alone Photius deserves our gratitude.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“Although pressed on all sides, the Pope did not allow himself to be drawn into any demonstration of reproof at the deportation of the Jews of Rome. The only sign of disapproval was a veiled allusion in Osservatore Romano on 25–28 October, in which only a restricted number of people could recognize a reference to the Jewish question.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“he had violently opposed—as had the entire Curia—the foundation of the State of Israel.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“which would leave the body in its natural state.” This it singularly failed to do. From time to time appalling eructations were heard coming from the coffin, and during the lying in state the smell was such that one of the attendant Swiss Guards fainted. Meanwhile, the nose fell off.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“The fact remains that he was less a pope than a Renaissance prince. Homosexual like his predecessor, he was a cultivated and polished patron of the arts, far more magnificent than his father, Lorenzo, had ever dared to be. A”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“he should be remembered as the first pope in history to undertake an active defense of the Jewish people, wherever they might be found.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“Clement decided to settle in Avignon, which, lying as it did on the east bank of the Rhône,1 was at that time the property of Philip’s vassal Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily and Count of Provence. The little town—with around 5,000 inhabitants, it was at that time scarcely more than a village—was to be the home of six more popes after him and the seat of the Papacy for the next sixty-eight years. Those years are often referred to as the Babylonian Captivity. They were nothing of the kind. The popes were in no sense captive; they were in Avignon because they wanted to be.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“My predecessors,” announced Clement, “did not know how to be pope.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“As Edward Gibbon delightedly noted, “the most scandalous charges were suppressed: the Vicar of Christ was only accused of piracy, murder, rape, sodomy and incest.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“Pope Alexander’s most fateful decision was taken in 1493, when he made the all-important adjudication between Spain and Portugal over their recent territorial discoveries in Africa and”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

“Only then were the doors of the basilica opened, and the assembled company proceeded in state for prayers at the high altar before going on to Mass in the Sistine Chapel—all except the pope, who, as one of the Venetians explained in his report, “never attended these long services.”
― John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy