Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes

Front Cover
Citadel Press, 2003 - 492 pages
Ever since Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the 4th century, the papacy has been a formidable moral and religious presence in the world. The pope is an international force, a political necessity, an object of both inspiration and interference. He is godly to some, holier than thou to others. The popes of history run the gamut of human behavior, as different as the eras they lived in, the ways in which they delegated power, the means by which they led the Church. In these revealing biographies readers will meet: St. Peter, first in line, and talented with a pen; St. Callixtus, who was once a slave; St. Clement, who was thrown into the sea with an anchor around his neck; St. Leo I, who frightened Attila the Hun into sparing Rome; St. Gregory I, who banished the plague from Rome; St. Leo IX, one of the great reform popes; St. Gregory VII, one of history's greatest popes, who nobly defended the Church against domination by secular powers. Not to mention the generous, the murderous, the lecherous, and the truly righteous. All were visible heads of the Church on Earth -- Vicars of Christ -- and these are the unvarnished chronicles of how they succeeded, when they failed ... and why.

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Contents

THE APOSTOLIC
11
St Peter3267
32
St Hippolytus d c 236 AntiPope
44
St Marcellinus June 30 296October 25 304
57
St Linus 6776
67
St Marcus I January 18October 7 336
70
St Cletus 7688
76
St Hilarius November 19 461February 28 468
84
St Callixtus Callistus I 217222
217
Bl Urban II March 12 1088July 29 1099
223
February 14 1130September 24 1143
236
November 25 1185October 19 1187
249
March 19 1227August 22 1241
263
11
275
20
287
May 22 1328August 25 1330 AntiPope
294

St Clement I 8897
88
St Anacletus c
97
St Alexander I 105115
105
St Sixtus Xystus I 115125
115
THE HEATHEN PERIL
119
St Telesphorus 125136
125
October 30 701January 11 705
129
St Hyginus 136140
136
St Leo III December 27 795June 12 816
143
St Anicetus 155166
155
December 14 867December 1 872
157
Romanus August 897
170
August 903
172
St Eleutherius 175189
175
September 972August 974
185
July 31 1009May 12 1012
198
STABILITY AND PERSECUTION
199
April 1058January 1059 AntiPope
210
December 30 1370March 27 1378
300
October 17 1404November 6 1406
306
21
307
November 11 1417February 20 1431
313
24
318
March 6 1447March 24 1455
319
August 19 1458August 14 1464
323
25
327
March 11 1513December 1 1521
337
St Pius V January 7 1566May 1 1572
350
27
353
September 15 1644January 7 1655
364
May 8 1721March 7 1724
378
33
447
1999
475
358
479
81
488
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