 | |
| Author | E. R. Chamberlin |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | History |
| Publisher | Dial Press |
Publication date | 1969 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 310 |
| ISBN | 0-880-29116-8 |
The Bad Popes is a 1969 book by E. R. Chamberlin documenting the lives of eight of the most controversial popes (papal years in parentheses):
- Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who exhumed and tried his dead predecessor Pope Formosus. [1] : 19
- Pope John XII (955–964), who murdered several people.
- Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048), who was accused of selling the Papacy.
- Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), who regularly interfered in the politics of neighboring kingdoms.
- Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), who tortured cardinals who had conspired against him. [1] : 153
- Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), who, besides being openly promiscuous, was found guilty of nepotism. [1] : 204
- Pope Leo X (1513–1521), who once spent 1⁄7 of the Papal reserves on a single ceremony, leading Martin Luther to publish the 95 Theses and spark the Protestant Reformation. [1] : 218
- Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), whose power-politicking led to the Sack of Rome.
