Popes: Glamour, Power, and Corruption

This course examines the popes of the eras prior to the Counter-Reformation (1530-1560) with a focus on the Renaissance. The popes preceding the Catholic reformation were not only religious magistrates but involved in activities related to politics, the arts, culture, and commerce. Such involvement in extra-religious areas brought popes face to face with issues and contexts that had little to do with the moral and religious principles inherent to the primary role of the pope. Yet the ascension of power has always been aligned with the accumulation of fame and riches, values typically associated with and appreciated by the secular and anthropocentric Renaissance society. Values that, as a matter of fact, a pope was in theory to be detached from either completely or at least in a lesser degree of magnitude and visibility. Course topics will analyze the episodes of corruption and scandal associated with the popes from the Renaissance and latter periods who contributed to generating a perception of the Roman Catholic Church that was far from edifying.