The rise to power: AD 64/8-604 : The excavation of St. Peter's tomb -- Constantine and the battle of the Milvian bridge -- Caught between east and west and the end of the world: AD 604-1054 : Islam -- Charlemagne and the Carolingian empire -- The millennium
-- Crusades and exile: AD 1055-1492 : The Crusades -- Franciscans -- Dominicans -- The Palais des Papes at Avignon -- The antipopes of the great Schism -- From glory to infirmity: AD 1492-1769 : The children and mistresses of Alexander VI -- The new St. Peter's Basilica -- Martin Luther and the reformation -- The counter-reformation -- Trying to come full circle: AD 1769-1997 : Napoleon and the papacy.
Provides a grand historical overview, showing how ultimately the papacy has moved in a circle--from self-conscious spiritual office, through embroilment in political power, and now, as the end of the millenium approaches, back to its spiritual roots.
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