28.10.2014 Views

mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Eleanor Herman<br />

shocked if <strong>the</strong> pope had sat bolt upright and cried out, “I am still here.<br />

Stop hitting me on <strong>the</strong> head with that hammer.” But like all popes before<br />

and since who were whacked with <strong>the</strong> hammer, Urban lay still.<br />

The camerlengo <strong>the</strong>n broke <strong>the</strong> papal fisherman’s ring—<strong>the</strong> pontifical<br />

symbol <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fice—and <strong>of</strong>ficially reigned himself until <strong>the</strong> election <strong>of</strong> a<br />

new pope.<br />

During Urban’s final illness, his servants had, according to tradition,<br />

descended on <strong>the</strong> papal apartments like ravenous locusts. They stripped<br />

his rooms <strong>of</strong> everything not nailed down, with <strong>the</strong> exception <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bed,<br />

which <strong>the</strong>y generously spared for <strong>the</strong> dying man. According to Teodoro<br />

Amayden, Urban VIII “died like <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r popes, unhappily, without a<br />

holy candle to light, and after much searching one was found in <strong>the</strong><br />

church <strong>of</strong> Saint Mary <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spirit, and taken to him.” 18<br />

The papal funeral was held in Saint Peter’s Basilica, <strong>the</strong> church richly<br />

festooned inside and out with black cloth and brightly colored canvases<br />

depicting <strong>the</strong> papal coat <strong>of</strong> arms. It was customary for <strong>the</strong> deceased<br />

pontiff to be laid out on a bier directly above Saint Peter’s grave, dressed<br />

in pontifical vestments, surrounded by an iron grill through which only<br />

his feet protruded. This was to allow <strong>the</strong> faithful to kiss <strong>the</strong> holy feet<br />

but not steal <strong>the</strong> richly embroidered vestments. Sometimes, though, <strong>the</strong><br />

shoes went missing.<br />

Along with thousands <strong>of</strong> Romans, Giacinto Gigli went to pay his<br />

respects to <strong>the</strong> deceased pontiff. “On Sunday, July 31, <strong>the</strong> body <strong>of</strong> Urban<br />

VIII was exposed in Saint Peter’s for three days to a huge crowd <strong>of</strong><br />

people,” he wrote, “and <strong>the</strong>re was a great tumult, and two men were<br />

killed and <strong>the</strong>re was a great stink coming from <strong>the</strong> cadaver, very bad on<br />

<strong>the</strong> first day, and on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>the</strong>re were many homicides.” 19<br />

It is doubtful that Olimpia wasted time joining <strong>the</strong> throngs to see <strong>the</strong><br />

stinky corpse. The moment she had been working toward for more than<br />

thirty years had finally come. Now was <strong>the</strong> time to get Gianbattista—<br />

and herself, <strong>of</strong> course—elected pope.<br />

[ 116 ]

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!