mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Mistress of the Vatican
a staggering drunk (Francesco Barberini) was held up by a man dressed
half-French, half-Italian (Mazarin), who picked him off the ground
each time he fell. Those with more delicate sensibilities thought the
play in very poor taste given the dangerous international situation. But
Olimpia’s cackles rang out loudly at this earthy scene. Word of the Carnival
comedy winged its way swiftly to Paris, where her humor didn’t
translate very well into French.
Mazarin considered his next step. Though he couldn’t very well attack
the Vicar of Christ, he could wage war on the pope’s ally, Spain, in
territories uncomfortably close to the Papal States. In the spring of 1646,
a French fleet left port in Provence, captured the Spanish isle of Elba,
and raided principalities along the Italian coast. To show the pope that
the war was, indeed, a personal vendetta, France captured the Spanish
territory of Piombino, owned by Olimpia’s son-in-law Prince Ludovisi.
But French successes were short-lived. Plagued by military setbacks,
Mazarin suddenly looked ridiculous, waging a stupid war against Spain
just because his idiot brother was not given a cardinal’s cap. Some called
it a tyrannical abuse of power.
In addition to his reverses in the war, Mazarin soon discovered that he
did not like the Barberini brothers, who had become a thorn in his side.
They seemed ungrateful for the income he had given them, whining
that it was not nearly as much as they had enjoyed in Rome. They were
reduced to such a disgraceful state, they lamented, that they couldn’t
even throw decent dinner parties. They wanted to go home. They wanted
their Roman titles, honors, commissions, positions, and properties restored.
Surely the all-powerful Mazarin could make this happen.
Given the lost battles, huge costs, political unrest, and the Barberini
complaints, the beleaguered prime minister couldn’t stand it anymore.
What had seemed like a political stroke of genius was quickly turning
into a disaster. Mazarin sent a new ambassador to Rome, the abbot
Saint-Nicolas, to negotiate the Barberinis’ return in a manner that
would allow both France and the Holy See to keep face. On June 20,
Saint-Nicolas was received by the pope, who insisted that the Barberinis
write him a letter of apology and pay a hefty fine of 600,000 scudi.
When Saint-Nicolas spoke of reducing the amount, the pope inveighed
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