mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Eleanor Herman
King John IV found himself in a bit of a bind. Technically, he could
not send an ambassador to Rome to negotiate the pope’s recognition of
Portugal until the pope had recognized Portugal. But if he sent a bishop
with the ostensible purpose of discussing church business, the pope had
to receive him. Unfortunately, when the Portuguese bishop arrived in
Rome in 1647 for his official audience, he kissed the pope’s foot and
blurted out that he was actually there on behalf of “the king, my señor.”
14 The Spanish ambassador howled in protest and threatened to
gallop back to Madrid in a fury. The pope had to cut short the discussions
since it was clear the bishop had been sent not as a bishop but as an
ambassador.
The Portuguese, having seen the French success in winning over
Olimpia, had not come to Rome empty-handed. Portuguese agents
called on Olimpia and presented her with a portrait of the pope in all
his pontifical majesty, with King John IV at his feet in abject veneration.
More important, the portrait was set in a massive frame studded
with huge pearls and sparkling diamonds. And suddenly Olimpia, who
hadn’t received a dime from the Spanish, was convinced of Portugal’s
right to self-determination.
But for once Innocent refused to take her advice. He stubbornly protested
that recognizing Portugal would create uproar in Spain. Shaking
his head, he waved his sister-in-law away. Such strange behavior put
Olimpia in an uncomfortable situation. The Portuguese ambassador
was furious and told everyone that he had bribed Olimpia without getting
a thing in return. Even worse, Olimpia must have been mystified
about why the pope had refused to take her advice.
For years Spain had been squeezing the kingdom of Naples dry through
increasing taxation. There were taxes on meat, bread, salt, wine, candles,
and firewood—the very necessities of life for rich and poor alike.
The tax on flour cost nearly as much as the flour itself. On July 7, 1647,
the Spanish viceroy, the duke of Arcos, imposed high fees on the sale of
fruit and vegetables—the only untaxed foodstuffs and the staples of the
poor.
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