mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Mistress of the Vatican
Tommaso Aniello—called Masaniello—was an illiterate Neapolitan
fish seller who had had enough. He called out to the poor of Naples to
rebel against the heavy-handed overlords. Suddenly the city was alive
with revolution. Rebels set fire to the customs office, plundered the royal
palace, and broke into the jails, freeing the prisoners. Soon Masaniello
himself became a victim of the mob. On July 16 some of them grabbed
him and cut off his head.
The mob proclaimed a republic. Never again, they vowed, would
they be ruled by Spain. Some of them wanted the pope, as feudal lord of
the realm, to march south with his armies and claim the territory that
was his by right. But Innocent knew that if he merged the kingdom of
Naples into the Papal States, he would be at war with Spain, which
owned most of northern Italy, was closely allied to Tuscany in central
Italy, and still had plenty of forts in the south bristling with soldiers.
The pope had a few ships but hardly a fleet. Though the Papal States
had Swiss Guards to protect the pope, and Corsican Guards to keep
order in Rome, it had only a token standing army of about three thousand
men in garrisons outside Rome, always relying on the firepower of
Spain to protect it.
When the people of Naples did not get an immediate response from
the pope, they offered the kingdom to France. Mazarin didn’t hesitate
for an instant. He established relations with the rebels and sent them
money, weapons, and food. He equipped a fleet to bombard the Spanish
coastal fortresses. But in October 1647 a Spanish fleet appeared before
the coast of Naples, commanded by the courageous Don John of
Austria, bastard son of King Philip IV. Don John’s ships bombarded the
city with cannon fire, bombing rebels and loyal citizens alike, and several
times hit the papal nuncio’s palace.
Watching the ancient enemies have at it, the pope heaved a sigh and
decided to remain neutral, calling himself “the common father of the sons
of discord.” 15 Without saying so, he hoped that Spain, that loyal mainstay
of papal power, would win the war. He hated the idea of the narcissistic
French—ruled by none other than the detestably oily Mazarin—taking
such a huge chunk of Italy bordering on the Papal States.
Throughout the rebellion Olimpia, as usual, didn’t support one
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