mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Mistress of the Vatican
and government officials who witnessed the translation had also fished
for plunder. There was no protest from the nuns because they had only
taken third-class relics—snippets of clothing and silk flowers that had
been put in the coffin back in 1638. But a first-class shoulder was a different
matter altogether. A sacrilege, they cried. Pasquino roared against
the pope, who permitted his sister-in-law to profane the holy bones.
They could complain all they wanted. Olimpia, for her part, was
thrilled to have such an illustrious relic for her church. And surely the
power of the bone would protect her from anything the Roman people
tried to do to her. Perhaps it would make her brother-in-law return to
his formerly docile self, obedient to her commands and grateful for her
help. This new, independent Innocent made her oddly uneasy.
While he was looking around for funds to ease the bread situation in
Rome, it occurred to the pope that the duke of Parma still owed the
apostolic treasury some 1.6 million scudi. In 1644, Urban VIII had gone
to war over the debt, but having spent 12 million scudi with inconclusive
results, the pope made a humiliating peace. The issue, however, had
never been resolved.
On September 11, 1646, the swashbuckling Odoardo Farnese, duke
of Parma, Piacenza, and Castro, had died, leaving his sixteen-year-old
son, Ranuccio II, heir to his considerable debts. Innocent approached
the young man in a friendly manner, suggesting how he could pay off the
debt by selling various properties or simply handing them over to the
Holy See.
For some two years negotiations continued, and it seemed that young
Farnese was prepared to sign over a portion of his territory to satisfy his
debt. But just before he did, the bishop of Castro died and a replacement
was needed. Ranuccio insisted on naming the new bishop, but the pope
declared that he and he alone had the right. When Innocent sent his
newly appointed bishop to Castro, the bishop was murdered by Ranuccio’s
assassins.
Insulted at home and abroad, Innocent couldn’t stand any more.
Prodded by Olimpia, who hated the duke of Parma for supporting the
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