mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Eleanor Herman
princess of Rossano, the pope declared war. He hired an army, which he
could ill afford, and stormed the fortress of Castro later that month.
The garrison surrendered on September 2. Tired of Castro as a thorn in
the papal side, and perhaps encouraged again by Olimpia, Innocent
gave orders to raze to the ground not just the castle but the entire town.
No two stones were left standing. The residents were dispersed, but not
before one of them carved a sad stone for the site which read, here
stood castro. 6
Olimpia carted off the image of the Immaculate Virgin and two sets
of church bells. Taking the church bells of a vanquished enemy was a
Mediterranean tradition to flout one’s victory over an enemy, much the
way Germanic warriors had turned the skulls of their enemies into
drinking cups. Though Olimpia might have liked to drink from the
silver-plated skull of the princess of Rossano, she had to be satisfied
with the church bells of the princess’s closest ally. One set she placed in
her Church of San Martino, and another she kept for the new Church
of Saint Agnes she was planning to build next to her Piazza Navona
palazzo.
During the Castro war, Olimpia lost her beloved half-brother. On
July 29, Andrea Maidalchini died at Viterbo at the age of about sixtyeight.
But if Olimpia mourned him, the people of Viterbo did not. Gigli
commented, “He was much disliked because he bought all the grain, all
the wine and oil, and then resold it at profit. He did not want to increase
the bread at Viterbo where he was despised as the author of the
famine. After his death the loaves became bigger in Viterbo.” 7
The loaves also became bigger in Rome as a plentiful grain harvest
put an end to the lingering famine. Gigli reported that on August 1,
bread rose to a normal eight-ounce pagnotta. He added, “For this the
people stopped murmuring and many were happy enough.” 8
The day of Innocent’s election he had named his old friend Monsignor
Domenico Cecchini to the most important Vatican office—that of datary,
a word that refers not only to the office but also to its director. The
datary was the pope’s personal bank account. Each penny the church
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