mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Eleanor Herman
confiscated by order of the pope. To humiliate him even further, Innocent
had all the furniture of his palaces dragged out and auctioned off
on the streets for whatever price it could bring. All of his carriages went,
along with twenty-three horses and four mules, and the prices fetched
were rather low. A friend of Astalli’s felt so bad for him that he bought
some of the horses, carriages, and furniture and secretly kept them for
the cardinal until he could return after the pope’s death.
Innocent had to write a papal brief depriving Astalli of his offices
and give his reasons for doing so. Yet the pope could hardly tell the
truth—that he had been plotting to invade Naples to make Olimpia’s
granddaughter a queen and that Astalli had informed Spain. The pope
stated simply that the cardinal was well aware of the reasons for his
disgrace.
Vatican jackals circled the fresh meat, friends of Olimpia and Decio
Azzolini jockeying for the titles, honors, benefices, and incomes that
had belonged to Cardinal Astalli. Innocent wanted to give something to
Cardinal Chigi, who, as usual, asked for nothing, and told him he
would receive the lucrative post of protector of the Franciscan monasteries.
But Chigi politely declined with various excuses, as he “did not
want to enjoy the shipwrecks of others. . . . But the pope understood the
real reason behind his refusal, and it pleased him to see Chigi’s reverence
for those who were in disgrace.” 20
The pope ordered a trial, in which Astalli’s colleagues and servants
were questioned about his dealings. Giacinto Gigli recorded that the
only results from the rigorous inquest were “youthful indiscretions.”
The good cardinal had built a secret ladder in the Quirinal Palace that
led from the room of his majordomo to the stables. Called to testify, the
carpenter who had constructed the ladder declared candidly, “Yes, it is
true that I worked on that ladder, and all the household said that the
cardinal intended to use it to receive or go out to visit with the greatest
secrecy the pretty ladies.” 21
Innocent was furious over the secret ladder. For one thing, a cardinal
should not be sneaking out of the papal palace to visit pretty ladies at
night or, heaven forbid, bringing them into the papal palace. For another,
it was a dangerous breach of security, as spies and assassins could
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