mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Mistress of the Vatican
do outside.” 2 Gregorio Leti asserted that Cardinal Maidalchini “declaimed
with more noise than all the others against his aunt, although
everyone laughed at all his discourses because no one esteemed him
much in the conclave.” 3
It was generally believed that the Holy Spirit was listening intently to
every word the cardinals said in conclave. But Olimpia had no fear that
God was paying any attention at all to her wayward nephew. “The
braying of an ass,” she said, shaking her head, “is not heard as far as
heaven.” 4
As the conclave slowly ground forward in the chilly chambers, the
bored cardinals began to wheel and deal—often literally, playing cards
for small sums when the boredom became unbearable. At night they
met secretly in one another’s cells to encourage votes for a favorite candidate,
and they sent and received messages to the outside world concealed
in their food platters.
To relieve the unending tedium, the young cardinals played “carnivalesque
pranks” on the older ones, according to Cardinal Spada, who
spotted them sneaking around at night holding candles. 5 The young
cardinals discovered that Cardinal Carafa had built a secret door in his
cell, which opened up on a passage behind the cell of Cardinal de’
Medici, leader of the Spanish faction. This enabled Carafa’s conclavistas
to eavesdrop on the plotting and planning of the Spaniards. Cardinal
Maidalchini, who was by now twenty-five, wrapped himself in a sheet
and tiptoed through the passage. He planned to enter Cardinal Carafa’s
cell through the hidden door and shriek like a ghost. But Carafa was a
light sleeper and had become aware of strange sounds in the passageway.
Though he lay still in bed, he was, in fact, wide awake. When the
white form moved past him, he whacked it hard with the cane he kept
in his bed. Sobbing in pain, Cardinal Maidalchini staggered out the
way he had come.
On February 9, Cardinal Giangiacomo Trivulzio left the conclave
feverish with a rash on his face. Three days later Cardinal Vincenzo
Maculano became ill but refused to leave the conclave because he wanted
to become pope. On February 15, Cardinal Carafa, who had also refused
to leave despite a fever, died in his cell.
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