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mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

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Eleanor Herman<br />

in her palazzo, which numerous cardinals attended. 7 Invariably <strong>the</strong> audience<br />

included Camillo and <strong>the</strong> princess <strong>of</strong> Rossano, who became one <strong>of</strong><br />

Christina’s best friends. The pope was not amused.<br />

Alexander was fur<strong>the</strong>r dismayed that <strong>the</strong> queen tromped around <strong>the</strong><br />

Vatican wearing thick men’s boots and men’s clo<strong>the</strong>s. The Bible, he<br />

pointed out, instructed Christians to wear only those clo<strong>the</strong>s appropriate<br />

for <strong>the</strong>ir own gender. Christina must stop dressing like a man. The<br />

queen, in this instance at least, complied with <strong>the</strong> pope’s request. She<br />

started appearing at Vatican receptions wearing gowns so low-cut her<br />

nipples popped out.<br />

Initially, church <strong>of</strong>ficials thought that <strong>the</strong> most proper thing for<br />

Christina to do in Rome, considering that she was an unmarried female,<br />

was to enter a convent, ei<strong>the</strong>r as a nun or simply to retire from <strong>the</strong><br />

world. But though Christina visited convents <strong>of</strong>ten—mainly to ogle <strong>the</strong><br />

nuns—she said that she would ra<strong>the</strong>r marry than become a nun. Then<br />

she surprised all Rome by having a passionate love affair with a man.<br />

The pope felt her choice was most unfortunate; it was Olimpia’s protégé<br />

Cardinal Decio Azzolini.<br />

Olimpia had been exiled from Rome some five months before Christina’s<br />

arrival. The old queen <strong>of</strong> Rome, who had clawed her way to <strong>the</strong><br />

top, never met <strong>the</strong> new queen <strong>of</strong> Rome, who had been born at <strong>the</strong> pinnacle<br />

and gracefully slid down <strong>of</strong> her own free will. The one hoped that<br />

in her exile from Rome <strong>the</strong> scandal <strong>of</strong> her life would be forgotten, while<br />

<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hoped to foment as much scandal as possible for <strong>the</strong> sheer fun<br />

<strong>of</strong> it. Yet it is fascinating to speculate on a meeting between <strong>the</strong> two<br />

women. We can picture <strong>the</strong> queen marching into Olimpia’s palazzo one<br />

day in her thick boots and men’s breeches, flopping down on a chair<br />

with legs spread wide, and gulping wine. We can picture Olimpia, in<br />

her virtuous black silk, letting slip a hearty guffaw.<br />

When Christina was snubbed by a haughty Roman noblewoman<br />

who refused to accompany her down <strong>the</strong> stairs after a visit, <strong>the</strong> feisty<br />

former queen grabbed her hostess by <strong>the</strong> hands and dragged her down<br />

kicking and screaming. Olimpia, who had been snubbed herself in her<br />

early years in Rome, would have approved.<br />

[ 392 ]

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