Conclave 1559
Written by Mary Hollingsworth
Narrated by Julie Maisey
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Tasked with choosing a pontiff to replace a previous incumbent (Paul IV) whose reign was marked by repression and brutality, and faced with the growing challenge of the Protestant Reformation, the conclave faced a critically important decision for the future of the Roman Catholic Church, and was faction-ridden even by the standards of such polarised gatherings. France and Spain, both looking to extend their power in Italy and beyond, had very different ideas of who the new pope should be, as did the Italian cardinals.
Making meticulous use of the detailed accounts left by Ippolito d'Este, one of the participating cardinals (and the son of Lucrezia Borgia), Mary Hollingsworth relates the intrigue and double-dealing of the different parties trying to secure the required number of votes over the four months of this lengthiest of sixteenth-century papal elections.
Mary Hollingsworth
Mary Hollingsworth is a scholar of the Italian Renaissance and the author of The Medici, which was widely praised on its publication by Head of Zeus in 2017, Princes of the Renaissance, published in 2021 and Conclave 1559: The Story of a Papal Election (2021). Her other books include The Cardinal's Hat, The Borgias: History's Most Notorious Dynasty and Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century.
More audiobooks from Mary Hollingsworth
The Family Medici: The Hidden History of the Medici Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Princes of the Renaissance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Conclave 1559
Related audiobooks
Francis I: The Maker of Modern France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Borgias: Power and Depravity in Renaissance Italy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Two Houses, Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100-1300 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marie-Antoinette: The Making of a French Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King of the North Wind: The Life of Henry II in Five Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England: the Road to Magna Carta Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scourge of Henry VIII: The Life of Marie de Guise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great Catherine: The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plantagenet Princesses: The Daughters of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFour Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hundred Years War: A People's History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children of Henry VIII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tudor: Passion. Manipulation. Murder. The Story of England's Most Notorious Royal Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Elizabeth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House of Borgia: A Captivating Guide to the Borgias and Their Feuds with the Medici Family, Sforza Dynasty, and Girolamo Savonarola Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Measure of Man: Liberty, Virtue, and Beauty in the Florentine Renaissance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Prince: England's Greatest Medieval Warrior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ladies-in-Waiting: Women Who Served Anne Boleyn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Families of Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Female Network of Power in the Middle Ages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Borgias Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homecoming: The Scottish Years of Mary, Queen of Scots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Final Year of Anne Boleyn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bookseller of Florence: The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
European History For You
The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The War on the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Middle Ages 101, The: Medieval History and Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Reformation: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Teutonic Knights: A Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ghost Map Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Hideous Progeny: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whose Middle Ages?: Teachable Moments for an Ill-Used Past Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related categories
Reviews for Conclave 1559
3 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really very entertaining and interesting. A nice insiders look into the conclave. Highly recommend it
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is an amazing account of the crazy conclave of 1559. It is based on authentic sources and this makes it all the more interesting and truly stranger than fiction. The downside of this audiobook is the reader who did not bother to learn the correct pronunciation of Italian, French and Spanish names and there are many of them. It is a shame - whoever is interested in this era or the Renaissance or the papacy has some idea of how to pronounce these names. Unfortunately this reader had none. Re-record this audiobook so that it can be perfectly enjoyable rather than wincingly enjoyable.