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Book The Pope s Soldiers

    Book Details:
  • Author : David Alvarez
  • Publisher : University Press of Kansas
  • Release : 2011-05-09
  • ISBN : 0700617701
  • Pages : 445 pages

Download or read book The Pope s Soldiers written by David Alvarez and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2011-05-09 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most students of history assume that the age of the "warlord popes" ended with the Renaissance, but, long after the victory of Catholic powers at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Papacy continued to entangle itself in martial affairs. The Vatican participated in six major military campaigns between 1796 and 1870, flew the papal flag over a warship as late as 1878, and during the Second World War mobilized more than 2,000 of its own troops to defend the Pope. David Alvarez now opens up this little-known aspect of the Papacy in the first general history of the papal armed forces. His is the first book in English to provide a comprehensive chronicle of the modern Vatican's military and security forces from 1796, when the armies of revolutionary France invaded the Papal States, through the wars for unification, to the present-day deployment of modern weapons, technology, and skills to protect the Holy Father and the Vatican from terrorists and assassins. Most papal histories make little reference to military affairs, while the few that address them do so only in passing or focus narrowly on particular units or campaigns. Alvarez's history expands our understanding of the Papacy's military through the exceptional research he has done as the first American scholar to gain access to the archive of the Pontifical Swiss Guard and the modern military records in the Vatican Secret Archive. He is also the first historian of any nationality to use the records of the Vatican Gendarmeria. Alvarez chronicles the exploits of the Vatican's military leaders and soldiers in their campaigns and battles, focusing on how those units under the Pope's authority-including the Vatican navy-engaged in actual military operations. He also deals extensively with the Vatican Gendarmeria as well as the Pope's Noble Guards, Palatine Guards, and Swiss Guards, describing their distinctive responsibilities and revealing the competition and internal tensions that sometimes undermined the morale, preparedness, and cohesion of the Pope's guards. Filled with information that will surprise scholars of the Papacy and military historians alike, Alvarez's highly original work illuminates a shadowy corner of Vatican history and will fascinate all readers interested in the role of the church in the broader world.

Book The Pope s Soldiers

    Book Details:
  • Author : David Alvarez
  • Publisher : University Press of Kansas
  • Release : 2011-05-09
  • ISBN : 0700617701
  • Pages : 445 pages

Download or read book The Pope s Soldiers written by David Alvarez and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2011-05-09 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most students of history assume that the age of the "warlord popes" ended with the Renaissance, but, long after the victory of Catholic powers at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Papacy continued to entangle itself in martial affairs. The Vatican participated in six major military campaigns between 1796 and 1870, flew the papal flag over a warship as late as 1878, and during the Second World War mobilized more than 2,000 of its own troops to defend the Pope. David Alvarez now opens up this little-known aspect of the Papacy in the first general history of the papal armed forces. His is the first book in English to provide a comprehensive chronicle of the modern Vatican's military and security forces from 1796, when the armies of revolutionary France invaded the Papal States, through the wars for unification, to the present-day deployment of modern weapons, technology, and skills to protect the Holy Father and the Vatican from terrorists and assassins. Most papal histories make little reference to military affairs, while the few that address them do so only in passing or focus narrowly on particular units or campaigns. Alvarez's history expands our understanding of the Papacy's military through the exceptional research he has done as the first American scholar to gain access to the archive of the Pontifical Swiss Guard and the modern military records in the Vatican Secret Archive. He is also the first historian of any nationality to use the records of the Vatican Gendarmeria. Alvarez chronicles the exploits of the Vatican's military leaders and soldiers in their campaigns and battles, focusing on how those units under the Pope's authority-including the Vatican navy-engaged in actual military operations. He also deals extensively with the Vatican Gendarmeria as well as the Pope's Noble Guards, Palatine Guards, and Swiss Guards, describing their distinctive responsibilities and revealing the competition and internal tensions that sometimes undermined the morale, preparedness, and cohesion of the Pope's guards. Filled with information that will surprise scholars of the Papacy and military historians alike, Alvarez's highly original work illuminates a shadowy corner of Vatican history and will fascinate all readers interested in the role of the church in the broader world.

Book The Pope s Army

    Book Details:
  • Author : John Carr
  • Publisher : Pen and Sword
  • Release : 2019-02-28
  • ISBN : 1526714914
  • Pages : 254 pages

Download or read book The Pope s Army written by John Carr and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-02-28 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For much of its 2,000-year history, the Roman Catholic Church was a formidable political and military power, in contrast to its pacifist origins and its present concentration on spiritual matters. The period of political and military activism can be dated to roughly between 410, when Pope Innocent I vainly tried to avert the sack of Rome by the Visigoths, and about 1870, when Pope Pius IX was abandoned by his protectors, the French Army, and forced to submit to the new Italian state by surrendering any political power the Vatican had left. During those centuries, the popes employed every means at their disposal, including direct military action, to maintain their domains centered on Rome. Some pontiffs, such as Alexander VI, Julius II (15th century), plus the energetic Borgia popes later, built the Papal States into a power in their own right. In the following century and a half, Europe’s destructive religious wars almost always had a papal component, with the Lateran and later Vatican fielding their own armies. Climaxing the story are the little-known yet bitter late-nineteenth century battles between the papal volunteers from all over Europe and America, and the Italian nationalists who ultimately prevailed. John Carr narrates the story of Papal military clout with engaging verve.

Book The Pope s Army

    Book Details:
  • Author : Robert Royal
  • Publisher : Crossroad
  • Release : 2006
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 240 pages

Download or read book The Pope s Army written by Robert Royal and published by Crossroad. This book was released on 2006 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the world again witnessed the pomp and honor of the Swiss Guard, the Pope's Army. Bestselling author and columnist Royal recounts the colorful history of the military guard that has witnessed every major Vatican event for half a millennium.

Book Soldier of Christ

Download or read book Soldier of Christ written by Robert A. Ventresca and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-15 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debates over the legacy of Pope Pius XII and his canonization are so heated they are known as the “Pius wars.” Soldier of Christ moves beyond competing caricatures and considers Pius XII as Eugenio Pacelli, a flawed and gifted man. While offering insight into the pope’s response to Nazism, Robert A. Ventresca argues that it was the Cold War and Pius XII’s manner of engaging with the modern world that defined his pontificate. Laying the groundwork for the pope’s controversial, contradictory actions from 1939 to 1958, Ventresca begins with the story of Pacelli’s Roman upbringing, his intellectual formation in Rome’s seminaries, and his interwar experience as papal diplomat and Vatican secretary of state. Accused of moral equivocation during the Holocaust, Pius XII later fought the spread of Communism in Western Europe, spoke against the persecution of Catholics in Eastern Europe and Asia, and tackled a range of social and political issues. By appointing the first indigenous cardinals from China and India and expanding missions in Africa while expressing solidarity with independence movements, he internationalized the church’s membership and moved Catholicism beyond the colonial mentality of previous eras. Drawing from a diversity of international sources, including unexplored documentation from the Vatican, Ventresca reveals a paradoxical figure: a prophetic reformer of limited vision whose leadership both stimulated the emergence of a global Catholicism and sowed doubt and dissension among some of the church’s most faithful servants.

Book The Irish Brigade in the Pope s Army 1860

Download or read book The Irish Brigade in the Pope s Army 1860 written by Donal Corcoran and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Irish brigade rushed to defend Pope Pius IX and the Papal States from invasion by the army of King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, and revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi's 'red shirt' guerrillas. This event offers a fascinating insight into post-Famine Ireland and the Italian Risorgimento when both nations struggled for independence, unity and an end to foreign domination. Historical background on Ireland, the Papal States and Italy before 1860 is given, featuring the interplay between nationalism and religion. The brigade's recruitment by priests and nationalists, their motivation, journey to Italy, and hardships suffered on arrival are detailed, together with the complexities of the papal army - military, political and clerical infighting, and the partisan media war. Military accounts of the battles and sieges at Perugia, Spoleto, Castelfidardo and Ancona are recorded, along with the brigade's imprisonment at Genoa, journey home and heroes' welcome. A list of brigade members is included. [Subjects: Irish History; Italian History; Risorgimento; Nineteenth-Century History; Military History]

Book The Pope s Army

Download or read book The Pope s Army written by John Carr and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Pope at War

    Book Details:
  • Author : David I. Kertzer
  • Publisher : Oxford University Press
  • Release : 2022-11-17
  • ISBN : 0192890735
  • Pages : 664 pages

Download or read book The Pope at War written by David I. Kertzer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-17 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Filled with discoveries, this is the dramatic story of Pope Pius XII's struggle to response to the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Nazi domination of Europe.The Pope at War is the third in a trilogy of books about Pope Pius XII's response to the rise of Fascism and Nazism. It tells the dramatic story of Pope Pius XII's struggle to respond to the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the ongoing Nazi attempts to exterminate the Jews of Europe. It is the first book dealing with the war to make extensive use of the newly opened Vatican archives for the war years. It is based, as well, on thousands of documents from the Italian, German,French, British, and American archives. Among the many new discoveries brought to light is the discovery that within weeks of becoming pope in 1939, Pius XII entered into secret negotiations with Hitler through Hitler's emissary, a Nazi Prince who was married to the daughter of the King of Italy and who was veryclose to Hitler. The negotiations were kept so secret that not even the German ambassador to the Holy See was informed of them. The book also offers new insight into the thinking behind Pius XII's decision to maintain good relations with the German government during the war, including keeping the Germans happy while they occupied Rome in 1943-1944. And throughout, David I. Kertzer shows the active role of the Italian Church hierarchy in promoting the Axis war while the pope, who as bishop ofRome was responsible for the Italian hierarchy, offered his silent blessings and cast his public speeches in such a way that both sides could claim support for their cause.

Book The Vatican Cookbook  Presented by the Pontifical Swiss Guard

Download or read book The Vatican Cookbook Presented by the Pontifical Swiss Guard written by The Pontifical Swiss Guard and published by Sophia Institute Press. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the pope’s table to yours . . . The Pontifical Swiss Guard presents … a book like no other. From the elite protectors of the Popes and Defenders of the Faith for more than 500 years, a unique collection of exceptional recipes from simple to sublime, everyday staples to holiday feasts. Here are the classics served at Vatican tables for centuries and the finest of modern cuisine. Best of all, we pay tribute to Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and Saint John Paul II with the personal favorite dishes from their homelands of Argentina, Bavaria, and Poland. A marvelous cookbook and so much more. The Vatican Cookbook features superb photographs that take us behind the scenes to secret and special places of Vatican City. Walk the hallowed halls of St. Peter’s, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel. Enjoy the stories and legends of the Swiss Guard handed down since the days of Michelangelo. For all who love to cook and share meals with family and friends, and for all who are fascinated by the wonders and the grandeur of the Vatican, the Swiss Guard is pleased to offer you … The Vatican Cookbook.

Book Popes  Cardinals and War

Download or read book Popes Cardinals and War written by D.S. Chambers and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2006-09-27 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can Christian clergy - supposedly men of peace - also be warriors? In this lively and compelling history D.S. Chambers examines the popes and cardinals over several centuries who not only preached war but also put it into practice as military leaders. Satirised by Erasmus, the most notorious - Julius II - was even refused entrance to heaven because he was 'bristling and clanking with bloodstained armour'. Popes, Cardinals and War investigates the unexpected commitment of the Roman Church, at its highest level of authority, to military force and war as well as - or rather than - peace-making and the avoidance of bloodshed. Although the book focuses particularly on the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a notoriously belligerent period in the history of the papacy, Chambers also demonstrates an extraordinary continuity in papal use of force, showing how it was of vital importance to papal policy from the early Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. Popes, Cardinals and War looks at the papacy's stimulus and support of war against Muslim powers and Christian heretics but lays more emphasis on wars waged in defence of the Church's political and territorial interests in Italy. It includes many vivid portraits of the warlike clergy, placing the exceptional commitment to warfare of Julius II in the context of the warlike activities and interests of other popes and cardinals both earlier and later. Engaging and stimulating, and using references to scripture and canon law as well as a large range of historical sources, Chambers throws light on these extraordinary and paradoxical figures - men who were peaceful by vocation but contributed to the process of war with surprising directness and brutality - at the same time as he illuminates many aspects of the political history of the Church.

Book The Military Memoirs of General John Pope

Download or read book The Military Memoirs of General John Pope written by Peter Cozzens and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2000-11-09 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Union general John Pope was among the most controversial and misunderstood figures to hold major command during the Civil War. Before being called east in June 1862 to lead the Army of Virginia against General Robert E. Lee, he compiled an enviable record in Missouri and as commander of the Army of the Mississippi. After his ignominious defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, he was sent to the frontier. Over the next twenty-four years Pope held important department commands on the western plains and was recognized as one of the army's leading authorities on Indian affairs, but he never again commanded troops in battle. In 1886, Pope was engaged by the National Tribune, a weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C., to write a series of articles on his wartime experiences. Over the next five years, in twenty-nine installments, he wrote about the war as he had lived it. Collected here for the first time, Pope's "war reminiscences" join a select roster of memoirs written by Civil War army commanders. Pope presents a detailed review of the campaigns in which he participated and offers vivid character sketches of such illustrious figures as Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Clearly written and balanced in tone, his memoirs are a dramatic and important addition to the literature on the Civil War. Originally published in 1998. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Book The Pope s Legion

    Book Details:
  • Author : Charles A. Coulombe
  • Publisher : Macmillan
  • Release : 2009-11-24
  • ISBN : 0230617565
  • Pages : 265 pages

Download or read book The Pope s Legion written by Charles A. Coulombe and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-11-24 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles A. Coulombe's The Pope's Legion tells the amazing adventures of the remarkable multinational force that rallied in defense of the Vatican during the ten-year war of Italian reunification. With Arthurian grandeur the Papal Zouaves marched into Italy in the mid-nineteenth century, summoned by the Pope under siege as the Wars of the Risorgimento raged. Motivated by wanderlust, a sense of duty and the call of faith, some 20,000 Catholic men from around the world rallied to Vatican City to defend her gates against Sardinian marauders. Volunteers came from France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Austria, and many other countries, including the United States. The battles that ensued lasted over 10 years, among a shifting array of allies and enemies and are among history's most fascinating yet largely overlooked episodes. Napoleon, Pius IX, and Bismarck all make appearances in the story, but at the center were the Zouaves--steeped in a knightly code of honor, and unflinching in battle as any modern warrior--as the Church they vowed to defend to the death teetered at the brink of destruction.

Book To Kidnap a Pope

    Book Details:
  • Author : Ambrogio A. Caiani
  • Publisher : Yale University Press
  • Release : 2021-05-25
  • ISBN : 0300258771
  • Pages : 383 pages

Download or read book To Kidnap a Pope written by Ambrogio A. Caiani and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking account of Napoleon Bonaparte, Pope Pius VII, and the kidnapping that would forever divide church and state In the wake of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, and Pope Pius VII shared a common goal: to reconcile the church with the state. But while they were able to work together initially, formalizing an agreement in 1801, relations between them rapidly deteriorated. In 1809, Napoleon ordered the Pope’s arrest. Ambrogio Caiani provides a pioneering account of the tempestuous relationship between the emperor and his most unyielding opponent. Drawing on original findings in the Vatican and other European archives, Caiani uncovers the nature of Catholic resistance against Napoleon’s empire; charts Napoleon’s approach to Papal power; and reveals how the Emperor attempted to subjugate the church to his vision of modernity. Gripping and vivid, this book shows the struggle for supremacy between two great individuals—and sheds new light on the conflict that would shape relations between the Catholic church and the modern state for centuries to come.

Book Soldier of Christ

Download or read book Soldier of Christ written by Robert A. Ventresca and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-15 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This well-crafted biography” presents “a balanced, but not uncritical, examination of the life of a controversial pope” (Library Journal). Debates over the legacy of Pope Pius XII are so heated they are known as the “Pius wars.” Soldier of Christ focuses instead on Eugenio Pacelli, the flawed yet gifted man himself. While offering insight into the pope’s response to Nazism, Robert A. Ventresca argues that it was the Cold War and Pius XII’s manner of engaging with the modern world that defined his pontificate. Ventresca begins with the story of Pacelli’s Roman upbringing, his intellectual formation in Rome’s seminaries, and his interwar experience as papal diplomat and Vatican secretary of state. Accused of moral equivocation during the Holocaust, Pius XII later fought the spread of Communism, spoke against the persecution of Catholics, and tackled a range of social and political issues. By appointing the first indigenous cardinals from China and India and expanding missions in Africa, he internationalized the church’s membership and moved Catholicism beyond the colonial mentality of previous eras. Drawing from a diversity of international sources, including unexplored documentation from the Vatican, Ventresca reveals a paradoxical figure: a prophetic reformer of limited vision whose leadership both stimulated the emergence of a global Catholicism and sowed doubt and dissension among some of the church’s most faithful servants.

Book Victorian Crusaders

    Book Details:
  • Author : Nicholas Schofield
  • Publisher : From Musket to Maxim 1815-1914
  • Release : 2022-07-31
  • ISBN : 9781915070531
  • Pages : 222 pages

Download or read book Victorian Crusaders written by Nicholas Schofield and published by From Musket to Maxim 1815-1914. This book was released on 2022-07-31 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The struggle for Italian Unification brings to mind images of patriotic heroes such as Garibaldi and Mazzini. However, there is another side to the story: thousands of Catholics from across Europe (and beyond) volunteered to defend the pope from those who threatened his authority and his kingdom. These nineteenth century 'crusaders' included around 1,600 from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This book focuses on the turbulent period between 1860 and 1870, which saw a Piedmontese invasion of the Papal States (1860), an attempted capture of Rome by Garibaldi (1867) and finally the newly formed Italian Army's attack of 1870, which left Rome as the kingdom's capital. It was also a time of reform and modernization in the pontifical army, with at times inspired leadership and the introduction of new weapons and technologies. In addition to examining the campaigns, the showpiece actions at Castelfidardo, Mentana and Porta Pia, and the political and religious context, Victorian Crusaders studies the backgrounds, motivations and experience of those who flocked to Rome from the British Isles. The Irish joined the Battalion of St Patrick in 1860 and others subsequently signed up for the Pontifical Zouaves, a glamorous transnational unit whose uniform was inspired by the warriors of the Algerian mountains. They came from varied backgrounds, including members of the aristocracy and future members of parliament, though most came from the middle classes. Most foreign recruits knew that the odds were heavily stacked against them, but they also understood the importance of standing up for their beliefs and the value, as they saw it, of sacrifice and martyrdom. Their experience provides a fascinating insight into Victorian society, large sections of which were proudly in favor of the Italian Risorgimento and often anti-Catholic in their sympathy. Indeed, for the Irish especially, joining the pontifical army was a way of scoring a point against the Protestant English and asserting their national aspirations. Based on contemporary accounts and archives, Victorian Crusaders for the first time studies the Catholic volunteer movement between 1860 and 1870 from a British and Irish perspective.

Book The Army Under Pope

    Book Details:
  • Author : John Codman Ropes
  • Publisher : Digital Scanning Inc
  • Release : 2004-08-01
  • ISBN : 1582185301
  • Pages : 252 pages

Download or read book The Army Under Pope written by John Codman Ropes and published by Digital Scanning Inc. This book was released on 2004-08-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is volume four of the sixteen-volume series on the Army and the Navy in the Civil War. From the appointment of Pope to command the Army of Virginia, to the appointment of McClellan to the general command in September 1862.

Book Soldiers of the Cross  the Authoritative Text

Download or read book Soldiers of the Cross the Authoritative Text written by David Power Conyngham and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2019-05-30 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Students of the Civil War, Catholic history, and women’s history, among others, will welcome [Soldiers of the Cross] . . . Brilliantly edited.” —Randall M. Miller, co-editor of Religion and the American Civil War Shortly after the Civil War, an Irish Catholic journalist and war veteran named David Power Conyngham began compiling the stories of Catholic chaplains and nuns who served during the conflict. His manuscript, Soldiers of the Cross, is the fullest record written during the nineteenth century of the Catholic Church’s involvement in the Civil War, as it documents the service of fourteen chaplains and six female religious communities, representing both North and South. Many of Conyngham’s chapters contain new insights into the clergy during the war that are unavailable elsewhere, either during his time or ours, making the work invaluable to Catholic and Civil War historians. The introduction contains over a dozen letters written between 1868 and 1870 from high-ranking Confederate and Union officials, such as Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Union Surgeon General William Hammond, and Union General George B. McClellan, who praise the church’s services during the war. Chapters on Fathers William Corby and Peter P. Cooney, as well as the Sisters of the Holy Cross, cover subjects relatively well known to Catholic scholars, yet other chapters are based on personal letters and other important primary sources that have not been published prior to this book. Due to Conyngham’s untimely death, Soldiers of the Cross remained unpublished, hidden away in an archive for more than a century. Now annotated and edited so as to be readable and useful to scholars and modern readers, this long-awaited publication of Soldiers of the Cross is a fitting presentation of Conyngham’s last great work