European History : Mistress of the Vatican The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini The Secret Female Pope P.S.
Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge (P.S.) | 
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Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Release Date: 2009-09-08
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List Price: $15.99
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- ISBN13: 9780061245565
- Condition: New
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 A little long-winded
I enjoyed the book especially for the descriptions of Rome in the 17th century. However, there were seemingly endless descriptions of furniture, books, etc. that did little to enhance the story. If this is indeed the first biography of the Olimpia, then it was worth the time it took to read it.
 great read on Rome and Catholic Church
I love history that reads like a novel! Want to stay up to 2 reading 'cuz you can't put the book down? Learn something interesting AND useful about your upcoming visit to Rome??? Read this book!!! The book is about an amazing 17th Century woman who escaped commitment to a convent amoung other things to become almost a pope....
Great Writing, Fascinating Story
This author has a great storytelling ability. To her understanding of the history of this time, she adds a good eye for detail, pacing and depth to her characters. Highlights include the descriptions of the conclaves, Innocent X's death, the rivalry between Olimpia and Olimpia, the role of relics (and Olimpia's relic) and the short lived but pungent rebellion of a favorite granddaughter.
Eleanor Herman compares the fruits of Olimpia's intrigues with peers in her own time, she explains the motives of the popes and the pressures on them, how taxes were collected and something of the food distribution system and more. One example of her interpretive ability is explaining the meaning for the Popes and the Church in general of the conversion of the Swedish queen. There are many mini-history lessons like this throughout the book.
This book joins other recent titles that I'm aware of that profiling Italian women The Pope's Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere and Murder of a Medici Princess by Caroline Murphy and Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon and A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century by Andrea di Robelant. I hope this represents a trend in capturing the lesser known historical players.
In popular history an intriguing character or an exciting time can cover for a dull writer. In this book, you get not only an intriguing character and exciting time, you get a very well composed story. There are many histories that I really liked, but I would not recommend to my friends who "don't get" the genre. I would unequivocally recommend this book to just about anyone.
Fascinating facts, maybe
I enjoyed reading this book -- the author does a fabulous job of picking out details to make 17th century Rome sound like a lot of fun and there were times I stopped to say "Hey, did you know..." and read a part aloud to my husband. However, I found it disconcerting to realize that these exciting new facts I was learning were not necessarily true. Speculation is at the core of making history fascinating, but the author does not always distinguish between fact and speculation -- a number of things presented as fact seemed on their face quite implausible -- nor does she cite her sources nearly as frequently as she should.
A Woman at the Pinnacle of Power
In her biography of Olimpia Maidalchini, Ms. Herman refers to her as "the secret female pope." This is a line meant to provoke and it does its job. Frankly, however, it is a bit of a stretch considering Ms. Herman's own descriptions of Olimpia's exile and near-catastrophic over-reaching. And let's not forget the fact that Olimpia's power was no secret. Still, given the Catholic Church's history of patriarchy and often sinful misogyny, it is wonderful to have reminders of the fact that, throughout its history, women have played important roles and wielded great power in the Church.
In some ways, Olimpia's story is a great one for any age: a young woman defies the odds and works her way up to the pinnacles of power and wealth in her society. The fact that she does so in the Papal States of the seventeenth century when women were often less than second-class citizens is all the more impressive. Of course, Olimpia is no saint--but few were in Rome at the time--and her path to power is paved with the bodies of those who stood in her way, but it is a fascinating story nonetheless.
Nearly forced into a convent by her father, she ends up marrying above her station in her native Viterbo. Soon after, she marries Pamphilio Pamphili, a nobleman of Rome and begins her quest for power there. She ultimately achieves this through her brother-in-law, Gianbattista Pamphili. Likely his mistress, she guides the shy canon into the intrigues of Vatican politics, to a cardinal's hat, and, ultimately, to elevation as Pope Innocent X. Through her vacillating lover, she controls everything from the purse-strings to cardinal appointments. At times, she truly did wield the power of the papacy and people knew it; at least, when she wasn't in disfavor with the pope. Like anyone, she wasn't perfect holding the reins of power and ran into some problems.
Most of her problems came from her own mistakes and Ms. Herman is fair in describing Olimpia's weaknesses. Her greed and vengefulness are on display, though Ms. Herman sometimes seems tolerant of these short-comings. True, these were common failing in Rome at the time and, in some cases, would have been winked at in men. But that doesn't make them right. But it is fair to say that Olimpia generally knew how to play the game well and she couldn't have achieved what she did without being ruthless.
All in all, this is a very well-written book about an amazing woman. Ms. Herman takes us right into the world of Rome in the seventeenth century. My brief description here does not do justice to the intricacy with which Ms. Herman brings things to life. And, in giving us Olimpia's story, she does more: she shows us how the Church of the time actually functioned. Great things were achieved, but these things were often achieved through less than holy methods. Olimpia turns out to be a reflection of her time. She did great and not-so-great things but she stands out because of her gender. Fortunately for us, since it allowed Ms. Herman to write this great book.
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