The pope who would be king : the exile of Pius IX and the emergence of modern Europe

Resource Information

The work The pope who would be king : the exile of Pius IX and the emergence of modern Europe represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in European University Institute. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The pope who would be king : the exile of Pius IX and the emergence of modern Europe

Title remainder

the exile of Pius IX and the emergence of modern Europe

Statement of responsibility

David I. Kertzer

Creator

• Kertzer, David I., 1948-

Subject

• Europe -- Politics and government -- 1848-1871
• Italy -- Politics and government -- 1815-1870
• Papacy -- History -- 1799-1870
• Europe -- Church history -- 19th century
• Pius, IX, Pope, 1792-1878
• Popes -- Temporal power
• Rome (Italy) -- Politics and government -- 19th century
• Papal States -- History -- 1815-1870

Language

eng

Summary

"Days after his prime minister was assassinated in the middle of Rome in November 1848, Pope Pius IX found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The wave of revolution that had swept through Europe now seemed poised to end the popes' thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not the papacy itself. Disguising himself as a simple parish priest, Pius escaped through a back door. Climbing inside the Bavarian ambassador's carriage, he embarked on a journey into a fateful exile. Only two years earlier Pius's election had triggered a wave of optimism across Italy. After the repressive reign of the dour Pope Gregory XVI, Italians saw the youthful, benevolent new pope as the man who would at last bring the Papal States into modern times and help create a new, unified Italian nation. But Pius was caught between a desire to please his subjects and a fear--stoked by the conservative cardinals--that heeding the people's pleas would destroy the church. The resulting drama--with a colorful cast of characters, from Louis Napoleon and his rabble-rousing cousin Charles Bonaparte to Garibaldi, Tocqueville, and Metternich--was rife with treachery, tragedy, and international power politics. David Kertzer is one of the world's foremost experts on the history of Italy and the Vatican and has a rare ability to bring that history vividly to life. With a combination of gripping, cinematic storytelling and keen historical analysis, rooted in an unprecedented richness of archival sources, The Pope Who Would Be King sheds fascinating new light on the end of rule by divine right in the West and the emergence of modern Europe."--

Assigning source

Provided by publisher

Biography type

contains biographical information

Dewey number

282.092

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography