THE POPES

The papacy is as old as the Christian Church itself, and a crucialinfluence on the political history of medieval and modern Europe. Pope LeoIII's coronation of Charlemagne established the first real imperial powerin the West since the fall of Rome and created the model for what wouldbecome the Holy Roman Empire; Pope Gregory VII's dispute with the GermanEmperor over the appointment of church officials exerted a huge influenceon the course of medieval German history; the preaching of Pope Urban IIled to the First Crusade and centuries of war between the Christian Westand Islam; in the 20th century Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty withItaly, establishing the Vatican City as a sovereign state. And even today,the Roman Catholic Church's teaching - as expressed through papalpronouncements on matters as diverse as abortion, contraception, terrorismand the problem of global poverty - continues to impact on the lives ofbillions of people around the world.The 256 occupants of the throne of StPeter have included saints, visionaries, voluptuaries, rogues and cowards;papal lives have embraced a moral spectrum from priestly abstinence andrectitude to worldly excess and depravity. The history and mystique ofthe papacy exerts a profound fascination for Christians and non-Christiansalike. "The Popes" contains 50 lively biographical essays profiling thegreatest occupants of the throne of St Peter, from St Peter himself toJohn Paul II. Each papal life dovetails with the next, creating anintegrated overview of some 2000 years of papal history. The essays can beread as self-contained portraits of individual papal lives, or as a largernarrative chronicling the history of the most important institution of theChristian Church. "The Popes" is a richly rewarding introduction to anengrossing subject.