Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope (P.S.) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

While entertaining and at times salacious, if you're looking for an in-depth, scholarly biography along the lines of Antonia Fraser, keep looking elsewhere.

All in all, I enjoyed reading about a now-forgotten woman who turned Rome and the Catholic Church on its ear with her ambition and greed. The author points out how this woman essentially ran the Vatican for extended periods of time for her brother-in-law, Pope Innocent X. Having schemed to place him on the papal throne, she continued to scheme and intrigue with cardinals, ambassadors, and royalty. All of this was acceptable at the time (bribery and coercion were the norm), but only if you were a man.

That said, this work is far from intellectual and relies too heavily on phrases such as "we can imagine" and "we can picture". This type of speculation runs rampant through the book, as do lengthy fiction-like tangents where the author asks us to imagine scenes in the Vatican and palaces of Rome.

I enjoyed the read, but took much of it with a grain of salt. If you like your biography heavy on opinion and guesswork, this is one for you. If like me, however, you prefer your biography to be well-researched, factual, and lacking in ridiculous exposition about the subject's motivations and the imaginings of the author, then it would be best to look elsewhere.

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.

Author Herman has written a compelling book about a period that the Vatican would like to forget. Her prose is excellent and the color and her depiction of the times is fascinating. Unfortunately Vatican history is not my specialty, and I am unable to vouch for the accuracy of the author's many statements of fact or supposition.

Even if only one-half of this is true, the graft, corruption, immorality and pettiness of the Pope and cardinals of that age are astounding. One must remember that this was a century after Luther had nailed his ninety-five theses on the door at Wittenburg, and apparently the Vatican had learned little from the protestant reformers. The depiction of Innocent X's election is priceless, with cardinals rushing to vote so they could escape the unhealthy environment. The veneration of relics is almost shocking with various Italian churches boasting of sacred relics like drops of the Virgin Mary's breast milk, the foreskin of Jesus' penis, and his umbilical cord. Yep, this was an age of faith coupled with pedestrian greed and venality, so please excuse me if I voice some skepticism.

The story centers around Olimpia Maidalchini, a brilliant lady who manipulated her brother-in-law into the papacy, then took over and ran the Pope's business for him. This was not the first time a female or females controlled the Papacy, but it was the first time it was so well documented. The author also clearly depicts the Italian and especially Roman dominance of the Papacy in spite of important financial support from the Catholic states of France and Spain. For several of the families in Italy, the Papacy was essentially their family business.

There is much papal history here, including that the Pope was first decreed to be elected only by the cardinals in 1059. Since 1389 all popes have come from the College of Cardinals amid much political maneuvering, and generally elderly men often have been chosen for the potential of short reigns so the position could be passed around to other worthy aspirants. Sounds like a large bureaucratic organization rather than a religious hierarchy, but can an organization of ambitious humans be otherwise?

For seven years Olimpia ruled the Vatican like a queen regent for an indisposed monarch, but she finally overstepped her bounds and lost her power swiftly. She was repudiated from all sides, and six years later went to her grave. Nevertheless, she was a fascinating "grand dame", who's story had to be suppressed later to maintain the dignity of the Church. One wonders how many more Olimpias there have been or are behind the scenes, not only in the Roman Catholic Church, but for any men in powerful positions. One could do worse than to learn from Olimpia's story.

This is not an important book, but one worth reading for those interested in the Middle Ages and the Age of Expansion.