Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes

Ever since Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the 4th century, the papacy has been a formidable moral and religious presence in the world. The pope is an international force, a political necessity, an object of both inspiration and interference. He is godly to some, holier than thou to others. The popes of history run the gamut of human behavior, as different as the eras they lived in, the ways in which they delegated power, the means by which they led the Church. In these revealing biographies readers will meet: St. Peter, first in line, and talented with a pen; St. Callixtus, who was once a slave; St. Clement, who was thrown into the sea with an anchor around his neck; St. Leo I, who frightened Attila the Hun into sparing Rome; St. Gregory I, who banished the plague from Rome; St. Leo IX, one of the great reform popes; St. Gregory VII, one of history's greatest popes, who nobly defended the Church against domination by secular powers. Not to mention the generous, the murderous, the lecherous, and the truly righteous. All were visible heads of the Church on Earth -- Vicars of Christ -- and these are the unvarnished chronicles of how they succeeded, when they failed ... and why.