The Bad Popes

"The Bad Popes" is a 1986 book by E. R. Chamberlin documenting the lives of eight of the most controversial popes (papal years in parentheses):

*Pope Stephen VI (896-897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber [Russell Chamberlin. 2003. "The Bad Popes". Sutton Publishing. p. 19]
*Pope John XII (937-964), who gave land to a mistress, murdered several people, and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife.
*Pope Benedict IX (1032-1044,1045,1047-1048), who "sold" the Papacy
*Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), who is lampooned in Dante's "Divine Comedy"
*Pope Urban VI (1378-1389), who complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured. [Russell Chamberlin. 2003. "The Bad Popes". Sutton Publishing. p. 153]
*Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503), a Borja, who was guilty of nepotism and whose unattended corpse swelled until it could barely fit in a coffin. [Russell Chamberlin. 2003. "The Bad Popes". Sutton Publishing. p. 204]
*Pope Leo X (1513-1521), a spendthrift member of the Medici family who once spent 1/7 of his predecessors' reserves on a single ceremony [Russell Chamberlin. 2003. "The Bad Popes". Sutton Publishing. p. 218]
*Pope Clement VII (1523-1534), also a Medici, whose power-politicking with France, Spain, and Germany got Rome sacked.

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