The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Reflections on the Renaissance Papacy
January 23, 2014 | 5:30 PM
Fletcher Challenge Theatre
Harbour Centre
515 W. Hastings St.
In popular culture, the Renaissance papacy (c. 1417-1534) seems an intriguing mixture of highs and lows. On the one hand, it dazzles us with artistic achievements 鈥� the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter鈥檚, to name but two. On the other, it shocks us with personalities infamous enough to thrive on cable television (鈥淭he Borgias,鈥� anyone?). While this blend of extremes may draw us to the Renaissance papacy, how much can it actually teach us? A great deal, in fact. This lecture tours the good, the bad and the ugly of this period in papal history and, in so doing, illuminates how this era represented a turning point for the Western Church.
EMILY O'BRIEN
Though Canadian born, Italy is Emily's true intellectual home. She studies the Italian Renaissance with a particular focus on humanism and the Renaissance papacy. Her work so far has centred on the fifteenth-century humanist Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II) and more specifically, on his autobiography and best-selling romantic novella. She is currently working on a book manuscript about Pius's autobiography and on a Latin-English edition of his (and other humanists') novelle.