{"product_id":"the-meddlesome-friar-and-the-wayward-pope","title":"The Meddlesome Friar and the Wayward Pope","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy Michael de la Bédoyère\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Meddlesome Friar and the Wayward Pope \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003etells the story of two men whom the patterns of Providence brought into mortal conflict: Fra Girolamo Savonarola of the Order of Preachers and Pope Alexander VI of the Borgia family. Each representative of certain High Renaissance ideals, they are well-known as historical figures yet poorly understood as individuals. For Michael de la Bédoyère, that poor understanding obscures the magnitude and complexity of their story. Was Alexander VI, \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e “bad Pope,” scandalous, licentious, nepotistic, as dissolute as he appears? Was Savonarola, preacher and prophet and political firebrand, as just in pursuit of his cause as he seems? With broad, vigorous strokes, de la Bédoyère addresses these questions to produce portraits of Savonarola and Alexander with their virtues and flaws intact. Together, these portraits bring to light the great issue of their conflict, and one that is constant for human society: namely, the matter of obedience and whether the righteous man truly owes it to a politically lawful yet morally corrupt ruler.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eFirst published in 1958 and the fruit of de la Bédoyère’s lifelong “Savonarola-haunting,” \u003ci\u003eThe Meddlesome Friar and the Wayward Pope \u003c\/i\u003eintegrates the various extant histories of its subjects into a fascinating interpretation of an extraordinary period of history, in which religious unity ultimately stood for little in the face of spiritual and moral chaos.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEveryone has mocked me. I have become the world’s joke.  I am called an idiot, a madman, because I do no more than  call everyone to penance and prophesy tribulations.\u003c\/em\u003e ( Fra Girolamo Savonarola)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael de la Bédoyère \u003c\/b\u003e(1900–1973) was an English Catholic author, journalist, and long-time editor of the \u003ci\u003eCatholic Herald\u003c\/i\u003e. His books include numerous biographies and historical studies, especially popular among which were \u003ci\u003eCatherine, Saint of Siena \u003c\/i\u003e(1947); \u003ci\u003eThe Life of Baron von Hügel\u003c\/i\u003e (1951), and \u003ci\u003eFrancis: A Biography of the Saint of Assisi \u003c\/i\u003e(1962).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e* * *\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256pp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-sheets-root=\"1\" data-sheets-value='{\"1\":2,\"2\":\"978-1-68595-343-0\"}' data-sheets-userformat='{\"2\":4225,\"3\":{\"1\":0},\"10\":2,\"15\":\"Nunito\"}'\u003e978-1685953430\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cstyle type=\"text\/css\"\u003e\u003c!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--\u003e\u003c\/style\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Cluny Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53100041175407,"sku":"978-1685953430","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0970\/5337\/6879\/files\/ProductImages_5.5x8.5--1108.jpg?v=1781124934","url":"https:\/\/www.heavenlychristiangifts.com\/products\/the-meddlesome-friar-and-the-wayward-pope","provider":"Heavenly Christian Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}