A History of the Papacy

An updated edition of a book first published in Hungary in 1982 and released in Russia in 1996. After the collapse of the socialist bloc, the author—having removed the constraints of historical materialism—deeply reworked and expanded the text. As a result, what emerged is essentially a new work, free from ideological dictates.

This edition is aimed at a broad circle of readers and covers two thousand years of the history of papal spiritual authority and the Papal State—from the Apostle Peter to John Paul II. Persecutions of early Christians, the Investiture Controversy with the German emperors, the Crusades, the Avignon period, the trade in indulgences, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, religious wars—victories and defeats, reforms and backroom intrigues, famous bulls and cathedrals, saints and sinners on the papal throne—all of this is presented in a lively and reliable account by Jenő Gergely.