The audiobook by the well-known Italian medievalist Agostino Paravicini Bagliani offers a sweeping overview of the history of the papacy—Europe’s oldest religious institution. The listener will learn about the rituals accompanying the election and burial of pontiffs, discover what sacred principles are hidden behind their physical shell, and understand how the Curia interpreted the concepts of mortality and eternity. The foundation of the audiobook is the author’s reflections on the essence of power—on the divine and the natural in a human being.
The world of Roman popes, dreaming of longevity yet fearing death, debating the fragility of the body and the immortality of the soul, is presented to us in all its variety. The Russian translation of the audiobook was made by the Russian medievalist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, specialist in the culture of the medieval West—Oleg Voskoboynikov.