A tiara decorated with three crowns and now the pope is the father of princes and kings, ruler of the world, vicar of our savior Jesus Christ and to whom his honor and glory through all ages.

Historians commonly designate the High Middle Ages as the era of the "papal monarchy," when the popes of Rome vied with secular rulers for spiritual and temporal supremacy. Indeed, in many ways the story of the papal monarchy encapsulates that of medieval Europe as often remembered: a time before the modern age, when religious authorities openly clashed with emperors, kings, and princes for political mastery of their world, claiming sovereignty over Christendom, the universal community of Christian kingdoms, churches, and peoples. At no point was this conflict more widespread and dramatic than during the papacies of Gregory IX (1227-1241) and Innocent IV (1243-1254). Their struggles with the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II (1212-1250) echoed in the corridors of power and the court of public opinion, ranging from the battlefields of Italy to the streets of Jerusalem. In The Two Powers, Brett Edward Whalen has written a new history of this combative relationship between the thirteenth-century papacy and empire. Countering the dominant trend of modern historiography, which focuses on Frederick instead of the popes, he redirects our attention to the papal side of the historical equation. By doing so, Whalen highlights the ways in which Gregory and Innocent acted politically and publicly, realizing their priestly sovereignty through the networks of communication, performance, and documentary culture that lay at the unique disposal of the Apostolic See. Covering pivotal decades that included the last major crusades, the birth of the Inquisition, and the unexpected invasion of the Mongols, The Two Powers shows how Gregory and Innocent's battles with Frederick shaped the historical destiny of the thirteenth-century papacy and its role in the public realm of medieval Christendom.

Revised and updated for the twenty-first century: the authoritative reference for the ceremonies, traditions, and protocols of today’s Catholic Church. In The Church Visible, James-Charles Noonan presents a detailed and comprehensive resource on all matters concerning the external life of the church. As the only book of its kind published in more than a century, it is the recognized authority on the subject—and the first to incorporate the momentous changes of the Second Vatican Council. This newly revised edition presents the most up to date information on such topics as Papal Honors, Church Protocol, Vesture & Insignia, the Universal Church, and more.

A New York Times columnist and one of America’s leading conservative thinkers considers Pope Francis’s efforts to change the church he governs in a book that is “must reading for every Christian who cares about the fate of the West and the future of global Christianity” (Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option). Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936, today Pope Francis is the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis’s stewardship of the Church, while perceived as a revelation by many, has provoked division throughout the world. “If a conclave were to be held today,” one Roman source told The New Yorker, “Francis would be lucky to get ten votes.” In his “concise, rhetorically agile…adroit, perceptive, gripping account (The New York Times Book Review), Ross Douthat explains why the particular debate Francis has opened—over communion for the divorced and the remarried—is so dangerous: How it cuts to the heart of the larger argument over how Christianity should respond to the sexual revolution and modernity itself, how it promises or threatens to separate the church from its own deep past, and how it divides Catholicism along geographical and cultural lines. Douthat argues that the Francis era is a crucial experiment for all of Western civilization, which is facing resurgent external enemies (from ISIS to Putin) even as it struggles with its own internal divisions, its decadence, and self-doubt. Whether Francis or his critics are right won’t just determine whether he ends up as a hero or a tragic figure for Catholics. It will determine whether he’s a hero, or a gambler who’s betraying both his church and his civilization into the hands of its enemies. “A balanced look at the struggle for the future of Catholicism…To Change the Church is a fascinating look at the church under Pope Francis” (Kirkus Reviews). Engaging and provocative, this is “a pot-boiler of a history that examines a growing ecclesial crisis” (Washington Independent Review of Books).

In The Vacant See in Early Modern Rome John M. Hunt offers a social history of the papal interregnum from 1559 to 1655. The study concentrates on the Roman people’s relationship with their sacred ruler. Using criminal sources from the Archivio di Stato di Roma and Vatican sources, Hunt emphasizes the violent and tumultuous nature of the lapse in papal authority that followed the pope’s death. The vacant see was a time in which Romans of modest social backgrounds claimed unprecedented power. From personal acts of revenge to collective protests staged at the Capitol Hill and citywide discussions of the papal election the vacant see provided Romans with a unique opportunity for political involvement in an age of omnipresent hierarchy.

A meticulous and careful analysis of the career of the twentieth century's most controversial pope, The Pope's Dilemma argues that Pius XII's refusal to condemn Nazi Germany and its allies was driven by the desire to keep Catholics within the Church.

Read the tarot in a lush new way—through the lens of flowers and their mythology—with this intricately illustrated deck. The world of tarot cards and that of flowers, with their thousand symbols and meanings, meet in a unique and precious deck. The archetypes of the Major Arcana take on a new life, reflecting the vast array of meanings that mythology, tradition, and literature have long ascribed to flowers. The result is Flora, a magical deck that will enchant everyone who encounters it. Giving life to these myths and symbols are the gorgeous illustrations of Massimo Alfaioli, a botanical scholar and tarot expert, Maria Eva Di Maggio. Inside, 78 original artist illustrations and book that tell the myths, traditions, and legends of yesterday and today. A unique deck, to collect and consult to learn more about yourself and your destiny.

The Stones of Rome reveals the hidden thoughts of a Sovereign Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church during the Renaissance. Between what a Chief of State thinks and does, space and time intervene, shrouded in ambiguities and contradictions that the machinery of government does not always record. This novel intersperses confidential accounts of an agnostic humanist who exposes himself as a man as he rises to become the Pope. He is the man behind the curtain of unquestionable religious power. The dwarf Serapica, knowledgeable of Latin and Greek, would have been the custodian of the secrets, confidential revelations, regrets and loves that his master and lord, Giovani de Medici - Pope Leo X - shared with his most intimate friends, Raphael and Michelangelo. The novel is based on fragments of the life of the first Florentine pope, restless, indecisive, a patron of art and literature.

The stories of seven popes who ruled at seven different critical periods in the 600 years leading into the Reformation.