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Mistress
of the
VATICAN
The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini:
The Secret Female Pope
Eleanor Herman

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This book is dedicated to
all women who refuse to
be locked up

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Contents
Acknowledgments
v

Introduction
1
Part One
THE GIRL FROM VITERBO

1 The
Convent
9

2 The Wealthy Landowner’s Wife
29

3 The Roman Noblewoman
38

4 The
Brother-in-Law
52

5 The Papal Nuncio
66

6 Cardinals
78

7 The Black Widow
98

8 Conclave
117
Part Two
THE FEMALE POPE

9 The Vicar of Christ
137
10 Celebrations
149

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Contents
11 Women in the Vatican
161
12 Vengeance on the Barberinis
179
13 The Despised Daughter-in-Law
196
14 The Imbecile Cardinals
209
Photographic Insert
15 Birth, Famine, and Bitter Peace
223
16 The Shoulder of Saint Francesca
237
17 The Holy Jubilee Year
257
18 Crisis of Conscience
274
Part Three
UNFORGIVENESS
19 Honor and Dishonor
293
20 Olimpia’s Triumphant Return
311
21 The Sudden Disgrace of Cardinal Astalli
331
22 Death of the Dove
348
23 Unforgiveness
365
24 Pope Alexander VII
372
25 The Two Queens of Rome
384
26 The Scourge of God
395
27 After
Olimpia
409
Notes
421
Bibliography
433
Index
439
About the Author
Other Books by Eleanor Herman
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
[

iv ]

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Acknowledgments
One day in August 2004 I was speaking to Michele Giacalone of the
Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C., about setting up a lec-
ture on Italian royal mistresses to promote my first book, Sex with Kings.
Michele asked me, “Since you enjoy writing about controversial women,
why don’t you write a book on Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphili?”
And I said, “Olimpia who?”
Delving into the story of this forgotten woman, I was quickly fasci-
nated and soon obsessed. My heartfelt thanks to Michele Giacalone,
who heard Olimpia stories during his childhood in Rome. But for his
timely suggestion, I would never have heard of her.
Nor would this book have been possible without the dauntless detec-
tive work of my assistant in Rome, Nancy Meiman, an American-born,
Italian-spewing Sherlock Holmes of history, who tirelessly dug up places
and sources related to Olimpia.
I am very thankful to Alessandra Mercantini and the staff of the
Doria Pamphilj Archives in Rome for permitting me to peruse Olim-
pia’s family letters. These letters allow Olimpia and her relatives to
speak for themselves, and bring to life their daily vexations, hopes, and
fears.
I would like to thank His Excellency Adhemar Gabriel Bahadian,
Brazil’s ambassador to Italy, who generously opened up his embassy
and residence on the Piazza Navona, the palace Olimpia built. He gave
Nancy and me a fascinating tour and permitted us to wander around

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Acknowledgments
for hours to puzzle out the location of ancient stables, kitchens, and ser-
vants’ quarters. Many thanks to Fernando de Mello, the embassy’s cul-
tural attaché, who made this visit possible.
Francesco Colalucci of the Presidential Ceremonial Office was ex-
tremely generous with his time and knowledge by giving us a three-
hour tour of the Quirinal, the papal palace, where Pope Innocent X
spent the last six years of his life, and where he died.
I am especially grateful to Carlo Finazzi and Andrea Donatiello of
the Council of Ministers for permitting me access to Bel Respiro, Olim-
pia’s hilltop villa, despite the fact that renovations have resulted in the
closing of the site to most visitors.
Don Gianni, rector of Saint Agnes Church, allowed us to enter the
normally off-limits crypt, location of the ancient chapel built into an
arch of the Domitian Stadium. And many thanks to the friendly custo-
dian, Eraldo Sboro, who unlocked the doors for our voyage down a
staircase that descended through time itself.
Vicenzo Ceniti, counsel of the Touring Club of Viterbo, took me to
Il Barco, the hunting lodge of Olimpia’s brother, and pointed out Olim-
pia’s birthplace in Viterbo. My heartfelt thanks go to Alessandro Taddei
and his wife, Elena Savini, for allowing me into their beautiful home to
gaze at the gold eight-pointed Maidalchini stars still gracing their ceil-
ing.
Mara Bastianelli gave me an in-depth tour of San Martino, including
Olimpia’s palace and church, and answered endless questions. Her hus-
band, Colombo Bastianelli, has provided me with invaluable documents
not found in any other sources, and gave generously of his in-depth
knowledge of Olimpia’s extraordinary life. It is Colombo Bastianelli
who keeps Olimpia alive in her town of San Martino today.
My gratitude goes to Margherita Carletti Camilli-Mangani for al-
lowing me to visit her beautiful seventeenth-century hunting lodge
just outside the walls of Viterbo, which is associated with Olimpia’s
youth.
In touring the castles Olimpia bought in Umbria, I was welcomed
and assisted by numerous individuals. Aleandro Tommasi and his wife,
Irene Fabi, invited me to coffee in their home, the ancient hilltop for-
[
vi
]

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Acknowledgments
tress of Guardea owned by Olimpia. Nazario Sauro Santi, the mayor of
Alviano, took me on a tour of Olimpia’s jewel of a town. Roberta Proi-
etti shared with me her thesis on Olimpia’s feud of Attigliano.
Annalisa Marinetti and Paola Bonifazzi, who live in apartments in
Olimpia’s Viterban palaces, were kind enough to invite me in for coffee
and permit me to poke around the gardens, former stables, and nooks
and crannies of their beguiling buildings.
A surprising collection of Vatican letters and diplomatic dispatches
from the pontificate of Innocent X has landed at the Folger Shake-
speare Library in Washington, D.C. My heartfelt thanks go to the staff
for their courtesy and assistance. Also stateside, Dr. Ken Gage of the
Centers for Disease Control—known to his friends as “Dr. Plague”—
kindly answered my questions about the bubonic plague that swept
across Italy in 1656.
There are six biographies of Olimpia, all in Italian, and I am greatly
indebted to their authors. Gregorio Leti wrote the first one in 1666. Ig-
nazio Ciampi, relying heavily on Vatican archives, published his version
in 1878. The twentieth century saw four more biographies, by Gustavo
Brigante Colonna, Giuseppe Ciaffei, Donata Chiomenti Vassalli, and
Alf io Cavoli. The research of these other biographers has been invalu-
able for this project.
Closer to home, I am grateful to Joseph John Jablonski, Jr., Esq., of
Arlington, Virginia, for his help with certain Latin passages in Teodoro
Amayden’s 1655 Elogia, a description of Vatican personalities. And I am
greatly indebted to Dr. Adi Shmueli, the renowned psychologist from
Washington, D.C., for his insights, which helped bring to life a woman
who has been dead for 350 years.
Finally, my thanks to my patient husband, Michael Dyment, and my
encouraging sister, Christine Merrill, who have listened to my ceaseless
Olimpia stories for three years.
[ vii ]

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Document Outline

• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Part One: The Girl from Viterbo
    • Chapter One: The Convent
    • Chapter Two: The Wealthy Landowners Wife
    • Chapter Three: The Roman Noblewoman
    • Chapter Four: The Brother-in-Law
    • Chapter Five: The Papal Nuncio
    • Chapter Six: Cardinals
    • Chapter Seven: The Black Widow
    • Chapter Eight: Conclave
  • Part Two: The Female Pope
    • Chapter Nine: The Vicar of Christ
    • Chapter Ten: Celebrations
    • Chapter Eleven: Women in the Vatican
    • Chapter Twelve: Vengeance on the Barberinis
    • Chapter Thirteen: The Despised Daughter-in-Law
    • Chapter Fourteen: The Imbecile Cardinals
    • Photographic Insert
    • Chapter Fifteen: Birth, Famine, and Bitter Peace
    • Chapter Sixteen: The Shoulder of Saint Francesca
    • Chapter Seventeen: The Holy Jubilee Year
    • Chapter Eighteen: Crisis of Conscience
  • Part Three: Unforgiveness
    • Chapter Nineteen: Honor and Dishonor
    • Chapter Twenty: OlimpiaАs Triumphant Return
    • Chapter Twenty-One: The Sudden Disgrace of Cardinal Astalli
    • Chapter Twenty-Two: Death of the Dove
    • Chapter Twenty-Three: Unforgiveness
    • Chapter Twenty-Four: Pope Alexander VII
    • Chapter Twenty-Five: The Two Queens of Rome
    • Chapter Twenty-Six: The Scourge of God
    • Chapter Twenty-Seven: After Olimpia
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • About the Author
  • Also by Eleanor Herman
  • Credits
  • Copyright Notice
  • About the Publisher

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