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Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. By Christoph Weber, with the collaboration of Michael Becker. [Papste and Papsttum, Bande 29,1,2.] 2 vols. (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann. 1999. Pp.cxxxii, 438; 439-980 EUR100.00; EUR100.00.)
Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. By Christoph Weber, with the collaboration of Michael Becker. [Papste und Papsttum, Binde 29,3,4.12 vols. (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann. 2001. Pp. xcii, 555; 558-981-EUR132.94; EUR90.00.)
Here are the first four volumes of a projected six-volume genealogy of the Italian nobility and its family connections to the Roman Catholic Church. All the more than five hundred families here delineated were related by blood or marriage to high office in the hierarchy. The overall impression of these stout tomes is stunning-from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth, the Italian ruling classes were, in effect, the leadership and administration of the universal church. The secular nobility and the ecclesiastical nobility were indistinguishable. The implications are vast-for church history, for Italian history, for European history-but I will confine myself here to a mere description. The indefatigable author, Christoph Weber, cites the technical assistance of Michael Becker in finding the graphic schemes which made the publication of these tables feasible, but...