Popes

It's logical to assume that most Popes are European (especially Italian) because the center of the Church is just outside of Rome. The highest concentration of Faithful, Bishops and Catholic theologians would preside in this region of the world. Thus, Italians are blessed in this aspect: because there are so many Roman Catholics there, they'd be represented well throughout history as providing many Popes.

The pope derives his power from an unbroken succession of the line of bishops begining with Jesus telling Peter you are the rock upon which I build my church throughout history to today and Pope Benedict XVI.

The Lateran Pacts of 1929 gave the Pope sovereign rights to a state of his own in the Vatican City, this would have given him independance from the Kingdom of Italy and would have shown the world that he was not under Mussolini's control. Il Duce had to give up ever attaining a complete totalitiarian, secular state with the Pacts, however what they did do was eliminate the Catholic Church as a political rival, making them dissolve the PPI and the Catholic Scout Movement. The Pope didn't completely support Mussolini afterwards anyway, they still conflicted over the suppression of Catholic Action and the racial laws of 1938.

Pope John Paul II was the first from Poland. He served from October 1978 to April 2005.

At the end of 2005, there were 135 members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. This number consisted of a Commandant (bearing the rank of Oberst or Colonel), a chaplain, three officers, one sergeant major (Feldwebel), 30 NCOs, and 99 halberdiers, the rank equivalent to private (so called because of their traditional halberd). (As per Wikipedia)

they were a very influential family during the renaissance. They gained there wealth from banking and other businesses. They slowly gained power and became one of the most influential families of florantine italy. At one point they held government postions in Florance and they became great patrons of art.

King George III was the ruler of Great Britain from 1760-1820.

George III was born on June 4, 1738. He had porphyria, a disease which disrupted his reign as early as 1765. Several attacks affected his sanity, and debilitated him in the last years of his reign. George's madness ultimately left the fate of the crown to his eldest son George, the Prince Regent. Prince George was put in the daunting position of attempting to govern according to the increasingly erratic will of his father. George III died blind, deaf, and insane, in Windsor Castle on January 29, 1820.

Bouts with madness and the way he handled the American Revolution eroded King George's support, and the power of the Crown was granted to the Prime Minister.

George's commitment to taxing the American colonies to pay for military protection led to hostilities in 1775. The American colonists proclaimed independence in 1776, but George obstinately continued the war until the final American victory at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1783, ensured British acknowledgment of the separation of the United States of America from British rule.

Many people refer to King George III as "Mad King George."

George III succeeded his grandfather, George II, in 1760 (Frederick, Prince of Wales, had died in 1751 having never ruled). George was determined to recover the prerogative lost to the ministerial council by the first two Georges; in the first two decades of the reign, he methodically weakened the Whig party through bribery, coercion and patronage. Prime Minister, William Pitt the Elder was toppled by Whigs after the Peace of Paris, and men of mediocre talent and servile minds were hand-picked by George as Cabinet members, acting as little more than yes-men. Bouts with madness and the way he handled the American Revolution eroded his support and the power of the Crown was granted again to the Prime Minister.

The Peace of Paris (1763) ended the Seven Years' War with France, with the strenuous, anti-French policies of the elder Pitt emphasizing naval superiority in the colonial warfare. Great Britain emerged from the conflict as the world's greatest colonial power. England thrived under peacetime conditions, but George's commitment to taxing the American colonies to pay for military protection led to hostilities in 1775. The colonists proclaimed independence in 1776, but George obstinately continued the war until the final American victory at Yorktown in 1781. The Peace of Versailles, signed in 1783, ensured British acknowledgment of the United States of America. The defeat cost George dearly: his sanity was stretched to the breaking point and his political power decreased when William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister in 1783. George reclaimed some of his power, driving Pitt from office from 1801-04, but his condition worsened again and he ceased to rule in 1811.

The peace following the French war settlement was short-lived. A mere ten years later, England joined a continental alliance against French revolutionary forces who, after gaining power in France, sought total French hegemony across Europe. By 1797, the largest part of Europe was under French dominance, with England standing alone against the revolutionary Republic. The British Navy again proved decisive, defeating French forces at Camperdown, Cape St. Vincent and the Battle of the Nile in 1797, and finally at Copenhagen in 1801. Peace was negotiated at Amiens in 1802, with the French supreme on land and the British at sea. Napoleon Bonaparte seized supreme power in France at the turn of the century, and renewed attacks against England in 1803. Hostilities with France lasted until 1814 taking several forms. Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, led the land attack; the navy, commanded by Lord Horatio Nelson won the decisive battle off Cape Trafalgar, and imposed a blockade of Europe to offset Napoleon's " continental system" which was forbidden from importing British goods; and the younger Pitt guided the government through the hardships of total war. In addition to the continental conflict, England went to war again with the United States between 1812-14, over the British practice of pressing American seamen into service in the British Navy. Both conflicts were resolved in 1814; Napoleon was deposed and England agreed not to abscond with American sailors. Napoleon returned to Europe briefly in 1815, but was soundly defeated by continental forces led by Wellington.

Other events and people also marked the reign. A second Act of Union was passed in 1801, bringing Ireland under the umbrella of Great Britain until the Government of Ireland Act (1920) established the modern arrangement. Slave trade was abolished in 1807, although slavery continued in British colonies until 1833. Population increases, improvements in agricultural and industrial methods and a revolution in transportation spurred British economic growth. English literature was graced by some of its best known authors: Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats were among the writers of the era.

George's madness ultimately left the fate of the crown on his eldest son George, Prince Regent. Prince George was put in the daunting position of attempting to govern according to the increasingly erratic will of his father. A letter received by novelist E. M. Frostier from his aunt, Marine Thornton, describes the situation: "... there he was sitting on the Throne with his King's Crown on, his robes scarlet and ermine, and held his speech written out for him, just what he had to say. But, oh dear, he strode up and made a bow and began "My Lords and Peacocks'. The people who were not fond of him laughed, the people who did love him cried, and he went back to be no longer a king, and his eldest son reigned in his stead".

The popes were the leaders of the Catholic Church, with the spiritual and moral authority that entails. If a pope said something was true, there were very few people who would question him.

There was one thing in particular, however, that gave the popes power other people did not have. This was the power to free people from oaths they had taken. It could be exercised as a punishment for kings and emperors.

If a pope wanted to dispute the authority of a monarch, he could excommunicate that monarch. This might sound to people of the 21st century like a purely personal and religious matter, but it was in fact a matter with profound effects. When a king was excommunicated, the pope very often freed the kings followers from all their oaths of allegiance to the king, giving them freedom to rebel or invade at will, and taking away the right of the king to resist. More than one king or emperor found himself in grave difficulty because he decided to enter into a dispute with a pope.

Pope Leo X was accused by Martin Luther of selling indulgences or allowing the sale of indulgences.

Either by

a: influence in moral and spiritual issues.

b: as the Father of Christianity

c: as a humble and wise holy person.

I must say there have been a lot of persons helped, inspired and encouraged by these holy men.

Some even say "I wish all of them become Saints" but that is not so, depends upon his contribution to the Church and his holiness.

Pope Saint Leo III: * Was Pope from 795 to 816 * Is best known for crowning Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor For more information, read the article on Pope Leo III in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

The Pope's role in the Medieval society is to represent the spiritual authority of the Church and, later, the state authority, which was normally represented by a King or Emperor, but was changed with the argument titled the 'Doctrine of Swords', which claimed that the Pope had authority over both the church andthe state.

He thought people were worshiping icons instead of god, and in the 10 commandments it says there is only on God! It was ordered to destroy images of Mary, Jesus and the saints to comply.

Pope Pius XI published an encyclical critical of Nazism called Mit brennender Sorge (With Burning Anxiety) on March 10, 1937. In response, the Nazis rounded up and imprisoned a number of Catholic monks.

It was Charlemagne, the king of the Franks. His coronation by the pope was the beginning of the Carolingian Empire (named after Charlemagne) which lasted from 800 to 888. To be precise, the pope was Leo III.

The popes during Henry's reign were:

216. Julius II (1503-13)- granted the marriage between Catherine and Henry

217. Leo X (1513-21)

218. Adrian VI (1522-23)

219. Clement VII (1523-34)- refused to grant Henry an annulment with Catherine

220. Paul III (1534-49)

221. Julius III (1550-55)

He had 4 children before he became pope.

Pope Paul III was interested in figuring out what was wrong with Catholicism and reforming it.

The Pope has no possessions, property or 'wealth' everything he needs to live and carry out his duties is provided by the Church.

Of-course, however, the man gets whatever he wants when he wants it. As long as he keeps the tradition, doesn't rock the boat and does a token bit of charity work on the side, with money which he neither has himself nor needs, then he gets to live comfortably, surrounded by those who would happily give there life for him.

Overall, he pretty much lives a life similar to that of a child: He has an exaggerated sense of his own importance, a child-like ignorance of things he could understand but chooses not too and has all his expenses looked after by people who dote on him and constantly tell people who don't want to know how good he's doing.

Just like a child, he doesn't actually have the money himself but that's because with the sheltred easy life he has: hes just as well off without his name on the bank account.