A World Lit Only By Fire - Essay

Consider this quote from William Manchester (A World Lit Only By Fire): Once he became Pope Alexander VI, Vatican instigateices, already wild, grew wilder. They were costly, just now he could afford the lifestyle of a Renaissance prince; as vice chancellor of the Roman Church, he had amassed enormous wealth. As guests approached the papal palace, they were excited by the spectacle of living statues: naked, guilded young workforce and women in erotic poses… One [fete] known to Romans as the ballet of the Chestnuts, was held on October 30, 1501… [According to Burchards Diarium] After the banquet dishes had been cleared away, the citys fity virtually beautiful whores danced with guests, first clothed, then naked. The dancing over, the ballet began, with the pope and two of his children in the best seats. Candelabra were set up on the floor; scattered among them were chestnuts, which, Burchard writes, the courtesans had to pick up, crawling betwixt the candles. Then the serious sex started. Guests stripped and ran out on the floor, where they mounted, or were mounted by, the prostitutes. The coupling took place, according to Burchard, in bet of everyone present. Servants kept score of each mans orgasms, for the pope greatly admired virility and measured a mans machismo by his ejaculative capacity.

After everyone was exhausted, His Holiness distributed prizes - cloaks, boots, caps, and fine silken tunics. The winners, the diarist wrote, were those who make love with those courtesans the greatest number of times. [p. 79] This sort of activity, unthinkable today, is part of the church buildings legacy. The point is not that papal leaders were whatever more depraved than the rest of society - they probably werent, although they were for sure more wealthy and powerful. It is also important to remember that the church forbade the teachings of Galileo (and in his time all the teaching of Copernicus) until 1822! In separate words, the church was wrong - patently and openly and... If you want to raise a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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