Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes' Secret Plot to Capture Rome from the New Italian State by David Kretzer

This is a rendition of the events by Pope Pius IX, (Pope for 31 years, died in 1878) to recover Rome/Papal States from the New Italian State during ReUnification.

Kretzer has previously wrotten (no spelling error) "The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara", "The Family in Italy: From Antiquity to the Present", "Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control", "Comrades and Christians: Religion and Political Struggle in Communist Italy", "Family Life in Central Italy, 1880-1910: Sharecropping, Wage Labor, and Coresidence", The Popes  against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti Semitism".

Just as anyone who dedicates themselves to the criticism of Jews, should be labeled an Anti-Semite, David Kretzer, likewise who appears to have attempted to become an authority on the Catholic Church and Italy, but only to continually disparage them, may easily be described as Anti-Catholic, and Anti-Italian.

Where others might find virtue, expertise, strategy, tactics, and any other merit, Kretzer finds only flaws and deficiencies, with Italy painted as a collection of misfits, except for Garibaldi, who is accorded some recognition. It would be wise to read Kretzer's writings with these thoughts in mind.

You may read a Publisher's Description and a Publisher's Weekly Review,
BUT, if you go to the Amazon Web Site you may read The Introduction and
Chapter One of the book. Very edifying, with previous cautions.
 

We think of Italy as an ancient nation, but in fact the unified Italian state was born only in the nineteenth century — and only against the adamant refusal of the pope to relinquish his rule of Rome. In this riveting chronicle of international intrigue, the renowned historian David Kertzer delves into secret Vatican archives to reveal a venomous conflict that kept the pope a self-imposed prisoner of the Vatican for more than fifty years.

King Victor Emmanuel, his nemesis Garibaldi, the French emperor Napoleon III, England, Spain, Germany, Austria, and even America play a part in this astonishing drama. On September 20, 1870, the king's battle to unite the disparate Italian states came to a head when his troops broke through the walls of Rome, which the pope had ruled for centuries. Pope Pius IX, ensconced with the Vatican Council, denounced the usurpers and plotted with his advisers to regain power or else flee Italy altogether.

A dramatic struggle unfolded over the next two decades, pitting church against state and the nations of Europe against one another. This is a story of outrageous accusations, mutual denunciations, raucous demonstrations, frenetic diplomacy, and secret dealings. Rocks were hurled along with epithets, and war across Europe seemed inevitable.

The antagonists were as explosive as the events. Pius IX, the most important pontiff in modern history, engineered the doctrine of papal infallibility but ended his days reviled and denounced. The blustering Victor Emmanuel schemed behind the backs of his own ministers. Garibaldi, Italy's dashing national hero, committed naive and dangerous mistakes. Beyond Italy, the pope"s main protector, Napoleon III, was himself being taken prisoner.

This devastating conflict, almost entirely unknown until now, still leaves a deep mark on the Italian soul. No one who reads David Kertzer's revelatory account will ever think of Italy or the Vatican in quite the same way again.

"Modern Italy was founded... over the dead body of Pope Pius IX," writes Kertzer,
in this riveting and fast-paced chronicle of the rise of the Italian state and the Vatican's forgotten battle against the nationalists to retain power over Rome.

In 1870, Victor Emmanuel II, king of a newly united Italy, sought an agreement with Pius IX in which the pope would rule the Tiber's right bank while the king would govern the left bank. When the pope rejected this arrangement, Italian troops seized power in Rome and Pius IX sought refuge in the Vatican palaces, declaring himself a prisoner. Led by Garibaldi and aided by Catholic France, the nationalists gained control in 1878, and so angered were nationalists at Pius IX that in 1881 protesters almost succeeded in dumping his corpse into the Tiber.

The animosity between the pope and the state continued until 1929, when Mussolini and the Vatican signed a concordat in which the Vatican recognized the legitimacy of the Italian state and the Vatican was granted the rights of a sovereign state.

Kertzer, given access to newly opened Vatican archives, tells a first-rate tale of the political intrigues and corrupt characters of a newly emerging nation, offers history writing at its best, and provides insight into a little-known chapter in religious and political history. --16 pages of b&w photos, 5 maps.