A Renaissance Tapestry with New Colorful Threads

books:


	• The Pope's Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere Caroline P. Murphy Oxford University Press, USA, 2006 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Review of The Pope's daughter

Tightly written with loads of details that goes a long way in explaining how she developed and became successful. I now have a better understanding of the 'Medevial Rome" area that I visited.

Pope's Daughter.

An interesting book,detailing events in Rome c.1500. Easy to read and well told,I would recommend it if you like history.Is cheap for such a scolarly work. Not prejudiced and fairly told.No complaints except I got confused sometimes by "who"the person that was mentioned. That's my fault,maybe,but a caracter guide would have been welcome.I would like to read more of this type of history book,the period is so interesting. Padraic O Cinneide. Kildare,Ireland

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An Extraordinary Book

This is the second book I've read by this author. I hope Caroline Murphy keeps researching Renaissance women and writing books.

In both this book and Murder of a Medici Princess the author assembles a lot of information and presents it in a way the lay reader can really enjoy. Chapters in both books are chronological which helps the lay reader understand the complexity of the historical setting. Some chapters describe the episodes of the subjects' lives, in others there are lifestyle descriptions. The famous persons of the time are covered as they relate to the principle, and not used as a crutch to fill in a story.

While the books are chronological, my reading of them wasn't. Felice della Rovere is the grandmother to the spouse of Isabella de Medici, the subject of the newer book.

Both books appear to be the only full length biographies that exist for these women, which, beyond rescuing these women from obscurity, makes this an achievement for the author. Both of Murphy's subjects were important women of their times. While they led lives that transcended contemporary gender roles, their stories, as presented by Murphy, help the modern reader to better understand the social structure of Renaissance Italy.

If you, like me, know little about this period, the Murphy biographies give you the context to understand the times through the people. Being the only full bios on these women, there is also plenty for those who are more knowledgeable about this period.

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A Renaissance Tapestry with New Colorful Threads

For the reader familiar with early sixteenth-century Rome, Caroline Murphy's book is a carefully compiled compendium of images and priceless facts, albeit some treading on familiar ground, for example the horrific Sack of Rome or the sexual anarchy in the Vatican during the reign of the infamous Borgia pope. Yet, there is so much new material on a fascinating woman, that even general readers interested in history should be mesmerized by it. The lives of numerous old baronial families form a foundation for the story of the Della Rovere and Orsini clans, of the militant Pope Julius, Felice's father, and the lords of Bracciano, the stronghold of the Orsini's. Minute details of everyday life in Rome enclose the broader picture of a papal daughter who governed her family with a suprisingly strong hand, long after her papal father died. Images of lavish feasts, rebuilding of St. Peter's, and perpetual enminity between the ruling clans are just minute details of an elaborate and very enjoyable reading. Although a page-turner, be prepared to move slowly, because the thousands of facts will demand time to savor them! Definitely not a quick read for most. Highly recommended.

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TANTALIZING

Caroline Murphy has sketched an extraordinary life. Felice della Rovere's worlds -- personal and political -- were complicated ones, and she seems to have been amazing in how she negotiated them. I say "seems" because it's very often difficult to tell whether the author is basing a statement on solid evidence or whether she is taking a leap -- about an action, about a motivation, about an emotion -- a sort of best guess based on the evidence. That's often frustrating and often downright irritating, but all in all it's worth it to see the shape, if not the real substance, of the life.

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reviews: page 1, 2

The illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II, Felice della Rovere became one of the most powerful and accomplished women of the Italian Renaissance. Now, Caroline Murphy vividly captures the untold story of a rare woman who moved with confidence through a world of popes and princes.
Using a wide variety of sources, including Felice's personal correspondence, as well as diaries, account books, and chronicles of Renaissance Rome, Murphy skillfully weaves a compelling portrait of this remarkable woman. Felice della Rovere was to witness Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel, watch her father Pope Julius II lay the foundation stone for the new Saint Peter's, and saw herself immortalized by Raphael in his Vatican frescos. With her marriage to Gian Giordano Orsini--arranged, though not attended, by her father the Pope--she came to possess great wealth and power, assets which she used to her advantage. While her father lived, Felice exercised much influence in the affairs of Rome, even egotiating for peace with the Queen of France. After his death, Felice persevered, making allies of the cardinals and clerics of St. Peter's and maintaining her control of the Orsini land through tenacity, ingenuity, and carefully cultivated political savvy. She survived the Sack of Rome in 1527, but her greatest enemy proved to be her own stepson Napoleone, whose rivalry with his stepbrother Girolamo ended suddenly and violently, and brought her perilously close to losing everything she had spent her life acquiring.
With a marvelous cast of characters, The Pope's Daughter is a spellbinding biography set against the brilliant backdrop of Renaissance Rome.

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