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The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal
A true, never-before-told story—discovered in a secret Vatican archive—of sex, poison, and lesbian initiation rites in a nineteenth-century convent.
In 1858, a German princess, recently inducted into the convent of Sant’Ambrogio in Rome, wrote a frantic letter to her cousin, a confidant of the Pope, claiming that she was being abused and feared for her life. What the subsequent investigation by the Church’s Inquisition uncovered were the extraordinary secrets of Sant’Ambrogio and the illicit behavior of the convent’s beautiful young mistress, Maria Luisa. Having convinced those under her charge that she was having regular visions and heavenly visitations, Maria Luisa began to lead and coerce her novices into lesbian initiation rites and heresies. She entered into a highly eroticized relationship with a young theologian known as Padre Peters—urging him to dispense upon her, in the privacy and sanctity of the confessional box, what the two of them referred to as the “special blessing.”
What emerges through the fog of centuries is a sex scandal of ecclesiastical significance, skillfully brought to light and vividly reconstructed in scholarly detail. Offering a broad historical background on female mystics and the cult of the Virgin Mary, and drawing on written testimony and original documents, Professor Wolf—Germany’s leading scholar of the Catholic Church, and among the very first scholars to be granted access to the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the office of the Inquisition—tells the incredible story of how one woman was able to perpetrate deception, heresy, seduction, and murder in the heart of the Church itself.
From the Hardcover edition.
In 1858, a German princess, recently inducted into the convent of Sant’Ambrogio in Rome, wrote a frantic letter to her cousin, a confidant of the Pope, claiming that she was being abused and feared for her life. What the subsequent investigation by the Church’s Inquisition uncovered were the extraordinary secrets of Sant’Ambrogio and the illicit behavior of the convent’s beautiful young mistress, Maria Luisa. Having convinced those under her charge that she was having regular visions and heavenly visitations, Maria Luisa began to lead and coerce her novices into lesbian initiation rites and heresies. She entered into a highly eroticized relationship with a young theologian known as Padre Peters—urging him to dispense upon her, in the privacy and sanctity of the confessional box, what the two of them referred to as the “special blessing.”
What emerges through the fog of centuries is a sex scandal of ecclesiastical significance, skillfully brought to light and vividly reconstructed in scholarly detail. Offering a broad historical background on female mystics and the cult of the Virgin Mary, and drawing on written testimony and original documents, Professor Wolf—Germany’s leading scholar of the Catholic Church, and among the very first scholars to be granted access to the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the office of the Inquisition—tells the incredible story of how one woman was able to perpetrate deception, heresy, seduction, and murder in the heart of the Church itself.
From the Hardcover edition.
496 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
January 2, 2016
What do a princess, priests, prioresses, possession, poisons, politics, prosecutors and Pius IX have in common? Apparently all will be revealed in the course of the book. So far, it's very dry and sounds like someone cleaned up Gregory Matthew Lewis's The Monk. Perhaps not cleaned up exactly, but unlike the Monk so far there are no transvestites or murderers, everything else, yes.
May 21, 2015
I never would have thought that a book about a murderous lesbian nun sex cult could be so boring.
March 30, 2015
Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was born in Stuttgart in 1817 and embraced the Catholic faith in 1834, after travelling to Rome. As well as being a noblewoman, Katharina had good connections within the Church – her father confessor and spiritual guide, Count von Reisach, was an ally to Pope Gregory XVI and her cousin, Gustav Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst was an archbishop and a member of Pope Pius IX’s entourage. Despite early requests to join a convent, Reisach suggested she marry first. However, Katharina’s first husband died young and her second husband, thirty four years her senior, also died. At thirty six, Katharina was childless and had been widowed twice. With no wish to marry again, Katharina repeated her desire to become a nun and her spiritual advisors began to look for a suitable convent for her.
It is interesting to note, in lieu of what happened later, that Katharina’s first experience – when she joined the Dames du Sacre-Coeur in 1853 – ended unsuccessfully. The Dames du Sacre-Coeur were very involved in the education of girls, which Katharina found taxing and she ended up leaving due to ill health. Reisach then suggested Sant-Ambrogio della Massima, an enclosed convent of “strictest order.” This, it was felt, would offer Katharina the quiet, reflective life she desired. In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth and she “escaped” the convent after only fifteen months, after smuggling a note to her cousin, begging for help. Considering her first, perceived failure, to adjust to convent life, her cousin may have considered her wild tales of despair, and claims she was being poisoned, just hysteria. Luckily, he managed to secure her release, undoubtedly due to his, and her own, excellent contacts within the Church. However, despite the subject matter, this is not a story of the Middle Ages, but a convent in Rome in the mid-nineteenth century. Was her life really in danger? What happened in those ten months, between September 1858 and July 1859, which drove Katharina to ask to leave another convent and what led her to make the serious allegations against the women she had lived, and prayed, with?
In this excellent book, the author recreates the events around Katherina’s time at the Saint’Ambrogio convent in immense depth. At first, it seemed that Katharina was happy with the quiet, private world, which gave her the peace she craved. However, after becoming a postulant, she gradually became aware that things were not right within the convent walls. Despite the fact that the founder of the community had been sent into exile as a false saint, she was still worshipped. There were also serious allegations about the Abbess, Sister Maria Veronica and the Novice Mistress and Abbess Deputy, Madre Vicana Maria Luisa. This is a sad, and sordid, tale of feigned holiness, inappropriate behaviour, broken vows of chastity, and even attempted murder. Much of this, of course, is due to women who grew up within the convent walls, as children and who, to put it bluntly, were not cut out for a religious life; but for whom the convent was home. Others were coerced into behaviour they felt was wrong, but were under pressure to conform. Some of the events are due to power, control and bullying. Katherina became isolated and, eventually, in fear of her life.
We follow Katherina’s story as her tale of events in the convent are investigated. The Inquisition investigated the charges and we follow the trial and what happened to all the people involved. Some may find this book a little dry, but the author actually does a wonderful job of recreating events and explaining how the Church dealt with the case. In fact, this is as much a book about the history of the Catholic Church and their internal investigations, as it is about this particular case. However, this is a shocking case in many ways, of corruption and power which led to a woman’s life being threatened. I found this a fascinating read and a thoroughly researched story.
It is interesting to note, in lieu of what happened later, that Katharina’s first experience – when she joined the Dames du Sacre-Coeur in 1853 – ended unsuccessfully. The Dames du Sacre-Coeur were very involved in the education of girls, which Katharina found taxing and she ended up leaving due to ill health. Reisach then suggested Sant-Ambrogio della Massima, an enclosed convent of “strictest order.” This, it was felt, would offer Katharina the quiet, reflective life she desired. In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth and she “escaped” the convent after only fifteen months, after smuggling a note to her cousin, begging for help. Considering her first, perceived failure, to adjust to convent life, her cousin may have considered her wild tales of despair, and claims she was being poisoned, just hysteria. Luckily, he managed to secure her release, undoubtedly due to his, and her own, excellent contacts within the Church. However, despite the subject matter, this is not a story of the Middle Ages, but a convent in Rome in the mid-nineteenth century. Was her life really in danger? What happened in those ten months, between September 1858 and July 1859, which drove Katharina to ask to leave another convent and what led her to make the serious allegations against the women she had lived, and prayed, with?
In this excellent book, the author recreates the events around Katherina’s time at the Saint’Ambrogio convent in immense depth. At first, it seemed that Katharina was happy with the quiet, private world, which gave her the peace she craved. However, after becoming a postulant, she gradually became aware that things were not right within the convent walls. Despite the fact that the founder of the community had been sent into exile as a false saint, she was still worshipped. There were also serious allegations about the Abbess, Sister Maria Veronica and the Novice Mistress and Abbess Deputy, Madre Vicana Maria Luisa. This is a sad, and sordid, tale of feigned holiness, inappropriate behaviour, broken vows of chastity, and even attempted murder. Much of this, of course, is due to women who grew up within the convent walls, as children and who, to put it bluntly, were not cut out for a religious life; but for whom the convent was home. Others were coerced into behaviour they felt was wrong, but were under pressure to conform. Some of the events are due to power, control and bullying. Katherina became isolated and, eventually, in fear of her life.
We follow Katherina’s story as her tale of events in the convent are investigated. The Inquisition investigated the charges and we follow the trial and what happened to all the people involved. Some may find this book a little dry, but the author actually does a wonderful job of recreating events and explaining how the Church dealt with the case. In fact, this is as much a book about the history of the Catholic Church and their internal investigations, as it is about this particular case. However, this is a shocking case in many ways, of corruption and power which led to a woman’s life being threatened. I found this a fascinating read and a thoroughly researched story.
February 15, 2015
Awhile back, I was looking for something different to read and I came across the Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal." The title makes it sound like and description of the book make it sound like the sordid tale of a sex scandal in a convent, but it goes beyond that. It goes beyond the scandal to explore how it could happen and delves into the mechanics of the Vatican, Church politics, and theological conflicts. If you're interested in the history of the Catholic Church or of religion in general, you'll want to consider this book.
"The opening of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's archives by John Paul II in 1998 made the Holy Roman Inquisition's files accessible to researchers for the first time. The files from the Sant'Ambrogio trial, which had been hidden for a century and a half in the most secret of all Church archives, finally saw the light of day. At last, the secret could be revealed - and what had sounded like an outrageous fantasy turned out to be a true story of a convent in scandal."
I won't give away the story, but mixing sex, deceit, religion, and politics, The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio is a history that reads like a thriller novel. It's easy to see why author Hubert Wolf selected this scandal as a topic to write on. For the first almost 2/3 of the book, it reads like a salacious novel as Wolf describes what happened inside Sant'Ambrogio and the beginnings of the Vatican investigation and trial. There are more than enough twists and turns there to keep the reader interested. Then comes one of the biggest turns of the story; the reader learns that it's not just about the scandal within the convent but also about the struggle between schools of theology within the Catholic Church. It's about Church politics and a battle for influence within the Vatican and with the Pope himself.
It would be very easy for the last 1/3 of this book to become dry and uninteresting and I'm sure that some readers (those who read it just for the juicy scandal) to find it so, but Wolf has done a great job at making the trial and politics keep the reader's attention. Sure, there are parts of it that explain why and how the Vatican works, bits on European History in the early to mid 1800s, and there are explanations of schools of thought within the Church but these are necessary to help the reader understand what's going on and place things within context. If you hang on to the end (and you should), you'll understand more about how some of Catholic theology got where it is today and about how the Vatican got to where it is today (and to be honest, understand why Pope Francis has such a huge job ahead of him now...)
The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio was a fascinating read. As someone who doesn't know much about the Catholic Church, I came away with some more understanding on the Church and the Vatican. As someone who grew up within the Southern Baptist Church and came to detest church politics, this book reinforced my opinions on church politics and my wariness of the motives of church leadership (regardless of faith or denomination). Don't let the tawdry details of the scandal make you think this is just a book and about sex and lies. It isn't. This is a well researched and well documented that is ultimately about Vatican politics and the fight for theological supremacy within the Catholic Church. After some thought, I'm willing to give it a 5 star review; it was not only an interesting read but an informative one as well, on a subject that many are not familiar with. If you are interested in the history of the Catholic Church, I think this is a must read.
"The opening of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's archives by John Paul II in 1998 made the Holy Roman Inquisition's files accessible to researchers for the first time. The files from the Sant'Ambrogio trial, which had been hidden for a century and a half in the most secret of all Church archives, finally saw the light of day. At last, the secret could be revealed - and what had sounded like an outrageous fantasy turned out to be a true story of a convent in scandal."
I won't give away the story, but mixing sex, deceit, religion, and politics, The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio is a history that reads like a thriller novel. It's easy to see why author Hubert Wolf selected this scandal as a topic to write on. For the first almost 2/3 of the book, it reads like a salacious novel as Wolf describes what happened inside Sant'Ambrogio and the beginnings of the Vatican investigation and trial. There are more than enough twists and turns there to keep the reader interested. Then comes one of the biggest turns of the story; the reader learns that it's not just about the scandal within the convent but also about the struggle between schools of theology within the Catholic Church. It's about Church politics and a battle for influence within the Vatican and with the Pope himself.
It would be very easy for the last 1/3 of this book to become dry and uninteresting and I'm sure that some readers (those who read it just for the juicy scandal) to find it so, but Wolf has done a great job at making the trial and politics keep the reader's attention. Sure, there are parts of it that explain why and how the Vatican works, bits on European History in the early to mid 1800s, and there are explanations of schools of thought within the Church but these are necessary to help the reader understand what's going on and place things within context. If you hang on to the end (and you should), you'll understand more about how some of Catholic theology got where it is today and about how the Vatican got to where it is today (and to be honest, understand why Pope Francis has such a huge job ahead of him now...)
The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio was a fascinating read. As someone who doesn't know much about the Catholic Church, I came away with some more understanding on the Church and the Vatican. As someone who grew up within the Southern Baptist Church and came to detest church politics, this book reinforced my opinions on church politics and my wariness of the motives of church leadership (regardless of faith or denomination). Don't let the tawdry details of the scandal make you think this is just a book and about sex and lies. It isn't. This is a well researched and well documented that is ultimately about Vatican politics and the fight for theological supremacy within the Catholic Church. After some thought, I'm willing to give it a 5 star review; it was not only an interesting read but an informative one as well, on a subject that many are not familiar with. If you are interested in the history of the Catholic Church, I think this is a must read.
June 17, 2015
When I first came across this book, I assumed it was another Renaissance or medieval era story. I was quite surprised to discover that the events of this book took place in the mid-1850s!
A German princess enters a convent in Rome, only to discover scandal, heresy, and possible.murder.
Sadly, this book spends much less time talking about the events in the convent then about events and people and church officials in the decades surrounding the case - which comes across as very dry and so detailed that it is hard to follow. an entire chapter is spent exploring one of the priests involved on future church events and dogma such as the doctrine of people infallibility of the rise and fall of the Jesuit Order during the Napoleonic Wars.. I suppose it is helpful to place these events in context, especially as they took place during the supposedlAge of Enlightenment. I picked this book up because I am interested in the history of womens communities. and how those communities interacted with the church at large. I am not sure if it is because of the focus of the records they were able to find, or because they wanted to focus on the priests and their influence outside the convent walls, but the women in the convent seem to be given short shrift in this book. so because I really wanted to read more about them, and less about a later influential priest peripherally involved in the case, I give it only two stars.
A German princess enters a convent in Rome, only to discover scandal, heresy, and possible.murder.
Sadly, this book spends much less time talking about the events in the convent then about events and people and church officials in the decades surrounding the case - which comes across as very dry and so detailed that it is hard to follow. an entire chapter is spent exploring one of the priests involved on future church events and dogma such as the doctrine of people infallibility of the rise and fall of the Jesuit Order during the Napoleonic Wars.. I suppose it is helpful to place these events in context, especially as they took place during the supposedlAge of Enlightenment. I picked this book up because I am interested in the history of womens communities. and how those communities interacted with the church at large. I am not sure if it is because of the focus of the records they were able to find, or because they wanted to focus on the priests and their influence outside the convent walls, but the women in the convent seem to be given short shrift in this book. so because I really wanted to read more about them, and less about a later influential priest peripherally involved in the case, I give it only two stars.
November 3, 2020
CWs: sexual abuse
February 6, 2019
Sometimes when I'm complaining about a book I'm reading, people ask me why I don't just stop reading books I don't like. This . . . is a reasonable question. But this book provides an answer: because sometimes (rarely, but sometimes), if I tough it out, a book gets better.
There's no other way to say it than this: the first hundred pages of The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio are a slog. Wolf doesn't seem to know who his audience is; is it scholars of Catholicism (he rarely explains his terms, leaving me scurrying to the Internet to look up things like ultramontanism and sollicitatio, and goes into great and excruciating detail on subjects like how the Inquisition handled paperwork), or people looking for a titillating true crime story (the sexual crimes are painted luridly, particularly in the beginning)? And for the first half of the book at least, I kept waiting for a "So what?" statement: Why write about this scandal? What could its larger implications possibly be?
The answers to those questions come eventually, and they're a doozy; the trial of this obscure, forgotten convent, Wolf convincingly asserts, was a proxy war between factions at the highest levels of the Catholic church, and the fact that this convent has been forgotten is no accident but the result of an intense effort to suppress all knowledge of it, not so much because of what happened as because of who was implicated. I was transfixed for the last quarter of the book (also, for more prurient reasons, for the section in the middle that deals with the many attempted poisonings, because Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen puts Rasputin to shame in the department of being unkillable; I spent the better part of one lunch hour walking around the neighborhood with my jaw dropped in disbelief as detail after detail was revealed).
I am, in retrospect, willing to forgive Wolf for what I considered an unreasonable and unnecessary level of detail in the first parts of the book, now that I understand the significance of the case. But this would be a much better book if that significance had been placed up front and center instead of being saved for a grand reveal.
There's no other way to say it than this: the first hundred pages of The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio are a slog. Wolf doesn't seem to know who his audience is; is it scholars of Catholicism (he rarely explains his terms, leaving me scurrying to the Internet to look up things like ultramontanism and sollicitatio, and goes into great and excruciating detail on subjects like how the Inquisition handled paperwork), or people looking for a titillating true crime story (the sexual crimes are painted luridly, particularly in the beginning)? And for the first half of the book at least, I kept waiting for a "So what?" statement: Why write about this scandal? What could its larger implications possibly be?
The answers to those questions come eventually, and they're a doozy; the trial of this obscure, forgotten convent, Wolf convincingly asserts, was a proxy war between factions at the highest levels of the Catholic church, and the fact that this convent has been forgotten is no accident but the result of an intense effort to suppress all knowledge of it, not so much because of what happened as because of who was implicated. I was transfixed for the last quarter of the book (also, for more prurient reasons, for the section in the middle that deals with the many attempted poisonings, because Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen puts Rasputin to shame in the department of being unkillable; I spent the better part of one lunch hour walking around the neighborhood with my jaw dropped in disbelief as detail after detail was revealed).
I am, in retrospect, willing to forgive Wolf for what I considered an unreasonable and unnecessary level of detail in the first parts of the book, now that I understand the significance of the case. But this would be a much better book if that significance had been placed up front and center instead of being saved for a grand reveal.
February 7, 2015
If it wasn't non-fiction, it would be unbelievable
This has all the makings of a great thriller, in a Roman convent no less. Parts this were absolutely jaw dropping, and if it weren't for the footnotes, it would not have been believed. Poisoning, embezzlement, sex, lies, secret combinations, all in a convent
This has all the makings of a great thriller, in a Roman convent no less. Parts this were absolutely jaw dropping, and if it weren't for the footnotes, it would not have been believed. Poisoning, embezzlement, sex, lies, secret combinations, all in a convent
August 23, 2022
На позір про те, як одна німецька принцеса пішла в монастир у Римі, а її ледь не вбили. А коли почали розбиратися, то на світ божий чого тільки не виявилося, від місцевого культу на чолі з прекрасною черницею до тотального невігластва з еротичним підтекстом.
Не знаю чому, але не зайшло. Грунтовне дослідження, яке одночасно і давить, і зацікавлює тим, скільки автор перепахав документів, але щось не сподобалось. Одне тільки впадає в очі - дика нерівність між життям черниць і тими, хто ними керував з-за стін Ватикану, причому у всьому, від свободи пересування до покарання за переступи. Hypocrisy as it is.
Не знаю чому, але не зайшло. Грунтовне дослідження, яке одночасно і давить, і зацікавлює тим, скільки автор перепахав документів, але щось не сподобалось. Одне тільки впадає в очі - дика нерівність між життям черниць і тими, хто ними керував з-за стін Ватикану, причому у всьому, від свободи пересування до покарання за переступи. Hypocrisy as it is.
October 2, 2015
I grabbed this book after a long-form review in The Washington Post. As a rather lapsed Catholic, I remain interested in Catholic history, especially the sordid details. And boy are these sordid!
You have all of the lesbian nun "romance" of a Cinemax after dark special and also some attempted murder thrown in! All in all, it's a riveting story in the "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S TRUE" nature of what actually happened amongst nuns in the small Sant'Ambrogio convent in Rome in the late 1800's. However, the author paints the entire picture in the beginning of the book, using the remainder to flesh out (no pun intended) the details as they would match the charges in the Catholic Court of the Vatican. Because of this format, the book gets very rote and repetitive.
Yes, the nuns idolized their founder as a Saint. Yes, that was not allowed. Check. However, we have to go pages into what each nun thought and why. The same is true of the more titillating accusations. Yes, that's shocking, but we covered it 200 pages ago.
This book is an excellent novela run too long.
You have all of the lesbian nun "romance" of a Cinemax after dark special and also some attempted murder thrown in! All in all, it's a riveting story in the "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S TRUE" nature of what actually happened amongst nuns in the small Sant'Ambrogio convent in Rome in the late 1800's. However, the author paints the entire picture in the beginning of the book, using the remainder to flesh out (no pun intended) the details as they would match the charges in the Catholic Court of the Vatican. Because of this format, the book gets very rote and repetitive.
Yes, the nuns idolized their founder as a Saint. Yes, that was not allowed. Check. However, we have to go pages into what each nun thought and why. The same is true of the more titillating accusations. Yes, that's shocking, but we covered it 200 pages ago.
This book is an excellent novela run too long.
June 11, 2015
The last book I read - an alternative history - I put down after complaining that fiction wasn't the best way to tell the story. Here I'll suggest the opposite: the future novel or film that is sure to come out of the recently uncovered 19th-century Vatican archives of the Sant'Abrogio scandal will be more entertaining than this admirably researched but often numbingly dull book about lesbian nuns, false saints, lecherous priests, and murderous convent intrigue. (Unless you enjoy your papal scandal mixed with dense discussions of church history and Catholic doctrinal disputes and court transcripts! Wolf seems to have done a great job of laying out the materials for a novelist or screenwriter to build from.)
January 23, 2017
This book was CRAZY. Years ago I wrote a play about Benedetta Carlini, a nun in Renaissance Italy who had visions and the stigmata and seduced her young nurse Bartolomea and died and was resurrected and was then declared a false mystic by the church, so I already had a lot of false mystic, lesbian nun background knowledge, but this story made Benedetta's story look like Dr. Seuss. The writer was obviously of an academic bent, so the book was meticulously researched but I still found it very readable and every time I wanted to start skimming, something interesting would catch my eye - the whole book was very compelling.
January 24, 2015
An interesting historical look into the corruption of a particular Catholic sect that took place at Sant'Ambrogio. Chopped full of documents concerning the trial and revealing the salacious details of violence, sexual abuse, murder and misconduct, it certainly predates the exposure of the priest molestation charges of today. Wolf's book demonstrates the abusive aspects of how religion can be misused and how politics can come into play. A great read!
August 8, 2016
Never underestimate the lengths that people will go to rationalize having sex. Never underestimate the manipulation that those in power can impart on others in seeking to fulfill their desires. I'll be honest, I read this for the tawdry details. It's not really fair to criticize a book for what it is, detailed historical account of the sex-laden shenanigans in a 19th century convent, but learning about this would have been much more fun as a novelization.
November 4, 2015
finally finished, thank god
This book is not even as exciting as the description. If you would like to read a thesis on this specific convent, this book is for you. Otherwise, don't bother. I feel bad for the people who are waiting months to read this "best seller".
This book is not even as exciting as the description. If you would like to read a thesis on this specific convent, this book is for you. Otherwise, don't bother. I feel bad for the people who are waiting months to read this "best seller".
June 2, 2015
I love well researched books, but this one gets bogged down in the details and did not keep my interest. Interesting scandal, but you can guess where it is headed.
March 17, 2017
A compelling and utterly bizarre history of a cult that developed in a convent in the 19th century, which led to the attempted murder of a noblewoman by the leader of this cult, who was one of the other nuns.
Compelling and interesting as this all is, it does sprawl a bit and loses focus. Some of this makes sense, as it gives the greater context of the story, which is the political upheaval--both civil and theological--happening in Italy during this time period. It also explains how Pope Pius IX was involved in the investigation, and subsequent punitive measures, which were almost laughably light for those who were close to the Pope.
At the heart of this is a woman who was sexually abused while under the care of nuns at the convent she would later form into a cult. We see her become a tormentor, sexual abuser, murderer, and attempted murder. Whether she manipulated the priests at the convent or whether they were all too willing participants in her cult is only tangentially covered here, and I think that's a failure of the book. We lose track of this woman for big stretches and only really come to know the context of her life near the end of the book, when I think this story is ultimately about her.
Of course, I'm a novelist and not a historian, so that's likely my bias coming through. As a historical text, it's fascinating and strange and incredibly compelling.
So, yeah, if you want to read about a bizarre moment in the catholic church that involved some of the msot powerful men in the church, men who would go on to shape catholic dogma for the modern era, then this is definitely worth checking out.
Compelling and interesting as this all is, it does sprawl a bit and loses focus. Some of this makes sense, as it gives the greater context of the story, which is the political upheaval--both civil and theological--happening in Italy during this time period. It also explains how Pope Pius IX was involved in the investigation, and subsequent punitive measures, which were almost laughably light for those who were close to the Pope.
At the heart of this is a woman who was sexually abused while under the care of nuns at the convent she would later form into a cult. We see her become a tormentor, sexual abuser, murderer, and attempted murder. Whether she manipulated the priests at the convent or whether they were all too willing participants in her cult is only tangentially covered here, and I think that's a failure of the book. We lose track of this woman for big stretches and only really come to know the context of her life near the end of the book, when I think this story is ultimately about her.
Of course, I'm a novelist and not a historian, so that's likely my bias coming through. As a historical text, it's fascinating and strange and incredibly compelling.
So, yeah, if you want to read about a bizarre moment in the catholic church that involved some of the msot powerful men in the church, men who would go on to shape catholic dogma for the modern era, then this is definitely worth checking out.
February 22, 2019
Gripping. Horrifying. Ecclesiastical true crime that you wouldn't believe if it were fiction.
And I agree with ambyr's review, the way the author chose to structure the story, with little previewing of the scope of what he was going to get into (for one thing, a convicted heretic going on to write essential church doctrine), does not make a lot of sense. I wish, too, that he had connected what happened in the 1850s and 60s to what is going on with the Catholic church and the sex scandals now. The parallels are just begging to be made.
And I agree with ambyr's review, the way the author chose to structure the story, with little previewing of the scope of what he was going to get into (for one thing, a convicted heretic going on to write essential church doctrine), does not make a lot of sense. I wish, too, that he had connected what happened in the 1850s and 60s to what is going on with the Catholic church and the sex scandals now. The parallels are just begging to be made.
October 6, 2017
Alleged history of a Catholic convent in Rome in 1858 that was the site of sexual misconduct, brutality, and attempted murder based on accusations by a German princess who was a member. Extensively footnoted with sources said to be from the Vatican archives.
March 20, 2019
The story is rather mind blowing but interesting in that some of the issues that occurred in the church back then are still occurring. This is a very long book but fascinating.
December 1, 2022
Interesting and at times wild. I expected more from the writing, but I enjoyed learning about Church history and the absolutely batshit occurrences in this convent.
October 12, 2023
I got bogged down in the details of church ideology and pedagogy.
July 12, 2015
мій викладач моральної теології не має ніяких проблем зі взаємовиключними параграфами: коли ми вивчали спокусу, він багато і красиво розповідав, що в самій спокусі гріха ще нема, але піддаватися спокусі – уже гріх, і йому треба з усіх сил протистояти, бо на те ми й люди, наділені свободою волі; штука, щоправда, в тому, що трошки раніше на запитання про сексуальні скандали в церкві він відповів не менш розлого й красиво, нагадавши нам, що в цьому світі кругом спокуси, і сьогодні – як ніколи, а священики ж теж люди, тому варто їм поспівчувати в таких ситуаціях.
це стара як світ аргументація, і губерт вольф, котрий пише про середину дев'ятнадцятого століття, показує, як її застосовували ще до того засилля сьогоднішніх спокус, на яке покликався мій викладач моральної теології: не було ні реклам із голими жінками, ні відвертого телебачення, ні дівчат у міні-спідницях. а сексуальні скандали все одно були.
"черниці святого амвросія" – прекрасна книжка про те, як церква впорується зі штуками, розголос щодо яких може зашкодити церковній репутації. тут є все, обіцяне анотацією: єресі, вбивства, оргії та черниці-лесбійки – і все воно цікаве й дивовижне, бо хто би міг подумати, що в середині дев'ятнадцятого століття освічені теологи так запросто вестимуться на "листи від божої матері" (написані, наприклад, французькою і з орфографічними помилками) чи що дорослі люди всерйоз сприйматимуть фрази на кшталт "у твоїх жіночих частинах буде хвороба, і божа матір сказала мені, як тебе вилікувати" (так, тут починається лесбійський секс і оргії). але, як на мене, значно цікавіша саме реакція церкви і суд святої інквізиції, яка нині носить скромну назву конгрегації доктрини віри.
тому головні герої тут – не псевдо-свята марія луїза, яка писала листи від божої матері, розповідала про свої гостини в раю і в пеклі та любила молодих послушниць, і не німецька принцеса катаріна вон гогенлоге, яка ледве втекла живою з монастиря святого амвросія і звернення якої стало поштовхом до початку інквізиційного процесу. центральний персонаж – єзуїтський теолог йозеф клейтген, який був сповідником у монастирі, брав участь у різноманітних веселих діяннях марії луїзи та, ймовірно, ініціював спроби отруїти принцесу катаріну, щоб вона нікому не розповіла про те, що в монастирі відбувалося. по суті, незважаючи на втечу принцеси, замовчати історію вдалося: її розкопали тільки наприкінці дев'яностих, одна тисяча дев'ятсот дев'яностих, після того, як йоан павло іі відкрив архіви інквізиції. до того, навіть коли живі свідки про щось і розповідали на публіку, їхні одкровення церква дуже елегантно нейтралізовувала.
за підсумком процесу йозефа клейтгена визнали винним у єресі, спокушенні в конфесіоналі, розкритті таємниці сповіді та ще в цілому букеті дрібничок. не будемо порівнювати вироки марії луїзи (десять років одиничного ув'язнення) та клейтгена, її активного співучасника чи навіть провокатора (два роки в єзуїтському будиночку з мальовничими пейзажами довкола, де часто відпочивали католицькі журналісти, тож завжди було хороше коло спілкування). зрозуміло, що тут тяжко було б чекати якоїсь співмірності. цікаво інше: уже через неповне десятиліття після вироку він – єретик! – брав активну участь у підготовці документів першого ватиканського собору і сформулював дві ідеї, які визначили вектор розвитку католицької церкви на подальше століття – про непомильність папи екс катедра (ага, цього не було до пія іх) і про ординарний магістеріум. на цьому фоні те, що він просував через пія іх внесення текстів своїх особистих неприятелів до "індексу заборонених книг", виглядає майже невинно.
зрозуміло, що живим і слабким людям, наділеним такою владою, як церковна, неможливо втриматися від лицемір'я. і коли вони не дотримуються правил, які встановлюють для інших, це смішно, сумно, обурливо, але доволі природно. але коли вони починають порушувати правила, які вигадали самі для себе, і вдавати, що так і було, цензурні епітети закінчуються. яка віра, справді?
це стара як світ аргументація, і губерт вольф, котрий пише про середину дев'ятнадцятого століття, показує, як її застосовували ще до того засилля сьогоднішніх спокус, на яке покликався мій викладач моральної теології: не було ні реклам із голими жінками, ні відвертого телебачення, ні дівчат у міні-спідницях. а сексуальні скандали все одно були.
"черниці святого амвросія" – прекрасна книжка про те, як церква впорується зі штуками, розголос щодо яких може зашкодити церковній репутації. тут є все, обіцяне анотацією: єресі, вбивства, оргії та черниці-лесбійки – і все воно цікаве й дивовижне, бо хто би міг подумати, що в середині дев'ятнадцятого століття освічені теологи так запросто вестимуться на "листи від божої матері" (написані, наприклад, французькою і з орфографічними помилками) чи що дорослі люди всерйоз сприйматимуть фрази на кшталт "у твоїх жіночих частинах буде хвороба, і божа матір сказала мені, як тебе вилікувати" (так, тут починається лесбійський секс і оргії). але, як на мене, значно цікавіша саме реакція церкви і суд святої інквізиції, яка нині носить скромну назву конгрегації доктрини віри.
тому головні герої тут – не псевдо-свята марія луїза, яка писала листи від божої матері, розповідала про свої гостини в раю і в пеклі та любила молодих послушниць, і не німецька принцеса катаріна вон гогенлоге, яка ледве втекла живою з монастиря святого амвросія і звернення якої стало поштовхом до початку інквізиційного процесу. центральний персонаж – єзуїтський теолог йозеф клейтген, який був сповідником у монастирі, брав участь у різноманітних веселих діяннях марії луїзи та, ймовірно, ініціював спроби отруїти принцесу катаріну, щоб вона нікому не розповіла про те, що в монастирі відбувалося. по суті, незважаючи на втечу принцеси, замовчати історію вдалося: її розкопали тільки наприкінці дев'яностих, одна тисяча дев'ятсот дев'яностих, після того, як йоан павло іі відкрив архіви інквізиції. до того, навіть коли живі свідки про щось і розповідали на публіку, їхні одкровення церква дуже елегантно нейтралізовувала.
за підсумком процесу йозефа клейтгена визнали винним у єресі, спокушенні в конфесіоналі, розкритті таємниці сповіді та ще в цілому букеті дрібничок. не будемо порівнювати вироки марії луїзи (десять років одиничного ув'язнення) та клейтгена, її активного співучасника чи навіть провокатора (два роки в єзуїтському будиночку з мальовничими пейзажами довкола, де часто відпочивали католицькі журналісти, тож завжди було хороше коло спілкування). зрозуміло, що тут тяжко було б чекати якоїсь співмірності. цікаво інше: уже через неповне десятиліття після вироку він – єретик! – брав активну участь у підготовці документів першого ватиканського собору і сформулював дві ідеї, які визначили вектор розвитку католицької церкви на подальше століття – про непомильність папи екс катедра (ага, цього не було до пія іх) і про ординарний магістеріум. на цьому фоні те, що він просував через пія іх внесення текстів своїх особистих неприятелів до "індексу заборонених книг", виглядає майже невинно.
зрозуміло, що живим і слабким людям, наділеним такою владою, як церковна, неможливо втриматися від лицемір'я. і коли вони не дотримуються правил, які встановлюють для інших, це смішно, сумно, обурливо, але доволі природно. але коли вони починають порушувати правила, які вигадали самі для себе, і вдавати, що так і було, цензурні епітети закінчуються. яка віра, справді?
August 18, 2018
I gave this book a 3 more for the interesting subject than the manner it was written. It was a very slow read and took a long time to get to the main part of the story, ie: what was the scandal. I almost gave up after 100 pages thinking the scandal was that the nuns were sleeping together, hardly scandalous. Even though there was the opening scene about someone saying they were getting poisoned, there was no mention for a while. Once I finally got to the whole inquisition trial it was more interesting. A little bit of spoiler here if you are planning to read the book, you should stop reading now. Basically there were several "scandals" and they spend a lot of time on the sin of veneration of the former head of the convent because she wasn't a saint, (did not seem scandalous to me) and that the nuns treating something holy that wasn't did not seem worth having a trial over. What was interesting was the main nun of the story Maria Louise(ML) was not only making the new nuns sleep with her but had killed 2 other nuns and was trying to kill a third one who managed to get out of the convent in order to report it. I'm not completely clear on the reason, but it seems Katherine (the one getting poisoned) had found out something ML was doing and did not want to follow the instructions that new nuns were supposed to do of the more senior nuns. ML had everyone believing she was special and could talk to God. She did some crazy things like had another nun write letters for her and she would say she got the letters from heaven - and people believed this. She swore the other nun to secrecy and this nun followed the instructions. ML had another nun help her deliver the poison and again, the new nun followed the instructions. Her confessor priest was sleeping with her on her instructions and he was some famous theologian who should have been educated enough to know better. Anyway, in the end, ML gets sentenced to 20 years in solitary confinement, but doesn't have the entire sentence carried out and actually gets the money back that was her "dowry" on entering the convent because the church didn't want a scandal (some things never change). In the course of the trial she admitted to all the things she had done, including the 2 people she did successfully poison. The book spent very little time on these two murders which I was thinking is surprising because that is the biggest of all the "scandals". The confessor priest was sentenced to about 8 years but did less than 2 years because he had friends close to the pope. The convent was shut down because of these scandals.
July 6, 2015
Drier than Dan Brown but this is worth persevering with. Hubert Wolf's is a story more byzantine than fiction.
In 1858 a German princess Katharina writes a desperate missive from her seclusion in Sant'Ambrogio convent in Rome. She fears for her life at the hands of her fellow nuns. After being helped to escape. Katharina, encouraged by her family, complains directly to the Pope and an investigation is begun. What ensues is a trial alien to our current understanding of the word, of confessions to the inquisition without the structure of the modern court system. There is sexual abuse, murder, breaking of the seal of confession and abuses of power all carefully evaluated by Wolf. But underlying this story is a web of intricacies of the place of women and men within the Catholic church, the men seemingly firmly in power but vulnerable to having that power bypassed by female mystics with their apparent direct connection to God. Bewildering points of doctrine, political maneouvering by Jesuits, priests with double identities, the Holy City under threat from invasion, they are all here.
Almost as fascinating is how Wolf came by this story, finding a shelf of yellowing papers in part of an archive only recently released by a notoriously secretive Vatican. Well worth the hard work.
In 1858 a German princess Katharina writes a desperate missive from her seclusion in Sant'Ambrogio convent in Rome. She fears for her life at the hands of her fellow nuns. After being helped to escape. Katharina, encouraged by her family, complains directly to the Pope and an investigation is begun. What ensues is a trial alien to our current understanding of the word, of confessions to the inquisition without the structure of the modern court system. There is sexual abuse, murder, breaking of the seal of confession and abuses of power all carefully evaluated by Wolf. But underlying this story is a web of intricacies of the place of women and men within the Catholic church, the men seemingly firmly in power but vulnerable to having that power bypassed by female mystics with their apparent direct connection to God. Bewildering points of doctrine, political maneouvering by Jesuits, priests with double identities, the Holy City under threat from invasion, they are all here.
Almost as fascinating is how Wolf came by this story, finding a shelf of yellowing papers in part of an archive only recently released by a notoriously secretive Vatican. Well worth the hard work.
October 26, 2015
The Nuns of Sant'Ambrogio was a book that showed promise, but then never really delivered for me. While the story has the bones of a juicy scandal (naughty nuns, a divided papal government, etc.), somehow the academic style of writing saps the story of any real drama. It's almost like watching a Law & Order episode which is interrupted ever couple of minutes to have an law subject matter expert, use law school vernacular to explain what we just watched and what is about to happen. That's great if you've been to law school, but not useful for everyone else. There was a lot about the Catholic church that had it been more plainly explained for lay people, it could have really enhanced the story. In addition, the author has a habbit of telling the story in order of people instead of order of chronological events. It left the story feeling disjointed and redundant. I came away thinking that for an academic this book would probably be fine, but for someone just looking for a good tale - this story could be told in a much more interesting way. I give it 2 stars because at the heart of it is an interesting story, but I'm afraid it wasn't able to overcome its poor technical structure to get anything better than that.
June 12, 2025
I read this book ten years ago and it has stayed with me, for many reasons, since then. It is an important history not simply for the grand guignol tale of goings on behind convent walls but what it says about the Catholic Church and its history. After over 150 years the events might appear to be the distant past but the 'institutional' Church which gave birth to the events in the convent of Sant'Ambrogio was very much the 'institutional' church that existed up until Vatican II (1962-65) and which is the institution mind set that many within the catholic church would like to return to.
Like all long lived institutions the Catholic Church is very good at sidelining aspects of its history it wishes to downplay. That Father Peters, one of those most involved in the affair, believed in the fake 'letters' from the Virgin Mary would go on to be an important advisor to Pope Pius IX and his deceleration of papal infallibility is one of the links to events that would have influence throughout the 20th century.
I strongly advise anyone to read one of the following reviews to understand just how important and complex a book this is:
https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/...
and
https://blog.oup.com/2015/02/nuns-san...
Though there many others as well.
Like all long lived institutions the Catholic Church is very good at sidelining aspects of its history it wishes to downplay. That Father Peters, one of those most involved in the affair, believed in the fake 'letters' from the Virgin Mary would go on to be an important advisor to Pope Pius IX and his deceleration of papal infallibility is one of the links to events that would have influence throughout the 20th century.
I strongly advise anyone to read one of the following reviews to understand just how important and complex a book this is:
https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/...
and
https://blog.oup.com/2015/02/nuns-san...
Though there many others as well.
July 21, 2017
Who doesn't love a good convent scandal? (Well, perhaps not the Vatican curia, though it hasn't been worried enough to create an opposing website about the book, as it was moved to do with The Da Vinci Code....) It may be surprising to discover all the same, spicy stuff that has been documented for centuries inside convent walls still being pursued with such enthusiastic abandon in 19th-century Rome and to find it documented here in such detail. The salacious story of the convent of Sant'Ambrogio is told in exhaustive detail that will gladden the hearts of scholars, who find the lives and careers of a few nuns and several misbehaving (and some behaving) members of the clerical hierarchy reconstructed in meticulous detail, which saves other academics ever having to perform that onerous labor themselves. The naughty bits crop up often enough within the scholarly account probably to keep general readers turning pages in search of them.
February 7, 2015
Impeccable scholarship doesn't make for exciting reading very often, but Hubert Wolf's carefully researched book has enough sex and psychopathic behavior to fill a shelf full of bodice rippers. Come on, a beautiful nun who seduces and then poisons the novices? Who receives letters from Jesus and the Virgin Mary (written in French, for some reason) telling her how to run the convent? Who wraps the priests who should be overseeing all this around her finger with her sexual wiles? The takeaway for me: wow, people were unbelievably credulous here - and then in the aftermath, no one wanted to take responsibility. As usual, the Church protected its own, especially the men, and kept most of this scandal from the press.
May 31, 2016
Boring - unless you're looking for a doctoral dissertation.
This isn't one of those non-fiction books that has an interesting story woven through-out; like Erik Larson's histories. This is just "this happened then, that happened next, and let me quote at great length from the trial transcript."
And, if you think from the book jacket blurb that you're going to get some hot sex stories - "they had sex when they said they would be chaste" is as hot as it gets.
The big sin that the historical record shows they were really concerned about was that the convent venerated a "saint" who the Church said wasn't a saint. If that floats your boat - you're going to love this book.
This isn't one of those non-fiction books that has an interesting story woven through-out; like Erik Larson's histories. This is just "this happened then, that happened next, and let me quote at great length from the trial transcript."
And, if you think from the book jacket blurb that you're going to get some hot sex stories - "they had sex when they said they would be chaste" is as hot as it gets.
The big sin that the historical record shows they were really concerned about was that the convent venerated a "saint" who the Church said wasn't a saint. If that floats your boat - you're going to love this book.
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