Aaron Crofut’s Reviews > The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, Volume 01: Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican and Other Original Sources > Status Update
Aaron Crofut
is on page 182 of 419
Very readable. The financial scandals of the time were obviously moral in nature, but also structural, as the court lost its income from Rome itself. The new methods were wildly unpopular and stoked considerable national hatred. A whole host of scribblers began appearing who embody the French Revolution some four hundred years before the fact. The Avignon Papacy has left a scar on our world to this day.
— May 06, 2026 11:18AM
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Aaron’s Previous Updates
Aaron Crofut
is on page 273 of 419
The Schism is brought to an end by a Pope doing the right thing at personal cost, not by a revolution in the Church's structure and governance; indeed, the Council's goals of putting a Council at the head created yet more confusion and a third bloody pope. On to Book II and Martin V.
— May 19, 2026 10:23AM
Aaron Crofut
is on page 257 of 419
The great evil of the Western Schism; probably the reason I'm reading this. What an unfathomable mess. That the Catholic Church survived this is a miracle. Good men and women on both sides.
— May 18, 2026 11:13AM
Aaron Crofut
is on page 226 of 419
The Western Schism; heart breaking hardheadedness of Urban. St. Catherine of Siena is one of those saints I need to read somewhat soon.
— May 08, 2026 11:27AM
Aaron Crofut
is on page 151 of 419
Fascinating book. The corruption and the sanctity, side by side. Interesting focus on the political and economic factors pushing the corruption. Definitely not the standard "all was bad" narrative, even if it was a catastrophe.
— May 05, 2026 11:02AM
Aaron Crofut
is on page 111 of 419
Speed reading, but it's literally Volume 1 of 40! Won't finish it any other way. Fortunately, it's quite good so far, focusing on the beginning of the Renaissance and the position of the Church to pagan learning (as in Greeks and Romans). They took the reasonable approach of take the truth you can find, avoid the error.
— Apr 30, 2026 11:09AM
