Brendan Dooley taught history at Harvard University for many years. He is now Chief of Research at the Medici Archive Project. His books include Italy in the Baroque, The Social History of Skepticism, and Science and the Marketplace in Early Modern Italy.

"An extremely engaging book, one that will reveal to the general public hitherto unknown and perhaps unsuspected aspects of Baroque Rome and the Baroque papacy."--Franco Mormando, America "Dooley brings to the task of recreating the Roman context of Morandi's readers a remarkable command of the sources and the intellectual currents of the period."--John M. Headley, American Historical Review "[A] well-researched tour de force... [A] fascinating excursion that invites the reader to enter the cultural, political, social, and religious world of early seventeenth-century Italy, and particularly of Rome in the 1620s."--Richard J. Blackwell, Isis "Brendan Dooley has an eye for a good story. He also knows how to tell one, a skill evident in his latest book, which has all the elements of a modern-day thriller ... engaging and fascinating, [a book] sure to delight scholars and students alike."--Laura Smoller, Renaissance Quarterly

• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix PROLOGUE xi Introduction 1 ONE: Crime and Memory 6 TWO: The Road to Vallombrosa 14 THREE: Ad Astra per Aspera 22 FOUR: The Astrologer's Books 35 FIVE: The Sun Pope 46 SIX: The Widening Circle 59 SEVEN: Heavenly Bodies 74 EIGHT: Clean Teeth, Pure Souls 83 NINE: The Harmony of the Universe 92 TEN: Charting the Firmament 101 ELEVEN: The Science of the Stars 112 TWELVE: The Business of Astrology 125 THIRTEEN: De Re Publica 132 FOURTEEN: Occult Politics 144 FIFTEEN: The Last Prophecy 154 SIXTEEN: The Vendetta 162 SEVENTEEN: The Body of the Accused 172 EPILOGUE 181 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 187 NOTES 189 INDEX 225

Brendan Dooley taught history at Harvard University for many years. He is now Chief of Research at the Medici Archive Project. His books include Italy in the Baroque, The Social History of Skepticism, and Science and the Marketplace in Early Modern Italy.

"An extremely engaging book, one that will reveal to the general public hitherto unknown and perhaps unsuspected aspects of Baroque Rome and the Baroque papacy."--Franco Mormando, America "Dooley brings to the task of recreating the Roman context of Morandi's readers a remarkable command of the sources and the intellectual currents of the period."--John M. Headley, American Historical Review "[A] well-researched tour de force... [A] fascinating excursion that invites the reader to enter the cultural, political, social, and religious world of early seventeenth-century Italy, and particularly of Rome in the 1620s."--Richard J. Blackwell, Isis "Brendan Dooley has an eye for a good story. He also knows how to tell one, a skill evident in his latest book, which has all the elements of a modern-day thriller ... engaging and fascinating, [a book] sure to delight scholars and students alike."--Laura Smoller, Renaissance Quarterly

• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix PROLOGUE xi Introduction 1 ONE: Crime and Memory 6 TWO: The Road to Vallombrosa 14 THREE: Ad Astra per Aspera 22 FOUR: The Astrologer's Books 35 FIVE: The Sun Pope 46 SIX: The Widening Circle 59 SEVEN: Heavenly Bodies 74 EIGHT: Clean Teeth, Pure Souls 83 NINE: The Harmony of the Universe 92 TEN: Charting the Firmament 101 ELEVEN: The Science of the Stars 112 TWELVE: The Business of Astrology 125 THIRTEEN: De Re Publica 132 FOURTEEN: Occult Politics 144 FIFTEEN: The Last Prophecy 154 SIXTEEN: The Vendetta 162 SEVENTEEN: The Body of the Accused 172 EPILOGUE 181 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 187 NOTES 189 INDEX 225

Brendan Dooley taught history at Harvard University for many years. He is now Chief of Research at the Medici Archive Project. His books include Italy in the Baroque, The Social History of Skepticism, and Science and the Marketplace in Early Modern Italy.

"An extremely engaging book, one that will reveal to the general public hitherto unknown and perhaps unsuspected aspects of Baroque Rome and the Baroque papacy."--Franco Mormando, America "Dooley brings to the task of recreating the Roman context of Morandi's readers a remarkable command of the sources and the intellectual currents of the period."--John M. Headley, American Historical Review "[A] well-researched tour de force... [A] fascinating excursion that invites the reader to enter the cultural, political, social, and religious world of early seventeenth-century Italy, and particularly of Rome in the 1620s."--Richard J. Blackwell, Isis "Brendan Dooley has an eye for a good story. He also knows how to tell one, a skill evident in his latest book, which has all the elements of a modern-day thriller ... engaging and fascinating, [a book] sure to delight scholars and students alike."--Laura Smoller, Renaissance Quarterly

• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix PROLOGUE xi Introduction 1 ONE: Crime and Memory 6 TWO: The Road to Vallombrosa 14 THREE: Ad Astra per Aspera 22 FOUR: The Astrologer's Books 35 FIVE: The Sun Pope 46 SIX: The Widening Circle 59 SEVEN: Heavenly Bodies 74 EIGHT: Clean Teeth, Pure Souls 83 NINE: The Harmony of the Universe 92 TEN: Charting the Firmament 101 ELEVEN: The Science of the Stars 112 TWELVE: The Business of Astrology 125 THIRTEEN: De Re Publica 132 FOURTEEN: Occult Politics 144 FIFTEEN: The Last Prophecy 154 SIXTEEN: The Vendetta 162 SEVENTEEN: The Body of the Accused 172 EPILOGUE 181 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 187 NOTES 189 INDEX 225