The Makers of Modern Rome In Four Books

An influential and prolific Victorian author, Margaret Oliphant (1828–97) is best remembered for her Chronicles of Carlingford - novels which sketch the religious and domestic politics of a provincial community - and for her many book reviews, essays and serialised fiction for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Her output included ninety-eight novels, some fifty short stories, works of biography and non-fiction, and a series of cultural histories of European cities, of which this is the last. A place of poignant association for Mrs Oliphant, Rome was the city in which both her husband and daughter Maggie died. Originally published in 1895, this book paints a compelling picture of the development of the great city from the fourth century to the Renaissance through accounts of its key figures. These include Saints Marcella and Paula, Cola di Rienzi, and pontiffs from Gregory I to Leo X. The volumes on Florence (1876) and Venice (1887) are also reissued in this series.

Preface; Part I. Honourable Women Not a Few: 1. Rome in the fourth century; 2. The palace on the Aventine; 3. Melania; 4. The society of Marcella; 5. Paula; 6. The mother house; Part II. The Popes Who Made the Papacy: 1. Gregory the Great; 2. The monk Hildebrand; 3. The Pope Gregory VII; 4. Innocent III; Book III. Lo Popolo: and the Tribune of the People: 1. Rome in the fourteenth century; 2. The deliverer; 3. The buono stato; 4. Decline and fall; 5. The soldier of fortune; 6. The end of the tragedy; Book IV. The Popes Who Made the City: 1. Martin V - Eugenius IV - Nicolas V; 2. Calixtus III - Pius II - Paul II - Sixtus IV; 3. Julius II - Leo X; Index.