The sacred and the profane
Rainy Day reader Christine Sayer writes and points out that if 20 Major, the unconventional Irish blogger who has applied for the vacant position of Pope, gets the job history will not regard him as the first "diarist" to be the Bishop of Rome. That honour belongs to Pope Pious II (1458-1464), she says, and given that the papal conclave starting on Monday is power broking by another name, she supplies this highly interesting extract from the diary of Pious about the behind-the-scenes goings on in the Vatican City in the 15th century:
"A great quantity of cardinals used to meet in the latrines, and there, as in a place that was conveniently secret and secluded, agreed that a certain William should be elected pope and promised their vote in writing and with an oath. William immediately began to promise jobs to his friends... the place was worthy of such an election. Where better than a latrine could you draw up unusual contracts of this sort?"
By the way, "Pius was greatly admired as a poet by his contemporaries, but his reputation in belles lettres rests principally upon his Eurialus and Lucretia, which continues to be read to this day, partly from its truth to nature, and partly from the singularity of an erotic novel being written by a pope." Those were the days! By the way again, 20 Major may not agree with the blogger/diarist parallel, just as a lot of reporters don't agree with the blogger/journalist equation, but that's a debate we'll have to leave until after the shoes of the Fisherman have been filled. If you can't wait, though, Jack Shafer over at Slate magazine has been writing some great stuff on the bloggers vs. reporters clash.
