The Vatican

⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Enclosed within the city of Rome and spanning just 0.2 square miles, Vatican City is the world’s smallest independent state. Yet within its fortified walls lies a history of immense power - a city that became the beating heart of Catholicism, where popes crowned emperors, defied kings, and shaped the course of world events. How did this unassuming patch of land rise to become the centre of global faith and authority? What scandals, schisms, and sacrifices threatened to tear it apart? And why, even today, does this ancient enclave still hold sway over more than a billion lives? This is a Short History Of The Vatican. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Father Michael Collins, author of multiple books on the Vatican and Christianity, including The Vatican – Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City. Written by Olivia Jordan | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check: Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

• 0:01Speaker 00

  It's 4 AM on May 6th, 1527, in Rome. A thick fog is rolling in from the river Tiber, curling around the ancient stones of the Borgo district and Saint Peter's Basilica.

• 0:16Speaker 00

  Captain Caspar Royst, commander of the Swiss Guard, paces the city wall, the hem of his red tunic damp with dew, his armor heavy on his chest. Royst rubs his tired eyes, scanning for movement beyond the gates. He hasn't slept, and his jaw aches from clenching. He knows something's coming. Angry over lack of pay, starving and inflamed by the Protestant cause, the mutinous army of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is closing in.

• 0:51Speaker 00

  A sharp horn sounds, followed by shouts from the sentries.

• 0:56Speaker 00

  Then, the Vatican's defense bells toll.

• 1:00Speaker 00

  It's time.

• 1:02Speaker 00

  Royst grabs his sword and calls his men to arms.

• 1:07Speaker 00

  Guards pour out to join him, tightening armor and drawing weapons as they go.

• 1:13Speaker 00

  Now, in tight formation, with pikemen either side, Royst leads them to the Basilica steps.

• 1:20Speaker 00

  Dawn breaks over the river, as he peers into the gloom, watching shadowy shapes coalesce into columns of men thousands strong.

• 1:30Speaker 00

  Cannons thunder from the ramparts, but the defenders are too few. Their shots swallowed by the fog and the sheer scale of the emperor's enormous advancing force. Ladders thud against the walls. One by one, invaders scaled the defenses.

• 1:51Speaker 00

  The Vatican is breached, and soon, Saint Peter's Square is overrun. The clash of steel rings out on the Basilica steps as the first lines of combat collide. Royst ducks a swinging sword, then drives his own into an enemy soldier's chest. Beside him, a young guard thrusts his pike and slips in the blood. Royst grabs the boy's collar and hauls him back into the line.

• 2:17Speaker 00

  The Swiss guard hold firm on the steps, doing everything they can to follow Royste's order to hold the line and buy the Pope enough time to flee. At first, they drive the enemy back, but the numbers are relentless. Royste glimpses the enemy commander, Charles de Bourbon, climbing the city wall. But then a Swiss guard lunges, and Bourbon crashes backwards, dead before he hits the ground.

• 2:45Speaker 00

  But the loss of their leader does nothing to slow the onslaught. Clouds of arrows whistle overhead, and still the enemy pour in, until the square itself is a churning sea of blades and bodies.

• 2:58Speaker 00

  Royste lifts his heavy sword to swing again, but then staggers forward, a sudden, dull agony in his leg. He looks down and finds he is bleeding heavily. Beside him, a guard falls, then another. As he drops to his knees, he barks a final order to his remaining men before an enemy sword bites into his side.

• 3:23Speaker 00

  His vision darkening, Royste sees a welcome sight: the Pope, Clement VII. Robes in his fists and his face pale, he is being rushed towards a narrow passageway leading to the safety of Castel San Angelo, a group of guards shielding him as he escapes.

• 3:42Speaker 00

  Though the Pope is safe, Royste is not. Wounded, he is carried to his nearby home. But as the door swings open, he realizes that enemy soldiers are already inside.

• 3:56Speaker 00

  Soon, he will go the way of the other 146 Swiss guards who die on that day. But in his last moments, he knows that he held fast to his sacred duty: to protect the Pope and the Vatican itself.

• 4:19Speaker 00

  In what became known as the Sack of Rome, the assault on the 6th of May 1527, saw thousands killed, churches plundered, and the Pope fleeing for his life from the Vatican, long seen as a place of refuge. And yet, despite the bloodshed, the Vatican survived.

• 4:38Speaker 00

  Today, it's the world's smallest independent state, just 0.2 square miles, enclosed within the city of Rome and serving as the spiritual and administrative heart of the Catholic Church. Over centuries, its walls have been scaled and rebuilt, its buildings destroyed and restored, and its sacred spaces revived with the rituals of religion. This tiny, walled city evolved into the beating heart of Catholicism and a place where popes, crowned emperors, defied kings, and influenced the course of world history.

• 5:16Speaker 00

  But how did the Vatican rise from an unremarkable patch of land to become the centre of global faith and power? What scandals, schisms, and sacrifices threatened to bring it to ruin? And why does this ancient place still hold such sway over a billion lives today? I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is A Short History of the Vatican.

• 5:51Speaker 00

  In the first century AD, the area that will one day become Vatican City is little more than marshland, lying beyond the bustle of Imperial Rome. A quiet, peaceful haunt of soothsayers and mystics, its name is linked to the Latin word "faticinari", to prophesy.

• 6:10Speaker 00

  But that stillness will not last.

• 6:15Speaker 00

  Father Michael Collins is the author of multiple books on the Vatican and Christianity.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  The Emperor Augustus, 2000 years ago, boasted that when he came to power, he found Rome a city of brick, and when he left it, it was a city shining in resplendent marble. People came from all over the empire, gathering in the Roman Forum, to trade, to do commerce, to do law, to meet each other, to exchange their views, and to expand on Roman experience. The great Pax Romana, which, in Augustus's mind, had spread peace throughout the empire.

• 6:59Speaker 00

  During the reign of Augustus, the urban core of Rome begins to spill into its peripheries. Afterwards, Emperors Caligula and Nero leave their mark with grand architecture. The wider city expands to include vast arenas for gladiatorial entertainment and chariot racing. At the heart of their circus stands the most striking symbol of all: Caligula's Vatican obelisk. Twenty-five metres of red granite, shipped from Egypt, as a monument to Roman might.

• 7:32Speaker 00

  Within decades, this unassuming riverbank will gain renown as a place of bloody martyrdom. It's the last link in a chain of events that begins in the year 64, when a weak, long fire tears through Rome, destroying large swathes of the city.

• 7:49Speaker 00

  No one knows exactly how the fire starts, but in the smouldering aftermath, the Emperor Nero needs someone to blame. He has long dreamed of rebuilding the cramped inner city, so whispers now spread that he might have started the blaze himself. In truth, he was away at Antium when the flames took hold, but suspicions linger. To deflect them, Nero now looks for a scapegoat.

• 8:16Speaker 01

  So the blame fell on this group of followers of Crestus, we would say Christ of Jesus of Nazareth, and he brought some of them, according to Tacitus, to the area of the Hippodrome, tied them to wooden poles, dipped them in tar, and set them alight. And Tacitus tells us that this served as an illumination for the nighttime games.

• 8:43Speaker 00

  Among those accused is Peter, one of Jesus Christ's most devoted apostles, who has been spreading the message of Christianity across the empire. Now, in Rome, he leads a grown community of believers.

• 8:58Speaker 00

  Nero, however, is not among his supporters. In apparent punishment for the fire, the emperor has him crucified upside down on Vatican Hill. His body then tossed in a humble grave.

• 9:13Speaker 00

  But rather than drawing a line under his life, his martyrdom only adds to his legend, and his final resting place becomes a place of pilgrimage for the faithful.

• 9:23Speaker 00

  For centuries, Christians worship mostly in secret, enduring periodic waves of persecution. Then, in 312 AD, everything changes.

• 9:37Speaker 00

  On the eve of a battle, Roman Emperor Constantine claims that he sees a vision, a cross of light in the sky with the words "In hoc signo vinctis", "In this sign you shall conquer". Now, after ordering his soldiers to mark their shields with Christian symbols, he wins a decisive victory and becomes Christianity's newest and most powerful convert.

• 10:06Speaker 00

  The next year, he issues the Edict of Milan, granting Christians the legal right to worship for the first time in Roman history. But he goes beyond tolerance, pouring imperial wealth into the church, building new places of worship and donating land, including Vatican Hill.

• 10:24Speaker 01

  Constantine built seven churches around the city of Rome, the most important of which was over the believed tomb of Peter at the Vatican. And so the great basilica, which he constructed in a period of six years, rose over the area. Although we don't know exactly where Peter was buried, the bones have not been absolutely identified, but this was, in Constantine's mind, a place where he wanted to venerate the memory of Peter.

• 11:00Speaker 00

  Konstantin's patronage outlives him. And by the end of the 4th century, Emperor Teodosius declares Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Saint Peter's Basilica also endures as a cherished place for communal worship. But it's not until centuries later that it is fully established as the centre of Western Christianity. During that time, Rome sees a succession of bishops, and as the faith spreads, other cities appoint bishops of their own. But the Bishop of Rome stands apart. His unique authority rooted in the city's imperial status and its claim to be the resting place of Saint Peter.

• 11:42Speaker 00

  Eventually, the Bishop of Rome is seen not as one among many, but as first among equals.

• 11:50Speaker 00

  But for now, a bigger shift is taking place: the Roman Empire is unraveling.

• 11:59Speaker 00

  By the start of the 5th century AD, the empire is formally divided into a western branch and an eastern one, later known as the Byzantine Empire. But as the decades pass, military overstretch, economic decline, and repeated invasions leave the western empire weakened. Until finally, the last Roman emperor is deposed by the Germanic warlord, Odessa.

• 12:23Speaker 01

  After the fall of the Roman Empire in the west in 476, the city of Rome began to decay. The empire had moved to Ravenna. It fell to the Bishop of Rome as the leader of the Christian community, the largest religion in the city, and one of the most important imperial officials remaining in Rome, to repair the buildings and to try and restore the aqueducts. The city was a sad shadow of its former glory. Cows grazed in the Roman forum, and squatters took over the ruins of the Colosseum.

• 13:05Speaker 00

  In the chaos, only one institution remains: the church fills roles once held by emperors and senate officials. With no army to defend the city, the bishop of Rome must negotiate, govern, and protect as best he can.

• 13:22Speaker 00

  Around this time, a new title for the bishop of Rome emerges. The title of pope derives from the Latin papa, meaning "father", though he is often called "the pontiff", a word once reserved for Rome's pagan high priests.

• 13:37Speaker 00

  His office is called "the Holy Sea", from the Latin sanctus sedes, or "sacred seat". But though the pope becomes the political leader of the city, he lacks the means to protect it. It's a problem that's becoming more urgent. By the mid-8th century, the Germanic Lombards are seizing former Byzantine territory in Italy, pushing ever closer to Rome. Byzantium refuses to help, so the papacy looks instead to the rising power of the Frankish kingdom beyond the Alps.

• 14:09Speaker 00

  In 756 AD, Frankish king Pepin defeats the Lombards and gifts the pope vast lands in central Italy. The establishment of these new papal states gives the pope new strength. The taxes they generate provide a crucial new source of revenue.

• 14:32Speaker 00

  While Vatican City, as we know it, does not yet exist, the forces that will shape it are already in motion. The church is no longer simply a spiritual institution, it is territorial, influential, hungry.

• 14:48Speaker 00

  As such, the role of pope comes with unprecedented muscle, drawing ambitious and often vengeful men. Towards the end of the 9th century, Pope Formosus makes enemies at home by forming controversial alliances abroad. Unluckily for him, despite the teachings of the church he represents, his successor, Stephen VI, is not a forgiving man.

• 15:24Speaker 00

  It is a bitter January day in Rome, 897. Cold rain lashes down onto the cracked flagstones of the basilica courtyard. A young sub-deacon pulls his robe tighter around himself, then follows two senior clerics as they descend into the crypt below Saint Peter's Basilica.

• 15:45Speaker 00

  Down here, they find two men working in silence, bent over a slab in the floor. With a final push, they prise the heavy stone seal from the tomb.

• 15:57Speaker 00

  The atmosphere is damp, but now it's made worse by a pungent sour smell.

• 16:04Speaker 00

  Fighting the urge to mask his nose and mouth with his sleeve, the young clergyman steps forward. Peering inside, he makes out a figure. It's the corpse of Pope Formesus, dead nine months and still swaddled in the remains of his burial vestments. Flesh clings in places; elsewhere there is only bone. Doing his best not to gag, the sub-deacon steps back, allowing the workers to reach in and lift what's left of the body. It's his job, though, to take the legs, a task he does slowly, half in reverence, half in fear the limbs might come away from their joints.

• 16:48Speaker 00

  Together, with infinite care, the men bring the body out of the building, load it onto a wooden cart, and cover it with a sheet of clean linen.

• 16:58Speaker 00

  Then, the sub-deacon follows as it rattles through Rome's back streets and back to the Lateran Basilica, the official papal residence that Pope Formesus once called home.

• 17:10Speaker 00

  Inside the Lateran, torchlight flickers across marble columns. The sub-deacon helps the clerics dress Formesus in fresh ecclesiastical garments. White gloves are tugged over shriveled hands, and a headdress is fixed awkwardly to the skull. A loop of cord is tied around the corpse's waist to keep it seated upright on a throne. But the head keeps tilting too far to one side, so with trembling hands, the sub-deacon props it with a folded cloth.

• 17:43Speaker 00

  When everything is ready, the new Pope, Stephen VI, enters.

• 17:50Speaker 00

  His expression is unreadable, but the trial was his idea, and the sub-deacon catches a slight nod of approval.

• 17:59Speaker 00

  Now, other bishops take their seats. A deacon steps forward and reads the charges. Formisus is accused of violating canon law by illicitly ascending to the papacy while still bishop of Porto. No one speaks in his defence.

• 18:18Speaker 00

  The verdict is swift: guilty.

• 18:22Speaker 00

  Once the sentence has been read, the dead man's robes are stripped. His right hand is held out, and a knife flashes.

• 18:32Speaker 00

  Three of the corpse's fingers, once used for blessings, fall to the floor.

• 18:39Speaker 00

  The sub-deacon flinches, and someone beside him crosses themselves slowly.

• 18:44Speaker 00

  But there is no time to dwell. The sub-deacon and the clerics lift the body once more and carry it back to the cart outside.

• 18:53Speaker 00

  Under a slate grey sky, they wheel it to a bank of the Tiber, where they stop to complete the punishment.

• 19:01Speaker 00

  The sub-deacon helps lower the corpse from the cart. The uneven weight is awkward, and the riverbank slick with rain is slippery underfoot. Without prayer or ceremony, they swing the body once, twice, and release it.

• 19:19Speaker 00

  The men watch for a moment as the pitch-black current swallows what is left of the former leader of the Christian Church. But the scandal of his trial will not sink so easily.

• 19:37Speaker 00

  More than a grotesque footnote, what is later named the "Cadaver Synod", reveals how deeply the early medieval papacy is consumed by rivalry. The throne of St Peter is no longer a purely spiritual office, but a prize worth defiling a corpse for.

• 19:55Speaker 00

  Even so, the spectacle backfires. The Roman public is horrified, and riots erupt. Within months, Stephen is deposed, imprisoned, and strangled to death. Even in a city used to violence, the trial marks a total collapse of decorum. Citizens see how politics have corrupted the Church. Law, tradition, and even decency have been twisted to serve factional control.

• 20:27Speaker 00

  With the papacy now a role that brings land and money as well as spiritual supremacy, succession becomes a battleground. And so, a problem appears: who chooses the Pope?

• 20:41Speaker 00

  Senior clergy, the cardinals, can advise, but final authority often shifts between rival powers inside and outside of the Church.

• 20:52Speaker 01

  In order to avoid the undue influence of the aristocrats and the people of Rome, the popes decided that in future, the new Pope would be elected by the cardinals alone. In the 11th century, a group of cardinals came together, were isolated in one place, and remained there until a new choice had been made: the new successor of Peter.

• 21:20Speaker 00

  This change sets a lasting precedent: eliminating lay influence. All future popes will be chosen by a closed circle of clergy. A decision made ever more important as papal strength intensifies and divisions in the Church become more sharply defined.

• 21:41Speaker 00

  The word “Catholic,” meaning “universal,” has been used to describe the Christian Church since the 2nd century. But universality isn’t the same as unity, and towards the turn of the 1st millennium, disputes harden over theology, language, and the extent of the Pope’s sovereignty. Eventually, in 1054, the Great Schism splits the Church into two branches: the Eastern Orthodox Church centered in Constantinople, and the Roman Catholic Church, based in Rome.

• 22:15Speaker 00

  By the 11th and 12th centuries, the strength of the papacy is reaching new heights. The Pope plays a key role in international diplomacy, but also initiates and authorizes military campaigns, or crusades, urging Christian rulers and knights to reclaim or defend sacred territories. But power on this scale is hard to control, and papal elections grow longer and more chaotic, with opposing camps delaying decisions for months or even years.

• 22:45Speaker 01

  The longest papal election took place between 1268 and 71, when the cardinals gathered in the town of Viterbo, north of Rome. They waited for some days as various factions between the Spanish, Italian, and French fought out the place for the compromised Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Finally, the mayor intervened, locked the cardinals under key in a large hall, reduced their food rations to bread and water, and then removed part of the roof. Unsurprisingly, the cardinals came to a radical decision, adopting Pope Gregory X, Filo Baldo

• 23:29Speaker 01

  Visconti, as the next Pope.

• 23:36Speaker 00

  Determined to avoid a repeat of the debacle, in 1274, Gregory X issues a decree that formalizes the process, and a new tradition is born: the conclave, from the Latin cum clave, meaning "with a key". From now on, elections will take place behind locked doors, with restrictions on food and no contact with the outside world, until a decision is reached. It's a system that, in evolved form, is still used today.

• 24:09Speaker 00

  After all, the stakes of choosing the right man for the job could not have been higher. Because by the late Middle Ages, the Holy See commands not only spiritual authority, but also immense material wealth. The Church is drawing vast income from tithes, land rents, and donations across Europe, although little of these riches is being invested in Rome itself. To make matters worse, by the 1300s, the city is gripped by instability. Violence between noble families, lawlessness and neglect leave Rome's infrastructure crumbling. Even the Vatican district is unsafe.

• 24:46Speaker 00

  In this climate, Pope Boniface VIII clashes with King Philip IV of France over the Pope's involvement in matters of taxation and law. The dispute turns violent, and Boniface is seized by Philip's allies.

• 25:01Speaker 00

  He dies soon after his release, and his successor Clement V, a Frenchman loyal to Philip, avoids Rome altogether. He soon moves his court to Avignon in France, where it will stay until 1377, when reformers and political leaders insist that the seat of St. Peter must come home to the site of his martyrdom. But the return is rocky, and the transition volatile.

• 25:29Speaker 00

  A year after moving back to Rome, the cardinals, most of whom are French, choose a new Italian Pope. His harsh temperament and sweeping anti-corruption reforms quickly alienate those who put him there. In response, they claim his election is invalid and was made under mob pressure. They elect a rival Pope who returns to Avignon.

• 25:54Speaker 00

  Now there are two Popes: one in Rome and one in Avignon. The split spirals into a European crisis known as the Western Schism. France, Scotland, and Spain support Avignon, while England, the Holy Roman Empire, and much of northern Italy back Rome.

• 26:13Speaker 00

  In 1409, a third Pope is elected at the Council of Pisa, with the intention of healing the rift. But this only makes matters worse. It's not until forty years later that a new, universally-recognized Pope is chosen, re-establishing the Holy See in Rome.

• 26:32Speaker 00

  But the schism has shattered the image of the pope as a singular moral authority. With trust in the institution shaken, the Vatican's long-term project is now not only governance, but rebuilding credibility. The factionalism and political interference that fueled the schism runs deep, and in the years that follow, nepotism flourishes, as powerful families fight to install their sons on the throne of St. Peter.

• 27:00Speaker 01

  What has happened through the Middle Ages, you'd had some dreadful popes, and the real reason was because the families were behind them. For example, Lorenzo the Magnificent had his son made cardinal in the hopes that he would become pope. And he did become pope, and he became Leo the Tenth. Complete nepotism. However, that nepotism, it arose because of family ambition, usually aristocratic or wealthy families, but the popes then wanted to surround themselves with family members because they thought they were the only ones they could trust.

• 27:44Speaker 00

  Enmeshed as it is with these elite families, and richer than ever, the Vatican pours its wealth into art and architecture, and the Renaissance, already thriving in Florence, now begins to flourish in Rome itself. Throughout the late 1400s, the Vatican physically transforms.

• 28:04Speaker 00

  The medieval complex around old St. Peter's Basilica expands into a Renaissance masterpiece, including the establishment of the Vatican Library and the renewal of its palace.

• 28:15Speaker 00

  Pope Sixtus IV commissions the Sistine Chapel, destined to become one of the most iconic spaces in Christendom. Initially constructed between 1477 and 1480, later popes add to its splendor with grand art and architecture by Tuscan masters. Michelangelo's frescoes and Raphael's tapestries adorn its ceilings and walls, establishing the chapel as the ceremonial heart of the Vatican. But it is under Pope Julius II that the Vatican undergoes its most dramatic transformation yet.

• 28:52Speaker 00

  Born Giuliano della Rovere, he takes his papal name in homage to Julius Caesar, and sees himself as a warrior pope, determined to expand and defend the power of the role.

• 29:05Speaker 01

  Julius wanted to defend the papal territories which were under attack from so many sides. He was the one who decided to knock down the old Basilica of Constantin, built in the 4th century, and to erect a new basilica in a more modern style, the style of the Renaissance, the style of the rebirth.

• 29:33Speaker 00

  Julius turns the Vatican into a fortified hub of administration and pageantry. His pontificate also sees the establishment of the Swiss Guard, an elite military unit. They serve as the pope's personal bodyguards and monitor access to Vatican buildings. Visitors may enter Saint Peter's Basilica, but the pope's official apartments, private rooms, and the Sistine Chapel remain closed to the public.

• 30:01Speaker 00

  Concerns for the pontiff's security also lead to increased reliance on the Passetto di Borgo, a protected passageway built in the 13th century that links the Vatican to a fortress outside the city walls. For many Romans, the Vatican now feels separate from the city, set apart in its wealth, its might, and its beauty.

• 30:23Speaker 01

  With the increasing funds that the papacy now had at its disposal from the riches from the New World, coming from the exploration and the navigations of the explorers, Rome was made even more beautiful. The election of the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who took the name Leo the 10th, brought the papacy to the apogee of its temporal glory. Leo was, if you like, the equivalent of the son of Donald Trump, a man of extraordinary wealth, one of the wealthiest families in Italy, coming to the position of pope, the top job in the Catholic Church.

• 31:07Speaker 01

  And so Leo spent unrivaled sums of money making the Sistine Chapel even more beautiful.

• 31:16Speaker 00

  The Church's artistic patronage reaches dazzling heights. The Vatican's splendor is designed to awe the faithful, but there are some who see only extravagance and materialism.

• 31:29Speaker 01

  In the middle of this golden age of the papacy, when the great artists were combining their talents to produce magnificent frescoes, magnificent statues, to adorn the city of Rome, a young German friar, Martin Luther, arrived in the city in 1510. Rather than be impressed by the beauty of the city and the wonderful churches and chapels in honour of the saints, he was scandalised by the worldliness of the papal court. He despised the selling of positions of power, of positions within the curia.

• 32:09Speaker 00

  After visiting the Vatican's soaring domes, Luther returns to Germany disillusioned. He writes his 95 Thesees, a list of grievances against clerical corruption, which he nails to a church door in Wittenberg. In particular, he rejects what are known as indulgences, promises of salvation or a reduced time in purgatory issued by the Church in exchange for money. He claims that only scripture should determine faith, not papal decree.

• 32:41Speaker 00

  At first, it's a theological protest, but others also see in his rejection of Rome the opportunity for greater autonomy, no more submission to the whims of the Pope and freedom from the taxation that comes with it. Luther's radical ideas quickly spread, thanks to the newly invented printing press. His challenges ignite the Reformation, a broader movement that rejects Rome's authority and many Catholic doctrines. The clash between the Vatican and the new Protestant churches sparked decades of religious conflict across Europe, which will leave millions dead by the end of the century.

• 33:19Speaker 00

  It's against this backdrop that the forces of the French Charles V march on the Vatican in 1527. Charles is a staunch Catholic, but his bitter quarrel with Pope Clement VII, who has sided with France against him, leaves the papacy dangerously exposed. But in turn, his mercenary army, many of whom are Protestants, are frustrated with poor leadership and a lack of pay. So what was intended as a mission to exert pressure on Clement turns into a full-scale sacking of the city.

• 33:54Speaker 00

  Uncontrolled, the troops storm the Vatican, loot St. Peter's Basilica, and slaughter the Swiss Guard on its steps. A brutal demonstration that the Church is no longer untouchable.

• 34:08Speaker 00

  But after a period of rebuilding, the Vatican fights back. In 1545, the Pope convenes the Council of Trent, launching the Counter-Reformation. Its goals are clear: defend Catholic doctrine, restore discipline, and reassert the power of the Church. The reforms inspire a potent visual response. Across Catholic Europe, especially in Rome, churches rise in a bold, new architectural style. Baroque is dramatic, theatrical, intended to provoke a spiritual response. Upon this new stage, the Vatican proclaims its message:

• 34:48Speaker 00

  Rome remains the heart of Catholicism, unshaken at the center of Christendom.

• 34:59Speaker 00

  For the next few centuries, the Vatican's influence fluctuates as European empires rise and fall. The Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s reshape the continent and strip the Church of territory and treasures. The decades that follow see a growing nationalist movement, seeking to bring the whole of Italy under one monarch. The unified Kingdom of Italy is declared in 1861.

• 35:24Speaker 00

  Roma durata il suo governo papal fino alla fine della decennio, ma quando finalmente è annesto in 1870, il popolo pias il IX rifiuta di riconoscere il paese che cerca di absorbire i suoi paesi, chiamandosi “un prigioniero” nel Vaticano.

• 35:40Speaker 01

  Al prima posto il regitore dei paesi papali e il re di Roma, pias il IX, riuscì ad entrare in una piccola area del Vaticano, non più di 108 ettari, attorno alla Basilica di San Pietro, lamentandosi che, anche se era il monaco di Roma, era ora un prigioniero del Vaticano. Affermò che tutto ciò che voleva era un pezzo di terra non più grande di una manciata, da cui tenere cura di sua folla.

• 36:11Speaker 00

  L’isolamento che si imposse continua per quasi 60 anni. I successivi popoli rifiutarono di andare fuori dagli strati del Vaticano. Un gesto che combinava protesta politica, postura spirituale e un affermazione che la papacy non si baserebbe sui poti del paese.

• 36:29Speaker 00

  Nell’inizio del XX secolo, il “stalemate” si è sottoposto per decenni, ma qualsiasi idea di truce è sospesa dalla giornata di un conflitto mondiale. Rimanendo neutra durante la prima guerra mondiale, il Vaticano contribuisce a decine di milioni di lire in aiuto, e anche se Benedetto XV appela alla pace, cade su le orecchie.

• 36:53Speaker 00

  Dopo la guerra, i negozi inseguiti in segreto tra gli ufficiali del Vaticano e il nuovo Re d'Italia sotto il governo di Benito Mussolini, per risolvere ciò che chiamano “la questione romana”, la sconfitta politica sopra la sovranità. Adesso entrambi hanno qualcosa da conquistare. Il popolo vuole garantire l’indipendenza della chiesa in un mondo rapidamente cambiante. Mussolini vuole l’approvazione della chiesa per il suo regime.

• 37:19Speaker 00

  On February 11, 1929, the two sides signed the Lateran Treaty, recognizing Vatican City as an independent state with the Pope at its head. It's a radical transformation. Once an enclosed part of Rome, the world's smallest, fully sovereign state, now has internationally recognized borders and a constitution. Encircled by its ancient walls, which mark its boundary with the city of Rome beyond, it comprises just over 100 acres. Saint Peter's Basilica, the square, and sections of the Vatican museums are still open to the public, but the city is now sharply divided from the rest of Rome. Its permanent population numbers only a few hundred,

• 38:04Speaker 00

  made up mostly of priests, nuns, officials, and the Swiss Guard, who live in barracks, apartments, or dormitories within the palace complex.

• 38:14Speaker 00

  Despite its diminutive size, it runs with surprising efficiency. The Vatican has its own flags, stamps, currency, and soon, its own radio station, Radio Vaticana, which launches in 1931. There's a pharmacy to serve its residents, a petrol station, and even an in-house printing press for the official newspaper. But what it doesn't have are farms, factories, or natural resources. There's no airport, and only a token railway line, making it entirely dependent on Italy for resources from food, to water, to energy. There are no taxes here, and certainly no elections. There are no passports unless you're appointed to a role by the Pope.

• 38:59Speaker 00

  It is not a country in the traditional sense, but a theocratic enclave, a spiritual headquarters that also functions as a miniature bureaucracy. The buildings reflect this dual purpose. Inside Saint Peter's, pilgrims still kneel in candlelit prayer, but next door, secretaries type official notices in government offices.

• 39:26Speaker 00

  This is not yet the Vatican of mass tourism and giant security queues. It is quieter, more austere, though intensely political in its infancy. Every decision made will help define how this unique new state will operate for the century to come. By the late 1930s, Europe is once again heading for war. Though Vatican City is now sovereign, it is physically and politically surrounded by fascist Italy. Though the Holy See restates its neutrality when war breaks out in 1939, as the conflict unfolds, the Pope's position becomes increasingly controversial.

• 40:08Speaker 01

  If you were to tell the truth, the difficulty with the position of the Pope by now is that the Pope is now an international figure who's broadcast into cinemas on Pathé News and everything he says is broadcast on radio and television. He did his best to care for as many prisoners of war, in particular of the Jewish people, within the States and within the convents and abbys under the control of the Vatican. Even giving over the papal residence, they couldn't be caught because this is extraterrestrial. But still, the accusation remains: "He did not do enough to accuse Hitler and the other

• 40:50Speaker 01

  belligerents for the evil which they were carrying out: extermination of entire populations and races."

• 41:04Speaker 00

  After the war, the influence of the Vatican takes a new form, projected through media, diplomacy and culture. The Pope's visits to other countries draw millions of devotees. Vatican radio broadcasts in dozens of languages and televised masses from St. Peter's Square extend the Church's message to every corner of the world. Entering an age of mass media, rising secularism and global political realignment, the Church faces growing pressure to adapt. Once closed and cautious, the Vatican opens up. In 1962, a new Pope calls for a new beginning.

• 41:44Speaker 01

  In the 1960s, Pope John the 23rd, who came from a poor farming family in the north of Italy, called a gathering of the Church the Second Vatican Council, which took place in Rome between 1962 and 65. The liturgy was reformed, Mass was now celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin. The Word of God, the Bible was given greater emphasis, and a series of reforms took place throughout the Church. It was also followed by a period of turbulence. People who didn't want to see change, who didn't like development rebelled against these

• 42:26Speaker 01

  changes, but over the last number of decades, this has become more settled and people have understood that the Church continuously has to do, as Pope John had said, “Throw the windows open to the breath of the Holy Spirit”.

• 42:45Speaker 00

  As the Church looks outward, the Vatican changes behind the scenes. In 1970, Pope Paul VI modernises Vatican security, disbanding ceremonial units but retaining the Swiss Guard, now joined by a new central security office. And while he is the first Pope to experience air travel, it is one of his successors who becomes the first truly global ambassador of the Vatican.

• 43:11Speaker 01

  In 1978, following the death of Pope Paul VI and the 30-day pontificate of Pope John Paul I, a Slav was elected, a son of Poland, from behind the Iron Curtain. John Paul II, at a papacy of 26 years, marked by reassessing the Church in the light of the Second Vatican Council, and an extraordinary series of 203 intercontinental journeys which brought him to almost every country on the globe.

• 43:48Speaker 00

  His visits draw millions of devotees. But for those unable to travel to see him, there is now a Vatican television centre to bring the pontiff directly to their homes. But this era of unprecedented visibility comes with new levels of scrutiny. With the advent of the digital age, the Vatican must now run in full view of the world. And as the 21st century begins, it finds itself engulfed in controversy.

• 44:17Speaker 01

  Towards the end of the pontificate of John Paul II, as he became more infirm due to Parkinson's disease, a scandal erupted within the Church, the scandal of clerical child abuse and of vulnerable adults. For decades, if not centuries, this had been concealed and covered up from the eyes of the people. But now, thanks to the media and new social platforms, the victims had a voice, and the victims could be heard. The Holy See had to respond. The institution was being damaged. But people's faith and their Christian belief was also suffering,

• 45:02Speaker 01

  and in many places shattered. The people felt betrayed by their bishops, their priests, their leaders, their Church.

• 45:14Speaker 00

  The news devastates trust in the Church and in the Vatican as its seat of power. By the time John Paul II dies in 2005, aged 84, the scandal is still snowballing, and his failure to act is seen as a dark mark in his pontificate. Now, the weight of the controversy passes to his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

• 45:38Speaker 00

  As previous head of the Vatican's doctrinal office, Benedict had been at the centre of many internal debates. In his new role, he inherits a Church at a moment of reckoning. With public outrage still escalating, he is at least more proactive than his predecessor, launching inquiries and defrocking almost 400 priests in just two years for abusive behaviour.

• 46:02Speaker 00

  But according to his critics, he drags his feet and prioritizes the preservation of the institution over justice for victims. Reform is demanded from both within and beyond the clergy, and there is bitter disagreement between the Pope's closest advisers. Longstanding ideological clashes and financial disputes simmer beneath the surface, undermining his leadership.

• 46:27Speaker 00

  Then, in 2012, those internal tensions explode into public view. Hundreds of confidential documents appear in the press, exposing infighting, dysfunction, and financial mismanagement at the heart of the Vatican. The world holds its breath to learn who is behind this audacious breach of trust.

• 46:51Speaker 00

  It's early evening on the 23rd of May 2012.

• 46:56Speaker 00

  Within the walls of Vatican City, a warm breeze drifts across the neatly swept cobbles of the Cortile de Belvedere. In a second-floor apartment overlooking the courtyard, the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabrielli, is stirring sugar into a cup of coffee.

• 47:14Speaker 00

  Beside him on the counter is a half-folded newspaper, but he can't concentrate on what it says. There's too much on his mind.

• 47:22Speaker 00

  He takes his drink into the next room, where a printer sits on a small wooden desk. Freshly inked paper slides into the tray.

• 47:32Speaker 00

  Each sheet is stamped with a bold warning, marking it out as "Confidential Vatican Correspondence." There are memos, letters to and from senior clergy, warnings, accusations.

• 47:46Speaker 00

  The printer finally falls still, and the only sound is the muted hum of evening prayers from the television next door.

• 47:54Speaker 00

  Paolo lifts the latest copy, still warm beneath his fingertips. He checks the lines, then adds it to a folder thick with documents. Some are tucked covertly between the pages of devotional texts. Paolo wraps the folder in a wide elastic band and tucks it behind the bottom drawer of the desk.

• 48:17Speaker 00

  He is just about to push the drawer closed when he freezes. Certain he's heard something in the hallway. Eyes on the crucifix above his bed, he crosses himself quickly, then slides the drawer back into place. And it's just in time, because seconds later, there's an urgent knock at the door. Raised, serious voices, demanding entry.

• 48:41Speaker 00

  Knowing he has no choice but to admit them, he does as he's told. In the hall are three members of the gendarmee, the Vatican Police Corps, stern in their dark blue uniforms. One of them hands him a warrant before striding past into his private quarters. Paolo steps aside, head bowed. The search begins.

• 49:03Speaker 00

  Behind books beneath floorboards, the officers find the first of what will amount to hundreds of stolen pages, letters, bank statements, and faxes, some dating back years. One officer lays out the evidence on the table, another heads to the wardrobe and brings out a box, where he finds even more folders marked with sticky notes in a careful hand. The desk drawer is pulled out, revealing the hidden folder at the back, as well as a gold nugget and a cheque for one hundred thousand euros gifted to the Pope by donors.

• 49:37Speaker 00

  Now, an officer approaches Paolo, handcuffs in hand.

• 49:42Speaker 00

  With a sigh, the butler extends his wrists and feels the cold metal snap around them. He allows himself to be escorted from the apartment and outside. Past the Vatican Archives, past the gates of the Apostolic Palace, past colleagues who now avert their eyes.

• 50:02Speaker 00

  By noon, the news will spread beyond these walls. The Pope's butler has been arrested inside the smallest country in the world for leaking the secrets of one of the most powerful establishments in history. Another breathtaking moment for the modern Catholic Church, dogged by scandal.

• 50:28Speaker 00

  Arrested and detained within Vatican walls, Paolo Gabrielli is one of the few laypeople in modern history to be imprisoned inside the city. He confesses without resistance and claims he acted not out of malice, but out of love for the Church. His goal, he insists, was not to betray the Pope, but to open Benedict's eyes to the corruption and dysfunction festering around him. Pope Benedict XVI later pardons Gabrielli, but the damage is done. The so-called "Vattiliks scandal" marks a turning point: the collapse of Vatican secrecy in an age of digital transparency. The modern world presses in, forcing deeper questions about honesty, justice, and the future of the Church.

• 51:14Speaker 00

  Within a year, citing age and frailty, Benedict XVI steps down, the first pontiff to do so in six centuries. Immediately, crowds gather in St. Peter's Square and around screens worldwide, waiting for white smoke to rise from the Sistine Chapel chimney, the centuries-old signal that a conclave has concluded and a new Pope has been elected.

• 51:41Speaker 00

  After five ballots, Pope Francis is elected, the first Jesuit Pope and the first from the Americas. He leads with an agenda for humility, reform, and social justice. Bringing with tradition, his chosen residence is the Domus Sanctae Metae, a guest house within Vatican walls, rather than the customary papal home of the Vatican Palace. From here, he pushes the Church into new arenas, confronting climate change, corruption, and global inequality.

• 52:15Speaker 00

  But while the Vatican shifts, many traditions remain unchanged. Women, for example, are still barred from becoming bishops or voting in papal conclaves. As such, they remain locked out of much of the Church's decision-making. Meanwhile, the city itself adapts, slowly. The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel welcome record visitors each year. Restoration teams work to preserve its landmarks. Inside the Vatican Library and Archives, ancient manuscripts are digitized, opening their pages to the world. The city's footprint does not expand, but tourism reshapes its streets. Pilgrims have the choice of more cafes, shops, and information points,

• 52:59Speaker 00

  while airport-style security barriers funnel crowds through checkpoints. In 2025, Francis, beloved by millions, passes away, and within a few days, the conclave's white smoke billows once again.

• 53:15Speaker 00

  Cardinal Robert Prevost is elected Pope Leo XIV, the first North American Pope, another milestone for an institution that is both ancient and continually renewing.

• 53:28Speaker 00

  For almost 2,000 years, Vatican City has stood witness to martyrdom and empire, intrigue and scandal, grandeur and humility. Its walls have withstood siege and sack, its chapels have inspired generations, and its archives have carried memory across centuries. Despite being the world's smallest country, it has shaped some of history's biggest moments and continues to thrive as a place of pilgrimage to this day.

• 53:59Speaker 01

  After 2,000 years of the Christian faith, the Catholic Church continues to bear a beacon of light, even though sometimes it flickers and fades in a world of darkness and of fear, of violence and of intemperance. In the heart of Rome, there still is a small little square of 108 acres, centered around the Basilica of St. Peter's, built over the believed tomb of the Apostle Peter. The Bishop of Rome, his 266th successor, still carries a beacon of hope,

• 54:41Speaker 01

  still holds out a hand of friendship and a message of trust in a better future and decent reconciliation.

• 55:05Speaker 00

  Next time on Short History, I will bring you a short history of Oscar Wilde.

• 55:12Speaker 02

  I think all sorts of things that Wilde speaks to about the freedom of the artist, about self-expression, and a sort of socialist anarchist compassionate humanitarian creative individualism. I think there's an idealism there that carries on speaking, that has a beauty to it and a value to it.

• 55:33Speaker 02

  I constantly meet students, and in every year there will be students for whom Wilde personally means a lot, and a way in which he's helped them find themselves. And as a writer, to be able to do that, you know, over 100 years later, is incredible. But he does.

• 55:50Speaker 00

  That's next time.