Preface Introduction Part I: From the margins to the center of the Roman world Peter : bishop of Rome? After Peter and Paul Constantine : the thirteenth apostle Prosperity to crisis : Damasus and Leo the Great Gregory the great Part II: Bringing order out of chaos Greeks, Lombards, Franks Charlemagne : savior or master? Their darkest hour Saving the papacy from itself Gregory VII : who's in charge here? Part III: Development, decline, disarray Compromises, crusades, councils, concordats Innocent III : vicar of Christ Boniface VIII : big claims, big humiliation Avignon : the Babylonian captivity Three popes at a time : the great western schism Part IV: Renaissance and Reformation The restored papacy The Renaissance popes Luther, Leo, and the aftermath Paul III : a turning point Five popes and a council The new Rome Part V: Into the modern era The storm breaks Pius VII : bowed down and raised up Beleaguered, infallible, and prisoner again Leo XIII : searching for solutions Pius X : confronting modern culture Part VI: The papacy as a global institution War, peace, fascism Pius XII : saint or sinner? John XXIII : peace and reconciliation Paul VI : in a tight spot John Paul II : the world is my parish
