Cardinal Bendinello Sauli died in disgrace in 1518, implicated, rightly or wrongly, in a conspiracy to assassinate the then Pope, Leo X. This book, based on extensive archival research in Genoa and Rome, traces Sauli's rise and fall, setting one man's life and career against a background of political turmoil and intrigue, and offering new perspectives on the patronal links which bound pope, cardinals and their family and courtiers so closely together. It plots his elevation to ecclesiastical eminence through the efforts of his family who were financiers to the pope; and it examines his apogee...