1 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:07,400 Rome. 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:08,960 Holy City... 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:10,560 Eternal City. 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,760 A city with a sacred mission to rule and minister to the world. 5 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,000 Its stories of faith and violence 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,360 forged by 3,000 years of tyrants, saints and artists. 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,960 From the Roman emperors and the Christian popes 8 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,560 to the Renaissance and fascism... 9 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,640 ..a holy city driven more by power than piety. 10 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,680 As a historian, I'm fascinated by this place. 11 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,160 I'm here to tell the history of the Eternal City 12 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,400 through its rulers, its art, its shrines... 13 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:10,360 In its first 2,000 years, 14 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:15,000 Rome developed from the seat of power of the pagan empire 15 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,000 to the capital of one of the great world faiths. 16 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,720 But at the beginning of its third millennium, 17 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,200 we find Rome at its lowest ebb. 18 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,800 Abandoned by the papacy, the city resembled a wilderness. 19 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,200 In this final episode, 20 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,040 the Renaissance popes embark on an incredible mission 21 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:40,640 to transform the city. 22 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:45,000 They harness the greatest talents of the age 23 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,760 to create a majestic new Rome. 24 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,000 Stepping inside some of Rome's most magnificent buildings, 25 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,680 I witness how religion, art, lust and greed 26 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,040 vie to create the most splendid city on Earth. 27 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,160 But the hubris of the popes 28 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,040 almost destroys the very city they are creating. 29 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,520 In the centuries that follow, 30 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,600 Protestantism and nationalism threaten Rome and the papacy. 31 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,400 In order to prosper, 32 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,760 the Eternal City would need to adapt again and again. 33 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,720 This is the blood-spattered, dramatic story 34 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,200 of how Rome emerged from the turbulence of the early popes 35 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,720 and the catastrophes of the Middle Ages 36 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,480 into the magnificent city we see today. 37 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,840 In 1350, Rome was a desperate backwater. 38 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,880 The kings of France dominated Rome 39 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,080 and forced the election of a French pope, 40 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,760 who took up his residence not in Rome, 41 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:22,160 but in Avignon. 42 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,560 Without the Pope, Rome lost its financial and moral power. 43 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,720 Crime thrived on its streets, 44 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,800 dominated by two aristocratic families, 45 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:43,920 the Colonnas and the Orsinis, 46 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,320 from their fortified palaces. 47 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,760 They ruled the territories in the city like gangster bosses... 48 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:53,680 ..Rome's real-life versions 49 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,440 of Shakespeare's Montagues and Capulets. 50 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,960 There were now just 30,000 people living in Rome, 51 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,800 compared to a million in imperial times. 52 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,200 The city that was once the head of the world 53 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,360 had become, wrote poet Petrarch, 54 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:14,360 "The rubbish heap of history." 55 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,480 But salvation would come from an unlikely source. 56 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,480 The church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva 57 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,240 is the final resting place of the woman 58 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,520 who would rescue Rome's fortunes. 59 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:46,880 Her name was Caterina Benincasa, 60 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,320 but she's better known as St Catherine of Siena. 61 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,200 She spent much of her life in a state of feverish rapture, 62 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,280 of long periods of deep meditation, 63 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,200 and it was said that Jesus' wounds bled from her body. 64 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,120 In 1370, Catherine was 23. 65 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,240 She was broken-hearted by the fall of Rome. 66 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,880 She believed the Pope had betrayed Christianity itself 67 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,480 by abandoning his city. 68 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,680 It was an article of faith for believers 69 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,680 that the Pope was the natural heir of St Peter, 70 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:32,520 the first Bishop of Rome, 71 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:37,240 and to properly exert his authority, he had to rule from the Holy City. 72 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,680 Catherine believed that in order to save her precious Church, 73 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,920 the Pope had to return. 74 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,680 Catherine made it her life's mission to bring the Pope back to Rome. 75 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:00,480 Alone against the might of the papacy and the rulers of Europe, 76 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,440 Catherine fought to save the Church and city. 77 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,840 She wrote letter after letter imploring the Pope to leave Avignon. 78 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:26,400 Some of the earliest editions are here at the Biblioteca Casanatense. 79 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,800 Manuscript keeper Isabella Ceccopieri 80 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,840 has agreed to translate them for me. 81 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,960 "Come, come, and resist no more the will of God that calls you, 82 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:53,040 "for you, as the vicar of Christ, should rest in your own place 83 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,640 "and fear not for anything that might happen, 84 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:58,920 "since God will be with you." 85 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,360 I guess the first thing that strikes you in this is that Catherine... 86 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,640 She's saying, "Get a move on, Pope. Get a move on, Holy Father. 87 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:07,960 "Get down there. This is my personal command..." 88 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,560 As if they were equals. As equals. Completely as equals. 89 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,120 "So, I ask unto you, our father and our shepherd, 90 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,800 "begging you on behalf of Christ 91 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,280 "to rescue the lost sheep, the human race, 92 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,320 "from the hands of the demons." 93 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,160 And, of course, the demons are those running riot in Rome 94 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:26,720 when the Pope is away. 95 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,480 And so, this is a very powerful appeal. 96 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:34,480 She believes more than anything that the Pope's rightful place is in Rome 97 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:38,760 and that she wants him with all her will, backed by the Holy Spirit, 98 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:40,560 to return there. 99 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,400 Yeah. She's a strong will. 100 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,040 She's got such a strong will. Very powerful stuff. 101 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,560 After years of Catherine's letter-writing, 102 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,040 the Pope showed no sign of returning. 103 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,800 She resolved to travel to Avignon to confront the Pope directly. 104 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,040 The fate of Rome rested on the shoulders of this lone woman. 105 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,480 In 1377, 106 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,800 the Pope returned in a triumphant procession to the Holy City 107 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,680 with Catherine of Siena by his side. 108 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,800 After 70 years of exile, 109 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,560 the Pope was back in his rightful place. 110 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,880 Centuries later, Catherine would be rewarded 111 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,560 by being made patron saint of Italy... 112 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:54,120 AND Europe. 113 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,840 But it would be years before Rome recovered 114 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:03,640 from the Avignon Exile. 115 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,440 Rome was in need of a strong ruler, 116 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:15,840 but the papacy was now bizarrely weakened. 117 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:22,120 The Pope may have been back in Rome, but at the end of the 14th century, 118 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,840 the French king elected a rival pope, an antipope, 119 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,200 over in Avignon. 120 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,880 Kings and emperors now felt they could appoint their own popes 121 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:35,240 to suit themselves. 122 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,040 The situation got so ridiculous that, at times, 123 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,040 there were three popes in three different cities 124 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,680 all claiming to be supreme pontiff. 125 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,080 This became known as the Western Schism. 126 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,520 Rome would never reign supreme while the papacy was a laughing stock. 127 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,400 I've come to the place where the schism ended 128 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:08,920 and the resurgence began... 129 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,080 ..where the Romans claimed back their papacy. 130 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,880 This is the largest private palace in Rome, 131 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,160 and it's still the home of the Colonna family. 132 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,880 They've lived here for 700 years, 133 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,680 and in the 13th and 14th centuries, 134 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:44,000 they were one of the two warring families 135 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,040 fighting for control of Rome's streets. 136 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:52,520 But in 1417, the Colonna family pulled off a major triumph. 137 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,000 After centuries of dominating Rome 138 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,360 with their private armies and wealth, 139 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,120 these swaggering warlords were about to play a decisive role 140 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,880 in restoring the papacy and the city. 141 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,680 There was one way to harness their violent power. 142 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:19,280 To elect a member of the family as pope. 143 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:23,960 And to this day, 144 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:28,960 the palace displays a special piece of furniture to mark this triumph. 145 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:32,800 This is the throne room. 146 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,760 Every dynasty with a pope in the family 147 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,800 had one just like this for when future popes came to visit. 148 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:41,800 And here's the throne itself. 149 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,080 But as you can see, it's facing the wrong way round, 150 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,000 and that's because it was only turned to face the right way 151 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,800 when there was a pope actually here to sit on it. 152 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:01,240 It was the election of the Colonna Pope, Martin V, in 1417 153 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:03,760 that brought an end to the Western Schism. 154 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,840 The competing popes had turned the papacy into a farce, 155 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,000 and finally, a council persuaded all the popes to resign. 156 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,440 When they elected Martin V, it was first time in years 157 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,280 that the Pope had not only been Italian, but a Roman, 158 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,760 and a scion of the city's most powerful family. 159 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:35,760 From now on, the papacy was Roman, and Rome would be the papal city. 160 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:40,360 But the papacy was still vulnerable, and the city was a mess. 161 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:44,800 The Pope's task now was to restore the authority of both, 162 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,280 to make Rome the undisputed capital of Christendom. 163 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,560 From this point on, the popes were united by a shared vision. 164 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,160 Through the 15th and 16th centuries 165 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,720 they embarked on a project of breathtaking scope 166 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,600 that would turn Rome into a building site for 200 years. 167 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,160 Pope Nicholas V declared that they would create "great buildings" 168 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,080 that would demonstrate that 169 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:25,040 "the authority of the Roman Church is the greatest and highest." 170 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:29,520 Rome, said Pope Sixtus IV, would be "the capital of the world." 171 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,840 The mission was to create the most magnificent city on Earth, 172 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,320 so that pilgrims who couldn't read or write 173 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,960 could see in its churches and palaces 174 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,760 the glory of God and his popes. 175 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,680 Rome's renaissance had begun. 176 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,760 Across the skyline, the domes of grandiose churches started to rise. 177 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,520 Popes and cardinals built the most sumptuous palaces 178 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,480 to display the impressive art they'd commissioned. 179 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,360 The most elaborate of these would be the papal residence itself, 180 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:10,720 the Vatican. 181 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,640 It was an astonishing endeavour that brought together 182 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,280 the highest and lowest of human appetites. 183 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:26,120 Spirituality and art vied with power, lust and greed. 184 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,480 It took the patronage of many popes, 185 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,880 the work of the greatest artists that have ever lived, 186 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,000 and incalculable sums of money. 187 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:42,040 The ambition was boundless, the vision splendid. 188 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,000 The popes would stop at nothing 189 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,360 to make Rome the most holy city on Earth... 190 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:48,960 ..a new Jerusalem. 191 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,680 But the men leading the mission would be far from saintly. 192 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,360 The Renaissance popes saw no contradiction 193 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,200 between their sacred role, cut-throat politics, 194 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,800 and the pursuit of wealth and pleasure. 195 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,160 There was one Pope who personifies this merciless magnificence 196 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:18,720 like no other. 197 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,880 This is the Castel Sant'Angelo, 198 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:34,040 the fortress, prison and torture chamber of the papacy, 199 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,080 and up there is the family crest of Pope Alexander VI. 200 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,200 But if you look closely, you'll see that it's been totally vandalised. 201 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,320 And this is because Alexander VI was a member 202 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,920 of the most notorious family in the entire history of the papacy... 203 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:53,360 the Borgias. 204 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:06,160 The Borgia Pope was the nephew of the Spanish Pope Callixtus III, 205 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:08,960 who raised him to Cardinal. 206 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,200 A brilliantly cunning and effective politician, 207 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,800 as Pope, he was ruthlessly effective in promoting papal power. 208 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,000 He was determined to make Rome great 209 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,920 and his family even greater. 210 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:32,520 His son, Cesare Borgia, was a bishop at 16 and a cardinal at 18, 211 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,920 but he probably murdered his own brother, 212 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,000 whose death enabled him to resign from the Church 213 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,800 and become papal commander-in-chief, 214 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,160 conquering new territories for the family. 215 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,760 He was brilliantly talented, tireless and terrifying. 216 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,360 His victims were found floating in the Tiber every morning. 217 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:58,040 But to Machiavelli, he was the ideal of the Renaissance prince. 218 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,840 Cesare Borgia was the Pope's flamboyant enforcer and henchman. 219 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:08,880 No-one was safe in his reign of terror. 220 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:13,800 Corruption, war and assassination 221 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:17,880 were as much part of Rome's renaissance as the exquisite art. 222 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,000 And the popes and cardinals were often as debauched 223 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,760 as they were priestly. 224 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,240 The Borgias shamelessly turned the Vatican 225 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:31,880 into a palace of pleasure. 226 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:38,240 The Pope himself had many lovers and fathered many children. 227 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,120 Historian Mary Hollingsworth 228 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:43,520 has been studying an account written by a senior courtier 229 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,640 which provides a rather interesting insight 230 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,320 into Borgia life at the Vatican. 231 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,960 The papal master of ceremonies did describe 232 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,600 a particularly lurid dinner party that Cesare... 233 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,200 not, I should say, the Borgia Pope, but that Cesare held in the Vatican. 234 00:17:58,200 --> 00:17:59,880 And at the end of the meal, 235 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,440 the guests removed all the big silver candelabra onto the ground, 236 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,200 and then scattered chestnuts all over the floor 237 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,080 and invited in a bevy of naked ladies, 238 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,040 who went around on their hands and knees, 239 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:12,640 bobbing up and down their heads 240 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,640 to pick up these chestnuts in their mouths. 241 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,200 And then, at the end, once all the chestnuts had been collected, 242 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,400 and, presumably, all the wares, as it were, had been displayed, 243 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,760 then the male guest who had sex 244 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,360 with the largest number of these prostitutes 245 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,880 was ceremonially given a present of a very expensive pair of gloves. 246 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,000 So, those things seem to be true. 247 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:34,800 I mean, there are plenty of later popes 248 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,320 where things like that happened. 249 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,600 Wasn't one of the great accusations thrown at the Borgia Pope 250 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,240 was that he had so many mistresses and so many children? 251 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,160 Was that usual for a for a religious leader like the Pope at this time? 252 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,360 Well, I suppose he wasn't the first to do it and nor was he the last, 253 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:55,440 but he was just slightly more so. So, he was slightly more... 254 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,040 He had rather more beautiful mistresses and, you know, 255 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,160 an awfully large bevy of children. 256 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,640 How seriously did these Renaissance popes take their Christianity? 257 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,760 Well, I personally think they took it very seriously. 258 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:10,760 I mean, just because they're extravagant, 259 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,800 it's not that that they're not religious. It's not either/or. 260 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,640 It's a different way of doing things. 261 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:20,960 For the Renaissance popes, 262 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,720 outrageous parties and ostentatious displays of wealth 263 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,080 were a tribute to the glory of God and Church... 264 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,600 ..and a demonstration to the world of their power and sanctity. 265 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,320 In the mission to make Rome great once more, 266 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,080 there was one Pope whose ambitions would exceed all others. 267 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,560 The successor to the Borgia Pope 268 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,200 would be the ultimate creator of Renaissance Rome. 269 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,360 His name was Giuliano della Rovera. 270 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,720 Years before he became Pope, 271 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,640 he began forming his great vision for the city. 272 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,360 And in the entrance to the church outside his old home 273 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:17,720 is a clue to his master plan for the new Rome. 274 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,680 He erected a relief of an eagle... 275 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,800 ..the mighty symbol of Ancient Rome. 276 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,080 Giuliano had rescued the great eagle from the ruins, 277 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,880 and he wanted to do the same to Rome itself. 278 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,000 His vision was to restore the Eternal City 279 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,000 to its ancient glories. 280 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,240 And he himself would be its Julius Caesar. 281 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,920 So it's no wonder that when elected Pope, 282 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,800 the name he chose was Julius II. 283 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,200 Deep inside the Vatican Palace, 284 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,840 the walls of Julius's private apartments ring out 285 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,720 with the story of his reign. 286 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,480 This high priest saw himself as a warrior pope... 287 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,080 ..who would don armour to lead his troops into battle... 288 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,320 ..like the emperors of old. 289 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:39,080 He became know as Papa Terribile, the fearsome Pope. 290 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:51,320 But his most effective foot soldiers would be his army of artists. 291 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,440 He assembled a team of the greatest artists in history 292 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:59,160 to equal, and even out-do, the glory of imperial Rome. 293 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:04,600 The artist Raphael 294 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,400 would be commissioned to decorate his living quarters, 295 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,680 which many consider Raphael's finest work. 296 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,440 Classical, as well as Christian, scenes 297 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:19,920 dominate the Papal Apartments. 298 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,000 The pagan God Apollo has pride of place, 299 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,040 surrounded by the finest poets, from Homer to Dante. 300 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,480 Not all Christians were comfortable with the pagan imagery, 301 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,960 but this classical/Christian fusion 302 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,360 was the true spirit of the Renaissance. 303 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,480 Julius was channelling the greatest human achievements throughout history 304 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,960 to promote the power of the papacy and Christian Rome. 305 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,240 But it was Julius' partnership with one particular artist 306 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,840 that would come to define the Renaissance more than any other. 307 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:02,040 An artist so revered that even his rival, Raphael, painted him... 308 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:05,120 Michelangelo. 309 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,880 Michelangelo was impossible to deal with. 310 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,760 He was obsessive, paranoid and avaricious. 311 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,960 Tormented by his artistic rivalries, his religious doubts, 312 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,400 the demands of his greedy family, and his own homosexuality. 313 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,360 But Julius's commission would produce a peerless masterpiece, 314 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,800 the jewel of the Renaissance. 315 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,840 500 years after its creation, 316 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,600 it is still regarded as one of the world's finest works. 317 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,080 Even amidst the other splendours of the Sistine Chapel, 318 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,080 it's the ceiling that takes your breath away. 319 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:12,520 Painting the ceiling was a physical and creative challenge. 320 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,440 Michelangelo was tormented by neck and eye pain. 321 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,920 And Julius was a harsh taskmaster. He beat Michelangelo with a stick, 322 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:27,240 but the haughty artist was every bit as volcanic as his patron. 323 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:34,920 Julius even used his own epithet to describe him - Il Terribile. 324 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,120 But from this fiery relationship came perfection. 325 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,120 In 1512, a heavenly vision was unveiled. 326 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:56,960 The creation narrative of Genesis 327 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,480 has never been so sublimely rendered. 328 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,000 This is truly the pinnacle of the Renaissance. 329 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,280 It's just amazing to be here. 330 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:17,080 One really feels one's...in the company of genius. 331 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,880 As you see God giving life to Adam, 332 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:30,200 you feel, too, how Michelangelo gave life to the Renaissance. 333 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,640 Rome was reborn. 334 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,840 Michelangelo projects his vision of the human body 335 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,240 as an expression of God's design. 336 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,680 While for Julius, this was the declaration of papal Rome 337 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,480 as all-powerful and divinely blessed. 338 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,560 But Julius wasn't prepared to stop here. 339 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:01,040 Seven years earlier, 340 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,040 Julius had set in motion an even more ambitious project... 341 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,720 ..right next door to the Vatican Palace. 342 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,880 An endeavour so colossal, it would outlast Julius 343 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,280 and the final days of the Renaissance itself. 344 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,200 Inside the Church of San Martino ai Monti 345 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,760 is an image of what was once the most sacred building in Rome... 346 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,760 ..the original St Peter's Basilica, built by Constantine the Great. 347 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,760 It was already 1,000 years old. 348 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,720 The very legitimacy and sanctity of the popes themselves 349 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,960 were based on their connection to the place 350 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,160 where St Peter had been crucified and buried. 351 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,760 But in 1505, Pope Julius II decided to destroy it. 352 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,640 Many of the clergy were outraged. 353 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,760 To destroy the basilica was sacrilege. 354 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,800 Julius wanted to build a bigger, better St Peter's, 355 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:18,320 that would be fittingly magnificent for the capital of Christendom. 356 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,560 But he was taking a huge gamble. 357 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,800 He was demolishing Rome's most beloved building 358 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,840 and the only church that linked the city and the papacy 359 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,760 to the early days of Christianity, and St Peter himself. 360 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,880 The rebuilding of St Peter's would last 120 years. 361 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,560 It would take the commitment of another 20 popes 362 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,320 to deliver Julius's vision. 363 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,720 But this would be a period of astonishing activity, 364 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,680 during which the values of Renaissance Rome 365 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,440 would be severely tested. 366 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:04,000 Hello. Hi there. 367 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,040 'The challenge began with the astronomical cost 368 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,000 'of building the new St Peter's.' 369 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,960 The Renaissance had attracted many more pilgrims to Rome, 370 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,440 and they brought in massive new revenues, 371 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,240 but they were soon spent and the Church needed much, much more. 372 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,880 'And so, in the early 16th century, 373 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,880 'the popes began exploiting a uniquely papal practice 374 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:31,280 'to raise more money...' 375 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,400 Can I have this, please? Yes, sure. How much is it? 376 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,000 20 Euro. 20 Euro, OK. 377 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,000 '..the selling of indulgences.' 378 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,000 The practice had been around since the 6th century. 379 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,840 It was simple. People would pay to have their sins forgiven. 380 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,680 And it raised so much money that they had an even brighter idea. 381 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,680 People would pay for sins they hadn't even committed yet. 382 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:58,800 OK? 25, sir. 383 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,440 25, perfect. There we are. 384 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:05,040 'The papacy had turned sin into a business.' 385 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,080 This abuse, taking place in the heart of God's city, 386 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,200 outraged many Christians. 387 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:20,400 For years, the Renaissance popes 388 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,240 had thrived through decadence and corruption. 389 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,200 But the selling of indulgences would prove one step too far. 390 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,800 I've come to a palace that defines the moment 391 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,040 Renaissance Rome came tumbling down. 392 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,400 The Villa Farnesina was known as the Villa of Pleasure, 393 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,240 and was frequently visited by Julius's successor, Leo X. 394 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,400 Pope Leo was better at parties than he was at politics. 395 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,160 "God has given us the papacy," he said, 396 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:14,960 "so let us enjoy it!" 397 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,080 And enjoy it he did. 398 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,160 He was a member of the Medici banking family, 399 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:24,560 but in one year, he squandered the entire savings of the papacy 400 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,120 on pleasures, on art, and on gambling. 401 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,120 His reign marks the delicious climax 402 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,120 of the debauchery of the Renaissance papacy. 403 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,120 The popes believed they were invincible. 404 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:44,400 But they were wrong. 405 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:48,960 Their decadent version of Christianity 406 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,200 did not go unnoticed by Christians outside of Rome... 407 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,240 ..and the Renaissance was about to reach an explosive finale. 408 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,920 One German monk visiting Rome was particularly outraged. 409 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,480 His name was Martin Luther. 410 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:14,360 Everything that the Renaissance popes valued and nurtured for Rome, 411 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,680 Luther loathed. 412 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:20,400 Sexual pleasure, the beauty of the human body, 413 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,320 the admiration for pagan art. 414 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:29,640 And most disturbing of all, 415 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,840 the selling of the forgiveness of sins. 416 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:40,960 The worst perpetrator of these abominations was the Pope himself. 417 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:44,560 Luther said that far from being God's representative on Earth, 418 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,200 he was an agent of the devil. 419 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,560 Luther returned to his home town in Germany 420 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,720 and nailed his protest to the church door, 421 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,640 thereby launching the movement that became known as Protestantism. 422 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,040 He defied the Church, and his Protestantism 423 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:06,360 would be the greatest challenge to papal supremacy in all its history. 424 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,840 The papacy had little time for Luther, 425 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,640 but it would not be long before his protests 426 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,280 would shake the Church to its foundations 427 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,320 and bring catastrophe to Rome. 428 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,600 Just upstairs is a long-hidden piece of evidence 429 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,800 of the horrific conclusion of the Renaissance. 430 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:07,440 In the late 1990s, some art restorers working on this room 431 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,800 uncovered some totally fascinating graffiti... 432 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:17,840 ..which dates back to the year 1528. 433 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:20,640 Now, it's very hard to decipher this, 434 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:24,440 and with apologies for my hopeless German, it says, 435 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,280 "Was soll ich die schreiben 436 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:33,320 nit lachen die Landsknechten haben den Papst laufen machen." 437 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,480 The man who wrote this graffiti is congratulating himself 438 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:41,880 and his mates. 439 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,040 He says, "Why shouldn't I laugh? 440 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:48,920 "We, the Landsknecht, have set the Pope on the run." 441 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,120 The Landsknecht were a force of German mercenaries 442 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:02,400 sent to Italy by Emperor Charles V 443 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,360 as a warning to the inept Medici Pope, Clement VII. 444 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,320 But in May 1527, they mutinied... 445 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,160 ..and stormed the city. 446 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:26,400 The Landsknecht were Protestants 447 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,760 who believed the Pope was the Antichrist. 448 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,600 Infuriated by tales of papal hedonism, 449 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:36,440 they ran amok in the satanic city. 450 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,360 The small papal army didn't stand a chance 451 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,880 as the Landsknecht went berserk. 452 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,480 They slaughtered everyone they encountered in the streets. 453 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,440 They disembowelled priests. 454 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,080 They turned monasteries into brothels. 455 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,680 The Eternal City had become Hell on Earth. 456 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:23,320 The Pope tried to negotiate with them, 457 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:25,320 but no-one could stop the mayhem. 458 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,240 So, he escaped from the Vatican along the passato, 459 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:29,840 this fortified passageway, 460 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,960 to seek refuge in the Castel Sant'Angelo. 461 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:41,440 And here he hid for almost an entire year. 462 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:49,600 The Pope's health disintegrated. 463 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:55,040 Outside of the Castel, Rome was ravaged. 464 00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:58,120 The city was devastated. 465 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,880 The population halved 466 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,560 by hunger, murder and plague. 467 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,280 But, still, the troops wouldn't leave, 468 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:14,720 and in December 1527, they said that if they didn't get their money, 469 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:18,800 they'd hang their captains and slice the Pope into pieces. 470 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,680 By this time, the Pope was starving, 471 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,240 blind in one eye and ridden with liver disease. 472 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:36,920 He escaped from the Castel Sant'Angelo disguised as a servant 473 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,560 and headed out of Rome to the Papal residence at Orvieto. 474 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:48,280 The Pope had lost his splendour and his power. 475 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,720 The Holy City had lost its ruler, its protector. 476 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:58,480 The Sack of Rome was the greatest catastrophe in all its history. 477 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,320 The follies of the Renaissance popes 478 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:06,560 had brought the Eternal City close to destruction. 479 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:14,600 On the 11th of February 1528, the Landsknecht were finally paid 480 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,160 and the horde finally left. 481 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:18,960 The Pope returned to Rome. 482 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,280 The Sack of Rome was seen as God's judgement, 483 00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:25,400 even by the Pope himself. 484 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,200 Rome was being punished for its sins. 485 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,720 Now, one thing was clear. The Church would have to change. 486 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,240 The result was the Catholic Reformation. 487 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,160 Dissidence and excess were now brutally repressed. 488 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:47,960 For the moment, at least, 489 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:52,040 the orgies and mistresses were out, austerity and chastity were in. 490 00:37:54,320 --> 00:38:00,280 The new severity was personified by Paul IV, a brutal and pedantic prig 491 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,280 who regarded the ancient monuments of Rome 492 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,480 as pagan and, therefore, heretical. 493 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,520 He said he would have liked to destroy them all. 494 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:12,440 But worse, he was disgusted by the naked private parts 495 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,160 of the Renaissance masterpieces, 496 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,360 and ordered many of them to be painted over. 497 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:22,520 It is his fitting punishment that history remembers him above all 498 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,160 as the Fig Leaf Pope. 499 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:31,320 The curse of the fig leaf is still visible today 500 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:35,000 on Michelangelo's later work in the Sistine Chapel. 501 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:41,440 The Last Judgment was the final masterpiece of the Renaissance. 502 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,920 I think it's the finest celebration 503 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,760 of the grace and dignity of the human body, 504 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,920 but it also brutally reflects the dystopic mayhem of the Sack of Rome. 505 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:59,920 Its naked passions appalled the Catholic Reformation 506 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:03,080 and some of Michelangelo's beautifully bare figures 507 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,320 now wear rather strategically placed pieces of cloth. 508 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:10,640 And one previously naked woman 509 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:14,720 has had her modesty restored with a rather frumpy green dress. 510 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,680 But the Catholic Reformation attacked more than just art. 511 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,120 It unleashed the Roman Inquisition on the Eternal City. 512 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:35,240 The Inquisition was set up to enforce the doctrines of the Church 513 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,600 and destroy any heresies or impurities. 514 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:42,680 Peccadilloes that had been overlooked or indulged during the Renaissance 515 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:44,400 were now brutally punished. 516 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:48,880 Homosexuals were burnt alive. 517 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:55,200 Jews, who had lived peacefully in Rome for 1,700 years, 518 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,160 were confined to a ghetto. 519 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,680 But the biggest challenge to Roman supremacy 520 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:05,400 was the new rival branch of Christianity. 521 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:15,120 As Protestantism spread, the papacy resolved to fight it on every level, 522 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:18,520 from the world of art to the battlefield. 523 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:23,800 In 1539, the Catholic Church created a new militant wing. 524 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:38,200 This is the Church of Saint Ignacio, named after Ignacio Loyola, 525 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,680 a military man who believed that the winning of Christian souls 526 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:44,680 could be conducted like a military campaign. 527 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:49,200 So, he founded the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. 528 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:51,600 And a look at this astonishing ceiling 529 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,200 tells you all you need to know about the passionate energy 530 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:56,600 of the Jesuit mission. 531 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:11,720 Saint Ignacio commands the centre, empowered by Jesus Christ himself. 532 00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:17,320 His heart radiates four sacred beams that propel his female missionaries 533 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,440 to the four corners of the world 534 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:22,280 to slay the pagans. 535 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:30,200 Indeed, the Jesuit mission was international and universal. 536 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,600 It was to convert everyone. 537 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,120 It used both the sword and the prayer book. 538 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,840 The Jesuits valued education above all else, 539 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,520 and used their sophisticated analysis of human character 540 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,440 to win souls, defeat enemies, 541 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,400 and to defend and spread papal authority. 542 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:02,960 By the 17th Century, 543 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,680 the reach of Rome had spread beyond its walls 544 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:07,840 to the four corners of the world. 545 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,800 The Renaissance may have passed, 546 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,960 but a new heyday now dawned for the Holy City. 547 00:42:20,720 --> 00:42:25,000 Rome was the heart of a new Christendom. Not just Catholic, 548 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:26,600 but Roman Catholic. 549 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:34,960 The battle against Protestantism would embellish Rome itself. 550 00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:40,640 The popes launched a new and exhilarating war of culture. 551 00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:45,160 They championed an artistic movement 552 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:47,920 to project a new-found intensity of passion 553 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:49,840 and ecstasy of revelation. 554 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:53,760 This new art was personified by one man. 555 00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:01,000 Gian Lorenzo Bernini was the master of baroque art. 556 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:02,960 Impulsive and emotional, 557 00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:05,800 when he found his mistress was having an affair with his brother, 558 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:08,120 he beat his brother up with a crowbar 559 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:11,600 and had her permanently scarred with a razor blade. 560 00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:17,640 But Bernini was adored by Pope Urban VIII, 561 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:21,200 who told him, "You're lucky to have me as Pope, 562 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,960 "but I'm even luckier to have you." 563 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:29,360 Their partnership was responsible 564 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:31,440 for much of what we see in Rome today. 565 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,280 Bernini, in many ways, is to the 17th century 566 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:39,400 what Michelangelo had been in the 16th century, 567 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,520 and he certainly was the best interpreter 568 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:44,080 of the wishes of the popes. 569 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:47,400 Art historian Alexandra Massini has brought me to see 570 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,680 the sculpture that Bernini considered his masterpiece. 571 00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:56,880 It's called The Ecstasy Of Saint Teresa. 572 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:01,720 Tell me about this piece. I mean, this is extraordinary. 573 00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:05,200 Well, this is really a very intense religious experience 574 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,520 that is described by Saint Teresa 575 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:10,200 but, you know, if I read out her own words 576 00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,680 and you see the sculpture that goes along with it, 577 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:16,400 I think there's little ambiguity as to what exactly is happening... 578 00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:18,400 So, let me just read this... 579 00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:21,760 "I saw that he had a long golden dart in his hand..." 580 00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:25,920 She's referring to this angel that she sees appearing. 581 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:30,000 "I thought that he pierced my heart with this dart several times 582 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,520 "and in such a manner that it went through my very bowels 583 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:37,120 "and when he drew it out, it seemed as if my bowels came with it, 584 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:41,400 "and I remained wholly inflamed with a great love of God. 585 00:44:41,400 --> 00:44:46,240 "The pain thereof was so intense that it forced deep groans from me, 586 00:44:46,240 --> 00:44:49,800 "but the sweetness which this extreme pain caused in me 587 00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:53,560 "was so excessive that there was no desiring to be free from it." 588 00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:57,560 So, I think this is a very graphic and very erotic rendering 589 00:44:57,560 --> 00:44:59,920 of an absolutely physical experience. 590 00:44:59,920 --> 00:45:03,160 Now, this was very different from, really, what had gone before, 591 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:06,240 because we're coming out of the Counter-Reformation, 592 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:10,560 a strict time, a severe time, a time of a sort of moral crackdown, 593 00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:14,760 and suddenly we have this explosion of sensual... 594 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,160 sensual extravagance, really. 595 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:20,520 The restraints of the Counter-Reformation are long gone 596 00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:22,320 by this stage, and... 597 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:25,920 What you are out to do is really to draw in the viewer 598 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:28,120 and that's why you do things 599 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,200 that are absolutely theatrical and absolutely dramatic, 600 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,840 and that explains why you have such an erotic piece 601 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,040 that ends up in a church, where you would at least expect it. 602 00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:39,480 The viewer thinks... A modern-day viewer would think, 603 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:43,080 "OK, this is something absolutely secular. What is it doing inside a church?" 604 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:46,760 But it is part, I think, of this emotional sensibility that... 605 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,040 people expected at the time, 606 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,240 even inside a church, even from the faithful. 607 00:45:51,240 --> 00:45:53,920 It is part of the religious picture of the time. 608 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:56,240 Was this new sensibility of the Catholic Church, 609 00:45:56,240 --> 00:45:58,160 represented by the baroque and Bernini, 610 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:01,280 really also a way of competing with Protestantism? 611 00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:03,040 It definitely was, yes. 612 00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:06,280 I think that whereas the Protestants are really... 613 00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:09,800 sticking to a literal reading of the Bible, 614 00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:12,240 here we have something totally different. It is... 615 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:16,040 You reach God through the senses, through opening up your heart, 616 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:20,400 through experiencing things to the...to your bones, literally, 617 00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:24,360 and that, I think, is what makes this work of art so powerful. 618 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:26,600 Saying, "The Church can give you this." 619 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:28,680 Exactly. The Church can give you this. 620 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:31,040 And that's quite something. Yes. Yes, indeed. 621 00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:39,520 The Church deployed every available weapon 622 00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:41,800 to win the battle of Christian souls. 623 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:47,360 But to complete Rome's status as the ultimate Holy City, 624 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,160 there was one major task left undone... 625 00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:53,120 to finish the new St Peter's. 626 00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:09,160 By 1610, the exterior was finally complete. 627 00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:19,200 115 years after Julius II had knocked down the original, 628 00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:23,120 a vast new structure now dominated Rome's skyline. 629 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:28,720 It proclaims the power and confidence of the Catholic Church. 630 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:32,880 But the basilica still lacked a centrepiece. 631 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:37,880 And it's here that Bernini produced his masterpiece. 632 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:55,800 The new basilica had been built above the original tomb of St Peter. 633 00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:00,720 To honour the shrine which gave Papal Rome its sanctity, 634 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:04,080 Bernini created this monumental canopy, 635 00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:05,800 his baldacchino. 636 00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:25,200 There's something very thrilling and powerful 637 00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:29,360 about this triumphalist piece of architecture here. 638 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:32,680 It's not just declaring the triumph of the Church 639 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,320 and the majesty of the papacy, 640 00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:38,280 but it's also pointing out the connection 641 00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:40,440 between Rome and Jerusalem. 642 00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:49,080 These gorgeous curving pillars are specially designed 643 00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:53,880 as replicas of pillars from the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. 644 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:58,280 And so, what Bernini is saying here is that Rome is the new Holy City, 645 00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,240 Rome is the new Jerusalem. 646 00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:12,200 On the 18th of November 1626, 647 00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:16,040 the vision of Julius II was finally realised. 648 00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:25,880 20 popes later, the new St Peter's was finished. 649 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:33,680 Today, it remains the largest church in the world. 650 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:39,400 I think the gigantic force of this church 651 00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,480 defines Rome as the capital of Christendom. 652 00:49:44,080 --> 00:49:47,280 An emblem of the success of the Renaissance dream 653 00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:49,040 and global Catholicism. 654 00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:55,960 Julius's gamble had paid off. 655 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:07,680 By the 18th century, 656 00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:11,480 the story of the making of the Holy City is almost complete. 657 00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:18,000 At first glance, Rome looked very much like it does today... 658 00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:23,320 ..filled with tourists eager to see its beautiful monuments. 659 00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:28,720 But there was one crucial difference between then and now. 660 00:50:28,720 --> 00:50:31,400 The popes were still the autocratic rulers 661 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:35,680 of their own swathe of Italian territories - the Papal States. 662 00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:38,240 But all of that was about to change. 663 00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:47,200 In the mid 19th century, 664 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:50,240 new ideologies were sweeping across Europe, 665 00:50:50,240 --> 00:50:53,440 which would permanently alter the shape of the Holy City... 666 00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:57,560 ..republicanism and nationalism. 667 00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:03,040 They rejected the medieval and sclerotic papal autocracy. 668 00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:11,720 Having already taken hold of France, 669 00:51:11,720 --> 00:51:15,440 the idea of a republican nation was gathering momentum 670 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:18,800 across the separate states of the Italian peninsula. 671 00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:25,000 A doctor's son from the northern city of Genoa named Giuseppe Mazzini 672 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:29,440 led the campaign to unite the various kingdoms of the peninsula 673 00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:33,040 into just one country - Italy. 674 00:51:33,040 --> 00:51:36,240 And Mazzini believed there could only be one capital. 675 00:51:36,240 --> 00:51:40,680 "Rome," he said, "was the national centre of Italian unity, 676 00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:44,840 "the dream of my young years, the religion of my soul." 677 00:51:51,080 --> 00:51:55,880 If Mazzini succeeded, he would end papal rule for ever. 678 00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:59,920 Not surprisingly, the Pope denounced the new Italian nationalism 679 00:51:59,920 --> 00:52:02,200 and called on all Catholics to reject it. 680 00:52:05,640 --> 00:52:07,080 War was looming. 681 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:13,760 In 1849, the Republican troops, 682 00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:17,320 led by the swashbuckling warlord Giuseppe Garibaldi, 683 00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:18,880 descended on Rome. 684 00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:27,320 This time, the Pope had a surprising ally 685 00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:31,080 in his opposition to Italian republicanism. 686 00:52:31,080 --> 00:52:34,920 France - now ruled by Emperor Napoleon III, 687 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:38,160 nephew of the great Napoleon Bonaparte. 688 00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:41,800 And when Rome fell to Garibaldi and the Republicans, 689 00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:44,440 Napoleon sent an army to get it back. 690 00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:51,640 They bombarded Rome and, as chance would have it, 691 00:52:51,640 --> 00:52:56,160 a French cannon ball smashed right in to the sumptuous great hall 692 00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:58,280 of Prince Colonna's Palace. 693 00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:02,120 Now, this is one of my favourite secrets of Rome, 694 00:53:02,120 --> 00:53:04,840 because that Napoleonic cannonball 695 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:08,960 embedded itself in Prince Colonna's marble staircase... 696 00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:10,920 and it's still there to this day. 697 00:53:18,720 --> 00:53:21,480 Thanks to the support of Napoleon III, 698 00:53:21,480 --> 00:53:23,720 the Pope still ruled Rome. 699 00:53:25,880 --> 00:53:29,520 But Mazzini's vision of Rome as the capital of Italy lived on. 700 00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:36,960 In 1870, Napoleon III fell, the French withdrew, 701 00:53:36,960 --> 00:53:41,120 and the army of the new nation of Italy entered Rome. 702 00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:46,800 Commanded by Victor Emmanuel, 703 00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:50,000 king of the newly-formed Kingdom of Italy. 704 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:53,960 He made Rome his capital, while its former ruler, the Pope, 705 00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:56,320 retreated behind the walls of the Vatican, 706 00:53:56,320 --> 00:53:59,600 where he melodramatically declared himself a prisoner. 707 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:08,680 Secularism had taken control of the Holy City. 708 00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:16,040 A vast monument in honour of King Victor Emmanuel 709 00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:19,320 was erected to dominate the Rome of the past 710 00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,840 and dwarf its religious buildings. 711 00:54:24,560 --> 00:54:27,400 Grotesque it may be, but its message was clear. 712 00:54:30,040 --> 00:54:32,320 Rome had new masters. 713 00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:34,880 The city no longer belonged to the Pope. 714 00:54:38,200 --> 00:54:40,960 But the Pope was not going to make this easy. 715 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:50,440 Historian Anne Wingenter has been studying this pivotal period 716 00:54:50,440 --> 00:54:51,600 in Rome's history. 717 00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:56,040 So, when King Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, 718 00:54:56,040 --> 00:54:59,280 arrived and united Rome with the rest of Italy, 719 00:54:59,280 --> 00:55:01,400 how did that effect the Pope? 720 00:55:01,400 --> 00:55:04,240 Well, I mean, the Pope essentially refused to recognise 721 00:55:04,240 --> 00:55:07,440 the Kingdom of Italy, and not just this particular Pope 722 00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:10,240 when Rome was taken, but the next several popes, and... 723 00:55:10,240 --> 00:55:14,200 they encourage Catholics, not just in Italy, but around the world, 724 00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:17,120 not to recognise the Kingdom of Italy. 725 00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:19,600 And threatening Italians with ex-communication 726 00:55:19,600 --> 00:55:23,040 if they participate in the political life of the state. 727 00:55:23,040 --> 00:55:24,880 You know, it's a real problem, 728 00:55:24,880 --> 00:55:28,280 because there's a priest in every village, you know, 729 00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:33,240 telling people that, you know, the state is illegitimate. 730 00:55:33,240 --> 00:55:35,960 And the Pope retreats to the Vatican Palace? 731 00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:37,480 The popes stay in the Vatican, 732 00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:40,520 and they don't give the address in St Peter's Square. 733 00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:45,600 They sort of cut the state off from...the mother Church 734 00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:49,240 which, if you're a believing Catholic, is...is a problem. 735 00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:59,800 The papacy and the kingdom would be in a stand-off for 60 years. 736 00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:06,320 Surprisingly, the man who solved the problem 737 00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:09,240 was the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. 738 00:56:15,120 --> 00:56:18,280 Mussolini understood the popularity of the Church 739 00:56:18,280 --> 00:56:21,560 would add to the legitimacy of his fascist regime. 740 00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:25,400 So in 1929, he signed the Lateran Pact with the Pope, 741 00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:27,960 that created the Vatican state. 742 00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:30,080 The border is right here. 743 00:56:30,080 --> 00:56:32,920 Now, I'm standing in the Republic of Italy, 744 00:56:32,920 --> 00:56:34,240 and when I cross the line... 745 00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:38,600 ..now I'm standing in the Vatican state, 746 00:56:38,600 --> 00:56:40,720 the Pope's own country. 747 00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:48,360 The Vatican state became the world's smallest nation. 748 00:56:50,400 --> 00:56:52,360 At just 0.2 square miles, 749 00:56:52,360 --> 00:56:56,200 the new papal state was a miniature of its former glories. 750 00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:04,000 But it meant that the Pope could lead his billion global Catholics 751 00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,280 as an independent priest monarch. 752 00:57:16,200 --> 00:57:19,120 Now, for the first time in Roman history, 753 00:57:19,120 --> 00:57:24,920 secular and sacred power were separate in one Holy City. 754 00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:27,560 Espiritu Santo... 755 00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:33,200 In today's Rome, all the strands of old and new come together. 756 00:57:38,120 --> 00:57:41,400 You can see it right here on this street corner, 757 00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:46,120 surrounded by tourists and yet, nowadays, strangely overlooked. 758 00:57:46,120 --> 00:57:48,880 Right up there, you can see Romulus and Remus, 759 00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:52,240 the founders of Ancient Rome, and above them, 760 00:57:52,240 --> 00:57:55,680 the fasces, the symbols of fascism. 761 00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:59,080 And all of this on this majestic thoroughfare 762 00:57:59,080 --> 00:58:03,320 leading straight to the magnificent basilica of St Peter's. 763 00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:09,040 All of it, modern and ancient, 764 00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:13,040 now, together, seem happily, typically, Roman. 765 00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:17,120 For three millennia, 766 00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:20,400 Rome has been the definition of power and sanctity. 767 00:58:21,800 --> 00:58:25,680 Rome, like Christianity's other holy city, Jerusalem, 768 00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:28,880 is a place where man meets the divine. 769 00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:32,400 Throughout its history, 770 00:58:32,400 --> 00:58:35,640 Rome's destiny has been determined inseparably 771 00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:39,160 by both the cruel necessities of power 772 00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:41,280 and by the passion of faith.