Intrigue, double-dealing and conspiracy in the Eternal City. 'A fascinating narrative of the intermingling of secular and religious power' New Statesman 'A highly enjoyable and thrilling read... Hollingsworth has peeled back the veil of secrecy surrounding papal conclaves' History Today 'Full of lively detail and colour' Literary Review August 1559. As the long hot Italian summer draws to its close, so does the life of a rigidly orthodox and profoundly unpopular pope. The papacy of Paul IV has seen the establishing of the Roman Inquisition and the Index of Prohibited Books, an unbending refusal to open dialogue with Protestants, and the ghettoization of Rome's Jews. On 5 September 1559, as the great doors of the Vatican's Sala Regia are ceremonially locked, the future of the Catholic Church hangs in the balance. Mary Hollingsworth offers a compelling and sedulously crafted reconstruction of the longest and most taxing of sixteenth-century papal elections. Its crisscrossing fault lines divided not only moderates from conservatives, but also the adherents of three national 'factions' with mutually incompatible interests. France and Spain were both looking to extend their power in Italy and beyond and had very different ideas of who the new pope should be - as did the Italian cardinals. Drawing on the detailed account books left by Ippolito d'Este, one of the participating cardinals, Conclave 1559 provides remarkable insights into the daily lives and concerns of the forty-seven men locked up for some four months in the Vatican.

[A] rich, full history of the politicking and personalities of the conclave... A fascinating narrative of the intermingling of secular and religious power' -- Michael Prodger, New Statesman
Mary Hollingsworth is an entertaining guide... Brings to life not only the political dimension, but the fascinating material detail' -- Catherine Fletcher, BBC History Magazine
A highly enjoyable and thrilling read... Hollingsworth has peeled back the veil of secrecy surrounding papal conclaves' * History Today *
Full of lively detail and colour... Readers of history who are both passionate and patient will enjoy it' * Literary Review *
PRAISE FOR MARY HOLLINGSWORTH: 'Exceptionally sumptuous... This vivid history brings to life the vices and virtues of the feuding ruling families of Italy' The Times, on Princes of the Renaissance. 'A chance to visit a glittering, at times rather gory, world that is different and yet dreamily familiar to our own' BBC History Revealed, on Princes of the Renaissance. 'Dense politics relieved by dazzling art' Kirkus, on Princes of the Renaissance. 'This forensic study of the Renaissance banking dynasty conjures up a world of art, literature, philosophy - and brutality' Telegraph, on The Medici. 'Lavishly illustrated, clearly written and meticulously edited' * TLS, on The Medici *

Mary Hollingsworth is a scholar of the Italian Renaissance and the author of The Medici, which was widely praised on its publication by Head of Zeus in 2017, and Princes of the Renaissance, published in 2021. Her other books include The Cardinal's Hat, The Borgias: History's Most Notorious Dynasty and Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century.