History of Politics and Power

Pope Innocent VIII's Illegitimate Children and Relations with Bankers

In 1488, Pope Innocent VIII (Innocenzo VIII), in exchange for his illegitimate 39 year-old ugly son, addicted to gambling, wine & prostitutes, marrying Lorenzo de Medici¹'s 15-year-old daughter Maddalena, agreed to appoint Lorenzo's 14 year-old son Giovanni as a cardinal. Giovanni later became Pope Leo X and appointed his sister's young son, Innocenzo, as a cardinal!

Trapped in an unhappy marriage, Maddalena became melancholic, depressed and power-hungry and filled her time with politics and Influence peddling. She got all of her children married to noble families & and as a patron close to Pope (her brother) and Lorenzo (her nephew, the banker and statesman) protected her clients & funds and released her clients from prison and exile.

Among Maddalena's wedding gifts were the "Medici-Rothschild Book of Hours," a rare and precious book.

PS:

Pope Innocent VIII (sketched below) had at least six other illegitimate children! He extorted the powerful, including Bayezid II, the sultan of the Islamic Ottoman Empire for years!

"To the person who pleases God, he gives WISDOM and JOY [in anything they do, without COUNTING the rewards], but to the deviant (slick sinner) he gives the TOIL/LABOR/AGONY of [constantly] SCALING UP [wealth/assets/power]."

- Ecclesiastes 2:26

You can see more of my writings in my books on Amazon. I connect neuroscience to economy, history, psychology, philosophy, biology and human health!

1. Il Magnifico, of the well-known Florentine de Medici banking family.