The Bad Popes

The Bad Popes is a 1969 book by E. R. Chamberlin documenting the lives of eight of the most controversial popes (papal years in parentheses):

• Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who exhumed and tried his dead predecessor Pope Formosus.^[1]: 19
• Pope John XII (955–964), who murdered several people.
• Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048), who was accused of selling the Papacy.
• Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), who regularly interfered in the politics of neighboring kingdoms.
• Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), who tortured cardinals who had conspired against him.^[1]: 153
• Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), who, besides being openly promiscuous, was found guilty of nepotism.^[1]: 204
• Pope Leo X (1513–1521), who once spent 1⁄7 of the Papal reserves on a single ceremony, leading Martin Luther to publish the 95 Theses and spark the Protestant Reformation.^[1]: 218
• Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), whose power-politicking led to the Sack of Rome.

The Bad Popes

Author	E. R. Chamberlin
Language	English
Genre	History
Publisher	Dial Press
Publication date	1969; 56 years ago (1969)
Media type	Print
Pages	310
ISBN	0-880-29116-8

Reviews

• Milligan, Sam (August 24, 1969). "'Bad Popes' and Era Examined by Writer". Fort Worth Star-Telegram – via newspapers.com.
• Rogers, W. G. (August 31, 1969). "Consumed by Greed, the Princes Wage War and Shear the Sheep". The Grand Rapids Press – via newspapers.com.
• Cargill Thompson, James (August 31, 1969). "People get the popes they deserve". Chicago Tribune – via newspapers.com.
• Cox, Bud (September 1, 1969). "Popes of Another Day". The Charlotte News – via newspapers.com.
• Johnson, Norman (September 7, 1969). "Seven Popes Linked by Church Crises". The Courier-Journal – via newspapers.com.
• Kirsch, Robert (September 19, 1969). "Balanced, Detached View of the Seven 'Bad' Popes". The Los Angeles Times – via newspapers.com.
• Hoyt, William D. (September 23, 1969). "Incredible years of 3 rival popes". The Boston Globe – via newspapers.com.
• Goedhart, Bernie (October 17, 1969). "Papal fallibility with a vengeance". Edmonton Journal – via newspapers.com.
• O'Brien, John A. (November 2, 1969). "(Books)". The South Bend Tribune – via newspapers.com.
• Tucker, William J. Jr. (November 4, 1969). "(Books)". St. Louis Post-Dispatch – via newspapers.com.
• Di Camillo, Kevin (November 26, 2019). "How Bad Were 'the Bad Popes?'". National Catholic Register.
• "The bad popes". Kirkus Reviews. June 1, 1969. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
• Kronenberger, Louis (July 1969). "The Bad Popes". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 13, 2025.