Table of Contents Title Page Dedication Epigraph Acknowledgments Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: The True Religion of the World REBIRTH THE CITY OF MEMORY THE MAKING OF A GOD MAGIC IS NOT “RELIGION” A PLACE TO FLOURISH WHAT HAVE THE ROMANS DONE FOR US? AN APOSTLE IN ALEXANDRIA EXCURSION ONE, TO ROME, 45 CE “BY THIS SIGN YOU SHALL CONQUER” ROMAN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY THOTH BECOMES HERMES TRISMEGISTUS, AND HIS SACRED BOOKS BECOMETHE HERMETICA THE LAMENT Chapter 2: The Hermetic Movement, Part I NATURAL AND TALISMANIC MAGIC THE OBELISKS OF ROME SYNCHRONISTIC ENCOUNTER RENAISSANCE A BRILLIANT ACADEMIC OF THECHARMING-UGLY VARIETY Chapter 3: The Hermetic Movement, Part II COSMIC AMBIENCE EPIPHANY TALISMANIC MAGIC A TALISMANIC IMAGE OF THE UNIVERSE MESSIANIC HERMETIC MISSIONS HERMES TRISMEGISTUS IS SLIPPED INTO THE VATICAN THE DIGNITY OF MAN THE CEILING OF THE BORGIA APARTMENTS THE HERMETIC MISSION OF GIORDANO BRUNO EXCURSION TWO, TO ROME, 1542 THE HERMETIC MISSION EXCURSION THREE, TO ROME, FIRST CENTURY BCE VIRGO CELESTE EXCURSION FOUR, TO LONDON, 1581 EXCURSION FIVE, TO ROME, 1582 CE THE TROUBLE WITH MARY THE “PEDANTS” OF OXFORD EXCURSION SIX, TO ROME AGAIN, 1586 INTO THE HANDS OF THE PAPAL INQUISITION Chapter 4: The City of the Sun PASSING THE TORCH THE FIRST CELEBRITY OF EUROPE THE CALABRIAN REVOLT THE SOLARIANS AND THE CITY OF THE SUN STRANGE VISITORS ECLIPSING THE POPE Chapter 5: Urbi et Orbi: To the City and to the World TEAMING UP IL CAVALIERE BERNINI THE ART OF DISSIMULATION THE COMING TOGETHER THE LAST PROTAGONISTS, 1633 ROME: FAST-FORWARD TO 1656 FAILING INFALLIBILITY KIRCHER’S OBELISKS ISIS REBORN TEXT (SOUTH FACE) TEXT (WEST FACE) THE CONFESSOR OF THE CONCLAVE EXCURSION SEVEN, PIAZZA ST. PETER’S, 1608 TWO DEGREES TO THE NORTH BECOMING FLESH THE MADERNO FOUNTAIN FLASH FORWARD TO MAY 1655 THE NEW MICHELANGELO AND THE MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE THE PLAN THE OPEN ARMS OF MOTHER CHURCH THE WOMB OF THE CELESTIAL VIRGIN OF THE WORLD FINAL EXCURSION, TO ROME, 1675 ROLE-PLAYING THE HERMETICA? Postscript: The Jesuit Pope BREAKING NEWS: FIVE TO EIGHT Appendix 1: Campanella, the Rosicrucians, and the Miraculous Birth of the Sun King THE INFANTA AND THE KING OF FRANCE A HERMETIC MAGUS IN THE COURT OF THE FUTURE SUN KING Appendix 2: The Ellipse of St. Peter’s Square by Sandro Zicari, Ph.D. WHEN IS AN OVAL AN ELLIPSE? HOW TO DRAW AN ELLIPSE: THE TRAMMEL OF ARCHIMEDES THE ELLIPSE AND ASTRONOMY ST. PETER’S SQUARE Footnotes Endnotes Bibliography About the Authors About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company Books of Related Interest Copyright & Permissions Index To Alexandria, my city of memories . . . ROBERT BAUVAL To my mother . . . CHIARA HOHENZOLLERN Ninety percent, perhaps even more, of history is not documented. And as for the little that is documented or recorded, much of it may not be history at all but the warped perception, dissimulation, cover-ups, and bias of those documenting or recording it. The task of the true historian is to detect the history that is not told, much like a cosmologist detects the structure of the universe that is not seen. To read between the lines or see between the empty spaces, that is the exciting challenge . . . THE VATICAN HERESY “With his usual care and attention to detail, Robert Bauval spins out the thread that joins the solar religion of pharaonic Egypt to the utopian hopes of the fading Renaissance. His theory climaxes with the dramatic and dangerous project of a pope (Urban VIII), a polymath (Kircher), an architect (Bernini), and an exiled queen (Christina). Their dream was of a united Christendom orbiting around Rome; their method, the marriage of Hermetic philosophy with the new astronomy, through symbolic architecture. Like Bauval’s other books about times and places when science and magic were one, The Vatican Heresy arouses curiosity, disbelief, nostalgia, and finally hope.” JOSCELYN GODWIN, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE PAGAN DREAM OF THE RENAISSANCE AND ATHANASIUS KIRCHER’S THEATRE OF THE WORLD “In this enchanting book, Robert Bauval and Chiara Hohenzollern reveal an astonishing fact hiding in plain sight. Surely thousands of visitors to the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Square over the past three centuries have been puzzled by the gigantic ancient Egyptian obelisk featured in its center. Through meticulous research, The Vatican Heresy illuminates the profoundly evolutionary adventurers who employed deep symbolic insights and astute political maneuvering to construct a talismanic Hermetic City of the Sun in the heart of the citadel of Christendom. Read The Vatican Heresy. . . . I couldn’t put it down.” THOMAS BROPHY, PH.D., COAUTHOR OF BLACK GENESIS: THE PREHISTORIC ORIGINS OF ANCIENT EGYPT AND IMHOTEP THE AFRICAN: ARCHITECT OF THE COSMOS, AUTHOR OF THE MECHANISM DEMANDS A MYSTICISM: AN EXPLORATION OF SPIRIT, MATTER AND PHYSICS, THE ORIGIN MAP, AND THE CHRISTMAS CODE: A NEW ASTRONOMY OF CHRISTMAS AND HOW IT CAME FROM ANCIENT EGYPT “It looks like Robert Bauval (now with coauthor Chiara Hohenzollern) has done it again, revealing that not just the pyramids but the Vatican itself is a celebration of sacred architecture. A fascinating theory and very timely.” ADRIAN G. GILBERT, COAUTHOR OF THE ORION MYSTERY AND AUTHOR OF SECRETS OF THE STONE OF DESTINY “Robert Bauval is a brilliant investigator of the hidden corners of history, and he has surpassed himself with The Vatican Heresy. It is a true time bomb of a book revealing stunning intrigues that have shaped the modern world and that call into question our most fundamental perceptions of the role of the Church of Rome.” GRAHAM HANCOCK, AUTHOR OF WAR GOD AND FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I first would like to thank Dr. Sandro Zicari of Sapienza University of Rome for his collaboration and helpful advice on this project. Also and as always, I am eternally grateful to my wife, Michele. This is my tenth book, and she has endured yet again with true grit and patience the long, solitary hours and the ups and downs of a temperamental author. Michele is the real, unnamed, and unspoken heroine of my intellectual journeys into the mysteries of the past. I also thank my pleonastic but very lovable “big” brother, Jean-Paul. His never- ending support, even though disguised in typical “Alexandrian” cynical humor, is always appreciated. My warm gratitude also is extended to my many friends, old and new: Vicky Metafora from Naples, Laura Salvucci from Le Marche, Dr. Maria Pia Tocco from Rome, Pino Morelli from Pescara, Richard Fusniak from Cambridge, Father Nicola Mapelli and Katherine Aigner of the Vatican Museum’s Ethnological Collection, Graham and Satha Hancock from Bath, and Adriana Dainelli from Rome. Thanks to Ed and Barbara Mattis for sharing their Sunday Special pizza with me! Thank you dear Mindy Branstetter, my very professional, very efficient, and very gentle editor at Inner Traditions. Special thanks also to Jon Graham and John Hays, who quickly saw the importance of this project. Thank you dear Manzanita Carpenter, Kelly Bowen, and superhero- operator Cindy Marcotte, also at Inner Traditions. Last but not least, and from the bottom of my heart, I send genuine thanks to all my readers around the world for your support and affection. It is you, after all, who make all the effort from authors and publishers worthwhile. ROBERT BAUVAL, TORREMOLINOS, SOUTHERN SPAIN I wish to thank Massimo, a dear friend who, in recent years, has always prompted me to believe in myself and my work and never give up even in the hardest and most difficult moments. CHIARA HOHENZOLLERN CONTENTS 1.T itle Page 2.D edication 3.E pigraph 4.A cknowledgments 5.I ntroduction 6.C hapter 1: The True Religion of the World 1.R EBIRTH 2.T HE CITY OF MEMORY 3.T HE MAKING OF A GOD 4.M AGIC IS NOT “RELIGION” 5.A PLACE TO FLOURISH 6.W HAT HAVE THE ROMANS DONE FOR US? 7.A N APOSTLE IN ALEXANDRIA 8.E XCURSION ONE, TO ROME, 45 CE 9.“ BY THIS SIGN YOU SHALL CONQUER” 10.R OMAN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY 11.T HOTH BECOMES HERMES TRISMEGISTUS, AND HIS SACRED BOOKS BECOMETHE HERMETICA 12.T HE LAMENT 7.C hapter 2: The Hermetic Movement, Part I 1.N ATURAL AND TALISMANIC MAGIC 2.T HE OBELISKS OF ROME 3.S YNCHRONISTIC ENCOUNTER 4.R ENAISSANCE