ABSTRACT
https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429292354/3abb420d-80da-4aed-a9cf-ae5c42b997f9/content/ifig0001.tif"/>When Lorenzo de’ Medici’s second son, Giovanni, was about to depart for Rome to take up his position as a cardinal at the papal court, his father wrote him some words of caution and advice: “You are going to a sink of vice and you will find it hard to conduct yourself decently.” This was written during the pontificate of Innocent VIII when the brazen corruption of the papacy, the cardinals and the Roman clergy had not yet sunk as low as they were soon to do in the reign of Alexander VI.
