Joseph McCabe (1867-1955) was one of the most prolific authors of all time. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic, worked on Latin documents, and made himself very well-informed about Christianity, but turned against it. But he was extremely naive about Jews; bear this in mind.
Click for Detailed notes on McCabe - scroll down for selections from A Rationalist Encyclopaedia (1948).
Here's the full A Rationalist Encyclopaedia (about 1.3 MBytes; Word format; includes notes on some of its limits)
Click for Detailed notes on McCabe - scroll down for selections from A Rationalist Encyclopaedia (1948).
Here's the full A Rationalist Encyclopaedia (about 1.3 MBytes; Word format; includes notes on some of its limits)
John XII (ruled 955-64), Pope.
J. McCabe, Rationalists Encyclopaedia
Son of the brutal ruler of Rome, Alberic, a son of Marozia (see preceding paragraphs), who seized power from, and probably murdered, his mother and made his son Pope at the age of eighteen. John had been wildly corrupt from boyhood in his father's palace (and harem), and Bishop Liutprand (De Rebus Gestis Othonis) and the monk annalist Benedict of Soracte describe him as a monster of vice in the Papal chair. He was denounced to the Emperor Otto for incest, rape, and turning the Papal Palace into a "brothel." The Roman clergy who took oath on the charges (adding chronic drunkenness, unnatural vice, etc.) said that he castrated cardinals and cut out the eyes of priests who protested. Bishop Liutprand was present at the trial. As it did not at the moment suit the Emperor's interests to condemn him, he said that John was "just a boy" and they must let him sow his wild oats. This is the period of the Ottonian Renaissance, which certain American historians have "discovered," asking us to use the expression Dark Age no longer. After one of the longest reigns of the tenth century he was slain by the husband of a woman he had (apparently) raped.Back to Joseph McCabe extracts
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Scanning, HTML Rae West. First upload 98-02-08