It's January 3rd, 1521. Vittenburg. Just before dawn, Martin Luther is summoned to the

bedside of an elderly congregation member. By the time he gets there, the man's breathing

is already labored. Kneeling down on the bare wood floor, Luther takes the man's hand

in his own. I am here, my friend. I am here. Meanwhile, in the apostolic palace of

the Vatican, Pope Leo X sits on a throne, indignant with Luther's ongoing defiance, he tries

to calm himself with some of his favorite music. Play! Dressed in a red velvet road with

a white fringe, Leo is a man in his mid-forties with a round face and heavy, lidded eyes. As

the musicians play on, Leo thinks of how quickly his life has passed. The son of Lorenzo the

magnificent. Leo had an early start in his climb toward the highest seat in the church.

Simony, the common practice of buying church offices, was the quickest way into the halls

of power, and Leo's father had paid for his son to be appointed as a pro-tenotary, a church

office that directs the canonization of saints. Leo was only eight years old when he took

the role. By the time he was 14, he was made a cardinal deacon. By 17, he was a full cardinal,

and cardinals elect future popes usually from within their own ranks. So Leo was elected

Pope in 1513 at the age of 37. At one point, he had allegedly told the Venetian ambassador.

Since God has been pleased to give us the papacy, let us enjoy it. His eyes wander from

the musicians to Raphael's fresco of the Madonna and Child hanging on the west wall of the chamber.

It is barely dry. By his side, his favourite hunting dog chewing a large bone. Leo's famously

lavish lifestyle had led to a shortage of funds for the completion of St. Peter's

Illuka. It was this shortfall that had led him to authorise the sale of new indulgences

in Germany, the indulgences that had so angered Martin Luther. At the time, Leo had said no

doubt correctly. Ah, there are many who will gladly purchase eternal life for a small

...