The Man Chased by a Bull

Just like before, whenever there was something she did not understand, she went to the library.

Pomona liked to eat while reading. In Italy, of course, she had to eat gelato. Who knew when she would next get to indulge in it so freely?

The Golden House offered reduced admission to students from all European architecture and art academies, except those from Britain. It had been modeled after Venice's Doge's Palace and construction began in 1440. The pope at the time was Eugene IV, the man who burned Joan of Arc at the stake. He had been born in Venice and had tried to use the Ottoman Empire's invasion to convene the Council of Ferrara and unite the Latin and Greek churches. In the end, he failed, and Constantinople fell into Muslim hands.

But because of Cecilia Venier, Venice did not decline before the 1570s. After Cecilia was assassinated, the Sultan's diplomatic policy favoring Venice came to an end, and Venice began losing its eastern trade routes.

In 1605, the Vatican held two elections. Pope Leo XI reigned from April 1 to April 27, making him the ninth shortest-reigning pope in Catholic history, with a reign of merely twenty-seven days.

Britain was in turmoil during that time, and someone planned to blow up Parliament. Interestingly, his successor, Pope Paul V, was the cardinal who had bitterly quarreled with Leonardo Donato, Venice's ninetieth Doge, over the subject matter of paintings. He excommunicated the Republic of Venice.

Venice had to pay the Holy See one million gold coins every year. Once it lost that important source of revenue, where would the Church get its money?

The New World had already been discovered. In 1581, the Netherlands broke free from Spanish rule and gained national independence. From 1596 to 1598, a famous Dutch