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About Jess Wärnberg

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So far Jess Wärnberg has created 18 blog entries.

Popes, wine and power! Appearance on The History Show on RTÉ 1 – Irish National Radio

2024-06-04T09:36:30+01:00May 30th, 2024|

Popes, wine and power struggles - it doesn’t get much more exciting than this! I spoke to RTÉ 1 for The History Show- aired on the 26th May 2024 - about how the popes ended up in Avignon - rather than Rome - for decades during the mediaeval period. You can listen here: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/the-history-show/2024/0526/1450737-the-history-show-sunday-26-may-2024/

Appearances on Dan Snow’s History Hit, Pontifacts Podcast & Historically Thinking

2023-09-29T16:35:32+01:00September 14th, 2023|

Recently, I had a fantastic time recording interviews with Dan Snow's History Hit, Pontifacts Podcast and Historically Thinking. We talked about the history of Rome and its popes, from Saint Peter to today, as well as the controversies, transformations, intrigues and clashes that have occurred along the way. The episodes are now out now on Spotify, Apple podcasts and other platforms, as well as via the links below. Dan Snow's History Hit: https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast/dan-snows-history-hit/id1042631089 Pontifacts: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-72vjk-14a31ef Historically Thinking: https://historicallythinking.org/episode-333-city-of-echoes/ * *My sound seems to be jumpy and sped up during some parts of this episode - apologies!

City of Echoes in this week’s Economist

2023-09-08T09:39:31+01:00September 8th, 2023|

City of Echoes is reviewed and discussed in this week's edition of the Economist! ‘…the book’s strength is its range, from St Peter in the first century all the way to Pope Francis today…Wärnberg is especially good on the early years, when Christianity and the papacy emerged under the shadow of a hostile imperial Rome…the story of how popes became leading actors is well told.' You can read the full article in the magazine and online here: https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/09/07/a-history-of-the-papacy-and-its-relationship-with-rome

City of Echoes Reviewed in The Spectator

2023-08-29T15:27:39+01:00August 29th, 2023|

In this week's Spectator, biographer and journalist Anne de Courcy reviewed my new book 'City of Echoes'. 'Jessica Wärnberg’s book tells not only the story of these popes but that of Rome, its people and the events that affected them...Just about everything is here, from the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 312 to the declaration of the pope’s infallibility when speaking ex cathedra in 1870.' You can read the full review in this week's Spectator or online: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-perils-of-being-pope/

Popish plots & other conspiracy theories: my latest column for History Today

2023-08-29T15:22:36+01:00August 29th, 2023|

This month, I contributed to History Today's 'Head to Head' feature, weighing in on whether conspiracy theories have changed the course of history. My piece discussed the persistent theory that the popes have an international power that undermines the sovereignty and values of countries across the globe, from the states of 11th century Europe to the China of Xi Jingping. You can read it in the August edition of History Today and online: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/head-head/how-have-conspiracy-theories-changed-course-history

New book: City of Echoes out in 2023!

2023-01-23T14:47:09+00:00January 23rd, 2023|

Rome is a city of echoes, where the voice of the people has chimed and clashed with the words of princes, emperors, and insurgents to ring down the centuries. In this new book, I tell the story of the Romans’ longest standing figurehead and interlocutor: the pope, illuminating how his presence has transformed the lives, stones, and fate of the city of Rome.   CITY OF ECHOES: A NEW HISTORY OF ROME, ITS POPES AND ITS PEOPLE will be published by Icon (UK) and Pegasus (USA) in September 2023. Emerging as the anonymous leader of a marginal cult in the humblest quarters of the city, less [...]

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