Two Hundred Fifty-fourth Pope: Gregory XVI - 4 comments

Gregory was a super-conservative. He fought against gas lamps and railroads in the Papal States, calling them "Roads of Hell."* His Luddite efforts weren't based on any technological fear, however - he knew that growth in commerce would strengthen the power of Europe's liberal bourgeoisie.
He wrote an encyclical against slavery in 1839, looks almost directed at pre-Civil War America.
Gregory ruled from 1831 to 1846.
*In french this rhymes with "Iron Road," so apparently the Pope thought this was a good joke.
4 Comments:
discovered this site by accident toward the end of a compulsive, exhaustive google search of "Francis Bacon" -- and i normally seem to be too reticent to post comments -- but your images are too insanely great not to acknowledge, i've downloaded about fifty of them and they blow up even better on a full screen, so thx
thanks, Anon!
He looks like he's dancing to Stayin' Alive. That rocks.
My thoughts exactly, dani!
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