Barbara W. Tuchman Quote

For his son-in-law the Pope suffered no further spasms of morality. Rather, judging from Burchard’s diary, the last inhibitions, if any, dropped away. Two months after Alfonso’s death, the Pope presided over a banquet given by Cesare in the Vatican, famous in the annals of pornography as the Ballet of the Chestnuts. Soberly recorded by Burchard, fifty courtesans danced after dinner with the guests, at first clothed, then naked. Chestnuts were then scattered among candelabra placed on the floor, which the courtesans, crawling on hands and knees among the candelabra, picked up, while the Pope, Cesare and his sister Lucrezia looked on. Coupling of guests and courtesans followed, with prizes in the form of fine silken tunics and cloaks offered for those who could perform the act most often with the courtesans. A month later Burchard records a scene in which mares and stallions were driven into a courtyard of the Vatican and equine coupling encouraged while from a balcony the Pope and Lucrezia watched with loud laughter and much pleasure. Later they watched again while Cesare shot down a mass of unarmed criminals driven like the horses into the same courtyard.

Barbara W. Tuchman

For his son-in-law the Pope suffered no further spasms of morality. Rather, judging from Burchard’s diary, the last inhibitions, if any, dropped away. Two months after Alfonso’s death, the Pope presided over a banquet given by Cesare in the Vatican, famous in the annals of pornography as the Ballet of the Chestnuts. Soberly recorded by Burchard, fifty courtesans danced after dinner with the guests, at first clothed, then naked. Chestnuts were then scattered among candelabra placed on the floor, which the courtesans, crawling on hands and knees among the candelabra, picked up, while the Pope, Cesare and his sister Lucrezia looked on. Coupling of guests and courtesans followed, with prizes in the form of fine silken tunics and cloaks offered for those who could perform the act most often with the courtesans. A month later Burchard records a scene in which mares and stallions were driven into a courtyard of the Vatican and equine coupling encouraged while from a balcony the Pope and Lucrezia watched with loud laughter and much pleasure. Later they watched again while Cesare shot down a mass of unarmed criminals driven like the horses into the same courtyard.

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About Barbara W. Tuchman

Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (; January 30, 1912 – February 6, 1989) was an American historian, journalist and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for The Guns of August (1962), a best-selling history of the prelude to and the first month of World War I, and Stilwell and the American Experience in China (1971), a biography of General Joseph Stilwell.
Tuchman focused on writing popular history.
Tuchman was a member of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. In 1984, she signed a letter protesting German arms sales to Saudi Arabia.