Unit III is named for still more types of religious figures, the most prominent being popes. The popes will effectively take the place of emperors as the major patrons of art and architecture, erecting monuments and commissioning masterpieces. Papal Rome becomes a city of ceremony, as Christian liturgy is fused with Roman spectacle.

   In this unit we witness the flourishing of humanistic culture with the Renaissance, as well as the fracturing of Christendom with the Reformation. We also address some of the less savory aspects of papal authority, such as disciplining “heretics” who disagree with Catholic orthodoxy. And we continue to trace the story of the Jews of Rome, who achieved high stations yet were also forced out of certain professions and into a ghetto.