From the Secret Diary of Cardinal Carlo CristoforoJanuary 1, 1836
I fear that should anyone find this book they will set me aflame. Fortunately I am the only one to know the combination of the lock protecting it. No one else even knows it exists.
It's refreshing to be back in Rome. Milan is just too busy for the old bookworm I find myself becoming. It felt good to be out on the sea once again, though the bumpy carriage ride to the Palace is something I could have lived without.
Duty calls. Let's have a look at our surroundings.
To the north, the overreaching realm of the Austrian Hapsburgs. To the south, Naples-Sicily and the blasphemous kingdoms of northern Africa. To the west lay France and Iberia, to the east, the domain of the Ottoman Turks.
All around us are the voices of the oppressed crying out to the Lord for solace, and we shall be the arm to provide it. But first we'll need to gather our force into fighting order. Our standing military consists of the nine thousand strong Papal Zouaves as well as the three thousand man Noble Guard unit. I've proposed swelling the ranks of the guard threefold, but it will take time to assemble the necessary material and manpower.
It would all be easier were His Holiness not so dead set against the progress of industry. A cement factory in Romagna would benefit the entirety of Italy but the Holy Father remains adamant. I may need to begin administering laudanum to his dinner wine to ease his temperament.
His Holiness is set in his ways, but he's ultimately a pragmatist. He will learn that his resistance to change is a danger to the Church itself. We must adapt to the movement of the tide or be swept away in the current. I expect he shall drown before learning to swim. Luckily, the College is already bought and sold, so I have little worries about the outcome of the next election should Gregory fail to see the light.
I digress, there is a nation to build.
I took out a large loan against Church assets. We'll need a better source of income than grape farming and petty tithes if we're to reach any measure of greatness.
The loan was spent on a cement factory that will be built as far from Rome as is possible. Pope Gregory insists that nothing resembling progress come within miles of St. Peter's square. When he learns about the factory he will be very angry, so I will conveniently forget to mention building it until I am summoned about it.
In the wake of the former Cardinal Secretary's passing, San Marino has formalized a request for the cession of Ravenna and the surrounding area. I actually laughed.
Before the day ended I had to choose how best to allocate our development funds. I decided to skip over the band of artists seeking patronage, since we've patronized enough artists over the centuries, and instead hired a core of engineers to work on a more efficient steam engine. I suspect the device can be set to power machines to make the lives of our hard-working, economically-stagnating farmers less taxing.
I look forward to our nation's destiny.
January 2nd
Factories are expensive. Clothes and guns have appeared on the market so we're stocking up and training two new units of Cavalry to bolster the Noble Guard.
We're slowly building up a stockpile of military hardware. If France gets involved in a massive conflict this stuff may grow hard to come by.
Word arrives that the Carlista rebellion has taken control of northern Spain and is approaching Madrid with haste. May God be with them all.
January 7th
Less than a week into the new year, war has already broken out across Europe.
The Dutch crown is pursuing the conflict with Belgium and the King of Prussia is moving against Danish Schleswig. The Palace has released a statement denouncing the Prussians for their petty warmongering. In the meantime, France is building railroads throughout their nation while I struggle against rising envy. I do wish I could get away with building railroads.
Believing it best to tie down France with an official alliance, a dignitary was sent to Paris who has returned with pleasing news. Our neighbors will think twice before offending us.
Excellent, Louis. Such a friend of the church. We'll see how much of a friend he remains once we post our claim on Avignon.
In anticipation of future expansion we are rapidly centralizing and extending the size and scope of our government. His Holiness is King of Rome, and it's about time Italia learns it.
An emissary of Greece has come to Rome seeking extra protection from the Turkish menace, and we shall provide them our guarantee in the name of all that is sacred.
January 11
An alliance offer from the Sardinian-Piedmont union. We happily accept their offer of friendship.
January 28
France is encountering difficulty in their African campaign. Their expeditionary force is outnumbered by the Algerian partisans.
It would be fitting if French misadventures drag their country to ruinous hell for what they've done to the Church. Still, as long as they continue to assist our noble pursuits there is room for their redemption.
Fear not, fair Roma, it will be your ocean once more.
February 12
I've been browsing our census records to get a better handle on the potential of our nation.
Papal Italy is 99.8% Catholic. It seems the .2% of Jews in our country have refused to participate in the census, if they were even offered inclusion. Nonetheless we have a workforce overwhelmingly comprised of farmers with a shockingly low proportion of competent and educated Clergymen. Even the sanguine Venetians have greater numbers of clergy in their city than does the seat of the Holy See, and that is just intolerable. Payment and benefits for all members of the clergy are maximized to help curtail this problem.
Another matter of concern is our severe brain-drain. People are moving out of the Papal States to seek better lives elsewhere in Europe and in the new world. We must fashion our lands to compete with upstarts like the American United States for our own people! But no, His Holiness insists he'd rather those tempted by the evils of the material world to leave and never return. He must be brought to see reason, by the grace of God.
March 14
Napoleon may have been a fool, but a very brilliant fool, and we can all learn from his success. Nothing raises an army faster than a levy of the peasantry. We may not have enough guns to hand out, but I suppose that's why we still have these halberds lying around everywhere. These farmers were barely contributing to our economy and are much better off beating their plowshares to bayonets. No one's buying grapes these days.
Europe sees the head of the Church as a dying entity. I am anxious to educate them in the concept of resurrection. I've been tasked by the elders of my Order to incorporate the Duchy of Tuscany into the domain of Rome, and our military is nearing the point at which this will begin.
The lands of Tuscany lawfully belong to the Hapsburg rulers of Austria, but Duke Leopold is not well liked by his Tuscan subjects. He is regarded locally as a foreign nuisance, and many prominent Tuscans have approached certain of my colleagues, asking for help. We cannot deny them.
March 29
We have given Tuscany ample warning of our advance. It is time to act, decisively. His Holiness expressed sadness at our task, but understands it is necessary we acquire more territory for the good of all Christendom. I suspect he understands it is right to do what we can to remove the yoke of Austria from the states of Italy.
Our armies stand ready on the Tuscan border. Austria is still tied up with the Dutch subjugation of Belgium, and I expect they will let Tuscany go by the wayside rather than engage in a war with France.
April 18
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Our glorious soldiers arrived in Florence and were joined by a large Sardinian force coming in from Modena. The Tuscan defenders, hopelessly outmatched, were utterly vanquished by the end of the day. The city itself fell to Sardinian troops before long.
The small sum of defenders defeated or taken captive, the Zouaves spread through the state and occupied the four districts that would soon be incorporated into the Papal States.
The world shall forever change as it is ever changing. When men like the Holy Father see this, the world will end up a better place... if they are mindful of what sort of change they indulge.
November 13
A messenger from Corsica arrived to inform us of Tuscany's unconditional surrender. Austria issued no formal objection to our annexation of the territory. I'm glad that our interests appeal to the interests of France as well.
With the acquisition of Toscana completed, I tasked the Guard with overseeing construction of a new factory to put some of our new labor to use.
Our population is doubled with this maneuver, and His Holiness may rest easier on a more secure throne. The majority of Tuscans, for their part, seem ambivalent about their change in governance. Just as well, we'll leave them be as long as they pay their tithes.
January 1, 1837
A new year is upon us. It's been a good year for Rome's prestige, but we must start turning our budget around before we stagnate permanently into the red.
Several members of the College have been replaced with more liberal electors. My chances of ascending to the throne grow more favorable every day.
My brothers in the Order have finally begun publication of the propaganda leaflet. I publicly condemned the letter as per my instructions, and this is expected to arouse discontent within the States even further. The winds of change are blowing, and His Holiness must eventually bow before them or break into splinters. I suspect I know which path he'll choose and am saving up for a lumber factory.
January 3
The new Bey of Tunis, Ahmed I, is reportedly persecuting Christian Italian migrants who have settled along their coastal regions. We cannot verify the reports with certainty, but even so, such a slight against the Church and her people cannot be permitted by a Papacy striving for the world's respect. We must let all the Lord's people know that the Holy Father will keep his flock safe no matter where in the world they wander.
Tuscany was a warm-up for the Zuavi Pontifici, but Tunisia remains another matter. That most of our soldiers are fresh recruits who've never seen a foe in battle will not make this easier, but it is for the glory of God and the welfare of his children that we march, and by his will we shall find victory.
The Holy Navy has embarked with scouts to size up the Tunisian military. This effort will be more trouble than anticipated. The Bey's military is sizable and prepared for battle. The size of our standing army will be doubled. All pains will be taken to ensure our soldiers know who and what they are fighting for. We carry the banner of St. Peter, and so our wars must remain just, lest we provoke the wrath of the heavens themselves.
His Holiness and I have debated the justice of war over the course of several meals. He rejects the notion that aggressive violence is a justifiable action in the world theater. He stands firm in the view that violence is an evil to be avoided whenever possible.
I am of the thinking that the use of an evil is justified when it will end a greater evil or promote a greater good, and that God will reward the benevolence of our intent with positive fortune. Vigilance will serve to find an opportunity to fight evil.
The just war cannot be declared merely for the taking of land. The just war is that which is declared to protect life. And after much prayer and meditation I have come to conclude this is the only course of action a man of conscience can take in the face of these colossal Empires running rampant across the globe.
We will field the most pious and benevolent army in the known world, a force that knows it fights not for the conquest of nations but for the salvation of all mankind. And they shall be the guardians of an Empire of Goodness, ready to defend all innocence from persecution and change this wicked world for the better.
The end is worth the means.
France has agreed to grant us military access. It is nigh time to embark on Tunisia.
We will never forget cowardice.
Diary of General Cesare Gironda of GenoaFebruary 3
The fleet intercepted a pirate ship interrupting commerce off the coast of Rome. When Tunisia is a Papal protectorate we expect these Barbary pirates to disband once and for all.
March 2
We advanced on the city of Bizerte having left the ships only a day earlier. The defenders were unprepared and greatly outnumbered.
We did not pursue the fleeing foe into their desert. We'll hold position along the northern coast until word of reinforcements reaches us.
March 17
I gave the order to attack and capture the city of Tunisia before disease and hunger claimed any more of the men...
The fright of our horses to the enemy camels combined with the heat made our cavalry next to useless... I ordered the men on horseback to dismount and take up arms on foot before they were bucked or fell with a horse dead in its panic. These creatures are not meant for sand.
It was a fierce fight for the city, but in the end it fell into our hands, the defending Tunisians routed beneath the fire of our cannons. We lost over five thousand of our men that day, but we dealt our enemy twice as harsh a blow...
The discipline of the Zuavi proved them all worthy of the Kingdom of God, for not a single stone in Tunisia was looted, nor a single wounded bystander left unattended. If it be God's will that we become conquerors, let us become benevolent conquerors.
We pursued the enemy to the city of Gafsa, where they surrendered to a man after a brief battle. We lost a thousand more of own there but we expect Tunisian resistance to be broken.
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The Greeks too proved themselves worthy allies, though I admit some concern they might start firing out of turn at the Turks across the Tripolitanian border. Happily, no such incidents were reported.
April 2
It is good.
Already the whole of Europe is talking about the unexpected rise of the Papacy. Let us pray we continue to astonish!
Diary of Cardinal Carlo CristoforoNovember 18, 1837
It seems we are not the only ones with designs on Africa. Good for Portugal that their claims lay far from our interests.
Meanwhile, Spain has sadly beaten back the Carlist uprising and has set sights on greater Mauritania. The Moors are giving them quite a hard time.
France continues to struggle in the deserts of Algiers. Not only that, but Mahmud II has declared war on Muhammed Ali of Egypt. It seems the former is keen to reconquer his old vassal. This war will determine the balance of power in the Middle East. I don't expect the Great Powers to remain uninvolved for long. I'll be watching this one carefully.
Yeah, we get it, Austria. You're upset with us. Get over it.
Oh for the love of cod
Right, we're going to have to do something here. We can't sit between two incredibly uncomfortable borders. Naples and Sicily are strong, but we must now prove ourselves stronger. France is unlikely to help us tame the Neopolitan beast, but I have confidence in our men and faith in the Lord, and they have no allies or allegiances to speak of. We should strike now while they remain this way.
And so the Swiss Guard has come to a breakthrough in its long investigation. Cardinal Lambruschini was found to be murdered. And the murder was traced to a flat in Ancona. Some writings and pamphlets they discovered were laden with occult symbolism and were determined by the Guard to be blasphemous.
So they're onto us. But they haven't a clue who we are. And they can only guess what we want.
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