Elisabeth G. Gleason

2708 Gasparo Contarini: Venice, Rome, and Reform, by Elizabeth G. Gleason (read 15 Feb 1995) The subject was born in 1483 into a famed Venetian family, was named a Cardinal May 21, 1535, by Pope Paul III, and died at Bologna on 24 Aug 1542. This is a very erudite book, and its author has a sure grasp of her sources--most of them not in English. Contarini was a good though not excessively brilliant man, and if his views had been accepted by Paul III the Church would have been better off. The part of the book dealing with Contarini's time in Venice before he became a Cardinal was not interesting to me, but when he became a Cardinal the book became more interesting.… (altro)