Page 33 of The Medici Return

“You wanted to see what the cardinal saw. This is it.”

Another locked steel cage door separated a small entrance foyer from the stacks themselves.

“Cardinal Richter did not go beyond here?”

“The indexes are over there,” the priest said, pointing at adesktop terminal atop a small desk. “They catalog what is on the shelves, all sequentially numbered. Everything is grouped by pontificates running from the eighth century to the present. It has taken decades to create those digital indexes, but about 40 percent of the collection is now on the computer.”

This man’s obliqueness was wearing thin.

“Did Cardinal Richter use the computer?” he asked.

“You do realize that we are required to respect our patrons’ privacy?”

“Answer the question.”

The young priest stepped over to the desktop, tapped the keyboard, and studied the screen. A curious look came to the young man’s face. “It seems the cardinal was interested in a cache of documents from the early sixteenth century associated with Pope Julius II.”

“Is that unusual?”

“It’s not something we see a lot of investigation into. We have precious few records from that time.”

He recalled what Ascolani had said. When Giovanni Angelo de’ Medici was elected as Pius IV and banished Cardinal Ghislieri into exile, Ghislieri took church records with him.

He told the clerk what he knew.

“Starting in the first century popes kept their papers with them at all times,” the clerk said. “No systematic collection of papal records existed until the late twelfth century. When printing came along in the fifteenth century, popes began to acquire books, creating the largest library in Italy. Now there are literally millions of documents in the collection.”

He let the guy talk, hoping there was a point to be made.

“The archives have been subjected to a lot of purging,” the priest said. “Most of the collection from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries disappeared through carelessness. During the Great Schism more vanished during the move to Avignon. When German troops sacked Rome in 1527 they looted the library, melted the lead seals down to bullets, tore up the parchments and usedthem as litter for the horses. After Napoleon’s looting over a third of the materials never came back from Paris. So our records are incomplete, at best. We have no way of knowing what was here and what was taken.”

“Did Richter ask any questions?”

A nod signaled yes. He waited.

“He asked if I knew anything about aPignus Christiassociated with Julius II and the Medicis.”

“And your reply?”

“No more than I have read in the history books.”

He was curious. “And what is that?”

“Supposedly Julius II borrowed money. But from who? And how? Nobody knows. Many popes borrowed money.”

He sensed that was all he was going to get. So he made clear, “Your discretion in this matter is expected.”

A hesitation. Finally, a nod of understanding.

He signaled for them to leave.

But this visit had only generated more questions.

Without answers.

CHAPTER 21

ERIC ENTERED THEBASILICA OFSANLORENZO.