Home Religion, Bible & Theology La Babilonyke Meretrice Romaine: Roots and Character of Guillaume Postel’s Anti-Papalism
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La Babilonyke Meretrice Romaine: Roots and Character of Guillaume Postel’s Anti-Papalism

  • Marco Giardini EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: December 18, 2025
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Abstract

The article intends to shed light on the manifold reception of medieval and early modern prophetic literature by Guillaume Postel in his attack of the Roman Papacy as the embodiment of an “Antichristic” force within the context of his eschatological vision of the supposedly imminent restitutio omnium. In particular, the Roman pontiff is seen by Postel as the opposer of at least three major forces that would bring about the final age of restitution: the council, the French king, and the pastor angelicus. Within this framework, the article aims at highlighting the previous French prophetic tradition that attributed to the French monarch notable responsibilities in the ecclesiastical affairs and presented him as the future universal ruler. On the other hand, the article shows the relation of Postel’s original understanding of the “angelic Papacy” (identified with Madre Zuana, a Venetian Virgin and the second manifestation of Christ within a female body) with the late medieval prophetic tradition revolved around the expectation of a saintly Pope reformer of the Church and the early modern Italian tradition of the so-called “living saints” (sante vive).


Corresponding author: Marco Giardini, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy, E-mail:

Published Online: 2025-12-18
Published in Print: 2025-11-25

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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