Tuesday, August 4, 2026

It is the 4th of August 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

 

I am pretty sure this episode marks the first time I’ve told any story of a comedian who was a cardinal, whose friends included the most illustrious and controversial of his day, who has been remembered as much by his famous comedy as his racy washroom.

 

Let’s go!

 

Bernardo Dovizi was born on this, the 4th of August in 1470. He was born in Bibbiena- a small Italian town southeast of Florence. He would later be known as “Cardinal Bibbiena” after his hometown. His parents, Francesco and Francesca, petitioned the Medici family to take young Bernardo in, as they had also taken in their older son, Pierro.

 

And so, Bernardo- from the age of 10 was in the orbit of the famous Medici, and his fate would be tied up with theirs- especially Giovanni de Medici- who would become Pope Leo X. [You might remember him as the Pope at the center of the Reformation- the one who excommunicated Martin Luther]

 

To get a sense of the relationship between the future Pope and our boy Bernardo- hear from this entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia: [Bernardo had] A jovial temper and racy Tuscan wit enhancing the charm of good looks and courtly manners [which] soon made him the preceptor as well as the boon companion of Giovanni de Medici's merry hours.

 

His temper and wit helped him impress other luminaries of the age- from the great Renaissance man Marsilio Ficino to the likes of Machiavelli and Balthasar Castiglione. We have a portrait of Bernardo, compliments of another friend, the famous Raphael. Later, Raphael would be commissioned by the then Cardinal to decorate a special room for him in the Vatican Palace- today the home of the Papal apartments. Let me try to explain the most controversial room in all of Rome by filling out the story of Bernardo.

 

Bernardo was a loyal friend to Giovanni Medici; when they were exiled from Florence, he went with them. When they re-ascended under Pope Julius II, Bernardo was similarly favored. Giovanni would become Pope and award his friend with the office of Cardinal- but Bernardo was first and foremost an author and comedian. And the history of Renaissance comedy, Italian theatre, and comedia del Arte begins with Bernardo, or “Cardinal Bibbiena,” and his work: La Calandria.

 

It’s a remarkable work that borrows from the ancient Romans like Terrance as well as the Medieval Boccaccio. The story involves two twins- a boy and a girl separated at birth, who both end up disguising themselves as members of the opposite sex and observe a kind of comedy of manners amongst the various characters they come across. It is filled with scenes of debauchery- condemning it, of course… how else could this be performed in Rome and by a Cardinal? But the lines between Renaissance artistic exploration and Christian piety were blurred by the comic Cardinal.

 

And while “La Calandria” is a must read for students of theatre history- perhaps we best understand the curious cardinal through his Vatican bathroom. After his ascent under the now Medici Pope he commissioned his friend Raphael to design his “warming room”- the polite title for his bathroom. As Bernardo was obsessed with ancient Roman comedic models, so too was he of the Roman gods and their less than holy stories. An older article from Slate magazine (linked in the transcript at 1517) begins its story of the room- “Rumors that the Vatican is filled with perverse artworks are as old as the palace itself. Most of the stories are fabrications. But one is not: In 1516, the Renaissance master Raphael decorated a bathroom within the Papal Apartments with erotic frescos. Today, the wicked gallery is called the Stufetta della Bibbiena, the “small heated room of Cardinal Bibbiena,” after the worldly official who commissioned the work”.

 

As this is a family show, I’ll leave out the ribald details… but if you thought this show wouldn’t stop and pause for the Comedian Cardinal with the famous naughty bathroom created by Raphael… do you even know me?

 

The Cardinal’s play Calandro would see many revivals; it was turned into an opera and has been a cornerstone of Renaissance Italian comedy. Despite rumors that he was poisoned- he may have simply lived fast and died relatively young in 1520, just as the sparks of the Reformation began to fly. Born on this, the 4th of August in 1470, Bernardo Dovizi, Cardinal Bibbiena was 50 years old.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Acts 2, a story about the early church:

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of August 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man also renowned for a racy washroom… Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who, in preparing for this Sunday’s sermon, has listened to the entire musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat today… oof… the 70’s were something… I’m Dan van Voorhis

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.