This present work may be described as history of the medieval Popes, with the history of the city of Rome, and its civilization, as a background, the author's desire being so to combine the two stories as to produce a true picture of what Rome was in the middle ages. Volume 3 continues with a discussion of Western Monasticism, especially with the foundation of the Benedictines and the Rule of St Benedict; the pontificates of Popes Vigilius, Pelagius I, John III, Benedict I, and Pelagius II; and the changes and decline happening in Rome after the war with the Goths and the Lombard invasion.

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