Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Poggio was a baffling figure to those who saw him pass. He was barely legible, and what mattered was what you belonged to or even whom you belonged to. #2 The Roman world was a society of retainers and armed guards. The stranger, simply attired, rode in the company of a single companion. When they stopped at inns, the companion did the ordering, and when the master spoke, it became clear that he knew little or no German. #3 The book hunter Poggio was not a priest or a theologian, but he was looking for old manuscripts. He wanted to see what was written on them, even if the writing was difficult and crabbed. He was most interested in manuscripts that were four or five hundred years old, going back to the tenth century. #4 The pope who had called himself John XXIII was deposed in 1417. Poggio, his erstwhile apostolic secretary, was now a masterless man.