The History of the Popes

The History of the Popes, by Archibald Bower, has a contents list that runs through the bishops of Rome by name, beginning with Linus, called the first Bishop of Rome, and going on to Cletus or Anacletus, Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Sixtus and Telesphorus, each with a date. A note says the original had no table of contents and that this one was built for ease of navigation.

The pages sampled are argumentative. One passage points out that Pope Innocent I rejected the tradition that St. Paul travelled to Spain, though many writers received it, and asks why the tradition of St. Peter at Rome should be treated differently, adding that no sacred writer gives a hint of Peter having been in Rome. Another examines a letter said to come from the Council of Nice to Sylvester, and says Sylvester's answer mentions the Cycle of Victorinus, who was not yet born. A further passage cites Epiphanius on men parted from wives convicted of adultery being allowed to marry again.