Many hands and minds contributed to the building of the Basilica of St. Peter, and many have contributed to telling its story. My thanks to F. Joseph Spieler, Wendy Wolf, Hilary Redmon, Douglas Steel, Dom Julian Stead, O.S.B., Rita Dwyer Scotti, Evans Chigounis, and Francesca Chigounis. Thank you also, to Dr. B. J. Cook, Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage at the British Museum, the Frederick Allen Lewis Room of the New York Public Library, Pina Pasquantonio of the American Academy of Rome, and to the scholars, historians, and art historians whom I consulted. If any is slighted, it is unintentional.