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HISTORY OF THE POPES FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

BOOK III

NICHOLAS V. AD 1447-1455.

THE FIRST PAPAL PATRON OF LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS,

 

CHAPTER I

ELECTION AND CHARACTER OF NICHOLAS V

 

EUGENIUS IV had devoted the energies of his life to the restoration of the Papal power, but the great work was but in its beginning, and far from completion. The remnant of the Council of Basle was still in existence, and the anti-Pope was living in Switzerland. The efforts of the partisans of the Council to alter the manner of Papal elections were still fresh in the minds of many, and the political condition of Italy, especially that of the States of the Church, was one of uncertainty and confusion. In view of this threatening position of affairs, Eugenius IV had, shortly before his death, renewed the Decrees of the General Councils of Lyons and Vienne regarding Papal elections, and appointed Cardinal Scarampo commander of all fortresses in the Roman dominions. The attitude adopted by King Alfonso of Naples was the principal cause of the latter measure.

The King having, in concert with Eugenrus IV, determined on an expedition against Florence, had been, ever since the beginning of the year, encamped at Tivoli, in the immediate neighbourhood of Rome, with a force of four thousand men, a circumstance which seemed seriously to endanger the liberty of the approaching Conclave. Alfonso had indeed given an assurance to several of the Cardinals that, in the event of the Pope’s death, he would observe absolute neutrality, and had also promised to afford protection against any attempted pressure. But his lengthened sojourn at Tivoli, the arrival of constant reinforcements for his army, and the impenetrable obscurity in which his plans were shrouded, were little calculated to allay the apprehensions of the Sacred College and of the members of the Court.

The Republican party was again astir in Rome. Its leader, Stefano Porcaro, publicly attacked “priestly authority” and was with difficulty silenced by the Vice-Camerlengo. Suspicious-looking persons appeared in the streets, and the Camerlengo brought in troops to maintain order. Many of the dangerous individuals were required to leave the City, but the attitude of the populace was so threatening that the merchants hid their goods in secure places.

The reports of the ambassadors in Rome testify to the fear which possessed men's minds. On the 20th February, 1447, when the condition of Eugenius had become hopeless, the ambassador of the Republic of Siena writes: "May God give us a good new Pastor, and may the election take place without strife. The state of affairs here gives us cause to fear the worst. May the Almighty be with us and take care of His Holy Church". After the death of Eugenius IV, the ambassador urged his fellow-countrymen to have public prayers offered for the Election of a good Pope.

The new election, however, was happily accomplished without disturbance, and in a most regular manner. Seldom, in fact, in any election, have all the prescribed formalities been carried out with such scrupulous exactness as in the Conclave in the Dominican Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva after the death of Eugenius IV. This was principally due to the wise precautions taken by the Cardinals, who were thoroughly convinced of the necessity, under the existing circumstances, of avoiding any flaw, or even the semblance of any flaw, in the election. Opinions regarding the different candidates for the Papacy were greatly divided in Rome; but the desire for a speedy election was general, f This desire, in effect, was not disappointed.

In the evening of the 4th March the Cardinals then present in Rome went into Conclave. Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who, with the Bohemian, Procopius of Rabstein, and the ambassadors of Aragon and of Cyprus, had the honour of guarding the Conclave for two nights, has given us a full account of the proceedings.

The Sacred College at this time numbered twenty-four members. Two of these, Prospero Colonna and the noble Domenico Capranica, were the sole survivors of the Cardinals created by Martin V, and it was generally believed that the latter of the two would be the future Pope.

The composition of the Sacred College at the death of Eugenius IV bears witness to the care which he had taken to gather around him men of the greatest virtue, piety, and learning. The Spanish Cardinal, Juan de Carvajal, who, with Tommaso Parentucelli, had been created in December, 1446, was generally looked upon as the most eminent of the body.

The singular grandeur and depth of Carvajal’s character have won the esteem and even the admiration of writers whose judgment is habitually severe. He was indeed an ornament to the Sacred College, to the Church, and to humanity itself. He was absolutely free from the restless ambition and self-glorification, so common amongst the able men of the Renaissance. It was his nature, on the contrary, to withdraw and wait to be sought. To Pope Eugenius IV belongs the credit of having placed this man, who seemed born for ecclesiastical diplomacy, in his proper sphere of action. As a Cardinal, Carvajal continued to live modestly without pomp or splendour. "No one", says the biographer of Aeneas Sylvius, "saw the coarse garments which he wore beneath the purple, nor witnessed his fasts and his penances. The solid foundation on which his moral purity rested, was a stern sense of duty and obedience. His only idea was the consecration of his life to the Church, and especially to the promotion of the glory and power of Christ's Vicar".

After the "incorruptible and indefatigable" Carvajal we must mention his distinguished fellow-countryman, Juan de Torquemada, who belonged to a family of note; he had entered the Dominican order, was appointed Master of the Sacred Palace in 1431, and was employed in various embassies. At Basle he defended the rights of the Pope and of the Holy See against the supporters of the false conciliary ideas with such undaunted courage, that Eugenius IV bestowed on him the glorious title of "Defender of the Faith". In the Council assembled at Ferrara and transferred to Florence, he again served the cause of the Pope with ardent zeal and keen dialectic skill, and in 1439 tne grateful Eugenius raised him to the purple. Torquemada in his high position continued to wear the habit and punctually to follow the rule of his Order, and insisted on similar strictness on the part of his brethren in religion.

In regard to theology, Torquemada was undoubtedly the most learned member of the sacred College; a modern Protestant historian indeed considers him the greatest theologian of his age. This great Dominican used to say that the only abiding treasure in this life is science, which alone compensates man for the shortness of life by the prospect of immortality.

As a writer, Torquemada dealt with almost all the questions which in his day agitated the Church; he was the leader of the literary reaction in favour of the Papacy. His memory still lives in the Eternal City, in the foundation of the confraternity of the Annunciation established in 1460 for the purpose of providing dowries for poor girls. The picture of the Cardinal commending three poor maidens to the Blessed Virgin is preserved in the Chapel of the Confraternity, which he helped to build, at Sta Maria sopra Minerva. The Humanists, Tommaso Parentucelli and Bessarion, were noted for their learning and their devotion to the Church, while Cardinal Enrico de Allosio was known as the father of the poor.

There were, however, among the Cardinals many in whom the worldly element predominated; of this class were Barbo, Scarampo, and Guillaume d'Estouteville. Among non-Italian Cardinals few have in recent times attained such distinction as this wealthy Frenchman. He was connected with the Royal House of France, possessed many benefices, and lived in a style of princely splendour, but was by no means devoid of refined taste and culture. In his palace, worthy of a king, which Gregory XIII afterwards assigned to the German College, and at Sta Maria Maggiore, of which he was archpriest, the best of music was to be heard. It is very doubtful whether any foundation existed for the charges brought against his morals. The many churches which he built both in France and in Rome bear witness to a certain ecclesiastical feeling on his part, and he bestowed much care on the church of Sta Maria Maggiore, over whose high altar he erected a richly carved baldacchino with four porphyry columns.f The most splendid proof of his munificence to the Eternal City is to be seen in the church of St. Agostino, whose facade, with its Corinthian columns, is a characteristic specimen of the early Renaissance architecture of Rome.

We must now consider the manner in which different nations were represented in the Sacred College, six of whose twenty-four members were, at this time, absent from Rome. Eleven of the Cardinals were Italians; four, Spaniards; two, Frenchmen; and two, Greeks; while England, Germany, Hungary, Ppland, and Portugal each contributed one.

Notwithstanding the varied composition of the Sacred College, the old Roman factions of the Colonna and Orsini soon assumed antagonistic positions in the Conclave. The former of these parties was the strongest, and its candidate, Cardinal Prospero Colonna, had at the first scrutiny no less than ten votes, but he failed to obtain the two more which would have constituted the required majority of two-thirds. Next to Colonna came Domenico Capranica and Tommaso Parentucelli. The second scrutiny gave a like result, but the votes which had been given to Capranica and Parentucelli were more divided, and votes were given outside the Sacred College, as, for example, to St. Antoninus, the Archbishop of Florence, and to Nicholas of Cusa. The final decision of the election was in great measure due to Cardinal Tagliacozzo, Archbishop of Tarento, who proposed Parentucelli, Cardinal of Bologna, as one fitted by his love of peace, his learning, and his freedom from party spirit to occupy the highest position in Christendom. On the occasion of the third scrutiny Parentucelli, who had received the red hat but two and a half months previously, and who, of all the Cardinals, appeared to have the least chance, received the required twelve votes. The sudden agreement of the Sacred College in his regard caused such surprise that Cardinal Capranica could not credit the fact until he had again looked through the votes. When the majority of two-thirds had been established beyond the possibility of doubt, the remaining Cardinals gave their assent, and accordingly in the morning of the 6th March the election was announced by Cardinal Colonna to the expectant multitude as unanimous.

Everyone marvelled at Parentucelli's election. As the Cardinal of Portugal was leaving the Conclave he was asked whether the Cardinals had chosen a Pope. "No; the Pope has been chosen by God, not by the Cardinals", was his reply. The Sienese Ambassador, after exhorting his countrymen to render thanks to Almighty God that so distinguished and holy a Pontiff had been given to the Church, continued in the following words: "Truly in this election God has manifested His power, which surpasses all human prudence and wisdom".

The choice of a Cardinal who had kept aloof from all party strife caused the greatest rejoicing in Rome. "Although many", according to Aeneas Sylvius, "might have preferred a Pope of their own party, no one was hostile to him". It was a blessing to the Eternal City and to the Church at large to have a fresh outbreak of party animosity averted, and to see a man, whose worth had won the esteem of all, raised to the highest position. Parentucelli's election had, however, a far wider importance; it marks one of the chief turning points in the History of the Papacy, for with him the Christian Renaissance ascended the Pontifical Throne.

Throughout the States of the Church, as well as in Rome itself, the Cardinal of Bologna's elevation was the occasion of public festivities. As soon as the tidings reached Perugia the bells of the Palazzo Pubblico and of the Cathedral of San. Lorenzo were rung, and bonfires were lighted in the open squares. In Bologna the Palace of the Podesta was decorated with banners, and processions were made by command of the Senate for three days, in order to return thanks to God for the election of so excellent a Pastor. Brescia, Genoa, Siena, and other places beyond the limits of the States of the Church, shared the general feeling. How fully it was justified will be evident, if we glance at his character and previous life. In grateful remembrance of his former master and benefactor, the saintly Cardinal Niccold Albergati, he took the name of Nicholas V.

Tommaso Parentucelli first saw the light on the 15th November, 1397. It seems most probable that he was born at Sarzana, a small place on the coast of Liguria. His father, an upright and skilful physician, was by no means wealthy, and died when Tommaso was very young. The gifted and promising boy was early acquainted with hardship; poverty made it impossible for him to pursue his studies at the University of Bologna, where he had already won success. His mother, who was in very straitened circumstances, had in the meantime married again, and having several children by her second husband, was unable to afford him any assistance, so that he was entirely dependent on his own exertions. Happily he obtained the situation of tutor, first in the family of Rinaldo degli Albizzi, of Florence, and afterwards in that of Palla de Strozzi, the "Nestor of the learned Florentine aristocracy". The two years spent in the City, which was at that time the centre of Humanistic studies, were of great importance in the development of Tommaso Parentucelli's powers, and especially in the formation of his literary taste; they imparted the germ of that enthusiasm for learning and for art which afterwards bore such abundant fruit, and brought him into contact with all the most celebrated scholars of the day. At the end of these two years Parentucelli had saved enough money to enable him to return to Bologna, where he took a Master's Degree in Theology. He continued in friendly relations with both the noble families, who had treated him with much distinction while in their employment as tutor. Years afterwards, when he had reached the summit of power, and his former pupils were in exile, he had the happiness of being able to be of use to them.t

It says much for the disposition and for the virtues of the young scholar, that the Saintly Bishop of the City, Niccold Albergati, took him into his service. Three years later he was ordained priest, and for more than twenty years, in fact, until the death of the distinguished prelate, Tommaso was his constant companion, his confidential servant, and the Major Domo of his household and of his ecclesiastical establishment. The Historian of Humanism justly observes that "no higher testimony to the piety of Albergati's life can be given than the fact that a man so honourable and so free from all hypocrisy as was Parentucelli for years enjoyed his entire confidence. While, on the other hand, the modest and entire devotion of the future Pope to the service of his master, the filial care with which he tended his old age, and the pious gratitude which induced him, when called to fill the Papal Throne, to adopt the name of his departed benefactor, speak for him more eloquently than words could do".

After Albergati's elevation to the purple Parentucelli accompanied him to Rome, and thence to Florence, when the Papal Court migrated to that City. He was thus again brought into contact with the representatives of the Christian, as well as of the heathen Renaissance. Vespasiano da Bisticci has left us a pleasant picture of their social gatherings in Florence. "Every morning and evening", he says, "Lionardo and Carlo of Arezzo, Giannozzo Manetti, Giovanni Aurispa, Gasparo of Bologna, Poggio, and many other learned men, used to assemble in the open air, in the vicinity of the Papal Palace, for friendly and literary conversation. Tommaso Parentucelli always joined them. After leaving his Cardinal at home, he used to come, riding rapidly on a mule and accompanied by two servants, to take his part eagerly in their disputations". Parentucelli also often visited the Academy of Santo Spirito, in order to discuss philosophical and theological questions with the pious Master of Theology, Vangelista of Pisa; and he was even more frequently to be seen with the booksellers in Florence, into whose hands any money that he could spend found its way

Parentucelli appears to have first attracted the attention of the Court at the period of the negotiations with the Greeks, when his knowledge of Holy Scripture and of the Fathers, as well as his skill in argument, came into play. Eugenius IV rewarded the services which he rendered to the Church on this occasion by appointing him Apostolic Subdeacon, with a yearly income of three hundred ducats. In 1443 he lost his friend and patron, Albergati, but he soon found a new and more powerful protector in the Pope, who made him Vice-Camerlengo, and on the 27th November, 1444, conferred upon him the Bishopric of Bologna. The City was at the time in a state of revolt, and Parentucelli was unable to take possession of his See, as the steps taken by Eugenius in January, 1445, proved fruitless. To so poor a man the matter was serious, yet in the end it was the occasion of his further advancement, for the Pope, having had sufficient proof of his skill in diplomatic affairs, both during his connection with Albergati and when he acted independently at Florence and Naples, twice entrusted him with important missions to Germany. On the latter of these occasions he was successful in breaking up the League of the Electors which c&nstituted a serious danger to Rome, and was rewarded by a Cardinal's Hat (16 and 23 December, 1446)

The important position which the Cardinal of Bologna, as Parentucelli was now called, soon attained in the Sacred College, is evident from the remarkable fact that the Sienese Ambassadors, in one of their despatches, speak of him as a second Pope. Pope Eugenius IV is said to have foretold his elevation to the Papal throne; and his biographers mention many other similar predictions, to which, however, we must not give too much weight.

The outward appearance of the man who had thus rapidly risen from poverty and obscurity to the highest dignity in Christendom —who had, in the course of three short years, become Bishop, Cardinal, and Pope— was anything but distinguished. Contemporaries describe him as small and weakly, with sharply-cut features, and keen black eyes, a pale complexion, and a powerful voice. The plainbut intellectual countenance of Nicholas V may still be recognized in his modest effigy in the crypt of the Vatican. His disposition was lively, impatient, and hasty; he was extremely exact in all he did, and expected to be understood at a glance. In these and in other respects he was a complete contrast to his predecessor, who was grave, dignified, and silent. He was wont to speak much and rapidly, and dispensed with all irksome ceremony. Dissimulation and hypocrisy were hateful to his open-hearted nature. He was affable, obliging, and cheerful; he showed himself to the people more frequently than Eugenius had done, and gave audiences at all hours of the day. His servants were all Germans or Frenchmen; the Italians, he thought, had their minds always set upon higher things, while Frenchmen and Germans contented themselves with the employments entrusted to them, did not trouble themselves about other matters, and were satisfied and faithful in the lowest service. His table was simple, and he was very temperate; he drank wine largely mixed with water; choice wines were only served for the prelates and great personages from France, Germany, and England, with whom he had become acquainted in his travels, and to whom he delighted to show hospitality when they came to Rome. Alike as Bishop, Cardinal, and Pope, he was so kind and affable to all comers that no one went away unsatisfied. He loved peace; probably no prince of the time had so profound a horror of war. A signal proof of his benevolence was furnished by the foundation of the great Papal Almshouse near the Church of the German Campo Santo, where on Mondays and Fridays about two thousand poor people received bread and wine, and every day a dinner was given to thirteen.

The remembrance of past hardships was no doubt one of the sources of these virtues which long made the name of Nicholas V to be blessed. Nothing in Florence struck him as so noble as the splendour with which science and art were clothed; it seemed to him a disgrace that learned men and artists should starve. He used, even in those days, to say that if ever he had wealth, he would spend it on two things: books and buildings. His defects were irritability and impetuosity. His contemporaries greatly over-estimated his intellectual powers. He was well-versed in theology, in the Holy Scriptures, and in the Fathers; he was gifted with a good memory, great quickness of apprehension, and singular eloquence; but his mind was one essentially receptive in its character, and although capable of keen enjoyment in literary pursuits, it was devoid of productive power. He had, however, considerable talent for collecting, arranging, and editing. When a young man, he spent his money almost entirely on books, and, like a genuine collector, would have them well written and tastefully bound; he did not look to the price, and often gave more for them than he could well afford. He enriched his books with marginal notes, and his hand-writing, which was a transition between the ancient and modern style, was greatly admired by good judges. He was most keen in the search for new works, ransacking the libraries wherever he went, looking for fresh treasures. Both in Germany and in France he made valuable discoveries, and, from every journey which he took with Cardinal Albergati, brought back literary spoils. The future founder of the Vatican Library gradually became one of the first connoisseurs of his day in books, and was looked upon as a great authority among bibliographers and book collectors; but not so great among scholars and literary men. No one so well knew how to prepare and arrange a library. The plan of a monastic library which he drew up for Cosmo de Medici is still preserved, and was often made use of, especially, according to the Pope's well-informed biographer, Vespasiano da Bisticci, in the Libraries of St. Mark at Florence and the Abbey at Fiesole, and in those of the Duke of Urbino and of Alessandro Sforza of Pesaro. Nicholas V is not, however, to be looked upon as a literary specialist: he had no favourite line of study, but was a well-informed dilettante, wandering at will wherever his fancy led him. The laudatory words of Aeneas Sylvius are to be understood in this sense when he writes, "from his youth he has been initiated into all liberal arts, he is acquainted with all philosophers, historians, poets, cosmographers, and theologians; and is no stranger to civil and canon law, or even to medicine".

A man whose intellectual sympathies were so many-sided was well fitted to be the patron of scholars. Nicholas V —a great part of whose life had been spent in close companionship with a saint— was also sincerely pious. He was equally devoted to ecclesiastical and profane literature. No sooner had he found in Germany a copy of Tertullian's complete works, than he at once sent the precious treasure to Niccolo de' Niccoli at Florence. According to Vespasiano da Bisticci, he was the first to bring into Italy the sermons of St. Leo the Great, and St. Thomas' commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew. But his special favourite was the great St. Augustine, whose influence on his own and subsequent ages has surpassed that of any other doctor of the East or West. In his days of poverty the works of St. Augustine, in twelve costly volumes, adorned his bookshelves, and he was unwearied in his efforts to collect from various manuscripts the letters of the Saint.

This fact seems worthy of note, and is a proof amongst many that Parentucelli was a Christian Humanist. Almost all the representatives of the Christian Renaissance movement had a special veneration for this Father, who, after working his way through the contradictions of heathen culture, gathered up in his immortal works all the philosophical and theological truths acquired and prepared for future ages by Christian antiquity. This reverence for St. Augustine had a special fitness at the period of which we are speaking, for the patristic learning which reached its climax in the works of the great Bishop of Hippo had grown up in the midst of the ancient literature, in living contact with it, and was the fruit of controversy and criticism. It was therefore especially adapted to meet and combat the false heathen Renaissance.

Nicholas V had the genuine humility which became a representative of the Christian Renaissance. All his contemporaries bear witness that modesty, the chief ornament of the scholar, was one of the virtues which distinguished this most affable Pope. A German chronicler of the Popes, writing in the fifteenth century, says, "Nicholas V was a good, peaceful man, of whom I never heard any harm said, and in many things he showed himself gentle and lowly, and did not much exalt himself, however wise, and learned, and mighty he became". 

The manner in which Nicholas V looked upon his high position was in perfect keeping with his noble and Christian sentiments. His old friend, Vespasiano da Bisticci, the Florentine bookseller, has handed down to us a conversation which he had with the Pope, and which may here find a fitting place. "Not long after the elevation of Nicholas V", writes Vespasiano, "I attended on the day appointed for public audiences in the Papal Palace. I had hardly entered the audience chamber when the Pope observed me, and said aloud that I was to wait, as he would speak with me alone. He soon concluded the audience, and I was led to him. When we were alone, he said, with a smile: 'Vespasiano, have not certain proud lords been greatly surprised, — have the people of Florence been able to believe that a priest who formerly rang the bells has become Pope?' I replied that the people will believe that it was on account of the virtues of His Holiness and in order that Italy may again be at peace. Thereupon the Pope said: 'I pray God to give me grace that I may accomplish that which fills my soul: that is to say, that I may restore peace, and throughout my Pontificate use no other weapon save that one which Christ has given me for my defence, namely, His Holy Cross'."

In his great schemes for the promotion of art and science, Nicholas V always had the welfare of the Church, whose head he was, before him as his first object. To exalt the mystical Bride of Christ by these means was the chief aim of his Pontificate. All the magnificent works which he undertook were for her adornment, but this pious and cultivated Pope was not spared to see them completed.

 

 

 

BOOK 3. CHAPTER II.

THE FIRST YEARS OF THE REIGN OF POPE NICHOLAS V. SETTLEMENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS