BOOK V POPE PIUS II, A.D.1458-1464

CHAPTER I  

1. ELECTION OF PIUS II. A.D.1458 .-2. THE EASTERN QUESTION AND THE CONGRESS OF MANTUA. -3. THE CONTEST FOR THE NEAPOLITAN THRONE. 4. OPPOSITION TO PAPAL AUTHORITY .-5. ATTEMPTED RECONCILIATION OF BOHEMIA WITH THE CHURCH. -6. THE EASTERN QUESTION, 1460-1463. -7. PLANS OF REFORM .-8. THE CRUSADE AND DEATH OF PIUS II. A.D. 1464.

UNDER Nicholas V, the founder of the Vatican Library, that great movement in the history of culture, which we call the Renaissance, had fairly taken root in Rome. The capital of Christendom, now become the centre of learning and art, was flooded with the light of the new dawn.

Then came the fall of Constantinople; a shock, of which the reverberations have not yet died away. It soon became only too clear that this victory of the Turks had dealt a grievous blow to all the Western Nations. “The Turkish power in all the fierce strength of its eager youth took the place of the worn-out Eastern Empire, and challenged the whole of Europe. It seemed for a time as if the Cross must succumb in the battle”. A ruder and more anxious task than the peaceful labours of Nicholas V in the cause of Literature and Art was allotted to his successor. Calixtus III rightly judged that the main object of his life must be to save Christendom and Western culture from being overwhelmed by the flood of Turkish invasion. But in spite of the heroic efforts of the Spanish Pope, who pledged his mitre and his plate in order to raise money enough to equip a fleet, nothing worthy of the cause was accomplished. Not a single Prince or nation came forward to redeem their promises. The fire and enthusiasm which in former days had moved all Europe to fly as one man to the rescue of the Holy Places, now burnt itself out in internal dissensions and jealousies. Not a hand was lifted to check the rapid advance of the Ottoman arms.

One disaster followed another in the East all through the summer of 1458. The Morea and Attica were overrun and devastated by the Mahometan troops. In June, Athens fell; in August, Corinth. The subjugation of Serbia was begun in the same month.

On the very day on which the key of the Peloponnesus was lost to Christendom, the aged Calixtus, wearied and disappointed, at last sank to rest.

The question who should be the next .occupant of the Papal throne was now of deeper importance than ever. In addition to the defence of Europe, an even more difficult and dangerous task than this was awaiting him, namely, the internal reform of the Church.

No one appeared more adapted for the solution of this problem than the noble and gifted Cardinal Capranica. His death, from a violent attack of fever, just before the Conclave opened (August 14), was a heavy blow to the Church, for his election was almost a certainty. Rome was plunged in grief. A contemporary writes of him: “He was the most accomplished, the most learned, and the holiest Prelate that the Church possessed in our days”. A completely new situation was created, upsetting all previous calculations.

CHAPTER I.

ELECTION OF PIUS II

The excitement periodically caused in Rome by every vacancy of the Holy See reached an unwonted height in the August of 1458. The confusion was aggravated both there and in the States of the Church by the general movement against the hated Spaniards and Neapolitans, “The Catalans”, as they were called, and by the action of Jacopo Piccinino, who had seized Assisi, Nocera, and Gualdo, and was now encamped near Foligno. It was believed that a secret understanding existed between this “landless Count” and the King of Naples, and that the latter sought by his means to prevent the election of a French Pope!

The great question which for the time took precedence of all others, was whether an Italian or a Frenchman should occupy the Chair of St. Peter.

Of the eighteen Cardinals who assembled in Conclave on the 16th August, eight were Italians, five Spaniards, two very influential Frenchmen, one a Portuguese, and two Greeks. The foreigners accordingly outnumbered the Italians, but they did not constitute the majority of two-thirds requisite for an election.

The prospect of an increased preponderance of French influence in the Peninsula caused great anxiety to the Italian Powers, especially to the Genoese, the King of Naples, and the Duke of Milan. The latter Prince seemed almost haunted by his dread of France. We cannot therefore wonder if on the death of Calixtus the whole weight of his influence was exerted to promote the election of an Italian Pope. Cardinal Capranica was the candidate of his choice. In the instructions sent in cipher on the 2nd August, 1458, to Otto de Carretto, he desires him to use every effort in his power on behalf of this excellent man. Should it be impossible to ensure his election, he must endeavour to obtain that of Cardinal Prospero Colonna. Failing this, he is to be guided entirely by the advice of Capranica. Death silenced the voice of this counsellor on the 14th August; there was no time to receive further instructions, and Carretto was compelled to act on his own judgment. He naturally turned to Cardinal Piccolomini, who was friendly to the Duke, and “while Bishop of Siena had laboured to obtain for him the imperial investiture, and the recognition of his legitimacy”. In a dispatch of that eventful 14th August, the Envoy expresses his hope of being able, even under these altered circumstances, to bring matters to a sufficiently satisfactory conclusion. “I am”, he adds, “not without hope for Cardinal Colonna, but it would be easier to carry the election of the Cardinal of Siena, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini; he is liked by all parties, and the Ambassadors of the King of Naples favour him”. On the following day, the Neapolitan, Galeotto Agnensis, wrote to inform Francesco Sforza that he had succeeded in bringing about a matrimonial alliance between the houses of Colonna and Orsini, which had almost always been at variance, and that he was now endeavouring to gain the votes assured to Cardinal Capranica for the Cardinal of Siena, whose elevation would be welcome alike to the Duke and to the King of Naples. “Thank God”, continues Galetto, “Cardinal Orsini has consented, and I have a good hope of success”.

The learned Torquemada and the popular Calandrini were also spoken of by many as candidates for the supreme dignity. Piccolomini had, however, far more formidable rivals in Pietro Barbo, and the wealthy and distinguished Guillaume d'Estouteville, the head of the French party.

The Conclave was held in the Apostolic Palace at St. Peter’s. Cells, in which the Cardinals were to eat and to sleep, were prepared in the largest hall; a smaller hall bearing the name of St. Nicholas was to serve for the deliberations and for the actual business of the election. The fact that the Envoys sent to the Sacred College by Ferrante, during the last illness of Calixtus III, were admitted as Royal Ambassadors to watch the Conclave, was much noticed.

The customary Sermon addressed to the Cardinals before their entry into Conclave was delivered by the Humanist Domenico de Domenichi, Bishop of Torcello. He began with the words from the Acts of the Apostles, I, 24: “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show whether of these two Thou hast chosen to take the place of this ministry and apostleship”. After pronouncing a eulogy on the deceased Pontiff, Domenichi exhorted the electors to lay aside all ambition, intrigue, and contention. The prevalence of the first of these vices was denounced with special severity. “How many”, he said, “would in better days have been contented with a small preferment, who now aspire to the highest dignities”. After citing several examples from classical antiquity he continued : “Those who wish to be counted as Romans, should take for their models men like Decius, Brutus, Cato, Gracchus, and Regulus, whose glorious deeds, to use the words of St. Jerome, shine like stars in Roman history”.

The orator dwelt on the special importance of this election in regard to the badness of the times. “The secular Princes”, he exclaimed, “wrangle with each other, and turn against their own flesh the weapons which ought to be directed against the Turks. There has been no peacemaker. The morals of the clergy are corrupt, they have become a scandal to the laity, all order is at an end. Day by day the authority of the Church diminishes, her censures are unheeded, there has been no one to enforce them. The Roman Court is full of abuses. Who has made any attempt to reform it?”

Domenichi also deals with the Turkish question. He specially deplores the horrors inflicted by these barbarians on Greece.

In conclusion, he points out the important problems which the new Pope would have to solve. “The dignity of the Church must be reasserted, her authority revived, morals reformed, the Court regulated, the course of justice secured, the faith propagated, captives set free, lost cities regained, and the faithful armed for the Holy War”.

It soon became manifest in the deliberations of the Conclave how deeply the Cardinals had resented the high­handed manner in which they had been treated by the late Pope. A Capitulation was drawn up, extending the rights of the Sacred College, and limiting the power of the Pontiff. The articles of this Capitulation, which was framed on the model of that of 1431, bound the future Pope to carry on the war against the Turks according to the advice of the Cardinals, and to reform the Court to the best of his power; it also enjoined him to consult the Sacred College in making appointments to offices at Court, and in the bestowal of Bishoprics and the greater Abbeys. In future, the Decree of Constance regarding the number and character of the Cardinals, and that requiring the consent of the majority of the Sacred College given in Consistory to their nomination, was to be strictly observed. Several Articles were concerned with safe-guarding the interests of the Cardinals in the matter of Benefices and In Commendams. Rights of nomination or presentation were to be granted to ecclesiastical or temporal Princes only with the approval of the Sacred College, and existing concessions contrary to this provision were to be repealed. Moreover, the Pope was not to grant to any one a tax upon the clergy or the goods of the Church. In relation to the government of the States of the Church, the strict limitations imposed upon the Papal power by the Conclave which elected Eugenius IV were re-enacted. The Capitulation contained a new resolution requiring the Pope to allow to every Cardinal whose income was less than 4,000 golden florins, 100 florins a month out of the Apostolic Treasury, until that sum was made up. Once in every year the Cardinals were to inquire into the manner in which these Articles had been observed, and if they had been infringed, charitably to admonish the Pope three times.

On the third day of the Conclave the business of the Election commenced. In the first scrutiny the Cardinals of Siena and Bologna, Piccolomini and Calandrini, had each five votes, and no other Cardinal more than three. And now those who aspired to the supreme dignity began the work of canvassing. No one was more zealous than the ambitious d'Estouteville, who was closely allied with Cardinal Alain. Our information in regard to the means employed by this leader of the French party is derived entirely from his rival, Piccolomini, who certainly is not an unprejudiced authority. According to his report, d'Estouteville, on the one hand, made brilliant promises, and on the other sought in every way to depreciate the Cardinals of Bologna and Siena. “How”, he asked, “can Piccolomini be thought fit for the Papacy? He suffers from the gout, and is absolutely penniless. How can he succour the impoverished Church, or, infirm as he is, heal her sickness? He has but lately come from Germany; we do not know him; perhaps he will remove the Court thither. Look at his devotion to the heathen Muses. Shall we raise a poet to the Chair of St. Peter, and let the Church be governed on Pagan principles?”

The same authority declares that not only Alain, but Bessarion, Fieschi, Torquemada, Colonna, and Castiglione bound themselves by oath to vote for the French candidate. Piccolomini, however, by skilfully insisting on the national aspect of the case, succeeded in winning over Castiglione, and also in obtaining the support of those Cardinals who had been as yet undecided.

The energetic action of Cardinal Barbo was of the greatest importance in the Election. After he had given up all hope of himself wearing the tiara, he determined at least to make every possible effort to obtain it for one of his own nation. Assembling the Italian Cardinals, with the exception of Colonna, he proposed to them that member of the Sacred College who, above all others, was distinguished by keenness of intellect, varied learning, experience of the world, and diplomatic ability,—Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini. In the following scrutiny, on the 19th August, the latter accordingly had nine votes and d'Estouteville only six!

The decision was then arrived at by the method called Accessus. Rodrigo Borgia was the first to break the hush of expectation with the words: “I vote for the Cardinal of Siena”. A second and longer silence ensued. Cardinals Isidore and Torquemada made a fruitless attempt to adjourn the election, but Cardinal Tebaldo now giving his vote for Piccolomini, only one more was needed. Again there was a pause of breathless suspense. Then, in spite of those who tried to hold him back, Prospero Colonna stood up and said: “I also vote for the Cardinal of Siena, and make him Pope”. All then arose and offered their first homage to the newly elected Pontiff. Having returned to their seats, they unanimously proclaimed the election valid, and Bessarion made a speech congratulating the new Head of the Church.

Piccolomini, who had been only twenty months a Cardinal, was greatly overcome by his election. “The burden of the future fell upon his soul; he understood the height of his calling”. Campano, his biographer, tells us that he burst into tears and for some time could hardly command himself. When he had recovered his composure, he said to the friends who were encouraging him, that none could rejoice at being raised to such a dignity save those who forgot its attendant dangers and toils. It was now for him to accomplish that which he had formerly demanded from others.

After he had assumed the white cassock of a Pope, he announced that he would take the name of Pius II, and in this name again swore to observe the Capitulation, adding, however, the proviso: “As far as I am able, with the help of God, and consistently with the honor and the integrity of the Apostolic See”.

Besides the account written by the newly elected Pope himself, our sources of information regarding the Conclave of 1458 consist of a few dispatches from the Milanese Envoys, the most important of which is one written by Otto de Carretto on the 20th August. It was only natural that the envoy should make the most of his own share in the election; but on the other hand his account of the attitude of Cardinal Colonna is striking. In consequence of the family alliance which we have mentioned between the Orsini and the Colonna, both Cardinals with their adherents agreed, according to him, to elect Piccolomini. Carretto himself gained for him the support of the Neapolitan Envoys, of Cardinal de la Cerda, and of Cardinals Mila and Borgia, the nephews of the deceased Pope; the two last were influenced by the hope that Ferrante would be favourable to them. The Commentary of Pius II, however, represents Cardinal Colonna as a firm partisan of d'Estouteville up to a short time before the final decision; he alone failed to take part in the deliberations to which the Italian Cardinals were invited by Barbo. The report of the Milanese Envoy, written as it was immediately after the election, is certainly more direct evidence than the Commentary of Pius II, which is of a much later date. On the other hand, we must remember that Carretto, who, in pursuance of the instructions received from his master, was bound to promote the cause of Colonna, had an interest in exaggerating the part taken by this Cardinal in Piccolomini’s election. Prospero Colonna himself, after having given the vote which decided the election of Pius II, may have been anxious that his former efforts on behalf of d'Estouteville should be forgotten. It is to be hoped that future discoveries in the Archives may throw further light on this, point. There is, however, no doubt that Piccolomini’s election was zealously promoted by the Milanese and Neapolitan Envoys. Francesco Sforza expressly says in his letter of the 14th September that Pius II was elected through the influence of King Ferrante, and this statement is borne out by the favour which the new Pope showed to the King of Naples.

In Rome the election of Piccolomini was welcomed with unmixed satisfaction. The people threw away their arms, and with cries of “Siena, Siena, Evviva Siena!” hastened to St. Peter’s to pay homage to the newly made Pope. At nightfall bonfires were kindled, and lights shone forth from all the towers of the city. Jubilant crowds thronged the streets, which re-echoed with songs and the sound of horns and trumpets. Old people declared that they had never seen such an outburst of rejoicing in Rome. The Ambassadors congratulated the Pope immediately after his return from St. Peter’s; they found him greatly wearied, but still as witty and genial as when he was a Cardinal. On the following evening the nobles of the city came on horseback, bearing torches, to offer their felicitations. The splendid procession filled the Borgo from the Castle of St. Angelo to St. Peter’s.

At the home of the new Pope at Corsignano and Siena, the rejoicings were naturally very great. The spirit of the Renaissance displayed itself in splendid pageants in most of the other cities of the Peninsula. All the Italian powers, with the exception of Florence and Venice, were delighted at the elevation of the pacific and statesmanlike Piccolomini. Men breathed more freely now that the danger of a foreign Pope had been averted. The fear that a Frenchman might be raised to the supreme dignity is manifested in the reports of the Ambassadors then in Rome. “As your Excellency is aware," wrote Antonio da Pistoia on the 21st August to Francesco Sforza, “we were in great danger of having a French Pope. D'Estouteville and Alain had managed matters in such a way that the Papacy seemed almost certain to devolve upon one or other of them. Thanks be to God, it remains in Italy”.

Beyond the limits of the Italian Peninsula the result of the election was welcomed by all, except France and the other opponents of the Emperor. Frederick III was greatly pleased. On the very day of his election, the new Pontiff addressed two letters to him, one official and the other private. He would indeed have scarcely recognized his former Secretary, so heavily and so quickly had time told upon him. Though but fifty-three, Pius II was already an old man. His bodily strength was broken, and he suffered much from gout in the feet. This malady had been contracted in Scotland when he went barefooted on a pilgrimage through snow and ice to a Church of Our Lady in fulfilment of a vow made during a storm at sea. The tortures which he endured from the gout were such that he was often quite unable to move. He was also afflicted with stone and with a constant cough. Yet he kept up with surprising energy. “The habit of suffering had given him such mastery over himself, that even when tortured by the stone, he could repress every sign of the anguish he was enduring. But his grey hair and the ashy paleness of his complexion, which became almost livid with the slightest indisposition, bore witness to the ravages of disease. Andrea Guazzalotti’s medal, which was considered a masterpiece of portraiture, represents a worn countenance and sunken eyes”.

The election of a poet, historian, humanist, and statesman of European fame, was an event of far-reaching importance. The Papal chair was now filled by a man who really stood at the head of his age, and who was capable of understanding both its past and its present. Amongst his contemporaries there was not one who even approached Piccolomini in the insight he possessed in regard to the moral and physical forces at work in the period. He had learned from his own observation and experience the circumstances and the views of both friend and foe, for we may say no party existed in whose camp he had not sojourned for a while. No one could have been better fitted to restore the ancient greatness and glory of the Papacy. His immediate predecessors had indeed done much in this direction since the dissolution of the Council of Basle; but the crowning of the edifice remained for him.

The master-thought which filled the mind of Pius II and governed all his actions during the whole six years of his pontificate, was his noble project of freeing Europe from the disgrace of Turkish domination, by uniting all Christian nations in a general crusade. To repel the advance of the barbarians of the East by the united power of the West, was the great purpose to which, regardless of his bodily weakness, he devoted himself with all the enthusiasm of a young man, and with a marvellous constancy and energy. “As he watched the steady advance of Mahometanism from Africa, through Granada and Spain, and from Asia over the ruins of the Byzantine Empire, and along the banks of the Danube, he became convinced that nothing less than the united forces of the whole of Christendom could suffice to avert the danger”.

On the very day of his election, Pius II spoke plainly to the Milanese Ambassador, in no uncertain tones, of the great war which must be undertaken by the Christians against the Turks. The next morning he summoned the Sacred College to consider the measures to be adopted. The restoration of tranquillity in the States of the Church was a matter of the most urgent importance. It was necessary to remove the Catalan governors, and above all to avert the danger threatened by Piccinino. This could only be effected in concert with Naples. The French party was averse to the recognition of Ferrante. Pius II met their remonstrances with the simple question, “Will King René, the French candidate, free the Church from Piccinino?”. Accordingly, it was determined, on the 20th August, that the Neapolitan Ambassadors should be treated in every way as Royal Ambassadors, and that Ferrante should be styled “his Majesty”. Negotiations were at once entered into with Don Pedro Luis Borgia, who still had possession of Cività Vecchia, Spoleto, and other strongholds. It was feared that he would combine with Piccinino in an attack on the defenceless Pope.

The anxiety of Pius II was aggravated by tidings of the constant advance of the Turks which reached him from the East. No wonder that even during the festivities of the succeeding days he appeared preoccupied and almost melancholy. On Sunday, the 3rd September, in front of St. Peter’s, he received the tiara from the hands of Cardinal Colonna, and afterwards solemnly took possession of the Lateran. A tumult among the populace, who prematurely sought to seize the Papal palfrey, disturbed this ceremony, which a fellow-countryman of the Pope’s describes as most magnificent, Pageants of the kind derived a special charm from the fresh impulse which the Renaissance had given to art. The fact that a master like Benozzo Gozzoli painted the flags and banners used on this occasion, may give us some idea of its artistic beauty.

The 3rd September also brought Pius II the satisfaction of seeing an agreement concluded with Don Pedro Borgia, whose death on the 26th delivered the Pope from all further apprehensions on his account.

The succeeding days were fully occupied by the reception of the Embassies sent to do homage to the Pope, and by anxious deliberations concerning the measures to be taken to resist the Turks, whose progress in Serbia became more and more threatening. On the 7th October the Envoys of the Republic of Florence arrived. Among them were Cosmo’s nephew, Pier Francesco de' Medici and St. Antoninus, the holy Archbishop, who had already congratulated the predecessor of Pius II on his elevation to the Papacy. The 10th was the day fixed for the reception of the Florentines. When the Consistory was about to assemble, the aged Archbishop, worn out with years and austerities, seemed to be sinking; they gave him a cordial to strengthen him, and then, to the astonishment of all present, he poured forth an eloquent address to the Pope, lasting nearly an hour. Pius II was greatly touched by the hopes which St. Antoninus expressed of victory over the Turks, and his reply was worthy of the discourse which called it forth. Afterwards, when the Florentines were commending some of their fellow-countrymen to his favour, he asked them, half in jest, why they said nothing for their Archbishop. “The Archbishop”, they replied, “needs no recommendation but himself”.

From the reports of the Envoys it appears that the Pope was wholly engrossed by the one idea of war against the Turks. On the 12th October he made known the decision at which he had arrived, after mature consideration and lengthened deliberations with the Cardinals. The most distinguished members of the Sacred College, many bishops and prelates belonging to the Court, together with all the Ambassadors then in Rome, were assembled on that day in the chapel of the Papal Palace. In an exhaustive speech he enumerated the defeats which the Turks had inflicted upon the Christians, and showed that they aimed at the annihilation of Christendom. For the protection of religion he had resolved to attack the enemy. As it was impossible to do so without the assistance of the Christian Princes, he purposed to hold a Congress at Mantua or Udine, and would, with the Cardinals, proceed thither in the beginning of June, thus meeting half-way those who were coming from the other side of the Alps. He would then hear the opinions of those whose help he was about to ask. It was painful to him to leave Rome, the See of St. Peter and the rock of Christendom; but it would give him infinitely more pain if, under his Pontificate, the Faith were to suffer, for which he was ready to risk not only the whole world and the Patrimony of St. Peter, but also his life. Old and infirm as he was, he would not shrink from crossing mountain or river to take counsel with the Christian Princes for the welfare of religion. This determination was commended by the Cardinals, Bishops, Envoys, and all present.

On the following day Pius II published a Bull, earnestly inviting all the European Princes to the Congress. Since the Emperor Constantine had given peace to the Church, she had never, he said, been so trampled upon as she now was by the adherents of the “false prophet Mahomet”— the bloodthirsty hosts of the “venomous dragon”. It was a punishment from Heaven for the sins of the nations. God had raised him to the See of Rome that he might deliver the world from this peril. The task laid upon him was most difficult, but he did not despair. “The bark of the Church often rocks to and fro, but it does not sink; it is buffeted, but not shattered; it is assailed, but not wrecked; God permits His people to be tried, but He will not suffer them to be overwhelmed”.

Besides this general Bull, special letters of invitation were addressed not merely to the great Powers, but also to the smaller Princes, States, and Cities. All these letters contained an earnest request that the Envoys should be persons of distinction, and be provided with ample powers.

Before anything effectual could be attempted against the Turk it was essential that tranquillity should be restored in Italy. Pius II undertook this difficult task with the greatest zeal. He began with the States of the Church, which, owing to the misrule of the Borgias, were in great disorder. All the Catalan governors were, like Don Pedro Borgia, paid to give up their fortresses.

The worst legacy left to the new Pope by his predecessor was the difference with Naples. The first steps towards its settlement had been taken before his coronation. Difficulties had subsequently been caused by the interference of various persons. Then the opposition of the French party in the Sacred College placed further obstacles in the way, and Ferrante himself, looking on many of the Pope’s conditions as too hard, was slow in accepting them. Pius II, however, adhered to the demands which he had made in the interests of the Church, and sent word to the King that he was not like a merchant making a bargain, and asking the double to obtain the half. Ferrante, to whom a declaration of legitimacy from the Holy See was a matter of great importance, was finally compelled to yield. On the 17th October a treaty was concluded in Rome, by which the Pope undertook to remove the censures inflicted by his predecessor, and to grant him the right of succession and investiture in the accustomed form, without prejudice however to the claims of others. A Legate a latere was, as usual, to perform the ceremony of coronation. The Neapolitan King on his part solemnly bound himself to pay yearly to the Holy See a certain tribute, to give up Benevento at once, and Terracina in ten years’ time, and also to compel the Condottiere Piccinino to restore the territories which he had taken from the Church.

On the 10th November the Bull of Investiture was published, together with the oath to be taken by Ferrante. The ecclesiastical and sovereign authority of the Pope was safe-guarded by a repetition of the conditions formerly agreed upon between Charles I and Clement IV. At the conclusion of the Bull it was expressly laid down that the claims of other persons were not to be prejudiced by it. The document was signed by only thirteen Cardinals, those of the French party holding aloof.

At the same time Pius II issued another Bull absolving Ferrante from all censures pronounced against him by Calixtus III and requiring his subjects to render him obedience.

Cardinal Orsini was on the 1st December charged to receive the oath of fealty and to perform the Coronation, and soon after, Niccolo Forteguerri who had been appointed Bishop of Teano, was sent on a secret mission to Naples. Its object was to treat of a betrothal between the natural daughter of the King and Antonio Piccolomini, the nephew of the Pope, a union by which the newly established good relations between Rome and Naples were to be yet more closely cemented. The effects of the alliance were soon visible in the condition of the States of the Church. The menaces of Ferrante, coupled with those of the Duke of Milan, induced Piccinino, early in the year 1459, to yield up his spoils in consideration of an indemnity of 30,000 ducats. The Pope also used every means in his power to restore order in Rome. He summoned the Barons and made them take an oath to keep the peace during his absence, pronouncing the severest penalties against those who should violate it. The privileges enjoyed by the cities and Princes of the States of the Church were confirmed, and a portion of their tribute remitted for three years.

The important post of Prefect of the City having become vacant by the death of Don Pedro Luis Borgia, Pius II conferred it on the 16th December, upon Antonio Colonna, with the right of succession to his eldest son. By this means he attached to his own interest the most powerful of the Roman parties. Antonio Piccolomini had been nominated Governor of St. Angelo on the 1st of September.

The Romans, however, could not reconcile themselves to the idea of a protracted absence of the Pope from their city, and its consequent loss of the advantages derived from the presence of the Court. The distressful period, during which Eugenius IV was away from Rome, was still fresh in the memory of many. The intentions of the Pope were mistrusted, and the Congress at Mantua was looked upon as a mere pretext. It was feared that he would linger in Siena, and enrich his own home. Some said that Pius II, who had grown up among the Germans, would ultimately live entirely in their country, and would not deem it beneath his dignity to transfer the Chair of Peter to the other side of the Alps. Others again were full of apprehension lest the aged and sickly Pontiff might never return. Intense excitement prevailed in the city; the women lamented, the youths and men cursed and reviled the Pope, and a number of the old and more influential Romans went to him in a body and besought him not to leave them. Pius II did his best to reassure them, pointed out the necessity for his departure, and promised soon to return.

In order the better to tranquillize the public mind, it was decided that a certain number of the Court officials and a few of the Cardinals were to remain in Rome and carry on current business without interruption. A special Bull made provision for the next Papal election, which was to take place only in the Eternal City. On the 11th January, 1459, Pius II entrusted the important post of Papal Vicar-General in Rome and the Patrimony of St. Peter to his old friend the German Cardinal, Nicholas of Cusa, who had returned there in the end of September. Galeazzo Cavriani, Bishop of Mantua, was appointed Governor of the City on the 15th January, 1459.

Platina, Campano, and other authorities, have furnished us with ample materials for forming an idea of the character and mode of life of Pius II. All concur in their estimate of his many-sided culture, his great intellectual powers, his affability, gentleness, and simplicity. Like all really able men, he hated pedantry, and did not care for display, although he could, when it was necessary, maintain the dignity of his position with suitable magnificence. The simplicity of his life formed a striking contrast to the pomp and show in which d'Estouteville, Borgia, and some of the Cardinals delighted. His retainers were often in despair when, in course of his numerous journeys, the Pope had to stay in poor country villages and decayed convents, where it was difficult to obtain even the barest necessaries of life. On such occasions Pius himself was content with everything; he did not object to use the coarsest and commonest ware, and to sojourn in monasteries which could hardly afford shelter from wind and weather. The provisions served at the Pope’s table were of the homeliest kind; there was but little wine, and he seldom ordered any delicacy for himself.

The Papal account-books corroborate the statements of his biographers. A careful student of these volumes has arrived at a result which does honour to the Popes of the early Renaissance period, and to Pius II in particular. “On the whole”, he says, “the simplicity and frugality of the Papal table was amazing. It was like a convent refectory. The household expenses of Pius II are the lowest recorded. They generally amount to six, seven, or eight ducats a day”. The marvellous cheapness of provisions at this period is, of course, to be taken into consideration; but when we remember that this small sum sufficed for the support of from 260 to 280 persons, it must be confessed that declamations against the luxury of the Court are altogether out of place.

Pius II had the reputation of being very methodical in the regulation of his time. When in health he rose at daybreak, recited his office, said or heard Mass, and then went at once to work. Until the Cardinals arrived, he gave audiences and attended to other business. A short walk in the garden was his only recreation before dinner, after which he conversed with those around him, and took a brief siesta. He then dictated letters, or employed himself in literary work, and again gave audiences until supper-time. Current business was next dispatched with Ammanati and Gregorio Lolli, and accounts settled. In addition to these two persons, his nephew, Francesco Piccolomini, Bernardo Eroli, the grave and learned Bishop of Spoleto, Niccolo Forteguerri of Pistoja, and Giacomo di Lucca, enjoyed his special confidence. The Cardinals most intimate with him were Calandrini, Castiglione, Cusa, Carvajal, and Bessarion. Before going to rest Pius II said the remainder of his office; he often read and dictated in his bed, as he needed but from five to six hours’ sleep.

Platina gives us a description of the outward appearance of the Pope. He was small of stature; his hair became prematurely grey, which gave him, even in the prime of life, the appearance of age. The expression of his countenance was kindly, but grave. In his dress he avoided both negligence and elegance. He had been accustomed to hardships, and bore hunger and thirst with equanimity. His naturally strong frame had been worn by many journeys, labours, and vigils. Although often suffering from a chronic cough, from stone, and from gout, he was accessible to all, and unwilling to refuse any petition. Campano says that on one occasion, when an attendant endeavoured to make signs to a garrulous old man to curtail his discourse, Pius II gently told him to go on, but said sharply to the servant: “Do you not know that as Pope I have to live, not for myself, but for others?”. He spent all that he received. He had no desire to be rich, and left the reckoning of his money to others, but at the same time he understood its value. In consequence of the war, his coffers were constantly empty, so that he was often oppressed by debt. He hated liars and hypocrites, was quickly angry, but as quickly pacified. Personal injuries were readily forgiven, but he firmly resisted any attack upon the Holy See. He was kindly and genial in his intercourse with those around him, and witty in conversation. He was indifferent to what was said of him, and to the blame cast on his frequent journeys. Fear and vacillation had no place in his nature; he was never seen to be elated by prosperity nor downcast in adversity. His leisure hours were spent in reading or in literary work. He was sincerely devoted to the Christian Faith, and frequently approached the Sacraments.

A few more touches may still be added to this picture which is drawn by a grateful hand. The strictness with which Pius II kept the laws of the Church appears from the fact that his friends endeavoured in vain to hinder him from fasting, when suffering from illness. The Pope had a great veneration for the Blessed Virgin. He looked upon her as, in a special manner, his Protectress; he made frequent pilgrimages to her shrines, and enriched them with many gifts. He also composed some hymns in her honour.

The great love of travelling, which Platina mentions as a characteristic of Pius II, deserves further notice. Few of the Popes have seen as much of the world, although some may have taken longer journeys. The epithet of “Apostolic Wanderer”, which the prophecy of Malachy bestows upon Pius VI, was equally applicable to him. Considerations of policy and health, an insatiable thirst for knowledge, a delight in unrestrained social intercourse, and finally, an enthusiastic admiration of the beautiful scenery of his country, furnished the motives for an amount of travelling unusual in his days. A visit to the country was the chief solace which he allowed himself when pestilence and excessive heat made the low-lying districts insupportable. The summer sojourn of the Pope on Monte Amiata, of which we have a description from his own pen, has often been mentioned. During the hot season of the year 1462, he took up his abode in the Abbey of San Salvatore, which is situated half-way up the mountain. “Splendid chestnut trees clothe the edge of the precipice, which commands a view of the whole of southern Tuscany with the towers of Siena in the distance”. An inscription still reminds the traveller that under one of the finest of these trees the affairs of both Church and State were dispatched by the Pope. He never allowed his love of travelling to interfere with business. He made a point of discharging the duties of his office both personally and promptly. “Often and often did he hold Consistories and sign state papers, and give audiences to Ambassadors beneath the giant old chest­nuts or in the shade of olive trees, on the green sward, by murmuring waters”.

The beautiful descriptions of his travels left by Pius II are justly esteemed, and even at the present day excite the admiration of those who can appreciate the charm of Italian scenery. “Diana’s hiding place” on the blue lake of Nemi, Todi, enthroned amid vineyards and olive-covered slopes, Subiaco in its wild solitude, the view from the summit of the Alban hills over “the wide Campagna studded with the ruins of a primitive civilization, the mountain heights of Central Italy, with woods and valleys and shining lakes at their feet”, had never before been portrayed with such enthusiasm and in such detail. “All things that give charm to a landscape, corn-fields, and meadows, high mountains and low-lying lakes, the rushing brook, the murmuring river overhung with dusky foliage, the contrasted hues of the blue waving flax and the yellow broom, the distant prospect over land and sea, city, mountain and valley”, were all observed by the delighted eye of the Pope, and recorded by his pen.

Nor was his interest less in the memorials of antiquity and the treasures of art which he met with in his travels; no relic of the Christian or heathen past escaped him. In the convents he had all the old manuscripts brought to him; at Chiusi he sought for the Labyrinth mentioned by Pliny; at Mincio he visited Virgil’s Villa, and in the neighbourhood of Rome he traced out the old Roman roads and aqueducts, and endeavoured to determine the boundaries of the ancient tribes. In Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli he tried “to interpret the fragments of walls, and in imagination to restore their former connection”. “Time”, he writes in his Memoirs, “has here defaced everything. The walls, which were once adorned by coloured tapestry and gold-embroidered hangings, are now clothed with wild ivy. Thorns and briars are growing where the Tribunes once sat in purple, and snakes are dwelling in the chambers of queens. Such is the transitory nature of all earthly things”.

The constant pecuniary difficulties of Pius II in some measure account for the remarkable fact that very little was done for the Humanists during his reign. His election had awakened great expectations among them, and their disappointment was all the keener. Moreover, the Pope, who was himself a distinguished author, proved a very fastidious critic. Orators and poets, he used to say, must be really original, else they are worthless. During the early years of his Pontificate, death removed several prominent Humanists; Vegio died in 1458, Manetti, Poggio and Aurispa in 1459; and some of their successors were of little note. Versifiers of the calibre of Giantonio Porcello evidently could have little interest for a man of Pius II’s intellect. Filelfo ruined his fortunes by his “shameless importunity”. The value to be attached to the complaints of other Humanists is uncertain. Until the manuscripts bearing on the subject have been thoroughly examined it will not be possible to come to a definite con­clusion in regard to the relations of Pius II with the literary men of his day. The following may serve as an instance of the caution required. One who is thoroughly versed in the literary affairs of the period asserts that “the translators of Nicholas V’s time were a jealous and quarrelsome set, and were entirely unnoticed by Pius II”. In contradiction to this statement we have the fact that Francesco d'Arezzo, a disciple of Valla’s was expressly charged by the Pope to complete his master’s translation of the Iliad, and to undertake a translation of the Odyssey as a companion volume. In return for his labours he received a permanent appointment, which “not only sufficed for his own necessities, but also enabled him to carry out his long-cherished wish of providing for his mother and sister”. Several Humanists were, during this Pontificate, employed in the College of Abbreviators; amongst others we may mention Bartolomeo Platina, Leodrisio Crivelli, and Battista Poggio.

While it is true that the scholarly Pope did not neglect the Humanists to the degree that his latest biographer has supposed, it cannot be denied that a certain reserve is evident in his conduct towards them. This fact has been accounted for by his pecuniary necessities, by his engrossing ecclesiastical and political cares, and by his zeal for the Crusade. We may add another motive, which is to be found in the Pope’s aversion for the false Renaissance. Pius II was but too well-acquainted with this dangerous aspect of the movement which he had once favoured, and, after his elevation to the chair of St. Peter, resolutely opposed it. Here, too, it may be said that Aeneas was now forgotten and Pius alone remained. Christian works formed the principal part of his private library, and heathen authors were little regarded. In his own writings he scrupulously avoided everything which could be looked upon as an approach to heathenism. If the ancient gods were mentioned they were spoken of as demons or idols; the ideas and opinions of Roman philosophers were corrected and conformed to the Christian standard. “Scepticism and criticism were silenced in presence of the authority of the Church”. Authors whose lives were immoral, as for example A. Contrarius, were relentlessly banished. The representatives of the Christian Renaissance, on the other hand, such as Flavio Biondo, enjoyed the special favour of Pius II. Biondo accompanied the Pope on his excursions in the beautiful neighbourhood of Rome and recalled the various historical associations of the landscape. He also took part in the Congress of Mantua, and, while in that city, completed his “Roma Triumphans”. This work, “the first great attempt at a general picture of Roman antiquity”, was dedicated to Pius II. The high esteem in which the Pope held this good man may be gathered from the fact that he made an abstract of Biondo’s great historical work, the first twenty books of the “Decades”, and also made his son Gasparo notary to the Papal Treasury. In the spring of 1463, when Biondo became very ill, the Pope sent his own Confessor to visit him, and he afterwards provided for his burial. Gasparo at once succeeded him as secretary.

Pius II also endeavoured to attract to Rome some scholars from other countries, as for example the celebrated astronomer, Battista Piasio, and the learned German theologian, Gabriel Biel; the latter, a simple and modest man, declined the invitation. Niccolo Sagundino of Negroponte went to Rome and died there in 1463.

Two Sienese, Agostino and Francesco de' Patrizzi; the Roman, Agapito di Cenci de' Rustici; Jacopo Ammanati; and the witty and genial Giantonio Campano, shared with Biondo the special favour of the Pope. Campano, “a master of style”, was the Court Poet of Pius II, who thought so highly of his productions that he inserted a number of them in his Memoirs. These Memoirs were the constant occupation of his leisure hours; many portions are apparently written by his own hand, and others were dictated. He saw, with regret, that time would not permit him to give his work the finishing touches he might have desired. Yet the original manuscript contains numerous literary corrections. Pius II also purposed to reform the style of the Papal Bulls, but was obliged to relinquish the attempt, as he found that the changes made gave rise to suspicions of their authenticity. He used himself to compose Briefs and Bulls of importance. “Though sentences and images from Holy Scriptures took the place of quotations from Horace and Virgil in the Pope’s discourses, their elegant and flowing style proved to the world that he was both a scholar and a man of modern culture”.

It is really wonderful that, notwithstanding his constant sufferings and the immense burden of affairs which pressed upon him, the Pope found time for serious literary work. During the first years of his Pontificate, in hours stolen from sleep, he laboured to carry out his magnificent project of writing “A geographical and ethnographical description of the whole of the known world with historical illustrations”. Asia, the first part, which Pius had begun when a Cardinal, and which had occupied him during his summer sojourn at Tivoli in 1461, alone was completed. In the unfinished section on Europe the history of recent events fills a considerable place. Germany is treated in detail, and many errors which prevailed in Italy regarding that country are corrected. A far from indulgent critic praises the elevation of thought displayed in this acute and learned work, and declares that a book which exercised such a powerful influence on Christopher Columbus must not be lightly esteemed.

Nor is less importance to be attached to the Memoirs of Pius II, to which allusion has frequently been made in these pages. In the spirit of a genuine historian Piccolomini had, throughout the whole of his eventful life, made notes of all that had befallen him, and all that he had seen, and also of what he had heard and learned from others. As Pope he still kept up the custom, and this was the origin of his Autobiography, the most comprehensive and characteristic of his writings. This work is, at once, a history of the remarkable period during which he occupied the Papal chair, and a portrait of it as reflected in his mind. He was generally so overwhelmed with business that it was but seldom that he could devote two consecutive hours to his task, and, if he did, they were mostly borrowed from his sleepless nights. “Accordingly, the Memoirs are composed of a multitude of fragments of different length, whose connection is but slight, and, in many cases, merely arbitrary. The first book, his life previous to his elevation to the Papacy, is the only one which is more than a rough draft. He often made his secretaries write down the events of the few preceding days, both personal and political, adding historical or geographical matter culled from the treasures of his memory, or from his collections of extracts. Here and there unconnected episodes are introduced”. The narrative proceeds from day to day like a journal, “and only ceases with the commencement of his last illness”. Pius II was well aware of the defects necessarily incidental to a work composed in this manner, and Campano was entrusted with the duty of removing them. It was well for posterity that the Court Poet did not expend much labour on the task.

Delicate and sympathetic observation of men and things, sound judgment, a youthful freshness of perception and description, are merits universally conceded to this remarkable work. If it is not exempt from the faults which characterize the historical writings of the time, and of Memoirs in general, it still remains a highly valuable authority. The narrative in its details may often fail in accuracy and impartiality; but from this, as from everything written by this gifted man, we carry away a “vivid and personal impression, which has a value of its own quite as real as that of historical documents”. The unprejudiced reader of the geographical and historical works produced by Pius II during the period of his Pontificate will not fail to agree with the verdict of a non-Catholic writer, who declares that they furnish ample testimony of the genuine love of art and learning, and the noble aspirations by which he was animated.

CHAPTER II. The Eastern Question and the Congress at Mantua. 1459-60.