Pius II (1405–1464)

views updated May 17 2018

Pius II (1405–1464)

Pope from 1458 to 1464, a determined opponent of the conciliar movement and the Ottoman Turks. Born as Eneo Piccolomini in Corsignano, in Tuscany, he was the son of a poor noble, Silvio de Piccolomini. He attended the University of Siena and in Florence, where he learned classical languages and literature. While later studying law in Siena, a bishop invited him to join him at the Council of Basel, where he remained for several years. He served several bishops as a secretary and by 1435 was working for Cardinal Albergati, who sent him on a secret diplomatic mission to Scotland. On returning to the city of Basel, he won a seat on the council, which was negotiating to end the schism in the church, and won appointment to several ceremonial posts. His enjoyment of life's more sensual pleasures prevented him from taking the vows of the clergy, however. He favored study of the classics and writing poetry, and in 1442 was named an official poet laureate by Emperor Frederick III, who also appointed him to a position at the imperial court in Vienna. Piccolomini wrote novels, verse, and plays, but in search of a more secure life he finally agreed to join the church.

In 1445 Piccolomini traveled to Rome and in the next year was ordained as a deacon. He was appointed as the bishop of Trieste in 1447 and in 1450 bishop of Siena. Frederick sent him on important diplomatic missions, while Pope Calixtus III also rewarded his service with an appointment as a cardinal in 1456. Piccolomini used his appointments to gather benefices—profitable estates and property—and soon grew wealthy.

In 1458, he succeeded Calixtus III as pope, taking the name of Pius after the phrase “pius Aeneas” in the poetry of Virgil. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, he was determined to face down the threat of invasion of Europe by the Ottoman Turks. In 1459, the first year of his reign, he summoned the rulers of Europe to a congress in Mantua to plan a campaign against the Turks. The princes gathered at the congress were reluctant to coordinate their forces, however, and Pius's attempt to gather armies and money for a campaign against the Turks came to nothing. Pius believed the councils at Basel and elsewhere had contributed to a decline in the authority of the Papacy, and became a powerful advocate against the conciliar movement. He issued the bull Execrabilis in 1460 that condemned the councils and proclaimed that anyone appealing to a council as an authority higher than the pope would be excommunicated from the church.

Pius still was determined to fight the Turks, personally if necessary. He gathered an army of crusaders and led them across the mountains of central Italy to the port of Ancona, on the Adriatic Sea. Already ill and his body weakened through the many years of sensual pleasures before he joined the church, he died in Ancona before the crusade could set out.

See Also: Council of Basel; Fall of Constantinople

The Renaissance

Pius II

views updated Jun 08 2018

Pius II

Pius II (1405-1464) was pope from 1458 to 1464. He is remarkable for the contrast between his early life as a writer and poet of the Renaissance and his later life as a conservative pope.

Pius II was born Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini (often in Latin, Aeneas Sylvius) at Corsigniano, Italy. He did not take Holy Orders until the age of 41, having spent most of his life enjoying a worldly existence as a writer of profane literature and as secretary to many prominent men. Piccolomini spent many years at the Council of Basel and helped elect the antipope Felix V. In 1442 he met Emperor Frederick III, who created him poet laureate and made him his private secretary. In 1445 Piccolomini was converted from the disorderly life he had been leading and made his peace with the orthodox ranks of the Church. Pope Nicholas V made him bishop of Trieste in 1447 and of Siena in 1449, and he became a cardinal in 1456. On Aug. 19, 1458, he was elected pope, taking the name Pius II in honor of the "pius Aeneas" of the Roman poet Virgil.

Pius II's character now changed rather dramatically. His supporters had expected him to be a patron of the arts, but he chose instead to be a medieval pope, completely out of step with his times. Throughout his pontificate his main concern was to organize a crusade against the Turks, who had captured Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire, in 1453. This preoccupation made him neglect more practical matters, notably the settlement of the Hussite problem, which quarrel he continued with the Bohemians led by George of Podebrad, and French aggression in Italy. Formerly a skilled diplomat, Pius II handled these problems badly. His papal conservatism is shown by his bull Execrabilis (1460), which declared heretical the idea that a general council of the Church is superior to the pope. With this bull he helped to kill the conciliar movement, which had attempted urgent reforms in the Church.

In June 1464 Pius II took the cross and set out on a crusade against the Turks. He had almost no support, and he probably hoped that other princes would be shamed into following him. Pius II became ill and died at Ancona on Aug. 15, 1464. Although his writings lack depth of conviction, he had considerable charm both as an artist and as a person; and this charm may have accounted for his rise to prominence. Deep conviction came to him only after he had assumed the responsibilities of the papacy, and although his pontificate may be justly criticized as an anachronism, his thwarted crusade of 1464 testifies to his courage and to his devotion to duty. He had changed from a lighthearted young man to a dedicated religious leader, but unfortunately his conception of papal duty belonged to a vanished era.