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^NEAS  SILVIUS 


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^ISTEAS    SILVIUS 

(ENEA  SILVIO  DE'  PICCOLOMINI— PIUS  II.) 

ORATOR,  MAN  OF  LETTERS 
STATESMAN,  AND  POPE 


BY 


WILLIAM    BOULTING 

AUTHOR  OP  'TASSO  AND  HIS  TIMES,'    '  SISMONDl'S  HISTORY  OP 
THE  ITALIAN  REPUBLICS,   COMPLETELY  RE-CAST.' 


ILLUSTRATED 


LONDON 
ARCHIBALD  CONSTABLE  AND  CO.,  LTD. 

10  OKANGE  STREET,  LEICESTER  SQUARE 
1908 


s 


m 


TO  PROFESSOR  JAMES  SULLY,  M.A.,  LL.D, 

ETC. 

My  dear  Sully, — Years  have  passed  since  you  first 
held  out  to  me  the  helpful  hand  of  your  friendship, 
and  I  have  long  been  anxious  to  show  you  how  I 
value  it.  So  I  venture  to  ofier  you  this  little  study 
as  a  mark  of  admiration  and  deep  regard.  Should 
its  quality  prove  very  defective,  at  least  the  senti- 
ment which  accompanies  the  volume  is  sincere. 
You,  as  well  as  I,  are  interested  in  the  great  historic 
forces  of  the  fifteenth  century  ;  you,  as  well  as  I,  have 
been  fascinated  by  the  personality  of -^neas  Silvius, 
and  have  found  it  very  complex  and  by  no  means 
easy  to  understand. 

It  seemed  to  me,  if  I  may  dare  say  so,  that  bias,  of 
one  kind  or  another,  affected  the  judgement  of  more 
than  one  great  historian.  I  found  the  laborious 
Voigt  unfair  and  severe ;  Gregorovius  appeared 
somewhat  harsh;  I  was  not  quite  satisfied  that 
Weiss  and  Pastor,  or  even  the  statesmanlike  and 
sympathetic  Creighton,  were  not  led  a  little  astray 
by  prejudices.  So  I  had  the  temerity  to  try  my 
own  hand.     Perhaps,  thought  I,  to  be  unaffected  by 


vi  tENEAS  silvius 

Protestant  or  Catholic  prepossessions  may  be  no 
disadvantage;  a  very  compassionate  tolerance  for 
human  frailty  may  not  prove  wholly  a  defect.  I 
tried  to  find  out  what  manner  of  fellow- creature  this 
Piccolomini  was,  and  I  hope  that  fulness  of  sympathy 
may,  in  some  measure,  make  up  for  thinness  in 
scholarship.  Since  you  are  so  keen  a  huntsman  after 
the  doublings  of  character,  I  am  sure  you  will  not 
fail  to  be  interested  wherever  I  may  have  hit  on 
success,  while  your  quick  sense  of  humour  will,  per- 
haps, keep  you  amused  where  I  have  failed. — Believe 
me,  ever  your  attached  and  grateful  friend. 

William  Boulting. 
Rome,  1908. 

P.S. — I  regret  that  I  could  not  find  a  really 
satisfactory  portrait  of  Pius  ii.  The  well-executed 
medal  at  Milan,  by  Andrea  Guazzalotti,  official 
medal-designer  to  the  Popes,  is  somewhat  worn,  and 
a  reproduction  of  it  would  suffer  the  disadvantage 
of  being  derived  from  the  cast  of  a  cast.  After 
Pius's  death,  Guazzalotti  struck  another  medal,  the 
obverse  of  which  is  suggestive  of  burlesque,  although 
Campano,  in  extravagant  verse,  affected  to  admire  it. 
The  features  in  Giovanni  di  Paolo's  Incoronazione  di 
Papa  Pio  IL,  now  preserved  in  the  Archivio  di  Stato 
di  Siena,  are  blurred  by  Time. 


PKEFATOEY  LETTER 


Vll 


Bernardino  Pinturicchio  was  employed  by  Cardinal 
Francesco  Piccolomini  (Pope  Pius  iii.),  thirty-eight 
years  after  the  death  of  his  uncle,  to  paint  incidents 
in  his  life.  Most  of  these  frescoes,  which,  still  fresh 
and  splendid,  adorn  the  great  library  of  the  Duomo 
of  Siena,  are  reproduced  in  this  volume.  The  por- 
traiture of  the  earlier  scenes  is  fanciful  enough,  but 
the  effigies  of  ^neas  as  Pope  bear,  in  essential 
lineaments,  a  resemblance  to  the  aforenamed  portraits 
that  makes  me  regard  them  as  tolerably  trust- 
worthy likenesses  of  the  man  they  profess  to  re- 
present. Pius  III.,  in  this  series,  bears  a  strong 
family  resemblance  to  his  uncle. 

W.  B. 


NOTE 

I  HAVE  to  acknowledge  my  obligation,  for  services 
of  diflferent  kinds,  generously  rendered  me,  to 
Miss  Frances  Whitehead ;  J.  M.  Rigg,  M.A., 
A.  K  Dryhurst,  Ed.  Hutton,  and  C.  L.  Taylor, 
Esquires,  of  London;  and  to  Wm.  Bliss,  M.A., 
Archibald  Constable,  LL.D.,  of  Edinburgh,  and  the 
Very  Eeverend  Father  Corney,  O.S.B.,  of  Rome. 
I  have  also  to  express  my  gratitude  to  the  officials 
of  various  Italian  Libraries  for  their  unfailing 
courtesy,  and  especially  to  Monsignor  Wenzel  and 
his  coadjutors  at  the  Secret  Archives  of  the  Vatican 
for  the  facilities  they  so  freely  gave. 

W.  B. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  BIRTH  AND  PARENTAGE — EARLY  YEARS  .  .  1 

II.  THE     CHURCH,     THE     STATE,      SCHISMS,     HERESIES, 

AND  COUNCILS 22 

III.  THE     FIRST      YEARS      OF     THE     COUNCIL — ^NEAS 

ARRIVES   AT  BASEL  —  HIS   EARLY  EMPLOYMENT 

THERE 41 

IV.  CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES              .           .  50 
V.  .ENEAS  AT  BASEL — THE  COUNCIL  AND  THE  POPE    .  69 

VL   iENEAS  AT  BASEL— THE  SCHISM       ....  84 
VII.   iENEAS   CROWNED  AS   POET— THE    IMPERIAL  CHAN- 
CELLERY—INNER STRIFE 110 

VIII.   ^NEAS  AND  THE  RESTORATION  OF  GERMAN  OBEDI- 
ENCE  TO   EUGENIUS— HE   ENTERS  THE  CHURCH        151 
IX.   iENEAS    AS    BISHOP     AND     AMBASSADOR  :     AS    CON- 
FIDENTIAL    ADVISER     OF     THE     CROWN  —  THE 
CORONATION  AND  MARRIAGE  OF  FREDERICK  III.         176 
X.   iENEAS     AS     PAPAL     AND     IMPERIAL     AGENT — THE 

EASTERN  PERIL 198 

XI.   iENEAS  AT  ROME:  iENEAS  AS  MAN   OF  LETTERS       .         212 
XII.   .ENEAS  AS  CARDINAL 224 

XIII.  THE  ELECTION  TO  THE  PAPACY — THE   CORONATION 

OF  PIUS  II 235 

XIV.  THE  JOURNEY  TO   MANTUA 248 

U 


X  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XV.   THE  CONGRESS  OF  MANTUA 264 

XVI.  THE  RETURN   FROM  MANTUA — TROUBLES  AT   ROME  285 

XVII.   THE  PAPACY  AND  FOREIGN  POWERS.       .           .           .  297 
XVIII.   THE  PRIVATE   LIFE  OF  THE  POPE    .                      .           .317 
XIX.   THE      CARDINALS  —  RELIGIOUS     CEREMONIES     AND 

GOVERNMENT 332 

XX.   PIUS  AND  THE  CRUSADE 338 

XXI.  THE  JOURNEY  TO  ANCONA — DEATH  OF  PIUS              .  352 

INDEX 359 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  MARRIAGE  OF  FREDERICK  III.   WITH  LEONORA  OF 

PORTUGAL Frontispiece 

.ENEAS  siLVius  SETS  OUT  FOR  BASEL   .         .       facing  page      18 

iENEAS  SILVIUS  DISCHARGES  HIMSELF  OF  HIS 

MISSION  TO  JAMES  OF  SCOTLAND    .  .  „  60 

.ENEAS  RECEIVING  THE  POET'S  CROWN  FROM 

FREDERICK  III „  112 

iENEAS     SILVIUS    AT    THE     FEET    OF     POPE 

EUGENIUS  IV „  156 

.ENEAS  SILVIUS  IS  CREATED  A  CARDINAL  BY 

CALIXTUS  III „  224 

.ENEAS     SILVIUS,     CROWNED      AS      PIUS     II., 

BESTOWS  HIS  BLESSING  ...  „  246 

PIUS     II.    PRESIDES    AT    THE    CONGRESS    OF 

MANTUA „  270 

CARDINAL  PICCOLOMINI,  NEPHEW  OF  PIUS  II., 

IS   CROWNED  POPE  AS  PIUS   III.       .  .  „  288 

PIUS  II.  CANONISES  ST.  CATHERINE  OF  SIENA  „  336 

PIUS  II.   IS  BORNE  TO  ANCONA        ...  „  352 


^^ 


CHAPTER   I 

BIRTH  AND   PARENTAGE — EARLY   YEARS 

In  Central  Tuscany,  on  the  ridge  of  three  conjoined 
hills  that  break  on  all  sides  into  steep  declivities,  lies 
Siena,  the  capital,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  of  a  famous 
republic.  The  surrounding  landscape  is  soft  and  set 
with  vineyards ;  the  city  is  girdled  by  defiant  walls 
that  belie  the  tranquil  grace  of  the  buildings  they 
enclose.  The  spectacle  of  the  fair  city,  *  sitting  aloft 
like  a  noble  maiden  in  armour,'  gives  the  instructed 
traveller  an  impassioned  moment,  for  the  beauty  that 
takes  the  eye  is  matched  by  memories  that  crowd  the 
brain.  The  portals  still  bear  the  legend  *  Siena 
opens  her  heart  to  thee  more  widely  than  her  gates ' ; 
the  palace  of  government  is  still  adorned  with  ancient 
frescoes  that  set  forth  the  blessings  of  Wisdom  and 
Justice  and  Concord ;  but  the  city  was  ever  one,  as 
Comines  said,  'qui  se  gouverne  plus  foUement  que 
ville  d'ltalie,'  and  Varchi  justly  spoke  of  it  as  'a  con- 
fused muddle  of  separate  republics  rather  than  a 
well-ordered  state.'  With  the  possible  exception  of 
Rome  and  Perugia,  it  was  the  most  turbulent  of 
Italian  cities,  and  it  retained,  to  a  late  date,  the 
characteristics  of  the  Italian  commune.  A  mass  of 
political  and  social  organisations,  perpetually  at  war, 
were  held  together  only  by  the  ties  of  business  and 


2  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

by  a  common  attachment  to  the  same  city.  There 
was  a  central  government,  it  is  true,  but  it  was 
dominated  by  a  party  and  lasted  only  until  one  of  the 
many  factions  it  affected  to  control  grew  strong 
enough  to  overthrow  it.  The  Sienese  were  an  ener- 
getic, proud,  sensitive,  and  passionate  people,  but  for 
three  successive  generations,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
thirteenth  and  earlier  half  of  the  fourteenth  centuries, 
they  submitted  to  be  guided  in  their  policy,  and  they 
saw  their  dominion  extended  and  their  wealth  in- 
creased, by  a  haughty  but  capable  race  of  merchant- 
nobles.  But  the  rule  of  these  '  gentiluomini '  was 
weakened  by  perpetual  fighting  among  themselves ; 
trouble  arose  from  the  claims  of  new  men  and  of  the 
smaller  traders,  and  even  the  lower  classes  grasped 
the  reins  of  government  for  a  time.  The  *gentil- 
uomini '  engaged  in  constant  conspiracy  to  regain 
their  lost  power,  and  in  1385  they  were  exiled  from 
the  city. 

Among  the  exiles  were  the  Piccolomini,  at  this 
time  an  impoverished  family.  They  cherished  the 
tradition  that,  unlike  most  of  the  nobles  of  Italy, 
they  were  descended,  not  from  barbarian  conquerors, 
but  from  ancestors  of  Latin  race.  They  had  lost 
most  of  their  fiefs,  but  they  still  owned  the  greater 
part  of  the  village  or  townlet  of  Corsignano,  a  day's 
journey  to  the  south  of  the  city.  Here  Enea  Silvio, 
the  grandfather  of  the  future  Pope,  contrived  to 
maintain  some  show  of  rank.  But  he  died  in  early 
manhood,  and  his  posthumous  son  Silvio,  left  to 
the  stewardship  of  guardians,  found,  when  he  grew 
up,  that  law-suits  and  bad  management  had  very 
much  decreased  his  heritage.      His  education  had 


I 


BIETH  AND  PARENTAGE  8 

been  so  far  attended  to  that  he  possessed  some  tinc- 
ture of  letters,  but  it  was  not  enough  to  gain  him 
employment.  So  he  took  service  as  a  soldier  of 
fortune  under  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti,  the  ambitious 
and  intriguing  Lord  of  Milan.  His  early  life  was 
irregular ;  ^  he  made  no  great  success  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  he  was  wanting,  either  in  the  supple  arts  of 
a  courtier,  or  in  the  ability  that  the  Visconti  de- 
manded of  their  agents.  He  returned  to  Corsignano 
to  till  what  remained  to  him  of  the  paternal  land, 
and  vented  his  spleen  by  dispensing  contemptuous 
remarks  on  the  buffoons  that  haunted  the  Ducal 
Court.  He  brought  a  certain  Vittoria  of  the  House 
of  Forteguerra,  a  young  Sienese  lady,  as  noble  and 
as  poor  as  himself,  to  the  little  homestead  that  one 
may  still  see  standing  on  the  hillside.  He  busily 
cultivated  his  few  acres,  and  devoted  his  leisure  to 
the  Muses.  On  October  18,  1405,  a  son,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  memoir,  was  born  to  him.  The  child  was 
baptized  by  the  names  Enea  Silvio,  after  his  grand- 
father, to  which  was  added  Bartolomeo,  but  the  last 
name  he  dropped.  Enea  Silvio,  best  known  in 
literature  under  the  Latinised  form  ^neas  Silvius, 
soon  had  a  large  company  of  brothers  and  sisters, 
several  of  them  being  twins.  While  they  endowed 
the  little  homestead  with  family  love,  they  increased 
the  poverty  and  anxiety  that  beset  it. 

Corsignano  is  a  pleasant  place.  The  scenery  is  not 
remarkable,  but  great  woods  of  oak  lie  between  it 
and  Montepulciano,  and  chestnut  forests  invest  the 
hills  hard  by.  M.  Amiata,  mantled  in  white  until 
quite   late  in  the  spring,  and  the  singular  cliffs  of 

1  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  generatorerrij  September  20, 1443. 


4  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

Rodocofani  can  be  seen  from  the  higher  ground. 
There  was  enough  to  awaken  the  susceptibiHties  of  a 
lad  who  became,  of  all  the  men  of  his  time,  a  wooer  of 
Nature  and  who,  when  he  assumed  the  Tiara,  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  could  shake  off  the  cere- 
monies of  Court,  put  aside  for  a  time  the  responsi- 
bilities of  his  great  office,  and,  retiring  to  some  silent 
Tuscan  slope,  liberate  his  soul  as  he  gazed  over  vast, 
beautiful  spaces,  find  interest  in  picking  out  the 
distant  towers  of  cities  that  have  memories,  and 
seek  for  peace  in  the  shelter  of  noble  forest-trees  that 
cast  cool,  grateful  shadows  over  the  bubbling  brook. 
His  life  as  a  child  was  that  of  the  Tuscan  peasant- 
lad  of  to-day.  He  would  follow  the  snow-white 
bufialoes  as  they  tugged  at  the  classic  plough  of  hard 
wood,  tipped  with  iron,  watch  the  eye  of  his  father 
fixed  on  the  furrow,  and  the  skilful  hand  with  which 
he  made  his  course,  marvel  at  the  deft,  graceful  swing 
of  the  sower,  and  laugh  at  the  cheerful,  dancing  move- 
ment of  the  feet  as  men  trod  the  vintage.  And  in 
winter  the  children  would  squeeze  together  round 
the  focolare  and  listen  to  tales  of  old  Siena  and  of 
camps  in  Lombardy.  After  winter  came  a  yearly 
miracle,  for  the  skeletons  of  the  woods  sprang  into  life, 
and  a  minute  of  picking  would  give  more  violets  than 
the  arms  could  hold.  At  the  vintage,  then,  as  to-day, 
there  would  be  the  merry  festa  and  the  singing  of 
sweet,  simple  songs. 

The  little  Piccolomini  played  with  each  other  and 
with  those  children  of  the  village  that  were  their 
equals  in  rank.  Once,  it  is  said,  they  played  at  Pope- 
making,  and,  strange  augury,  the  little  Enea  was 
chosen  for  the  high  office   and  the  other  children 


BIRTH  AND  PARENTAGE  5 

kissed  his  feet.  He  encountered  and  escaped  the  usual 
perils  of  a  country-lad.  When  he  was  three  years  old 
he  fell  from  a  high  wall  on  to  a  stone,  and  his  scalp 
was  terribly  lacerated;  but  one  Niccolo  Monticuli, 
*"a  doctor  without  letters,"  as  folk  call  empirics, 
cured  him  with  *  water- dressing,  though  the  case 
seemed  without  hope,'  but  holy  water  was  used. 
And  when  he  was  eight  a  bull  tossed  him  high  in 
the  air.^ 

At  a  very  early  age  he  had  to  help  both  parents  in 
farm-work,  since  there  were  so  many  mouths  to  be 
fed.  Yet  his  father  found  time  to  give  the  bright, 
eager  lad  such  scholarship  as  he  himself  possessed. 
The  rudiments  Enea  had  already  acquired  from  a 
young  priest.  Of  all  the  sixteen  children  of  Silvio 
and  Vittoria,  only  two,  Laodamia  and  Caterina,  lived 
to  see  Enea's  rapid  advancement  in  the  Church. 
Pestilence  almost  decimated  this  family,  as  it  did 
most  families  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

Enea  must  have  proved  himself  a  lad  of  parts,  for 
an  uncle  by  marriage,  one  Niccolb  LoUi,  a  man  of 
some  position  in  Siena,  offered  to  receive  him  into  his 
family,  and  other  relatives  gave  him  help  that  he 
might  study  at  Siena.  So  the  young  scholar  betook 
himself,  through  lanes,  to  the  winding  high-road  that 
lay  not  so  very  far  off,  and  passing,  belike,  the 
pilgrims  of  many  a  far-off  country,  all  bound  for  Rome, 
arrived  at  Siena  full  of  high  hope  and  the  vague, 
flattering  expectations  of  youth,  to  find  himself  ill- 
prepared  to  enter  even  so  very  poor  a  school  of  letters 
as  Siena  had  become.  The  plebeian  government  of 
the  republic  was  utilitarian  in  its  views  and  parsi- 

1  Pii  11.  Comment. i  I.  1. 


6  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

monious  in  its  rewards,  and  scholars  forsook  Siena  for 
the  gold  that  was  showered  on  them  at  the  courts  of 
liberal  princes.  Enthusiasm  for  Greek,  the  most 
important  influence  in  the  intellectual  development 
of  the  time,  had  not  reached  Siena  :  teachers  of  Greek 
demanded  high  fees,  and  manuscripts  in  that  language 
were  costly  and  difficult  to  acquire,  and  indeed  the 
Byzantines  were  held  in  contempt.  Italian  pride  in 
the  literature  and  traditions  of  Rome  held  little  sway 
in  Siena  at  this  period.^  So  Piccolomini  learned  no 
Greek,  nor  did  he  receive  first-class  tuition  in  Latin  ; 
nor  did  he  apply  himself  too  closely  to  the  lucrative 
study  of  law,  though  Siena  had  a  good  reputation  for 
that  subject,  and  it  was  the  gate  easiest  to  force  and 
most  likely  to  yield  reward.  But,  like  most  young 
men  of  intellectual  individuality,  he  was  his  own  best 
teacher.  His  powers  grew  rather  through  converse 
with  his  companions  than  by  the  discipline  of  the 
schools.  His  most  intimate  friend  was  Mariano  de' 
Sozzini,  a  distinguished  member  of  a  distinguished 
race,  many  of  whom  cared  for  things  of  the  mind, 
and  two  of  whom  finally  gave  their  family  name 
to  a  remarkable  sect  (the  Socinians).  Sozzini  was  a 
few  years  older  than  Piccolomini,  and  had  already 
gained  renown.  A  wife  and  other  family  obliga- 
tions alone  held  him  to  Siena  and  its  university. 
His  mind  was  not,  perhaps,  of  the  highest  order,  but 
he  was  of  that  breed  of  universal  men  that  the 
Renaissance  produced.  He  was  short  of  stature,  but 
an  all-round  athlete,  an  accomplished  dancer,  and 
a  refined  libertine.  As  a  jurist  he  was  really  great ; 
he  taught  Canon  law  so  well  that  scholars  flocked 

*  Voigt,  Ema  Silvio  de^  Piccolomini  als  Fapst  Pius  II.    Erster  Band,  8. 


EARLY  YEARS  7 

across  the  Alps  to  this  second-rate  university  to  sit  at 
his  feet.  He  knew  some  Philosophy,  Mathematics, 
Astrology,  Greek,  and  had  dabbled  in  Medicine ;  the 
fathers  of  the  State  consulted  him  on  grave,  political 
questions,  but  he  could  turn  from  a  state-paper  to 
write  an  agreeable  letter  or  to  paint.  He  could 
endow  even  law  with  interest  for  everybody  but 
JEneas.  Yet  the  two  became  firm  friends,  and  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  young  man  found  the 
elder  an  inspiring  influence.^  Another  associate  was 
Beccadelli,  otherwise  called  Panormita,  after  his  birth- 
place, Palermo,^  a  man  who  became  a  magnificent 
humanist,  yet  who  was  the  most  corrupt  of  a  corrupt 
tribe  of  scholars ;  one  who  prostituted  great  powers 
in  investing  the  worst  sexual  sins  of  the  ancients 
with  voluptuous  grace,  and  whose  Hermaphroditus 
is,  as  the  title  would  indicate,  dedicated  to  obscenity. 
If  Piccolomini  eschewed  law,  he  stole  hours  from 
the  night  to  read  the  classics,  but  he  had  come  to 
Siena  too  ill-prepared  and  was  too  ill-taught  there  to 
achieve  real  scholarship.  His  poverty  prevented  him 
from  purchasing  manuscripts,  so  he  borrowed  the 
books  of  others  and  copied  them  out.  His  taste 
directed  him  to  the  study  of  Cicero,  Horace,  and  the 
amatory  poets ;  of  other  authors  he  had  little  know- 
ledge. He  composed  quite  as  much  as  he  read  :  the 
cacoethes  scrihendi  was  upon  him,  and  he  practised 
writing  historical  descriptions  and  orations  and 
letters  in  the  style  of  Cicero.  Latin  was  the  way 
to  advancement  in  days  when  that  language  was 
universally  employed  by  princes,    of  no   very  high 

*  jEn.  Sil.,  Comment  in  Anton.  Panorm..,  iii.  27  ;  De  vir.  clar.y  xviii. 

*  Ma.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Alphonsum  reg.y  January  27,  1454. 


8 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


education,  in  their  state  affairs.  They  were  com-j 
pelled  to  rely  on  diplomatists  who  were  good  Latin] 
scholars.  All  men  were  then  enthusiastic  over  the 
new  discoveries  concerning  ancient  culture;  they 
attempted  to  reproduce  it ;  the  standard  of  elegant 
Latinity  went  up,  and  the  cultivated  agents  of 
princes  conquered  or  were  conquered  by  the  eloquent 
presentation  of  a  case,  or  even  by  the  mere  felicity  of 
a  phrase. 

Piccolomini  poured  forth  much  verse,  too,  both  in 
Latin  and  the  vernacular,  most  of  it  being  such 
sensuous  stuff  as  one  under  the  vernal  impulse  of 
early  manhood,  and  feeding  on  the  amatory  poets  of 
antiquity,  would  naturally  write — imitations  of  Horace 
and  Ovid  and  Petrarch  ;  but  these  verses  were  highly 
thought  of  by  his  contemporaries.  He  was  a  deft 
imitator  rather  than  a  true  poet ;  the  lines  were 
hammered  out  with  skill;  they  never  came  singing 
into  his  brain ;  but  these  juvenile  exercises  at  least 
did  him  a  service  :  they  provided  him  with  a  large 
vocabulary  and  made  him  a  facile  and  lively  writer  of 
prose. 

Besides  these  agreeable  diversions  from  severer 
studies,  he  enjoyed  much  joyous  social  intercourse 
with  gifted  men,  most  of  them  older  than  himself,  but 
of  sparkling  wit  and  bubbling  over  with  levity.  His 
life  was  the  irregular  one  of  the  mediaeval  student ; 
the  ladies  of  Siena,  too,  were  not  harsh ;  yet,  what- 
ever his  frailties  may  have  been,  he  was  guiltless  of 
hypocrisy  concerning  them,  and  there  was  no  coarse 
debauchery,  for  the  Italian  of  the  period  invested 
even  vice  with  grace  and  imagination,  and  was  in- 
capable of  doing  otherwise. 


EARLY  YEARS  9 

-^neas  had  a  nature  open  to  every  impression,  alive 
to  all  that  may  affect  a  man,  swayed  in  every  direc- 
tion by  all  the  allurements  of  sense  and  the  stimula- 
tions of  intelligence.  Such  youth  often  grows  into 
weak,  ineffective  manhood ;  but  there  are  also  rich, 
susceptible  natures  whose  pollutions  settle  like  the 
lees  of  a  noble  vintage  and  who  are  ultimately  the 
richer,  and  not  the  poorer,  for  the  infirmities  that 
have  beset  them.  They  are  more  capable  than 
others  of  comprehending  human  weakness,  readier  in 
compassion,  juster  in  their  estimates  of  men  and  life. 
They  never  become  the  heroes  of  a  single  idea,  and 
therefore  they  never  move  the  world  as  does  the  man 
whose  whole  being  is  inspired  by  one  enthusiasm ; 
they  never  become  'tigers  of  wrath,'  but  always 
remain  as  the  more  companionable,  if  less  effective, 
*  horses  of  instruction.' 

There  came  to  Siena  in  the  course  of  his  duty  the 
famous  missioner,  Bernardino,  canonised  soon  after 
his  death  by  the  Church.  Bernardino  was  a  native 
of  the  city ;  he  was  now  forty-five  years  of  age. 
Contemporaries  bear  witness  to  his  scholarship,  but 
appear  to  have  been  most  impressed  by  the  over- 
whelming power  of  his  eloquence.  He  could  induce 
the  fierce  factions  of  Italy  to  renounce  their  enmities, 
and  all  who  listened  to  him  repented  of  their  sins. 
Von  Reumont  says  of  him  that  '  he  was  one  of  those 
men  who  work  by  the  fire  of  love,  enkindling  other 
hearts  by  the  glow  of  their  own.' 

The  vast  market-place  was  crowded  with  men, 
women,  and  children,  assembled  to  hear  the  preacher. 
A  great  thunderstorm  threatened  to  shake  the  city, 
but  Bernardino  prayed,  and,  lo !  the  heavens  were 


10  iENEAS  SILYIUS 

still.  It  is  characteristic  of  iEneas  that  he  was  not 
ready  to  grant  this  to  be  a  miracle.^  He  never  ques- 
tioned the  theological  belief  of  his  time,  but  his 
temperament  was  sceptical,  none  the  less.  *  A  miracle 
should  always  be  mistrusted,'  so  he  wrote  in  his 
Commentaries  on  Panormitanus ;  it  was  his  perma- 
nent conviction. 

Then  the  great  preacher  began.  Cards  and  dice 
and  the  fripperies  of  fashion  were  cast  into  the  flames 
at  his  burning  words ;  the  heirs  of  bitter  vendetta 
kissed  each  other  and  vowed  brotherhood  with 
tears. 

Bernardino  struck  a  deep  chord  in  ^neas's  soul. 
The  student  went  to  hear  him  again  and  again.  He 
was  so  deeply  impressed  that  he  desired  to  devote 
his  own  life  to  the  service  of  God.  His  friends  tried 
hard  to  dissuade  him,  for  they  knew  him  better  than 
he  knew  himself  Asceticism  was  not  in  ^Eneas's 
nature.  At  the  end  of  his  days,  when  he  occupied 
the  Papal  throne,  he  visited  a  beautiful  monastery,^ 
and  he  wrote  of  the  happiness  of  those  who  may  see 
it  but  are  not  compelled  to  remain.  But  nothing 
would  prevent  him  from  consulting  Bernardino,  who 
had  gone  on  to  Rome,  and  he  took  the  long, 
painful  way  on  foot.  Bernardino  must  have  possessed 
keen  insight  into  character.  He  strongly  dissuaded 
the  young  pilgrim  from  carrying  out  his  intention, 
while  his  wise  words  of  comfort  brought  balm  to  the 
tortured  spirit.^  This  mission  of  the  saint  to  Siena 
awoke  religious  sensibilities  that  became  dormant 
again ;  but  early  impressions,  though  they  may  be 

^  Voigt,  loc.  cit.  p.  15.  2  Monte  Oliveto,  near  Siena. 

3  uEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Lav/rent.  Leonard.^  September  13,  1445. 


EARLY  YEARS 

obscured  for  a  season,  have  wondrous  vitality.  It 
seems  to  us  probable  that,  when  the  insurgent  stress 
of  impulse  had  abated,  words  neglected  and  forgotten 
through  many  years  came  at  last  to  fruition,  and  the 
really  vital  principles  of  a  strangely  manifold  nature 
stood  revealed. 

^neas  was  but  twenty,  and  he  soon  plunged  once 
again  into  the  full  stream  of  life.  His  nature  was 
quick,  eager,  fertile,  and  the  world  in  which  he  found 
himself  was  quick,  eager,  fertile  too.  The  activities 
of  all  Italy  were  concentrated  on  the  present,  and  on 
all  things  connected  with  the  present,  and,  therefore, 
they  were  concerned  with  the  wonderful  past.  The  soil 
of  the  country  bore  the  weight  of  many  monuments 
of  ancient  greatness ;  the  plough  almost  daily  turned 
up  some  precious,  beautiful  relic  of  antiquity ;  the 
very  dust  under  -^neas's  foot  was  the  dust  of  an 
heroic  ancestry.  The  obscurest  convent  might  be 
found  to  hoard  some  aged  wreck  of  wisdom,  some 
forgotten  lore  that  was  the  instruction  of  centuries 
long  passed  into  oblivion.  Witnesses  to  the  might 
and  glory  of  Rome  were  ever  before  the  eyes  of  her 
sons  and  daughters  ;  the  echoes  of  her  deep  voice 
once  again  broke  back  from  every  storied  hillside  and 
rang  down  each  memorable  valley,  the  very  air  bore 
the  music  of  great  traditions.  Caesar  still  dwelt 
beyond  the  northern  snows ;  he  exercised  no  oppres- 
sive authority  ;  he  had  become  a  welcome  name  that 
only  echoed  the  ancient  glory.  The  Papacy  was 
content  to  accept  the  forms  of  punctilious  respect  as 
a  substitute  for  the  fervency  of  religious  reverence, 
and  few  men  vexed  their  souls  with  questions  not 
directly  connected  with  the  vitality  or  the  beauty 


12 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


of  outward  things.  The  absence  of  the  Papacy  at 
Avignon  had  given  the  Renaissance  a  free  hand ;  and, 
in  the  main,  its  spirit  was  pagan  and  antagonistic  to 
Christian  ideals.  Men  became  sincerely  interested 
in  the  brave  show  of  this  world  only.  They  held  life 
by  a  tenure  none  too  secure;  everything  was  in 
hazard ;  how  long  enjoyment  might  endure  was  at 
that  time  even  more  uncertain  than  is  usual  in  our 
brief  and  deceptive  life.  Insecurity  in  possession 
invariably  leads  to  a  prodigal  employment  of  all  the 
means  of  present  delight.  Folk  did  not  concern 
themselves  too  closely  with  moral  problems,  and  were 
still  less  disposed  to  be  interested  in  the  subtleties  of 
theological  or  metaphysical  riddles.  But  the  very 
insecurity  of  life  and  fortune  that  augmented  the 
importance  of  the  present  provoked  men's  wit  to 
preserve  these  endowments.  Every  one  became  pos- 
sessed of  an  enhanced  sense  of  the  value  of  life  to 
himself;  and  the  struggle  to  obtain  and  keep  all 
good  things  stimulated  what  is  a  natural  prejudice 
and  impelled  men  to  seek  and  exhaust  all  the 
opulence  that  life  may  be  made  to  yield.  Mere 
physical  gratification  was  tempered  by  reverence  for 
the  rediscovered  wisdom  of  the  Past.  The  dignity 
that  pertained  to  Pagan  sires  conferred  it  on  their 
Christian  sons,  and  there  was  an  essential  fineness  of 
grain  in  the  Italian  that  rendered  him  passionately 
alive  to  every  form  of  grace.  Not  enough  of  the  past 
remained,  however,  to  bind  and  restrict  enterprise. 
Human  society  was  putting  forth  new  leaves  and 
bearing  unexpected  fruitage.  Relieved  from  the 
oppression  of  earnest  religious  belief,  uninhibited  (as 
the  modem  man  is)  by  the  restraints  of  convention, 


EARLY  YEARS  13 

the  mediaeval  man  was  a  natural  creature,  full  of  hot 
emotion  and  strong  impulse.  He  opened  the  gates 
of  the  soul  wide  to  receive  the  distinction  of  letters, 
the  pride  of  learning,  the  seemliness  of  manners,  the 
grace  of  art,  the  splendour  of  heroism,  the  pathos  of 
our  mortality  ;  he  was  alive  even  to  the  nobility  that 
may  reside  in  renunciation  and  the  dignity  that  may 
attend  on  devotion.  But  these  visitants  came  as 
immediate  and  passionate  convictions.  The  passions 
were  tempered  by  self-interest  only ;  otherwise  they 
were  well-nigh  as  free  as  winds  released. 

Four  years  after  the  visit  of  Bernardino  to  Siena, 
the  one  man  of  the  western  world  who  was  a  great 
Greek  scholar  came  to  Florence  to  teach  (a.d.  1429). 
Francesco  Filelfo,  now  thirty- one  years  of  age,  was 
the  talk  of  literary  Italy.  Two  years  before  he  had 
landed  at  Venice,  bringing  a  beautiful  Greek  bride 
with  him  from  Constantinople.  His  mind  was  by 
no  means  remarkable  for  originality,  and  he  was  so 
vastly  vain  that  it  pleased  him  to  take  the  wall  of 
noble  matrons,  while  his  avarice  placed  his  venomous 
pen  at  the  disposal  of  the  highest  paymaster.  But 
he  had  a  genuine  enthusiasm  for  letters,  and  an  un- 
questioned mastery  of  much  of  the  ancient  literature 
of  Greece.  Cardinals  courted,  scholars  flattered  him, 
for  was  he  not  capable  of  conveying  that  immortal 
fame  which  Dante  coveted,  which  had  kept  Virgil 
and  Horace  alive,  being  dead,  and  had  even  now 
restored  Plato  to  his  kingdom  ? 

The  unexhausted  kindness  of  relatives  enabled  our 
poor  student  to  travel  to  Florence.  He  sat  at 
Filelfo's  feet,  and,  if  he  learned  no  Greek,  he  felt  the 
influence  of  that  remarkable  stylist.      He  also  fell 


14  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

under  the  sway  of  Poggio.  His  two  years'  stay  in 
Florence  was  no  small  factor  in  the  development  of 
his  mind,  for  it  brought  him  into  contact  with  the 
ripest  scholars  and  most  cultivated  men  of  the  age. 
But  he  never  became  a  scholar  of  the  first  rank,  nor 
did  he  ever  correspond  with  the  great  humanists  on 
equal  terms,  as  he  did  with  those  of  inferior  standing. 
Yet  Filelfo  thought  so  well  of  him  that,  when,  in 
1431,  his  pupil  went  on  an  academic  tour  to  Milan, 
Padua,  and  Ferrara,  the  Master  gave  him  such  an 
introduction  as  must  have  opened  to  him  the  doors  of 
Aurispa  and  Guarini,  and  a  brilliant  circle  of  men  of 
position,  breeding,' and  high  cultivation.  The  letter 
spoke  of  him  as  *  of  good  birth,  very  dear  to  me,  one 
who  has  not  only  attended  my  lectures  for  two  years, 
but  possesses  a  lively  wit,  a  ready  tongue,  and  a 
taking,  polished  address.'  ^ 

His  relatives  urged  him  to  make  use  of  this  oppor- 
tunity and  secure  some  lucrative  post.  JEneas  pos- 
sessed his  full  share  of  the  unbounded  hopefulness 
and  generous  heedlessness  of  his  years,  though  he 
was  often  in  want  of  money.  His  dependence  on  his 
friends  and  the  requirements  of  his  own  nature  so 
far  influenced  him  that  he  visited  a  famous  jurist  at 
Bologna,  Giovanni  da  Imola.  He  found  him  a  dull 
pedant,  overfed  with  valueless  erudition.^  ^neas 
prized  only  such  intelligence  as  is  alive.  Finally  he 
started  as  a  teacher  at  Siena,  but  he  had  barely 
settled  there  when  war  broke  out.  The  republic  of 
Lucca  stood  in  the  way  of  the  Florentine  merchants, 
who  wanted  a  clear  high-road  to  the  sea,  and  their 

*  Voigt,  loc.  cit.  p.  17,  note  i. 
2  ^n.  Sil.,  De  vir.  clar.^  xix. 


■ 


EAELY  YEARS  15 

designs  caused  a  general  war.  Florence  had  the 
Pope  and  Venice  for  her  allies.  Siena,  already  out- 
stripped by  her  rival,  was  forced  to  take  arms,  allied 
with  Milan  and  Sigismund,  King  of  the  Germans  and 
titular  King  of  Rome.  The  prospects  of  success  as  a 
teacher,  at  a  time  of  all-absorbing  warfare,  were  small 
indeed,  especially  for  one  whose  heart  was  far  away 
in  an  ideal  world  of  poems  and  orations  and  epistles, 
where  the  neatness  of  an  epigram,  not  the  sharpness 
of  a  sword,  determined  victory,  and  the  joy  of  inno- 
cent conquest  was  obtainable,  at  a  flash,  by  a  glowing 
phrase. 

But  one  of  these  curious  accidents  that  combine 
with  necessity  to  mould  human  destiny  launched 
iEneas  into  a  new  sphere.  Henceforth  for  many 
years,  with  a  few  brief  returns  to  his  native  land, 
he  was  to  find  a  shifting  home  among  rude,  alien 
races  across  the  Alps.  The  manner  of  this  great 
change  came  about  through  certain  happenings  in 
Rome. 

For  centuries  the  Eternal  City  had  been  a  centre  of 
disorder.  Barons  of  the  Campagna  occupied  and 
fortified  the  ruins  of  Imperial  Rome,  and  fought  each 
other  for  preponderance.  The  Popes  vainly  en- 
deavoured to  assert  effective  power.  A  tempestuous 
populace,  proud  of  the  Roman  name,  and  dimly  con- 
scious of  their  past  power  and  glory,  endeavoured 
from  time  to  time  to  restore  them,  to  put  an  end  to 
the  encroachments  of  the  Papacy,  and  to  subdue  the 
barons.  But  they  had  little  wealth,  save  what  the 
presence  of  the  Papal  court  and  the  multitude  of 
pilgrims  brought  them.  Easily  swayed  to  opposition, 
they  were  as  fickle  as  they  were  powerless.     They 


16  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

could  neither  live  with  Pope  and  Barons  nor  without 
them.  When  Martin  v.  reached  Rome  (Sept.  1420), 
he  found  his  position  one  of  extreme  difficulty :  it 
demanded  all  the  resolute  persistence  and  self-control 
that  marked  the  man.  The  countryside  swarmed 
with  brigands,  and,* at  first,  he  was  obliged  to  make 
Braccio,  the  great  soldier  of  fortune,  Vicar  of  the 
Church,  and  to  rely  on  him  and  his  army  to  keep 
order  in  the  Papal  possessions.  Martin  was  of  the 
great  family  of  Colonna,  and  he  called  on  his  powerful 
house  for  support ;  he  protected  his  overlordship  of 
the  kingdom  of  Naples  by  obtaining  important  fiefs 
in  that  realm  for  his  brothers ;  and  he  secured  the 
Keys  of  the  States  of  the  Church  by  putting  the  most 
important  fortresses  in  the  hands  of  his  nephews.  He 
allowed  the  corporation  of  Rome  to  retain  juridical 
and  municipal  powers,  but  he  dominated  the  city 
as  its  monarch.  The  Romans  prospered  under  his 
rule,  and  an  unfriendly  biographer  admits  that  *  the 
streets  and  roads  became  secure,  a  thing  unknown 
for  two  hundred  years.'  ^  Prosperity  made  the 
Romans  ready  for  revolt.  The  great  family  of 
Orsini  were  bitter  enemies  of  the  Colonna,  and, 
at  the  death  of  Martin,  the  rival  families  came  to 
open  war. 

Now,  among  the  many  able  servants  of  Martin  was 
a  young  man,  only  a  few  years  older  than  -^neas,  one 
Domenico  Pantagale,  bishop  of  Fermo,  better  known 
as  Capranica,  from  a  rock-fortress  of  that  name. 
Capranica  belonged  to  a  family  that  adhered  to  the 
Colonna;  and,  indeed,  the  fortress  was  one  of  the 
possessions  of  that  imperious  race.     He  had  studied 

1  Muratori,  Eenim  Italicarum  ScriptoreSy  iii.  p.  538. 


EARLY  YEARS  17 

at  Padua  under  Cesarini ;  von  Cues  (Cusa),^  the 
German,  was  a  fellow-pupil ;  and  there  was  little  differ- 
ence between  the  ages  of  these  three  distinguished 
men.  Capranica  was  shy,  modest,  and  hardworking ; 
he  could  do  with  little  sleep  ;  he  was  very  learned  in 
both  Civil  and  Canon  Law,  and  was  also  a  lover  of 
literature.  His  advancement  in  the  Church  was 
singularly  rapid,  for  his  great  erudition  was  matched 
by  his  administrative  ability,  and  his  piety  was  un- 
questioned. For  fear  of  jealousy,  his  early  elevation 
to  the  cardinalate  was  kept  a  secret,  except  to  himself 
and  his  colleagues  in  the  Sacred  College.  Later, 
Capranica's  accession  to  the  purple  was  published ;  but 
he  was  away  at  Perugia,  in  the  capacity  of  legate,  at 
the  time,  and  it  was  customary  to  send  the  Red 
Hat,  the  ensign  of  office,  only  to  those  absentees  who 
were  far  away,  employed  in  important  foreign  lega- 
tions. On  account  of  the  unsettled  state  of  Perugia, 
Capranica  remained  there,  but  when  Martin  died 
(February  29,  1431),  he  at  once  rode  off  to  Rome. 
Now  he  had  once  held  a  financial  office  in  that  city,  and 
the  citizens  regarded  him,  no  less  than  the  late  Pope 
and  all  his  abettors,  as  an  extortionate  taxmaster. 
Moreover,  the  ancient  feud  between  the  Colonna  and 
Orsini  had  been  aggravated  by  the  rule  of  a  Pope 
belonging  to  the  former  family — a  Pope  who  used  his 
relatives  to  consolidate  his  power — and  the  Orsini  did 
not  forget  the  close  relation  in  which  Capranica  stood 
to  their  foes.  Capranica  dared  not  enter  the  city, 
but  he  remained  immediately  outside  the  walls, 
and  strove,  through  the  intervention  of  friends,  to 
obtain   admission    to   the    Conclave    assembled    for 

^  From  Cues  on  the  MoseL 
B 


18  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

the  election  of  a  new  Pope.  But  he  failed,  and 
Eugenius  iv.,  immediately  on  his  election,  roused 
himself  against  the  Colonna.  Capranica  experienced 
the  full  force  of  the  storm ;  his  palace  was  sacked, 
his  benefices  and  possessions  declared  forfeit,  and 
he  had  to  seek  safety  in  a  stronghold  belonging  to 
the  Colonna. 

He  determined  to  go  to  Basel,  where  a  council  of 
the  whole  Christian  Church  was  sitting,  and  seek 
justice  and  redress.  Since  Siena  was  at  this  time  at 
war  with  the  Papacy,  while  Florence  was  the  Pope's 
ally,  the  only  safe  route  lay  through  Sienese  territory. 
And  there  Capranica  heard  of  the  talents  of  a  young 
man  of  twenty-six,  just  five  years  his  junior,  one  who 
was  well  read  in  the  classics,  could  give  a  turn  to  a 
clever  speech,  or  bestow  a  sparkle  on  a  letter,  had  a 
little  knowledge  of  law,  and  sought  employment.  So 
Capranica  engaged  Enea  Silvio  Piccolomini  as  his 
secretary,  and  thus  the  first  introduction  of  the  young 
humanist  to  public  life  was  under  the  auspices  of  a 
man  who  had  just  cause  of  animosity  against  both 
Pontiff  and  Curia,  and  whom  circumstances  com- 
pelled to  seek  the  protection  and  support  of  the 
predominant  party  in  the  Church,  a  party  that  claimed 
all  oecumenical  councils  to  be  above  the  Pope,  and 
loudly  demanded  reorganisation  of  the  Church  and 
reform  in  its  administration.  The  future  Pope  thus 
entered  life  in  the  service  of  an  enemy  to  the  full 
pretensions  of  the  Papacy :  he  was  introduced  to  a 
scene  where  he  could  witness  the  infant  stumblings 
of  religious  liberty. 

He  was  destined  to  serve  three  cardinals,  three 
bishops,  and  an  emperor  before  he  came  to  readjust 


J 


/Eneas  Silvius  sp:ts  out  for  Basel. 

Pintitricchio,  Siena. 


EARLY  YEARS  19 

his  views,  adopt  the  conservative  side,  and  seek  the 
feet  of  Eugenius/ 

On  account  of  the  war,  Capranica  and  his  little 
party  took  ship  at  Piombino,  intending  to  disembark 
at  Genoa,  a  friendly  port,  for  it  was  at  this  time 
under  the  standard  of  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  Duke 
of  Milan,  a  bitter  adversary  of  the  Pope.  But  when 
the  ship  had  sighted  Elba,  and  lay  between  that 
island  and  Corsica,  a  dreadful  storm  arose.  First 
the  craft  was  driven  into  the  Gulf  of  Lyons  by  a 
violent  wind,  and  then  the  hurricane  turned  round 
on  itself  and  blew  from  the  north.  It  seemed  to 
^neas  as  if  they  might  be  driven  on  to  the  African 
coast,  where  the  lot  of  a  slave  would  await  them. 
But  the  hurricane  veered  again,  and  forced  them 
through  the  Straits  of  Bonifaccio,  and,  somewhat 
abating,  they  were  happy  in  being  able  to  sail  at 
last  into  Porto  Venere  and  find  shelter  there.  After 
a  while  the  sea  became  calm  enough  for  them  to  set 
their  sails  again,  and  they  ultimately  reached  Genoa, 
where  Capranica  was  warmly  welcomed,  ^neas's 
sharp  eye  took  in  all  the  salient  points  of  the  famous 
city,  and,  when  he  reached  his  journey's  end,  he 
wrote  a  wonderful  description  of  the  place  to  a  young 
Sienese  friend.^ 

Thence  they  proceeded  to  Milan,  where  the  crafty, 
intriguing,  pusillanimous  duke  received  them  in 
person.  Then  they  rode  up  the  valley  of  the  Ticino, 
followed  the  arduous  track  that  led  over  the  snows 
of  the  St.  Gothard,  pursued  the  dangerous  path  above 

^  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petr.  de  Noxeto^  May  7,  1456.  The  cardinals  were 
Capranica,  Albergati  and  Cervantes  :  two  of  the  bishops  were  those  of 
Novara  and  Freising  ;  the  third  is  unknown. 

2  Mn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Geo.  Andrentium,  April  1432. 


20  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

the  leaping  torrents  that  have  eaten  the  mountains 
into  such  awe-inspiring  chasms,  reached  the  cliffs  that 
line  the  Lake  of  the  Four  Cantons,  and  so  passed, 
through  a  landscape  that  was  just  returning  the  first 
smile  of  spring,  to  Basel  (a.d.  1432).  Among  the 
little  company  that  took  this  perilous  journey  was 
another  young  secretary,  one  Piero  da  Noceto. 
Mneas  and  Noceto  were  near  of  an  age;  they  had 
faced  death  together;  they  had  many  tastes  in 
common,  and  they  formed,  during  these  adventures, 
a  friendship  that  was  intimate  and  enduring.  iEneas 
was  a  cordial  man ;  he  was  happy  in  the  society  of 
his  fellows,  and  turned  his  best  side  towards  them ; 
they  found  his  geniality  irresistible,  and  he  acquired 
unerring  knacks  of  winning  their  favour.  He  had 
a  warm,  large  heart,  and  was  capable  of  deep  and 
unswerving  affection.  If  he  sought  the  society  and 
favour  of  the  great  it  was  because  he  was  needy, 
and  must  set  his  sail  to  catch  every  favouring  breeze. 
But  he  was  happiest  when  he  could  be  with  those  to 
whom  he  might  disclose  his  heart  and  be  entirely 
himself.  Such  was  his  character  as  a  young  man;  such 
it  remained  throughout  life.  When  he  shall  be  Pope 
we  shall  find  him  forgetting  his  dignity  in  the  society 
of  two  real  friends  with  whom  he  had  deep  sympathy 
— both  were  learned  men,  and  in  one  way  or  another 
shared  his  tastes.  Ammanati,  fond  of  authorship 
and  the  chase,  and  Campano,  loving  incisive  jests  and 
kindly  satire,  the  one,  the  son  of  lowly  people  of 
Peschia,  the  other  of  no  nobler  descent  than  the 
peasantry  of  that  Campagna  from  which  he  took  his 
name,  were  chosen  to  be  his  bosom-companions  by 
Pope  Pius  II. 


EAELY  YEAES 


21 


At  Basel  the  two  young  secretaries  found  gathered 
together  the  most  brilliant  representatives  of  the 
States  of  Western  Europe  and  her  universal  Church : 
here  were  the  ambassadors  of  many  nations,  humanists 
of  widest  culture,  scholars  of  profoundest  learning, 
and  princes  of  the  Church.  Sometimes,  too,  the 
Emperor  came  to  preside  in  person  over  the  meetings 
of  the  famous  Council. 


22 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTEE    II 

THE   CHURCH,   THE   STATE,   SCHISMS,  HERESIES 
AND   COUNCILS 

iENEAS  found  himself  occupying  a  humble  position, 
but,  at  least,  he  was  a  member  of  a  cardinal's  house- 
hold, and  brought,  thereby,  into  contact  with  princes, 
ambassadors  and  scholars ;  he  had  opportunity  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  men  and  of  how  to  deal  with 
them ;  he  was  in  a  school  of  manners  and  diplomacy. 
The  Council,  too,  was  a  great  stage  whereon  practical 
statesmen  and  thinkers  of  many  shades  of  opinion 
and  of  many  nations  played  their  part.  Momentous 
problems  were  presented  at  Basel ;  divergent  political 
aims  found  expression  there ;  ecclesiastical  discontent  m 
opposed  itself  to  pontifical  claims ;  racial  dijfferences 
and  national  aspirations  made  themselves  apparent ; 
the  revolt  of  the  people,  dimly  conscious  of  social 
injustice  and  oppression,  manifested  itself  under  the 
guise  of  religious  reform,  ^neas  found  himself  in 
an  arena  of  fierce  theological  strife.  But  in  order  to 
grasp  the  nature  of  that  conflict,  no  less  than  to 
comprehend  what  was  in  -^neas's  mind  when  he 
became  Pope,  it  is  necessary  to  search  for  underlying 
causes ;  and  these  are  best  exhibited  by  reviewing, 
in  swift  flight,  certain  aspects  of  antecedent  history. 
When  the  half-barbarous  races  that  occupied  the 


■ 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  THE   STATE       23 

western  portion  of  what  had  been  the  Roman  Empire 
accepted  the  Christian  faith,  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
became  the  sole  central  authority  of  the  dismembered 
State,  and  he  demanded  the  allegiance  of  the  Christian 
world.  Leo  iii.  took  it  on  himself  to  treat  the  incur- 
sion and  rule  of  Teutonic  chieftains  as  an  interregnum ; 
he  revived  the  Empire  and  invested  Charlemagne, 
the  Frank,  with  the  imperial  name  (a.d.  800).  Nor 
did  it  seem  so  very  strange  a  proceeding,  for  bar- 
barian conquerors  had  been  wont  to  give  an  appear- 
ance of  legality  to  their  government  by  ruling  as 
vicars  of  the  Empire,  and  in  the  palmiest  days  of 
Rome  many  a  great  Caesar  was  of  foreign  blood. 
The  Empire  of  Charlemagne  had  a  feudal  constitu- 
tion ;  and  the  Emperor  and  his  feudatories  fostered 
and  endowed  the  Church.  The  barbarians  had  to 
be  ruled  as  well  as  baptized,  and,  from  an  early 
period,  the  Church  found  territorial  rights,  social 
rank  and  baronial  privileges  indispensable  to  her 
existence,  and  even  the  Pope  himself  was  compelled 
to  reign  or  disappear.  Hence  the  Church  welcomed 
grants  of  land  from  feudal  lords,  and  strove  and 
intrigued  for  them  until  fully  one-third  of  Western 
Europe  came  into  her  possession.  The  Church  thus 
found  herself  immeasurably  the  largest  landowner  in 
the  world.  And  not  merely  did  the  revenues  of  fiefs 
fall  into  ecclesiastical  hands,  but  Europe  was  drained 
of  vast  sums  that  flowed  into  Papal  coffers  in  the 
form  of  contributions.  Thus,  while  without  secular 
power  and  wealth,  there  had  been  no  effective  pro- 
tection of  religion,  with  secular  power  and  wealth 
came  the  germs  of  discontent  and  decay.  The 
holders  of  rich  benefices  grew  more  and  more  worldly ; 


24  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

they  were  bound  to  take  the  side  of  their  immediate! 
superiors  in  all  quarrels  (and  when  was  the  feudal 
world  at  peace  ?) ;  ecclesiastical  office  fell  to  the  scions 
of  powerful  families  who  were  very  unfitted  to  hold 
it,  and  who  led  the  same  kind  of  life  as  their 
relatives :  nor  did  the  most  piously  disposed  Church- 
man utter  loud  complaint,  for  feudal  possessions 
required  knightly  defence.  Corruption  and  seculari- 
sation of  the  Church  resulted. 

It  became  the  constant  aim  of  that  great  statesman 
Hildebrand  (Gregory  vii.)  to  set  the  Church  free 
from  civil  and  military  control,  while  it  should  retain 
that  wealth  and  power  and  show  of  splendour  neces- 
sary to  impress  so  ungracious  a  world.  He  desired, 
moreover,  to  subdue  all  nations  to  Rome,  to  subject 
all  rulers  to  a  theocracy,  wherein  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
should  be  the  redresser  of  wrongs,  the  dispenser  of 
justice,  and  the  fountain  of  power  among  the  contend- 
ing races  of  Christianity.  The  Pope — this  was  the 
theory  of  the  Church — alone  held  supreme  spiritual 
sway,  and  the  successors  of  Charlemagne  and  the  Othos 
were  his  delegates,  even  as  he  himself  was  the  delegate 
of  God ;  the  Pope  was  the  overlord  of  rulers,  who, 
with  their  underlords,  administered  an  Empire  that 
was  continuous  with  that  of  the  antique  Roman  world. 
The  Emperor,  it  is  true,  held  supreme  temporal 
authority,  but  spirit  is  superior  to  flesh,  and  there 
are  temporal  matters  that  are  subject  to  spiritual 
dictation.  *  I  am  Emperor,'  said  Boniface  viii.  to 
Albert  of  Hapsburg,  when  he  sought  confirmation ; 
and,  in  the  famous  bull  of  November  18,  1302,  the 
same  Pontifi  declared  every  human  creature  to  be 
subject  to  the  Pope.     It  was  proclaimed,  moreover, 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STATE       25 

that  the  temporal  sword  was  held  only  *  ad  nutum  et 
patientiam  sacerdotis ' — *  by  the  assenting  nod  and 
forbearance  of  the  Pontiff' :  so  spake  the  ambassadors 
of  Innocent  iii.  to  the  King  of  France.  And,  to-day, 
the  Pope  is  crowned  as  *  Father  of  kings  and  princes ; 
ruler  of  the  world.' 

But  mediaeval  Caesars  were  unwilling  to  submit 
tamely  to  such  limitations  of  their  authority ;  tem- 
poral rulers  were  indignant  at  the  presumption  of 
Churchmen  whom  they  had  raised  to  wealth  and 
power,  and  who  were  still  their  feudatories.  From 
the  eleventh  century,  the  swords  of  Pope  and 
Emperor  were  stained  with  blood;  for  princes  and 
barons  and  townships  took  sides  to  advance  their 
own  interests,  and  neither  Pope  nor  Emperor  had 
suflScient  power  to  establish  their  claims  or  control 
their  followers.  For  a  time  victory  favoured  the  Popes. 
They  humbled  the  proud  house  of  Hohenstauffen  to 
the  dust.  Yet  their  success  was  a  triumph  of  the 
spirit  only :  they  were  unable  to  establish  victory  by 
the  force  of  arms.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  Pope  had  vanquished  his  opponents ;  but, 
in  his  own  home,  he  was  weaker  than  the  weakest  of 
the  barons  around  him.  In  many  critical  moments 
he  had  received  help  from  France.  He  sought  a 
haven  of  refuge  from  the  menaces  of  the  Roman 
nobility  and  the  Roman  populace,  and  for  seventy 
years  he  found  one  at  Avignon.  But  in  Italy  he  had 
dwelt  in  a  city  that  retained  Imperial  traditions,  and 
exhibited  Imperial  magnificence,  and  there  he  was 
surrounded  by  many  wealthy  states  that  neutralised 
each  other's  power.  At  Avignon  he  was  under  the 
shadow  of  a  single  crown.     He  still  bore  a  name  of 


26 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


might,  but  the  continuity  of  historical  tradition  was 
fractured.  He  had  not  transferred  Rome  to  Provence. 
The  city  on  the  Rhone  was  no  New  Rome  on  the 
Bosphorus ;  his  palace,  however  imposing,  was  not 
the  Lateran  or  even  the  Vatican ;  it  was  only  a 
magnificent  mansion  in  a  provincial  town.  Seven 
successive  pontiffs  were  Frenchmen,  holding  French 
fiefs,  and  therefore  vassals  of  the  French  crown  ;  they 
were  surrounded  by  French  influence  and  dominated 
by  French  interests.  A  French  King  dared  to  say, 
*  It  is  I  who  am  Pope.'  ^  The  influence  of  French 
Cardinals,  the  disturbed  state  of  Italy,  and  the  con- 
dition of  Rome,  now  a  ruined  city,  prevented  the 
return  of  the  Popes.  They  became  greedy  of  gold, 
for  the  Italian  states,  the  wealthiest  in  the  world, 
almost  ceased  to  contribute  to  the  Papal  coffers,  lest 
their  gold  should  be  employed  in  building  up  the 
power  of  France.  The  Church  became  more  and  more 
worldly,  less  and  less  subject  to  authority. 

Then  schism  broke  out,  and  the  nations  took  the 
side  of  one  or  the  other  of  rival  Pontiffs  as  best  suited 
their  own  conflicting  interests  :  the  Church  was  riven 
almost  to  its  foundations.  Both  Pontiffs  eagerly 
sought  the  support  of  princes ;  both  were  in  financial 
difficulties ;  such  ancient  contrivances  for  raising 
money  as  annates,  reservations,  and  expectancies 
assumed  scandalous  proportions,  and  the  respect 
given  to  the  Papacy  was  undermined.  The  notion 
of  a  universal  Church  that  should  bind  the  nations 
together  in  a  common  allegiance  and  Christian 
brotherhood,  and  subject  them  to  a  common  authority, 

1  Pastor,  L.,  History  of  the  Popes,  English  trans.,  1891.  vol.  i, 
p.  134. 


SCHISMS  AND   HERESIES  27 

was  so  weakened,  and  the  spirit  of  nationality  was 
already  so  strong,  that  there  were  those  who  wished 
each  country  to  have  its  own  Pope,  and  thought  that 
the  schism  was  a  sign  that  this  was  the  intention  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.' 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  splendour  of  the  throne  of 
the  Fisherman,  the  pomp  and  arrogance  of  wealthy 
ecclesiastics,  their  indolence  and  self-indulgence, 
excited  deep  discontent  among  spiritually  minded 
men,  and  deep  resentment,  by  no  means  always  dumb, 
among  the  people.  It  fostered  heresy ;  it  caused  a 
demand  for  reform  ;  it  provided  a  rallying  cry  for  the 
oppressed  labouring  classes. 

For  it  will  be  found  that  racial  differences,  social 
inequalities,  economic  pressure,  and  economical  greed 
are  not  merely  the  deep  sources,  or  at  least  the  sup- 
port, of  political  antagonisms,  but  that  they  often 
underlie  the  acrid  contest  of  creeds.  Religion  has 
often  been  the  rallying  cry  that  has  gathered  men  to 
battle  for  far  other  causes.  Like  the  boughs  cut  from 
Birnam  wood,  it  has  covered  an  unsuspected  advance. 
The  banner  that  bore  the  sacred  Cup,  the  loyalty  due 
to  the  King  of  Heaven  has  proved  a  signal  to  conflict 
no  less  effective  than  a  party-badge  or  a  princely 
name.  Heresies  flourished  most  in  those  parts  of  the 
Ancient  Empire  where  centrifugal  tendencies  had 
most  power ;  it  was  mainly  the  ragmen  of  Milan  who 
became  Patarines  ;  the  dregs  of  the  labouring  classes, 
deprived  of  the  benefits  of  trade-associations,  joined 
the  Cathari ;  of  such  were  the  Pauvres  de  Lyon  and 
the  masses  that  followed  Pierre  Valdo ;  it  was  the 
English  hind  that  became  a  Lollard.     One  may  find 

*  Schwab,  Johannes  GersoUf  pp.  122,  123. 


28 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


in  all  the  heresies  of  the  Middle  Ages  some  attempt 
to  revive  the  simple  brotherhood  of  the  first  Christians, 
some  renewal  of  the  social  doctrine  of  the  Master, 
some  crude  and  impracticable  form  of  Communism. 
Sometimes  these  dangerous  forces  could  be  controlled  : 
ecclesiastical  statesmanship  enticed   the  Franciscans 
and  other  orders  to  obedience,  but  the  Albigensian 
and  various  other  Communistic  outbreaks  had  to  be 
eradicated  by  fire  and  sword.      Heresy  allied  itself 
with  social  discontent,   and   indulged   in  dreams  of 
social  reconstruction.     The  outbreaks  of  the  degraded 
peasantry  of  France  against  their  oppressors,  when 
these  were  weakened  by  the  wars  with  England,  the 
revolts  of  the  wool-dressers  of  Florence  and  Siena 
towards  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  revealed 
to  thinking  men  the  presence  of  concealed  forces  that 
might  wreck    that   institution  of  property,  without 
which  neither  States   nor   Church   nor   culture   nor 
comfort  nor  any  form  of  religion  might  exist.     Pope 
and  king,  bishop  and  baron  and  merchant,  beneficed 
priest  and   barefooted  friar,  whatever   their  private 
feuds  might  be,  were  always  ready  to  unite  in  crush- 
ing heresy ;  for  heresy  was  not  only  a  religious  per- 
versity, but  it  dallied  with  dreams  perilous  to  the 
safety  and  welfare  of  both  Church  and  State ;  it  was 
frequently  responsible  for  fierce,  irrational,  and  alarm- 
ing outbursts.     And,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to 
subdue  heresy,  it  was  very  necessary  to  reunite  the 
divided  Church ;  to  lead  the  peoples,  still  religiously 
disposed,  aright,  and  to  remove  sources  of  discontent 
by  reform.     National  ideals  were  still  inchoate,  the 
spiritual  bond  of  the  Western  world,  though  weakened, 
was  still  unbroken;   a  General  Council  of  the  uni- 


COUNCILS  29 

versal   Church  should   give   force   and   authority  to 
principles  that  were  universally  acknowledged. 

General  Councils  of  the  Church  had  been  wont  to 
assemble  from  a  comparatively  early  period.  But 
they  were  not  without  menace  to  the  authority 
claimed  by  the  Papacy,  and  the  principle  they  in- 
volved could  readily  be  turned  against  kings.  William 
of  Occam,  not  the  least  distinguished  of  that  illus- 
trious group  of  thinkers  who,  for  keenness  of  intellect, 
have  never  been  surpassed,  set  forth  that  the  infalli- 
bility of  the  Church  lay  in  its  belief  at  all  times  and 
in  all  places;  therefore  a  Pope  might  err  and  be 
deposed  by  a  General  Council,  or  even  by  the  Emperor, 
acting  as  supreme  authority  over  the  Christian  world. 
While  Trionfo,an  Italian  Guelf,  and  Pelago,  a  Spaniard, 
emphasised  the  doctrine  of  Papal  absolutism  (for  was 
not  the  Pope  the  Vicar  of  God  ?),  Marsiglio  of  Padua, 
the  great  Ghibelline  thinker,  boldly  declared  in  his 
Defensor  Pads,  a  book  dedicated  to  Louis  of  Bavaria, 
that  rulers,  whether  of  the  Church  or  of  the  world, 
possess  but  delegated  authority  derived  from  the 
people;  the  Church,  as  represented  by  a  general 
assemblage  of  its  most  intelligent  members,  is  supreme 
over  Popes;  and,  moreover,  since  Popes  have  been 
known  to  misuse  their  temporal  power  as  well  as  to 
err  in  spiritual  matters,  the  property  of  the  Church 
may  be  regulated  and  even  confiscated  by  the  State. 
Such  a  doctrine  as  this  was  a  two-edged  sword ;  it 
was  convenient  to  use  against  a  foe,  but  it  might  be 
turned  against  one's  self  Pope  and  monarch,  in  spite 
of  their  variances,  found  this  and  similar  theories 
none  too  agreeable,  and  hence  the  temporal  ruler 
always  hesitated  to  renounce  the  spiritual  yoke,  and. 


80 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


if  he  occasionally  rebelled,  he  invariably  resumed  it 
quietly.  For  the  supremacy  of  the  Papacy  sym- 
bolised and  was  a  guarantee  of  established  order. 

The  Universities  were  in  favour  of  councils,  and  the 
Universities  carried  great  weight,  for  in  them  lay 
the  most  important  intellectual  force  of  the  age.  The 
acutest  minds  in  Europe,  men  drawn  from  every 
country  and  from  every  class,  men  mostly  of  mature 
years,  were  to  be  found  at  these  centres  of  learning. 
The  University  was  a  democratic,  self-governing  body. 
Students,  as  well  as  professors,  voted  alike  in  the 
passing  of  measures,  each  '  nation '  having  an  elective 
voice.  The  study  of  theology  was  not  encouraged  in 
Italy,  and  there,  as  well  as  in  Europe  generally,  the 
Universities  were  chiefly  occupied  with  the  practical 
studies  of  law  and  medicine.  But  Paris  had  been 
remarkable  for  the  freedom  and  ability  of  its  theo- 
logians, even  in  the  time  of  the  Schoolmen  :  it  pursued 
knowledge  for  its  own  sake.  Students  flocked  to 
Paris  from  every  country,  and  the  decisions  of  its 
doctors  in  theology  came  to  be  regarded  as  authori- 
tative. Still,  the  Papacy  was  not  likely  to  forget  that 
Paris  had  produced  such  heretics  as  Abelard  and 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  and  might  prove  but  a  perilous 
support  to  orthodox  doctrine  and  Papal  theory. 

The  proposal  of  a  Council  to  put  an  end  to  the 
Great  Schism  emanated  from  the  University  of  Paris. 
There  was  intellectual  anarchy  as  well  as  heresy  and 
schism  in  Europe,  and  men  sought  to  find  some 
lawful  court  of  appeal,  capable  of  pronouncing  final 
judgments.  The  rival  wearers  of  the  Tiara  were  asked 
to  refer  their  claims  to  a  General  Council,  and  they 
afiected  to  consent.     An  incompletely  representative 


COUNCILS  31 

Synod  assembled  at  Pisa  (a.d.  1409)  deposed  both 
Popes  and  elected  a  third.  But  the  result  was  that 
there  were  now  three  Popes  in  the  place  of  two. 
Yet  Plavus,  a  doctor  in  theology  of  Paris,  had  de- 
clared the  Pope  to  be  the  delegate  of  the  Church ; 
for,  if  elected  by  cardinals,  these  were  originally 
appointed  by  bishops,  and  therefore  a  General  Council 
must  be  possessed  of  full  power  to  depose  a  Pope. 
If  it  be  not  so,  is  not  the  spirit  above  the  letter  ?  ^ 
And  such  was  the  revolution  in  the  minds  of  thinking 
men  that  some  held  the  presence  of  peril  to  absolve 
from  the  obligation  of  law.^  Sigismund,  the  astute 
Emperor,  was  not  slow  to  perceive  the  need  of  recon- 
stituting authority.  He  was  still  quicker  to  recognise 
his  opportunity  for  recovering  something  of  the 
ancient  prestige  attached  to  his  office.  In  default 
of  a  Pope,  he,  as  Defender  of  the  Christian  faith, 
summoned  a  council  to  assemble  at  Constance,  and 
invited  the  princes  of  Europe,  or  their  envoys,  to 
attend.  It  met  in  1414,  and  he  presided  in  person. 
To  counteract  the  predominance  of  the  Italian  clergy, 
the  procedure  of  universities  was  copied.  Voting  was 
taken  according  to  *  nations,'  often  hostile  enough 
to  each  other.  Only  ecclesiastics  of  rank  voted,  but 
Masters  in  Theology  and  Doctors  of  Canon  Law  had 
a  consultative  voice.  Pisa  had  been  visited  by  many 
of  these  academicians,  but  Constance  was  full  of 
them,  and  the  streets  resounded  with  the  denuncia- 
tion of  cardinals ;  there  was  even  an  attempt  made 
to  exclude  them.^  The  lower  clergy  and  the  monks 
were  busy  at  every  street  corner,  preaching  revolu- 

^  Schwab,  loc.  cit.  pp.  106-108.  ^  Pastor,  loc.  cit.  pp.  192,  193. 

'  Zimmermann,  Die  Kirchlichen  Verfassungskdmpfef  p.  29. 


32 


.ENEAS  SILVIUS 


tionaiy  doctrine  and  demanding  reform.  The  revolt 
of  the  Hussites  forced  on  the  cry.  Hatred  of  the 
corruption  of  the  Church,  conjoined  with  social  dis- 
content, found  expression  in  heresy,  and  heresy 
produced  a  revolt  within  the  Church  itself  against 
its  existing  constitution. 

Reform  was  impossible.  Everybody  was  eager 
to  reform  others ;  no  party  was  willing  to  reform 
itself.  Had  it  been  willing  there  were  still  too  many 
vested  interests  to  overthrow ;  in  spite  of  a  few 
earnest  men  there  was  a  vast  inertia  to  overcome ; 
there  were  intricate  political  and  other  complications 
to  deal  with,  and  what  one  faction  proposed  another 
rejected.  But  the  Council  declared  its  own  supremacy 
and  that  of  all  oecumenical  synods  over  the  Papacy, 
burned  John  Hiis,  the  heretic,  whose  party  inclined 
towards  and  was  in  league  with  the  advocates  of 
dangerous  social  doctrines,  and  so  managed  matters 
as  to  give  the  Church  a  fresh  start.  Martin  v.,  of 
the  Roman  house  of  Colonna,  ascended  the  Papal 
throne  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  Catholic  world 
(a.d.  1417). 

The  ideal  of  the  men  of  Constance  was  essentially 
republican,  for  it  aimed  at  converting  the  Papacy 
into  a  mere  constitutional  monarchy.  Now  the  Pope, 
hitherto  supported  by  the  Sacred  College,  had  come 
in  the  Middle  Ages  to  hold  himself  as  absolute 
sovereign;  but  so  abased  was  the  Papacy  at  the  end 
of  the  Great  Schism  that  the  Sacred  College  tried  to 
place  severe  limits  on  the  power  of  the  Pontiff 
and  to  exalt  itself.  The  Sacred  College,  though 
it  hated  the  Council,  imitated  it.  Oligarchical  govern- 
ment, and  not  absolutism,  was  its  ideal. 


OEIGIN  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  BASEL    33 

Martin  was  a  born  ruler,  but  the  Papal  States  and 
the  Papal  Exchequer  were  in  such  disorder  that  he 
had  small  opportunity  of  effecting  the  smallest  reform. 
Had  he  attempted  it,  he  would  at  once  have  driven 
the  Sacred  College  into  rebellion.  He  was  bent, 
moreover,  on  the  restoration  of  the  Papal  power,  for 
he  saw  that  the  battle  for  supremacy  had  not  been 
fought  out  to  a  finish.  He  fulfilled  his  promise  to 
hold  a  Council  every  seven  years,  and  he  summoned 
one  to  meet  at  Pavia  (a.d.  1427).  Plague  visited 
the  city,  and  Alfonso  of  Aragon,  the  claimant  to  the 
throne  of  Naples  (which  was  a  Papal  fief),  intrigued 
with  certain  of  the  Council  against  Martin;  so  the 
Synod  was  transferred  to  Siena,  and  the  small  attend- 
ance there  furnished  the  Pope  with  a  pretext  for 
its  dismissal.  He  was  too  keen  and  far-sighted  a 
statesman  not  to  perceive  that  the  success  of  the 
Council  would  mean  the  destruction  of  the  unity 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  Church  would  break 
up  into  fragments.  The  sole  hope  for  Unity  lay  in 
Papal  absolutism.  The  Papacy,  though  restored 
by  a  Council,  was  menaced  by  the  Conciliar 
principle. 

Martin  v.  was  succeeded  in  1431  by  Gabriello  Con- 
dulamaro,  a  Venetian,  a  man  of  somewhat  intimidat- 
ing appearance,  but  easily  accessible,  of  simple  habits, 
pious,  and  so  generous  that  he  was  in  debt  throughout 
his  life.  *  He  was  magnanimous,'  wrote  iEneas  of 
him,  *  but  without  any  moderation ;  his  actions  were 
ill-considered,  and  regulated  rather  by  his  desires 
than  by  any  consideration  of  the  possibility  of  carry- 
ing them  out.'  The  cardinals,  who  had  suffered  from 
the  stormy  personality  of  Martin,  signed  a  document 


I 

I 
I 


34  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

before  they  proceeded  to  elect  a  new  Pope,  whereby, 
whoever  of  their  number  should  be  elected,  bound  him- 
self by  oath  to  such  restrictions  as  made  the  Apostolic 
Chair  little  more  than  the  presidential  seat  of  a 
permanent  committee.^  But  such  a  renunciation, 
though  not  solitary  in  the  history  of  the  Papacy, 
could  not  be  held  valid,  since  it  was  contrary  to  Papal 
duty,  and,  in  fact,  not  one  Pope  only  rescinded  his 
oath  after  election,  and  it  became  a  dead  letter. 

Eugenius  fulfilled  his  obligation  to  summon  a  new 
Council.  It  met  at  Basel  (a.d.  1431),  and  the  Pope 
sent  a  Cardinal-legate  to  preside  at  its  sittings.  This 
legate  was  the  famous  Giuliano  de'  Cesarini,  a  man 
now  thirty-three  years  of  age,  eloquent,  learned,  and 
of  independent  mind.  Though  of  noble  birth,  he  was 
so  poor  a  youth  that,  as  a  student  at  Perugia,  he  had 
been  obliged  to  collect  the  ends  of  candles  to  pursue 
his  nocturnal  studies.  He  became  a  professor  of  Canon 
Law  at  Padua,  but  Martin  v.  was  so  impressed  by  his 
abilities  that  he  gave  him  rapid  promotion.  Cesarini's 
bearing  was  dignified,  his  features  and  his  manner  were  , 
pleasing.  He  was  of  ascetic  disposition,  dining  sparely,  ■ 
sleeping  in  a  hair-shirt,  and  keeping  nocturnal  vigils 
in  church ;  yet  he  was  neither  hard  nor  narrow.  He 
could  maintain  the  dignity  of  his  rank  with  princes, 
converse  genially  with  all,  and  had  so  little  disposi- 
tion to  scorn  the  humble  that  he  was  never  known  to 
neglect  paying  a  daily  visit  to  his  sick  stable-boy. 
He  never  forgot  the  days  of  his  own  poverty  ;  and  he 
rejoiced  to  set  apart  a  portion  of  an  income,  that  was 
none  too  large  for  the  great  office  he  held,  for  the 
support  of  poor  students.     He  would  even  sell  his 

\  Kajnaldus,  Ad  ann.  1431. 


THE  HUSSITE  HERESY  35 

books  to  help  the  needy.  He  refused  benefices,  for 
it  was  not  consonant  with  his  conscience  to  be  a 
pluralist.  Cardinal  Branda  was  wont  to  say  that  if 
the  entire  Church  became  corrupt  there  was  force 
and  purity  enough  in  Cesarini  to  reform  it,  and 
Bistucci  wrote :  *  I  have  known  many  holy  men,  but 
none  like  Cardinal  Cesarini.'  For  the  office  to  which 
he  was  now  appointed  he  had  great  qualifications. 
He  had  won  the  respect  of  everybody ;  he  was  a  man 
of  great  experience  in  affairs,  skilful  at  organisation, 
and,  best  of  all,  he  possessed  that  rare  gift,  temperate 
and  unprejudiced  judgment. 

The  Council  commenced  its  sittings  March  12, 
1431,  but  Cesarini  did  not  arrive  at  Basel  before 
the  end  of  the  year.  He  was  dealing  with  a  difficulty 
that  the  Council  would  also  soon  have  to  encounter ; 
one  that,  later  on,  occupied  the  attention  of  iEneas, 
one  that  bequeathed  a  problem  to  vex  his  pontificate 
— it  was  the  fierce  rebellion  of  the  Hussites  in  Bohemia. 

John  Huss,  or  Hlis,  a  native  of  that  country,  taught 
that  no  one  had  a  right  to  hold  property  save  true 
believers,  nor  ought  a  ruler  to  be  acknowledged  unless 
his  life  were  such  as  to  be  approveable  by  God. 
Strange  conclusions  were  involved  in  these  theological 
tenets,  so  strange  that  Louis  Blanc  calls  Hiis  the 
precursor  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  Denis  says 
that  he  was  the  real  originator  of  the  rebellion  that 
ended  in  the  destruction  of  Catholic  unity.  But  Htis 
derived  his  views  from  England.  Owing  to  the  mar- 
riage of  a  Bohemian  princess  to  an  English  king, 
Lollardism,  a  heresy  that  denounced  luxury  and  in- 
clined towards  communism,  passed  over  into  Bohemia, 
and  a  large  majority  of  the  followers  of  John  Hiis 


36  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

embraced  advanced  communistic  doctrines.  His  death 
at  the  stake  was  followed  by  universal  riots,  and 
when  Wenceslaus,  the  king  of  Bohemia,  supported  the 
Council  of  Constance,  which  condemned  Hiis,  nearly 
the  whole  Czech  nation  withdrew  their  allegiance. 
Under  the  able  statesman,  Nicholaus  of  Pistna,  and 
the  practised  general,  John  Ziska,  they  conducted 
oflPensive  and  defensive  campaigns  with  perfect  success. 

The  root  of  all  these  terrible  wars  is  to  be  found  in  M 
the  presence  of  silver  mines  of  almost  fabulous  value 
near  the  German  frontier.  These  attracted  a  German 
population,  the  owners  were  Germans,  and  the  German 
race  began  to  dominate  the  Czech.  Even  in  the 
rebellion  against  Sigismund  (a.d.  1420),  when  Czech 
and  Teuton  fought  side  by  side,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  give  them  different  quarters.^  But  this  racial 
antagonism  was  complicated  and  intensified  by  an 
antagonism  of  the  poor  to  the  rich.  The  working  of  M 
her  silver  mines  made  Bohemia  the  wealthiest  country 
in  Europe.  '  I  believe,'  wrote  ^neas,  in  his  History 
of  Bohemia,  '  that  no  land  was  so  full  of  imposing  and 
richly  decorated  churches.  They  raised  one's  thoughts 
to  the  skies.  The  high  altars  were  heavily  laden  with 
gold  and  silver  caskets  for  relics ;  the  robes  of  the 
clergy  were  rich  and  embroidered  with  pearls ;  the 
sacred  vessels  were  well-nigh  priceless.  .  .  .  And  all 
this  magnificence  was  to  be  found,  not  in  cities  alone, 
but  in  villages  even.'  The  impoverished  Czech,  w^ho 
hated  the  wealthy  German,  heard  the  doctrines  of 
Hiis  gladly,  and  soon  the  poor  of  the  land,  German  as 
well  as  Czech,  united  in  hate  of  their  wealthy  and 
powerful  Catholic  oppressors,  whether  they  were  of 

^  Maurice,  C.  E.,  History  of  Bohemia,  p.  142. 


THE  HUSSITE  HEEESY  37 

German  blood  or  of  Czech.  For,  owing  to  the  increase 
of  wealth,  the  peasantry  paid  in  money  and  not  in 
kind,  and  so  they  could  be  squeezed  and  oppressed ; 
common-lands  were  seized  by  an  arrogant  nobility, 
and  an  attempt  was  made  to  tie  the  labourer  to  the 
soil.  Therefore  the  peasantry  crowded  into  the  towns 
and  filled  them  with  a  hungry  host.  The  poorer 
nobility,  ruined  by  the  Crusades,  and  hating  the 
new  German  magnates  (who  plumed  themselves  on  a 
higher  civilisation),  led  the  ranks  of  the  discontented. 
The  city  of  Prague  was  near  the  mines ;  its  university 
was  under  the  control  of  contemptuous  Germans. 
The  Czech  armed  himself  against  the  German ;  the 
peasantry,  aided  by  the  poorer  nobility,  rose  against 
the  rich  landowners,  the  rich  miners,  the  rich  traders, 
and  the  rich  Church.^  But,  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
ecclesiastical  theory  was  the  only  theoretical  system 
that  existed — the  only  expression  of  human  thought 
that  was  formulated.  The  Hussites  demanded  that 
the  Blood  as  well  as  the  Body  of  the  Saviour  should 
be  administered  to  the  laity  at  Communion,  and  they 
were  consequently  known  as  Calixtines  or  Utraquists. 
They  bore  the  sacred  Cup  on  their  banners,  and  behind 
these  standards  were  arrayed,  not  merely  the  masses 
that  had  been  forced  there  by  economic  pressure,  but 
zealous  reformers  that  were  animated  by  an  earnest 
desire  for  the  purification  of  the  Church  and  the 
destruction  of  its  temporal  power.  Bohemia  became 
a  democratic  republic  with  a  strong  impulse  towards 
communism.    The  doctrines  prevalent  there  extended 

*  Kautsky  (Communism  in  Central  Europe)  gives  an  admirable  account 
of  the  forces  at  work  in  Bohemia,  though  in  the  author's  judgement  he  brings 
out  the  material  factors  at  the  expense  of  the  spiritual. 


38 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


to  almost  every  part  of  Western  Europe.  It  was  th( 
blind  commencement  of  a  social  revolution,  the  full 
force  of  which  has  not  even  yet  hurled  itself  on  the 
world.  In  1424,  the  Cardinal-legate  sent  to  Poland 
proclaimed  that  the  object  of  his  mission  was  the 
salvation  of  society.  *  A  large  proportion  of  the 
heretics,'  he  said,  *  maintain  that  everything  should 
be  held  in  common  and  no  tax  or  obedience  is  due  to 
superiors.  Their  purpose  is  to  put  an  end  to  all 
Divine  and  human  rights  by  force,  and  it  will  come 
about  that  neither  kings,  princes  in  their  rule,  citizens 
in  their  burghs,  nor  individuals  in  their  own  homes 
will  be  safe  from  their  effrontery.  This  detestable 
heresy  not  only  attacks  the  Faith  and  the  Church, 
but,  impelled  by  Satan,  wages  war  on  all  society,  and 
attacks  and  destroys  its  rights.'^ 

The  legate  attributes  these  doctrines  to  '  a  large 
proportion  of  the  heretics '  only.  As  is  invariably  the 
case  in  new  movements,  the  successful  rebels  were 
divided  among  themselves  by  economic  and  social 
forces.  The  various  factions  also  arrayed  themselves 
in  the  garb  of  religious  distinctions.  The  most  extra- 
vagant heresies  were  associated  with  the  most  radical 
social  experiments,  and  were  chiefly  to  be  found 
among  the  poor.  It  was  the  sweated  wool-sorter  of 
Siena  and  Florence  that  revolted  in  the  middle  of  the 
preceding  century ;  it  was  the  weaver  who  was  pro- 
minent among  the  Waldenses  of  Southern  France,  the 
Apostilicians  of  Northern  France,  and  the  Lollards  of 
England :  the  wool  trade  was  foremost  in  this  move- 
ment also.^ 


^  Quoted  by  Pastor,  loc.  cit.,  i.  164. 

*  Kautsky,  Communism  in  Central  Europe,  Eng.  tr.,  pp.  54-56. 


THE  HUSSITE  HERESY  39 

Driven  out  by  the  supporters  of  order,  these  heretics 
of  a  heresy  withdrew  to  certain  hill-tops,  of  which 
one,  Tabor,  gave  them  their  name  of  Taborites.     Like 
their  predecessors  in  the  heretical  movements  of  pre- 
vious centuries,  in  their  endeavour  to  attain  a  rational 
communism  they  indulged  in  strange  doctrines  and 
practices,  such  as  ordered  promiscuity,  or  celibacy, 
or   voluntary   destitution ;    some    even   went   about 
naked.      Of    the   Adamites   iEneas    writes :    *  They 
indulged    in   promiscuous    intercourse,   but    no    one 
might  take  a  leman  without  the  consent  of  Adam, 
their   chief    elder.       When   one   of    these    brethren 
ardently  desired  a  sister,  he  took  her  by  the  hand, 
and,  going  with  her  to  the  chief  elder,  said,  "  My  soul 
is  afire  with  love  of  this  woman."     Whereupon  the 
elder  would  reply,  "  Go,  be  fruitful  and  multiply  and 
replenish  the  earth."  '  ^    Ziska,  the  Bohemian  general, 
burned  fifty  Adamites  in  one  day.     They  entered  the 
flames  rejoicing  and  exclaiming,  'This  day  we  shall 
reign  with  Christ.'     Heretics,  less  progressive   than 
the  Adamites,  stormed  their  refuge  and  put  them  all 
to  the  sword. 

Notwithstanding  these  internal  dissensions,  the 
hosts  of  Europe  were  hurled  against  the  heretics  in 
vain.  Over  and  over  again  the  chivalry  of  Europe 
collected  together  :  over  and  over  again  it  was 
repelled  and  dispersed.  Cesarini  was  employed  in 
the  difficult  task  of  persuading  the  German  princes, 
by  no  means  too  friendly  to  each  other,  to  unite  yet 
once  more  and  put  an  end  to  this  rebellion  against 
the  Papacy  and  Empire.  He  succeeded  in  uniting 
the  princes ;  but  this  new  crusade  ended  in  crushing 

^  JEn.  Sil.,  De  Ortu  et  Hist.  Bohemiae. 


40 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


defeat,  and  he  came  to  Basel  at  the  end  of  the  jei 
(1431)  to  take  the  President's  chair  at  the  Council. 
The  Council  had  two  main  duties  before  it — to  reform 
the  Church  and  to  put  down  heresy.  The  liberty  of 
judgement  which  it  claimed  for  itself  it  did  not 
extend  to  others.  Yet  the  claim  expressed  a  revolu- 
tionary movement  in  the  Church. 


FIRST  YEARS  OF  THE  COUNCIL       41 


CHAPTER    III 

THE   FIRST   YEARS   OF   THE  COUNCIL — ^NEAS   ARRIVES 
AT   BASEL — HIS   EARLY   EMPLOYMENT   THERE 

The  Council  was  enthusiastic  for  the  reform  of  the 
Church.  The  Papacy  knew  the  difficulties  attendant 
on  reform,  and  that,  in  the  hands  of  a  Council,  any 
serious  attempt  to  reach  the  root  of  the  evil  would 
induce  anarchy  and  divide  Catholicism  into  a  multi- 
tude of  warring  sects.  Moreover,  though  John  of 
Segovia  tells  us  that  the  Curia  did  not  know  that  the 
Council  of  Constance  had  declared  itself  superior  to 
the  Papacy,^  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  lack  of 
official  information  prevented  Pope  and  Curia  from 
learning  what  must  have  been  so  generally  discussed. 
Eugenius  made  the  small  attendance  at  the  opening 
of  the  Council  an  excuse  to  dissolve  it  (December  18, 
1431),  and  proposed  to  summon  another  Council  in  a 
year  and  a  half  But  it  was  to  meet  at  Bologna, 
where  it  would  be  more  under  his  control  than  at 
Basel. 

Cesarini  found  himself  in  a  difficult  position.  He 
owed  fidelity  to  the  Pope,  whose  legate  he  was.  Yet 
he  was  convinced,  not  merely  that  the  Pope's  action 
was  precipitate,  but  that  it  was  wrong.  '  What  will 
everybody  say  ? '  he  wrote  to  Eugenius.     '  How  does 

^  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy y  toI.  ii.  p.  68.     London,  1882. 


42 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


everybody  feel  about  it?  Will  not  the  clergy 
judged  incapable  of  effecting  reform  and  pleased  to 
wallow  in  the  mire  of  corruption  ?  Men's  minds  have 
become  pregnant.'  ^ 

The  Pope  had  committed  a  tactical  blunder.    Almost 
the  entire  Catholic  world  condemned  his  action.    The 
Council   reaffirmed   the    superiority  of    Councils    to 
Popes  and  declared  the  dissolution  to  be  invalid.    The 
princes  of  Europe  were  too  suspicious  of  Popes  and 
Councils  to  become  the  eager  partisans  of  either ;  but 
they  recognised  the  Council  and  promised  to  send 
delegates  to  confer  with  it.     There  were  important 
questions  that  must  be  dealt  with,  and  that  without 
delay :    Christendom    had    to    be    pacified,    morals 
reformed,  heresy  extirpated.      The  doctrines  of  Hus 
were  taking  root  in  Germany,  and  there  had  been 
risings   in   more   than   one   place    in    that   country. 
Cesarini    told    the  Pope  that   if    he,   as   president, 
attempted  to  close  the  Council  he  would  be  stoned 
to  death,  and  another  president  elected.     He  con- 
tinued  to   preside,  the  one   temperate  man  of  the 
whole  body,  taking  a  wider  view  than  Eugenius,  but 
remaining  his  friend,  and   ever  anxious  to   effect  a 
reconciliation.     The    admirable    organisation   of  the 
Council  was  due  to  his  genius.     As  an  Italian,  he  was 
aware  of  the  unresting  changes  in  such  a  constitution 
as  that  of  Florence  and  the  faults  of  that  of  Venice. 
He  endeavoured  to  avoid  these  defects.    He  appointed 
four  committees,  representing,  with  perfect  fairness, 
the  nations  of  Christendom  and   the  ranks  of  the 
hierarchy.     Each  committee  had  a  separate  function. 
One  sat  to  repress  heresy,  another  to  consider  reform. 

1  ^n.  Sil.,  Opera,  p.  64.     Basel,  1551. 


FIRST  YEARS   OF  THE   COUNCIL       43 

another  to  discuss  the  pacification  of  Europe,  another 
for  general  business.  These  committees  elected  their 
own  officers,  but,  to  avoid  the  dominance  of  any- 
party,  their  presidents  vacated  office  at  the  end  of 
a  month.  Each  committee  elected  three  men  to 
serve  on  a  committee  of  twelve,  whose  business  it 
was  to  decide  concerning  the  admission  of  new 
members  to  the  Council,  to  submit  business,  and  to 
receive  and  present  reports.  Each  committee  also 
sent  a  delegate  to  another  committee  of  four  that 
sat  to  receive  and  consider  letters  which,  unless  they 
could  furnish  good  reason  to  the  contrary,  they  were 
bound  to  transmit  to  the  Council.  All  the  four  com- 
mittees first  named  met  in  general  congregation,  and, 
if  three  of  them  were  agreed,  any  matter  could  be 
brought  before  a  general  session  of  the  whole  Council. 
To  preserve  these  committees  from  becoming  stereo- 
typed in  their  personality,  and  to  keep  them  from 
forming  rooted  prejudices,  they  were  constantly 
changed,  but  continuity  was  given  to  them  by  the 
retention  of  a  certain  number  of  members,  who  might 
not,  however,  be  elected  twice  in  succession.  There 
was  no  secrecy  about  any  of  the  meetings,  and  the 
various  committees  interchanged  their  views.  The 
Council  was  in  full  activity  when  Eugenius  attempted 
to  dissolve  it :  it  remained  active,  and  was  in  full 
opposition  to  the  Pope  when  Capranica  arrived. 

Cesarini  had  seen  for  himself  what  manner  of  men 
the  heretics  of  Bohemia  were,  and  he  was  resolved 
to  try  whether  these  resolute  men,  who  could  not 
be  conquered  in  battle,  might  not  be  won  by  concilia- 
tion. He  lost  no  time  in  forwarding  a  message  to 
the  insurgents,  inviting  them  to  send  to  the  Council 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 

peaceful,  humble,  god-fearing  men,  not  self- seel 
— but  of  minds  bent  towards  heavenly  things.'  ^ 

jEneas  saw  the  Bohemian  envoys  enter  Basel. 
They  came  very  quietly  by  boat,  accompanied  by  a 
military  guard,  and  bearing  a  banner  with  a  chalice 
for  device.  Their  garb  was  a  strange  one,  that  men 
had  never  seen  before.  Crowds  lined  the  streets, 
gazing  on  this  novel  procession  and  wondering  at 
the  determined  faces  and  resolute  eyes  of  men  who 
had  defended  their  liberty  and  hurled  back  the  hosts 
of  Christendom.^  The  harlots  of  Basel,  a  numerous 
company,  vastly  increased  by  the  presence  of  the 
Council,  had  been  driven  from  the  streets;  the 
members  of  the  Council  were  warned  that  their  con- 
duct must  conform  to  their  profession ;  and  gambling 
and  even  dancing  were  forbidden  throughout  the  city 
while  the  Bohemian  deputies  remained  there. 

The  young  secretary  beheld  a  Maelstrom,  a  clash 
of  contending  forces  that  was  determining  more  than 
one  mighty  issue.  About  this  time  the  Council 
aimed  two  shafts  at  the  Papacy  that  smote  home. 
They  resolved  that,  in  the  event  of  the  Apostolic 
chair  becoming  vacant,  the  new  election  should  take 
place  at  Basel,  and  they  appointed  a  Conciliar  legate 
to  be  sent  to  Avignon  to  inquire  into  the  alleged 
misgovernment  of  that  Papal  possession.  Questions 
of  Church -government  and  theological  issues  appear 
dull  to  the  modern  mind,  but  they  were  vital  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  when  so  little  social  or  political  or 
economical  doctrine  was  formulated :  they  were  the 
only  arguments  that  could  be  found  to  give  point 

1  Monumenta  ConcU.  Gen.  sec.  dec.  quinti,  vol.  i.  p.  135. 
^  Mn.  Sil.,  Hist.  Bohemiae,  xlix. 


^NEAS  AERIVES  AT  BASEL  45 

to  influences  that  men  felt  but  could  not  express. 
The  great  causes  of  human  action  then  lay,  for  the 
most  part,  concealed  and  dumb ;  they  lurked  behind 
many  a  Papal  Bull  and  the  insurgency  that  evoked 
it ;  they  stimulated  many  a  rallying  cry  of  religion. 
A  hundred  alien  interests  were  bound  up  with  the 
contest  between  Council  and  Pope. 

The  flight  of  Capranica  from  Rome  was  followed 
by  that  of  several  other  cardinals,  who  also  came  to 
Basel.  On  April  29,  1432,  Eugenius  was  summoned 
to  appear  before  the  Council  within  three  months 
or  be  deemed  contumacious.  Pope  and  Council  were 
at  open  war.  Sigismund,  the  Emperor,  honestly 
strove  to  restore  the  unity  of  the  Church  and  to  pacify 
disturbed  Christendom.  But  the  age  required  a  man 
less  vain,  less  impulsive  and  less  wavering,  and,  above 
all,  one  provided  with  greater  material  power  than 
Sigismund,  if  he  were  to  deal  efiectively  with  its 
difficulties.  ^Eneas  saw  the  Emperor  ride  into  Basel 
with  great  pomp.  '  He  was  a  remarkably  tall  man,' 
he  wrote,  '  with  clear,  bright  eyes,  a  broad  forehead, 
a  pleasant,  rosy  face  and  a  long,  full  beard — a  man 
of  large  intelligence,  full  of  projects,  but  not  keeping 
to  them — a  jocose  man,  fond  of  wine,  addicted  to 
women,  guilty  of  adultery  a  thousand  times  over — 
prone  to  wrath,  ready  to  forgive,  a  bad  economist, 
too  open-handed  and  ready  to  promise  what  he  could 
not  perform.'  ^  He  had  been  away  in  Italy,  bent  on 
coronation  at  Rome  as  Emperor.  The  Italians  made 
him  painfully  aware  of  how  unreal  and  ironical  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  had  become. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  Catholic  world  were  about  to 

*  Creighton,  loc.  cit.y  vol.  ii.  p.  162,  note  2. 


46  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

break  up  into  chaos.  As  Sismondi  says,  '  the  entire 
Church  was  at  war  with  the  Hussites ;  the  Holy  See 
was  at  war  with  the  Council ;  the  new  Pope  was  at 
war  with  the  Colonna,  and  his  government  was  at 
war  with  the  States  of  the  Church/  Sigismund  had 
little  real  power  in  Germany ;  he  discovered  that  he 
had  none  in  Italy ;  he  was  without  money,  without 
troops,  without  effective  support  of  any  kind.  The 
Sienese  detained  him  for  eight  months  as  a  kind  of 
prisoner;  *they  shut  me  up,'  he  said,  'like  a  beast 
in  a  cage.'  ^  He  was  in  a  difficult  position :  he 
wanted  to  be  crowned  in  order  to  refill  his  empty 
pockets  by  the  sale  of  privileges,  but,  if  he  acknow- 
ledged the  Pope,  all  hope  of  coming  to  an  under- 
standing with  his  revolted  subjects  in  Bohemia  must 
be  abandoned.  On  the  other  hand  the  Pope  refused 
to  crown  a  protector  of  the  Church  who  was  so 
disloyal  to  his  trust  as  to  favour  Councils.  But 
Eugenius  dreaded  a  renewed  outbreak  of  schism. 
He  gave  way  and  consented  to  crown  Sigismund. 
And  the  Emperor  warned  the  Council  that  he  would 
die  rather  than  see  another  schism  break  out  at 
Basel  after  he  had  put  an  end  to  one  at  Constance.^ 
Indeed  the  diplomacy  of  Sigismund  induced  the  re- 
luctant Pontiff  to  recognise  the  Council,  although  it 
had  ordained  that  henceforward  no  Pope  should  be 
elected  unless  he  took  oath  to  obey  the  decrees  of 
Constance  and  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  oecume- 
nical synods.  On  December  15,  1433,  Eugenius 
annulled  his  preceding  Bulls.  On  April  26,  1434, 
Sigismund   being   present,   Cesarini   and   four   other 

^  Muratori,  Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptores,  xxi.  p.  140. 
2  Creighton,  loc.  city  vol.  ii  p.  84. 


^NEAS  ARRIVES  AT  BASEL  47 

representatives  of  the  Pope  took  presidential  chairs 
at  the  Council.  But,  in  spite  of  all  Cesarini's  elo- 
quence, division  remained  unhealed.  If  the  Pope  sent 
a  legate  anywhere,  the  Council  sent  a  legate  a  latere : 
it  was  more  resolved  than  ever  to  turn  its  back  on 
the  accepted  doctrines  of  Aquinas  as  to  the  Dictator- 
ship of  the  Roman  See. 

In  spite  of  his  reconciliation  with  the  Council, 
affairs  still  went  very  ill  with  Eugenius.  He  was  a 
Venetian,  and  the  crafty  Filippo  Maria  Visconti, 
the  lord  of  Milan,  an  enemy  of  Venice,  set  Francesco 
Sforza,  the  condottiere,  against  him.  Sforza  carved 
a  little  state  for  himself  out  of  Papal  possessions  in 
the  Marches  of  Ancona  :  ^  other  states  of  the  Church 
were  in  rebellion.  The  powerful  house  of  Colonna 
was  against  him.  In  June  1434,  he  had  to  seek 
safety  in  ignominious  and  perilous  flight  from  a 
turbulent  Roman  mob.  He  found  refuge  in  Florence.^ 
It  seemed  as  if  the  Council  would  experience  little 
difficulty  in  making  its  claim  to  supremacy  effective. 

But  the  Papacy  has  survived  too  many  dangers 
ever  to  lose  heart.  Eugenius  sent  Cardinal  Vitel- 
leschi  to  Rome,  a  stern,  rough  soldier,  who  stood  at 
nothing  in  the  execution  of  his  resolves,  a  man  by 
no  means  remarkable  for  distinctively  Christian  gifts. 
Indeed  the  Papacy  had  to  preserve  its  independence 
and  sovereignty,  and  it  could  ill  afford  to  fill  the 
Sacred  College  with  none  but  holy  men.  Warriors, 
diplomatists,  and  scholars  were  to  be  found  there, 
as  well  as  men  of  remarkable  piety  and  purity  of  life. 

Meanwhile,  Capranica,  who  had  been  deprived  of 

^  Muratori,  Eerum  Italicarum  Scriptores,  xxi. 
2  Flavius  Blondus,  Decades  Historiarum,  iii.  p.  6. 


48 


.ENEAS  SILVIUS 


his  goods,  and  therefore  had  an  ill-furnished  purse, 
contrived  to  make  peace  with  Eugenius.  The  re- 
conciliation was  very  welcome  to  the  Cardinal  and  he 
left  Basel.  Nicodemus,  bishop  of  Freising,  a  member 
of  the  illustrious  house  of  the  Scala  of  Verona,  took 
Mneas  into  his  service.  He  rode  with  his  new  master 
to  Frankfurt  to  attend  a  diet  that  never  took  place. 
Then  he  entered  the  household  of  Bartolomeo,  bishop 
of  Novara,  the  brother  of  a  favourite  of  the  Duke 
of  Milan,  a  man  who  was  frequently  employed  as  a 
go-between  by  him  and  the  Council  in  their  diplo- 
matic intrigues.  iEneas  seems  to  have  found  this 
new  service  agreeable :  he  speaks  of  his  master  as 
*  not  only  the  most  eloquent  man  of  our  times,  but 
the  most  truly  human.  The  man  who  dwells  with 
him  leads  a  happy  life.'^  Years  later  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  him  that  is  full  of  affection.^  He  accompanied 
the  bishop  to  Milan,  and  remained  some  time  there. 
Two  men,  a  humanist  and  a  jurist,  were  candidates 
at  this  time  for  the  Rectorship  of  the  University  of 
Pavia,  and  ^neas  was  called  upon  to  plead  for  the 
humanist.  Need  one  doubt  how  eloquently  he  would 
do  so  and  the  sarcastic  things  he  would  say  concern- 
ing law,  how  rejoiced  he  would  be  to  bring  himself 
under  the  notice  of  the  duke,  what  hopes  he  would 
entertain  of  obtaining  his  favour  ?  The  jurist  had 
been  deemed  likely  to  succeed,  but  the  force  of 
jEneas's  speech  secured  the  post  to  the  humanist. 
Of  the  duke  he  would  see  but  little,  and  that  from 
afar,  since  a  barrier  shielded  his  sacred  person.  For, 
if  Filippo  Maria  had  the  cunning  of  a  fox,  he  was 

1  ^neas  Silvius  in  KoUar  :  Annal.  Vindob.,  ii.  p.  703. 

2  ^n.  Sil,  Ep.,  October  19,  1443. 


HIS  EARLY  EMPLOYMENT  AT  BASEL   49 

timid  as  a  hare.    He  surrounded  himself  with  guards, 
dwelt     in    retirement,    and    took    every   precaution 
against  assassination,  of  which  he  exhibited  craven 
fear.     He  had  shrewd  penetration  into  character,  and 
selected  and  rewarded  his  servants  well,  but  he  was 
not  the  man  to  assist  youth  for  its   own  sake,  or 
anybody  out  of  kindliness  or  generosity.     He  chose 
his  servants  for  very  definite  ends,  after  subtle  trials 
of  their  qualities,  of  which  they  were  unaware.     He 
made  one  serve  as  a  check  on  another.     All  he  did 
was    directed    by   some    subtle,    secret    calculation. 
iEneas  was  adaptable,  had  engaging  manners,  and 
was  a   cultivated  scholar,   but   he  hardly  possessed 
those  qualities  that  the  Visconti  required.     The  duke 
needed  faithful  and  able  agents  who  would  blindly 
carry  out  his  instructions,  and  not  be  so  keen  and 
eager  as  to  penetrate  too  deeply  into  the  workings  of 
his  mind.    He  pursued  many  ends  with  an  intelligence 
so  subtle  that  many  sides  of  a  question  were  present 
to  him  at  the  same  time,  and  often  he  seemed  to 
scheme    against  the   very   projects    he   entertained. 
Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  like  so  many  rulers  in  Italy, 
had  attained  his  position  by  craft,  and  kept  it  by  cun- 
ning and  deep  and  tortuous  designs.     ^Eneas's  hopes 
in  that  quarter  were  foredoomed  to  disappointment. 

To  this  period  of  ^neas's  life  belongs  a  poem  which 
has  not  been  preserved.  The  name  '  Nymphilexis ' 
suggests  the  amatory  character  of  the  work,  and  a 
letter  which  has  come  down  to  us,  bearing  the  date 
March  1,  1435,  addressed  to  Mariano  de  Sozzini,  says, 
*  I  have  despatched  a  little  book  of  more  than  two 
hundred  verses  which  I  have  called  Nymphilexis. 
It  is  in  praise  of  your  Baptista.' 


50  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    IV 

CERTAIN   EMBASSIES   AND   ADVENTURES 

The  statecraft  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  a  policy  of 
cunning  and  trick :  the  worst  maxims  set  forth  by 
Machiavelli  in  his  Prince  were  in  daily  use.  That 
writer  only  analysed  and  gave  scientific  precision  to 
the  habitual  practices  of  his  own  and  the  preceding 
century.  iEneas  was  made  the  unconscious  parti- 
cipant of  one  of  the  ingenious  stratagems  of  his  age. 
His  master,  the  Bishop  of  No  vara,  was  a  trusted 
agent  of  the  crafty  Visconti,  and  went,  in  the  spring 
of  1435,  to  Florence,  where  Eugenius  had  found 
refuge,  bearing  a  show  of  friendly  intention  towards 
the  Pope.  Niccolo  Piccinino, '  the  skilled  and  famous '  ^ 
captain  of  one  of  those  armies  of  mercenary  soldiers 
that  had  replaced  the  militia  of  cities,  and  were 
at  the  service  of  the  highest  bidder,  was  in  the 
pay  of  Milan.  But  he  affected  to  have  ordered  his 
soldiery  to  pile  arms  (for  it  was  still  winter),  and  to 
be  himself  under  medical  treatment  at  certain  baths 
that  lay  in  Sienese  territory.  A  certain  Biccio,  a 
young  Florentine,  who  was  scoundrel  enough  to  do 
any  villany  for  gain,  perhaps  at  the  instigation  of 
Cosimo  de  Medici,  approached  the  bishop,  and  un- 
folded to  him  a  plan  to  seize  the  person  of  the  Pope. 

1  Fii  II.  Comment.^  1.  1. 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES   51 

Sooner  or  later  Eugenius  would  be  going  outside  the 
walls  of  the  city  for  change  of  air  or  the  performance 
of  certain  ecclesiastical  functions ;  Piccinino  could  lie 
in  ambush,  pounce  on  the  unsuspecting  Pontiff,  and 
carry  him  off.  The  bishop  listened  to  the  proposal. 
He  gave  -^neas  a  letter,  bidding  him  carry  it  to 
Piccinino,  but  of  what  it  might  contain  he  said  not  a 
word.^  So  ^neas  rode  off,  first  to  Siena,  where  he 
had  the  joy  of  seeing  his  relatives  and  friends  again, 
and  then  to  the  baths.  There  he  would  make  his 
way  through  the  crowd  of  traders  and  harlots  and 
rabble  that  accompanied  the  camp,  giving  it  the 
appearance  of  a  kind  of  travelling  fair.  He  found 
himself,  at  last,  in  the  presence  of  one  of  those  won- 
derful soldiers  of  fortune  whose  vast  practical  abilities 
enabled  them  to  become  the  despots  of  rude  troopers, 
and  convert  their  armies  into  roving  states.  Piccinino 
would  be  surrounded  by  his  warriors  that  looked  like 
'moving  fortresses,'  for  their  armour  was  so  heavy 
and  complete  that  each  required  two  attendants,  also 
in  full  panoply,  to  mount  and  dismount  him.  The 
secretary  might  hold  some  conversation  with  the 
scholars  that  accompanied  the  general,  executed  his 
diplomacy,  and  gave  literary  polish  either  to  the 
terms  he  exacted  from  the  states  of  Italy  or  to  the 
menaces  whereby  he  controlled  them.  The  audience 
over,  ^neas  rode  back  to  Siena,  only  to  find  that 
some  letter  of  the  bishop's  had  been  intercepted  and 
deciphered,  that  Niccolb  had  cast  himself  at  the  Holy 
Father's  feet,  seeking  pardon  and  avowing  his  own 
guilt,  but  not  that  of  the  Duke  of  Milan,  and  that 
Riccio  was  in  prison  undergoing  torture.     iEneas  fled 

*  Pii  11.  Corrnnent.^  1.  1. 


52 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


at  once  to  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie,  and  prayed  there 
to  the  Mother  of  God  to  save  him.  Then  he  sought 
the  protection  of  the  Cardinal  Niccol5  d'Albergati, 
whom  he  convinced  of  his  innocence,  and  who  took 
him  into  his  household  as  secretary.  Eugenius  was 
magnanimous  or  prudent  enough  to  pardon  the  bishop. 
He  was  sent  back  to  Milan,  and  he  reappeared  at  the 
Council,  still  the  uncompromising  foe  of  the  Pope. 
Riccio  was  found  hanging  by  the  neck  dead,  probably 
by  his  own  act. 

iEneas's  new  master,  Albergati,  was  a  Carthusian, 
an  ascetic  who  never  ate  meat,  wore  a  hair  shirt  next 
his  skin,  arose  at  midnight  for  prayer,  yet  a  man  of 
gracious  and  cultivated  manners,  a  great  humanist,  a 
skilful  diplomatist,  and  accounted  upright  in  his 
political  dealings  as  judged  by  the  standard  of  his 
times.  Like  all  princes  and  men  of  wealth  and  posi- 
tion, Albergati  was  a  patron  of  scholars,  for  whom  he 
found  busy  employment  in  giving  point  and  polish  to 
the  artifices  of  his  statecraft.  His  housemaster  was 
Tommaso  Parentucelli,  the  son  of  a  surgeon,  destined 
to  ascend  the  Apostolic  Chair  as  Nicholas  v.  Paren- 
tucelli had  studied  at  Lucca  and  Bologna,  and  his 
first  employment  was  as  tutor  to  certain  noble  Floren- 
tine families.  He  was  of  small  stature,  with  short, 
feeble  legs ;  his  face  was  pale,  his  lips  heavy  and 
protruding;  his  voice  was  raucous;  but  his  flashing 
eyes  indicated  an  alert  intelligence.  He  possessed  a 
prodigious  memory,  and  was  gifted  with  a  great  flow 
of  language.  *What  is  unknown  to  Parentucelli/ 
wrote  iEneas  of  him,  *lies  beyond  the  sphere  of 
human  learning.'  The  Cardinal  and  his  housemaster 
were  on  terms  of  deep  and  afiectionate  intercourse ; 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES   53 

Albergati  confided  his  most  secret  thoughts  to  Paren- 
tucelli.  But  nearer  to  ^neas  in  years  and  in  keen 
zest  for  life  was  another  member  of  Albergati's  house- 
hold, a  fellow-secretary,  no  other  than  his  old  friend 
Noceto.  In  the  service  of  Albergati  -^neas  enjoyed 
glimpses  into  the  policy  of  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished diplomatists  of  his  age ;  he  saw  something  of 
its  best  society.  Fast  days  were  rigidly  observed ; 
silence  and  self-denial  were  the  rule  of  the  house; 
but  when  guests  were  assembled  there  was  feasting, 
accompanied  by  all  the  brave  magnificence  of  the 
age. 

Albergati  was  instructed  to  go  to  Basel,  but  he 
must  first  visit  Milan  on  a  diplomatic  mission  to  its 
duke,  thence  proceed  to  the  retreat  affected  by  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  and  so  on  to  Arras,  where  a  council 
was  summoned  to  discuss  the  settlement  of  the  war 
between  France   and    England.      Albergati  and   his 
household  started  in  July  1435,  and,   after  visiting 
the  Court  of  the  Visconti,  rode  across  Western  Lom- 
bardy,  ascended  the  outposts  of  the  Alps  along  the 
romantic  chffs  of  the  Dora,  crossed  the  bare,  desolate 
St.  Bernard,  followed  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  and, 
coming  to  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  took  boat  for  Ripaille. 
Here   dwelt   a   prince  who  had  offered   to   mediate 
between  Pope   and  Council.     The  union  of  worldly 
craft  with  religious  zeal  is  no  uncommon  phenomenon, 
but  Amadeo  viii.  of  Savoy  was  a  very  remarkable 
example  of  this  conjunction  of  qualities.     His  was  a 
character  that  might  surprise  those  uninstructed  in 
the  grotesque  complexities  of  the  soul.      Like  most 
members  of  his  able  house,  he  had  fished,  not  without 
success,  in  troubled  waters.      He  had  enlarged  his 


54 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


own  domains  at  the  expense  of  his  neighbours.  By  a 
series  of  well-contrived  marriages  he  had  allied  him- 
self or  the  members  of  his  house  with  some  of  the 
most  powerful  princes  in  Europe.  When  his  wife 
died,  for  reasons  that  are  variously  stated,  and  in 
which  piety  may  have  played  a  part,  he  retired  from 
the  world,  but  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  abandon 
his  title  or  relinquish  the  financial  control  of  his 
State. 

The  boat  that  bore  the  travellers  drew  up  at  a 
beautiful  spot  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  lake. 
Amadeo  and  the  six  recluses  of  the  military  order  he 
had  founded,  mantled  in  grey,  with  crosses  richly 
wrought  in  gold  hanging  to  their  necks,  and  leaning 
on  long  staves,  came  forward  with  their  priest  to 
greet  the  visitors.  Amadeo  and  Albergati  were  not 
strangers  to  one  another.  Aforetime  Albergati  had 
found  welcome  at  the  ducal  court  and  been  received 
with  customary  pomp  and  ceremony.  The  Hermit- 
Duke  embraced  the  Cardinal,  and  the  visitors  were 
conducted  to  a  luxurious  dwelling,  the  Temple  of  St. 
Maurice,  a  building  that  was  half  fortress,  half  palace. 
*Here,'  says  ^neas,^  'the  duke  lived  days  more 
pleasant  than  penitential.'  Perhaps,  already  the 
experienced  man  of  affairs  foresaw  schism  and  the 
possibility  of  his  own  elevation  to  the  Papacy.  How 
far  Albergati  trusted  the  royal  recluse  we  do  not 
know  ;  how  the  other  young  secretary  read  him  is  re- 
corded. Piero  da  Noceto,  when  he  and  ^Eneas  were 
alone  together,  went  to  the  wall  and  wrote  thereon  a 
quotation  from  Cicero :  *  The  deadliest  and  most 
deceitful  wrong  is  that  wrought  by  a  hypocrite.' 
*  Fii  II.  Comment,  i  I.  1. 


t 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES   55 

From  Ripaille  the  Cardinal  and  his  household  pro- 
ceeded to  Basel,  where  they  found  that  the  Council, 
fixedly  resolved  to  reform  the  Church,  had  begun  with 
its  Head.  They  had  just  deprived  Eugenius  of  the 
time-honoured  claim  of  the  Papacy  to  annates  and 
other  sources  of  revenue,  and  had  thus  reduced  the 
Pope  to  penury.  From  Basel  the  travellers  proceeded 
down  the  Rhine  by  boat,  passing  many  a  romantic 
rock  whereon  barons  had  built  their  eyries  to  pounce 
down  on  merchants  and  levy  toll  for  the  privilege  of 
passage  through  their  dominion.  Leaving  the  Rhine, 
they  came  to  Aachen,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Empire,  and  so,  by  Liege,  Louvain,  Tournai,  and  Douai 
to  Arras,  a  city  under  the  sovereignty  of  its  bishop, 
and  therefore  selected  for  the  diet  as  a  neutral  place. 
iEneas  found  himself  present  at  the  most  magnificent 
congress  that  the  mediaeval  world  had  yet  beheld. 
The  noblest  knights,  the  most  famous  warriors,  the 
ripest  statesmen  were  gathered  to  arrange  peace 
between  France,  Burgundy,  and  England.  The 
moment  seemed  to  be  opportune,  for  France  was  well- 
nigh  exhausted,  Burgundy  was  on  the  point  of  con- 
cluding an  agreement  with  France,  and  England  was 
hardly  in  a  condition  to  prolong  an  expensive  war. 
For  her  king  was  a  minor ;  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  her 
chief  statesman  and  general,  was  in  declining  health, 
and  the  other  ministers  of  state  were  paralysed  by 
mutual  jealousy.  The  legate  of  the  Council  was  there 
as  well  as  Albergati,  his  presence  giving  open  evidence 
of  the  strained  relations  that  existed  between  Eugenius 
and  the  Baselites.  But  all  hostilities  of  every  kind 
were  invested  with  a  magnificent  veil.  There  was 
perpetual  parade  of  knightly  pageantry.      Dazzling 


56  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

tournaments  and  jousts  followed  each  other  in  swii 
succession ;    mystery-plays,  the   handmaidens  of  re- 
ligion, delighted  all,  and  sumptuous  feasts  concluded 
the  labours  of  each  day. 

But  soon  jfEneas  was  withdrawn  from  these  pleasures 
He  was  entrusted  with  another  secret  mission, 
his  Commentaries  he  says  it  concerned  a  certain  pre-' 
late ;  in  his  book  on  Illustrious  Men,  he  says  it  was 
to  effect  the  liberation  of  a  certain  captive ;  Campano, 
the  poet  at  his  court  when  he  became  Pope,  concluded 
from  many  a  chat  with  His  Holiness  that  it  was 
urge  the  Scottish  king  to  attack  England,  and  so', 
divide  her  forces  and  compel  her  to  come  to  terms 
with  France.  It  is  likely  that  this  was  the  truth. ^ 
But  probably  the  secretary  was  quite  unaware  of  the 
contents  of  the  missive  he  carried.  He  was  chosen 
for  such  an  important  embassy  because  a  mere  secre- 
tary would  not  be  so  likely  to  arouse  suspicion  on  his 
journey  as  a  diplomatist  of  higher  rank.  Never  was 
a  man  less  reticent  by  nature  than  ^neas ;  never  has 
a  man  left  so  faithful  a  portrait  of  himself  to  posterity ; 
he  had  neither  self-consciousness  nor  wary  vanity  nor 
dissimulation  in  his  composition,  but  he  had  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  the  world  in  a  wonderful  school,  and 
had  been  taught  to  keep  a  silent  tongue. 

The  mission  must  have  been  very  acceptable  to  one 
possessing  so  fresh  and  eager  a  mind.  He  was  to 
visit  a  wild  and  almost  unknown  country.  He  even 
dreamed  of  extending  his  journey  to  the  almost 
fabulous  Orkneys.     But  his  troubles  began  directly 

1  The  author  could  discover  no  documents  in  the  secret  archives  of  the 
Vatican  to  throw  light  on  this  mission.  Few  letters  are  to  be  found  there 
bearing  an  earlier  date  than  1500  A.D. 


CEETAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTUEES   57 

he  arrived  at  Calais.  News  had  reached  the  English 
garrison  there  of  the  defection  of  the  Duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, and  he  found  his  way  barred.  Soon,  however, 
permission  to  pass  arrived  from  Henry  Beaufort,  Car- 
dinal of  Winchester.^  It  is  diflBcult  to  interpret 
Beaufort's  interference.  He  may  have  done  so  at  the 
request  of  Albergati,  knowing  perfectly  well  that  the 
permit  would  be  ignored  and  the  secretary  turned 
back  when  he  arrived  on  English  ground.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  might  be  urged  that  we  do  not  know 
what  secret  forces  were  in  operation,  so  lost  or  con- 
cealed are  the  workings  of  mediaeval  diplomacy. 
Beaufort  stood  accused  by  his  rival,  Gloucester,  of  dis- 
honesty, and  had  not  yet  received  the  royal  pardon  ; 
England  was  brought  into  disorder  by  the  long 
minority  of  its  king ;  a  little  later  Beaufort  sought 
as  warmly  for  peace  with  France  as  Gloucester  opposed 
it.  He  may  have  been  a  traitor  to  his  country  for 
his  country's  good,  or  to  advance  his  own  power. 
That  he  was  ignorant  of  Albergati's  design  is  hardly 
probable. 

One  day  in  late  autumn,  then,  ^neas  was  free 
to  depart,  and,  in  a  few  hours,  saw  the  white  cliffs 
that  owed  no  authority  to  the  Holy  Boman  Empire 
or  any  foreign  land.  He  was  allowed  to  disembark 
and  pursue  his  course  towards  London.  The 
Cathedral  of  Canterbury  was  not  then  surmounted 
by  its  superb  central  tower,  but  the  interior  would 
be  gay  with  banners  of  transparent  painting,  a 
peculiarly  English  art,  and  jEneas  was  lost  in  admira- 
tion of  a  magnificent  display  of  jewels  that  have 
disappeared;  he  tells  us  that  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas, 

1  Mb.  Sil.,  Comment,  in  Anton.  Fa/norm.,  iii. 


58  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

*  the  fame  of  which  is  spread  throughout  all  lands,' 
was  all  ablaze  with  'carbuncles  and  diamonds  and 
precious  pearls ;  the  meanest  of  the  countless  votive 
offerings  was  of  silver/  On  the  gardens  of  England, 
though  even  then  they  were  a  feature  of  the  land 
and  made  the  mean  cottages  look  pleasant,  he  passes 
no  remark.  He  mentions  Strood,  '  whereof  the  natives 
are  reputed  to  be  born  with  tails ' — a  piece  of  informa- 
tion probably  intended  to  impose  on  the  traveller, 
but  that  reached  amused  and  decidedly  incredulous 
ears.  In  London  he  would  find  many  Italians,  for 
the  external  trade  of  the  country  was  mainly  in  their 
hands. 

Europe  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  gay  with 
fantastic  costume.  Each  locality  had  its  distinctive 
dress,  great  cities  were  beginning  to  exhibit  the  swift 
changes  of  fashion,  and  the  keen  eyes  of  ^neas,  who 
had  a  great  admiration  for  blondes,  would  note  the 
manners  and  dress  of  the  English  fair  as  well  as  their 
faces  and  figures — the  way  they  carried  their  heads 
in  the  air,  their  hair,  puffed  out  into  horns  with  a 
crown  on  a  pad  between  the  puffs,  and  their  exces- 
sively short-waisted  gowns.  But  he  recorded  his 
adventures  from  the  dignity  of  the  Papal  Chair,  and 
he  tells  us  nothing  of  such  irrelevant  trifles.  He  had 
lived  long  enough  north  of  the  Alps  to  feel  no  great 
surprise,  perhaps,  at  seeing  a  drunken  lady,  nor  at 
hearing  her  discharge  a  volley  of  cacophonous  oaths ;  ^ 
he  would  remark  the  extravagantly  long  shoes  of  her 
lord,  the  toe  brought  to  a  peak,  and  his  turban  or 

*  Fii  II.  Comment.^  1.  1.  A  very  complete  description  of  this  journey 
was  recorded  by  ^neas,  after  he  had  assumed  the  Tiara,  in  his  Commen- 
taries. 

2  '  How  the  good  wyf  taughte  her  daughter'  (a  courtesy  poem  of  1430). 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES   59 

other  fantastic  headgear/  He  would  find  himself 
among  a  cheerful  and  contented  people,  keeping  a 
vast  number  of  feast  days  by  well  stocking  the  pot 
and  indulging  in  noisy  merry-making,  for  even  the 
unskilled  worker  lived  well.  He  was  surprised  at 
the  wealth  of  London  and  at  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants ;  he  was  struck  by  the  lordliness  of  old 
St.  Paul's,  and  he  was  shown  a  translation  of  Thucy- 
dides,  six  hundred  years  old,  which  was  carefully 
preserved  in  the  sacristy.^  He  visited  *  the  wondrous 
tombs  of  the  kings '  ^  at  the  Abbey ;  he  saw,  with 
curiosity,  the  strange  bridge  over  the  broad  Thames, 
and  noted  that  the  current  below  was  swiftest  at  flow 
of  the  tide.  But  he  found  his  progress  northward 
barred,  and  was  ordered  to  leave  the  kingdom. 

So  there  was  nothing  for  him  but  to  return  to  the 
Continent  and  attempt  the  hazardous  passage  to 
Scotland  across  the  North  Sea.  He  took  ship  again 
at  Sluys — the  outlet  for  the  commerce  of  Bruges 
— a  miserable  little  Dutch  townlet  now,  but  then 
*  the  busiest  port  of  all  the  west.'  ^  It  was  the  depth 
of  winter,  when  the  winds  blow  fierce  and  strong. 
The  boats  of  those  days  were  so  clumsily  built  and 
ill-bolted  that  they  often  foundered  in  a  heavy  sea, 
or  went  to  pieces  after  a  little  buffeting  by  the 
waves.  Nor  was  tempest  the  only  danger  to  be 
feared :  the  seas  were  infested  by  pirates,  and  ships 
usually  sailed  together,  in  little  fleets,  for  safety. 
When  iEneas  reached  the  middle  of  the  treacherous 
North  Sea,  the  wind,  that  hitherto  had  been  favour- 

»  Harleian  MSS. 

^  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  de  Hinderbach,  June  1, 1451. 

3  Pii  11.  Comment,  1.  1.  *  Ibid. 


60  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

able,  veered  and  grew  into  a  hurricane,  and  the  little 
vessel  laboured  for  life  among  great  waves.  Many 
terrible  hours  of  suffering  and  fear  were  endured ; 
even  the  skipper  gave  up  praying,  and  all  awaited 
the  end.  The  winds  drove  them  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  cruel,  iron-bound  coast  of  Norway,  where  they 
must  have  been  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks ;  but 
then  the  blast  changed  its  direction  and  set  them 
backward  towards  Scotland.  And,  at  last,  they 
made  Dunbar. 

This  terrible  voyage  lasted  twelve  days.  When 
peril  had  been  at  its  worst,  -^neas  vowed  to  take  a 
pilgrimage,  barefoot,  to  the  nearest  shrine  of  Our 
Lady,  if  ever  he  might  set  foot  on  the  solid  land 
again.  Directly  he  landed  he  fulfilled  his  vow.  He 
dragged  his  exhausted  body  10,000  paces  through 
the  frozen  air  and  across  deep  snow.^  Night  over- 
took him,  too,  for  the  cold  sun  of  the  North  shines, 
as  he  tells  us,  only  for  a  few  hours  in  winter.  His 
feet  were  frost-bitten,  and  his  servants  had  no  small 
dijfficulty  in  dragging  him  back  to  his  lodging.  The 
fulfilment  of  this  pious  vow  brought  on  an  attack  of 
gout,  a  complaint  that,  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  returned 
again  and  again  to  torment  him. 

As  soon  as  he  was  able,  he  rode  on  to  Edinburgh 
and  presented  himself  at  the  E-oyal  Court.  James  i. 
then  sat  on  the  Scottish  throne,  a  royal  author,  whose 
Kings  Quhair  we  still  read  with  delight,  for  it  is 
filled  with  the  genius  of  minstrelsy,  and  sprang  from 
the  heart  of  a  true  poet.  James  was  remarkable 
among  princes :  he  had  married  for  love.  When 
held  a  prisoner  in  England,  he  had  seen  the  Lady 

1  -^n.  Sil.,  EuTopa. 


^NEAS    SlI.VIUS    DISCHARGES    HIMSELF   OE    HIS    MISSION    TO  JaMES 

OF  Scotland. 

Pinttcricchio,  Siena. 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES   61 

Joan,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Somerset,  through  his 
dungeon  bars.  Straightway  she  held  him  in  a  very 
different  and  more  agreeable  kind  of  captivity,  and 
now  she  shared  his  throne.  James  was  an  able 
statesman,  but  the  turbulent  Scottish  nobility  had 
got  out  of  hand  during  his  long  imprisonment,  and 
resented  his  attempts  to  institute  a  strong,  central 
government.  Two  years  after  iEneas's  visit  they 
murdered  their  would-be  ruler. 

The  king  received  the  young  ambassador  kindly ; 
but  Campano  tells  us  ^  that  James,  though  he  would 
not  help  England,  declined  to  attack  her;  yet  he 
promised  to  send  an  embassy  to  Arras.  He  presented 
iEneas  with  fifty  nobles,  a  pair  of  fine  steeds,  and  a 
pearl  of  price,  ^neas,  always  devoted  to  his  family 
and  full  of  filial  affection,  sent  the  jewel  to  his 
mother. 

The  young  Italian  humanist  found  himself  in  a 
strange  land  and  among  a  crude  people.  He  was  in 
a  new  kind  of  world,  one  full  of  wonder.  Though  he 
could  not  understand  the  language,  he  was  unwearied 
in  observing  all  things,  great  and  small,  and  he  was 
eager  to  obtain  information  from  priests  and  inter- 
preters. Geography  was  one  of  the  subjects  that 
found  a  welcome  place  in  his  encyclopaedic  mind  ;  he 
saw  the  connection  between  geography  and  history, 
and  his  geographical  writings  were  deemed  so  valua- 
able  that  Christopher  Columbus  obtained  and  read 
them.  He  noted  the  relation  of  Scotland  to  Eng- 
land, and  described  it.  All  that  he  saw  remained 
deeply  graven  in  his  memory,  and  he  has  left  us  a 

1  Campanus,  Vita  Fii  IL,  apud  Muratori,  B.  I.  S.y  t.  xxiii.  Part  ii., 
p.  969. 


62  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

valuable  record  of  the  Scotland  of  his  age.  *  It  is  a 
cold  land,'  he  says,  *  not  very  productive,  and  a  great 
part  of  it  is  covered  with  pine-forests.  There  is  a 
subterranean  rock  there,  of  a  sulphurous  character, 
which  the  Scots  dig  out  and  use  as  fuel.^  The  cities 
are  undefended  by  walls;  the  houses  for  the  most 
part  are  put  together  without  cement ;  the  roofs  are 
of  turf,  the  doors,  in  the  country,  mere  ox-hides. 
The  people  are  poor  and  rough ;  there  is  plenty  of 
meat  and  fish  for  them,  which  they  devour  voraciously ; 
the  men  are  little,  but  bold;  the  women  fair  and 
comely,  but  licentious.' 

This  charge  against  the  Scottish  women  is  a  grave 
indictment.  For  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  pro- 
prieties of  sex  were  little  regarded  throughout  all 
Europe,  and  the  blessing  of  the  Church  on  a  union 
was  usually  postponed  until  pregnancy  was  far 
advanced.  Bastardy  was  very  common,  and,  in 
iEneas's  own  land,  as  one  learns  from  the  diaries  of 
the  merchants  and  other  sources,  a  husband's 
bastards  by  another  woman  were  kindly  received 
and  brought  up  by  his  wife  if  they  were  born  before 
his  marriage  to  her,  or  even  if  they  came  into  the 
world  afterwards.  Great  families  were  strengthened 
by  the  support  their  illegitimate  scions  gave  them, 
and,  in  Italy,  the  ablest  man  of  a  ruling  family  took 
the  helm  of  state  no  matter  in  what  irregular  fashion 
he  might  have  entered  into  it.  iEneas  had  a  great 
admiration  for  fair  women :  he  was  swarthy,  and 
could  never  quite  understand  how  the  German  came 

1  Pii  II.  Comment^  lib.  1.  It  would  appear  as  if  the  Scots  were  already 
engaged  in  working  superficial  coal-seams.  But  peat  may  be  the  substance 
referred  to. 


: 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES  63 

to  admire  those  that  are  dark ;  he  expresses  his 
astonishment  that  men  of  that  country  should  worship 
a  perfectly  black  woman,  and  take  her  for  a  Venus.  ^ 
A  fair  Caledonian  became  his  mistress  during  his 
stay  in  Scotland,  and  she  bore  him  a  child,  but  it 
died.^ 

Our  author  goes  on  to  say :  *  Women  kiss  one 
another  very  rarely  here ;  less  often  in  fact  than  they 
shake  hands  in  Italy.  Wine  is  neither  produced  nor 
imported.  The  horses  are  small,  quiet  beasts,  and 
there  are  few  stallions ;  they  are  neither  shod  nor 
combed  nor  bridled.  The  Scots  oysters  are  finer 
than  the  British.  The  people  export  hides,  wool, 
salt-fish,  and  pearls  to  Flanders.  There  is  nothing 
that  a  Scotsman  will  listen  to  with  greater  pleasure 
than  abuse  of  the  Englishman,  who  bears  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  deceitful.  The  country  is  only  partly 
under  cultivation,  part  of  it  is  quite  wild,  and  there  is 
only  a  little  of  it  under  the  plough.  The  men  of 
the  forest-district  speak  a  different  tongue  from  the 
others,  and  sometimes  they  are  so  famished  that 
they  are  reduced  to  eat  the  bark  of  trees.  Wolves 
are  unknown,  however.'  He  gives  us  the  strange 
information  that  trees  whereon  rooks  have  built  are 
forfeit  to  the  king.  Creighton  has  pointed  out  that 
a  law  was  passed  in  1424,  by  the  first  parliament  of 
James,  to  the  effect  that,  since  rooks  do  injury  to  corn, 
the  birds  were  to  be  allowed  to  build,  but  in  no  wise 
were  the  fledglings  to  be  suffered  to  fly ;  and  if  an 
empty  nest  were  found  by  Whitsunday,  the  tree  was 

*  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Procopium,  December  9,  1443 ;   Ep.  ad  Mich,  de 
Fuellendorf,  October  1,  1444. 

*  Mn.  Sil,  Ep.  ad  P.  de  Noxeto,  May  1443. 


64  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

to  be  hewn  down  and  become  the  property  of  the 
crown.  iEneas  is  a  restless  seeker  after  all  kinds 
of  information  :  he  is  for  ever  making  inquiries ; 
he  wants  to  know  why  Britain  is  so  called,  and 
why  the  opposite  coast  of  France  bears  the  same 
name. 

The  skipper  who  had  brought  him  to  Scotland 
wanted  to  tak6  him  back,  but  he  had  had  enough  of 
the  sea.  He  remembered  his  classics,  and  that  the 
man  who  risks  a  second  voyage  has  forfeited  the  right 
to  complain  of  Neptune.  He  preferred  the  risk  of 
riding  through  England.  It  was  a  happy  thing  that 
he  came  to  this  resolve,  for,  as  he  watched  the  vessel 
putting  forth  to  sea,  he  saw  it  heel  over  and  founder, 
and  only  four  of  the  sailors  were  rescued. 

There  were  plenty  of  Italian  merchants  travelling 
in  all  parts  of  Europe,  so  he  determined  to  pass  for 
one.  He  procured  a  suitable  dress,  rode  off  south- 
ward, and  presently  found  himself  across  the  Tweed, 
in  a  border-land,  rude,  uncivilised,  and  appallingly 
unsettled.  At  night  he  arrived  at  a  village  and  put 
up  at  an  inn,  where  he  dined  with  the  host,  who 
supplied  him  with  fowl  and  goose  and  vegetables,  but 
wine  and  bread  had  to  be  fetched  for  him  from  some 
monastery.  A  multitude  of  women,  all  of  them 
pregnant,  came  crowding  into  the  room  with  their 
good  men,  and  eagerly  demanded  of  the  priest  who 
this  man  might  be  :  Was  he  an  ^Ethiopian  or  an 
Indian  ?  Might  he  even  be  Our  Lord  Himself,  since 
he  had  bread  and  wine?  The  bread  and  wine  and 
all  that  there  was  had  to  be  shared  with  these  folk. 
The  feast  was  prolonged  until  the  second  hour  of  the 
night,  when  the  priest,  the  host,  and  all  the  men  of 


CEKTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTUKES  65^ 

the  jovial  party  took  their  departure,  telling  -^neas 
that  it  behoved  them  to  seek  refuge  in  a  peel-tower 
some  distance  off,  for  they  were  afraid  there  might 
be  a  raid  that  night  of  the  Scots,  who  were  wont  to 
cross  the  river  at  low  ebb  and  plunder.  They  refused 
to  take  ^neas  with  them  in  spite  of  his  strong 
entreaty  ;  not  even  a  bribe  would  tempt  them.  And 
they  left  him  in  the  company  of  the  women,  for 
though  many  of  these  were  buxom  and  comely,  the 
men  told  him  they  could  safely  leave  them :  wicked 
as  the  enemy  was,  the  ravishing  of  women  could  not 
be  charged  to  him.  So  ^Eneas  remained  with  his  two 
servants,  a  guide,  who  was  also  an  interpreter,  and 
about  a  hundred  women,  who  gathered  in  a  circle  as 
close  to  the  fire  as  they  could,  and  many  of  them  told 
tales  or  chatted  with  the  guide.  When  very  much  of 
the  night  had  worn  away  dogs  began  to  bay  and  geese 
to  cackle.  Then  there  arose  a  tumult,  as  if  the  enemy 
were  already  upon  them ;  all  the  women  took  to  their 
heels,  running  this  way  and  that ;  the  guide  vanished, 
and  ^neas  took  refuge  in  his  bedchamber,  which  was 
the  stable.  There  he  awaited  the  issue,  not  without 
trepidation,  for  he  knew  nothing  of  any  way  of  escape, 
and  expected  to  be  the  prey  of  the  first  marauder  that 
should  enter  his  place  of  refuge.  Soon,  however,  the 
guide  and  the  women  returned,  for  they  found  that 
the  animals  had  been  disturbed  by  the  advent  of 
friends,  not  of  foes ;  and  when  day  dawned  ^neas 
took  up  his  journey  again.  *  He  soon  arrived  at  the 
New  Castle,  which  men  say  was  constructed  by 
Caesar,  and  welcomed  the  sight  of  a  habitable  city ; 
for  Scotland  and  the  part  of  England  that  is  next  to  it 
possess  no  dwellings  like  ours  ;  it  is  a  dreadful  waste- 

E 


66  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

land,  and,  in  winter,  unwarmed  by  the  sun.*  ^  Then 
he  reached  Durham,  and  was  careful  to  visit  the  grave 
of  the  Venerable  Bede  ;  and  he  proceeded  thence  to 
York,  '  a  large  and  populous  city.'  The  great  Minster 
was  nearly  finished ;  the  central  tower  had  only  just 
been  put  up,  but  there  was  no  rood-screen  then,  nor 
were  the  two  bell-towers  erected.  Though  the  fine 
taste  of  the  early  Italian  Benaissance  had  already 
returned  to  traditions  of  long  level  lines,  vast  spaces, 
and  cool  shadows,  so  beautiful  and  suitable  to  a  warm 
climate,  iEneas  could  appreciate  the  delicate,  subtle 
entanglement,  the  profound  suggestiveness,  and  the 
soaring  sublimity  of  Gothic  architecture.  We  have 
read  that  he  was  impressed  by  St.  Paul's;  he  also 
speaks  with  enthusiasm  of  the  churches  of  Niirn- 
berg  and  the  lofty  and  richly  decorated  buildings  of 
Liibeck.^  His  taste  was  so  catholic  that,  while  he 
admired  ancient  sculpture,  he  thought  that  of  Orvieto 
not  inferior  to  it ;  ^  he  found  pleasure  in  the  suita- 
bility of  the  English  Gothic  to  the  climate ;  for  a 
northern  church  should  be  like  a  lantern  of  jewelled 
glass,  since  heaven  vexes  it  so  little  with  its  efful- 
gence. *  York  Minster,'  ^neas  says,  '  is  a  marvel  for 
all  men ;  a  church  full  of  light ;  for  the  walls  are  of 
glass  held  together  by  slender  pillars.' 

Between  York  and  London  he  fell  in  with  a  party 
of  riders,  whereof  the  most  important  was  no  less  a 
personage  than  a  Justice  in  Eyre  returning  from 
assizes.  The  supposed  Italian  merchant  and  the 
judge  rode  together,  and  it  must  have  amused  ^neas 

*  Pii  II.  Comment. f  1.  i. 

*  -^n.  Sil.,  Piccolom.,  Opera  Omn.f  ed.  Basel,  pp.  1064-5. 
3  Pii  II.  Comment.^  1.  iii. 


I 


CERTAIN  EMBASSIES  AND  ADVENTURES    67 

when  his  companion  inveighed  against  that  '  wolf  in 
sheep's  clothing,  Albergati,  and  his  intrigues  at 
Arras/  Of  course,  however  much  ^neas  may  have 
known  or  suspected  concerning  his  mission,  he 
listened  with  the  attention  that  is  due  to  news,  and 
probably  speculated  on  what  would  be  done  to  him  if 
the  judge  knew  who  he  was.  When  he  reached 
London  it  seemed,  at  first,  as  if  there  were  no  road  of 
escape  open  to  him,  for  no  one  might  leave  England 
without  a  royal  permit ;  but  he  pushed  on  to  Dover, 
and  found  that  the  guards  of  the  harbour  were  open 
to  a  bribe.  They  smuggled  him  on  board  a  ship,  and 
so,  in  the  springtime  (a.d.  1436),  he  found  himself 
once  again  in  Basel.  Albergati  was  away  with 
Eugenius  at  Bologna,  for  the  Pope  had  left  Florence 
and  taken  up  his  abode  in  one  of  his  own  cities 
(April  22,  1436),  but  Albergati  had  left  Piero  da 
Noceto,  ^neas's  co-secretary  behind  him.  Doubtless 
the  two  young  men  were  rejoiced  to  be  together  once 
more,  and  Piero  would  make  -^neas  '  fight  his  battles 
o'er  again.'  *  I  was  unwilling  to  go  on  to  Bologna,' 
he  says,  'for  I  feared  they  would  charge  me  with 
complicity  in  the  old  aifair  of  the  Bishop  of  Novara ; 
so  I  resolved  to  remain  at  Basel  among  the  foes 
of  Eugenius.'^  After  a  short  stay  with  Eugenius, 
Albergati  returned  to  Basel,  but  he  soon  left  again, 
for  the  antagonism  between  Pope  and  Council  was 
getting  more  hopeless  day  by  day.  ^neas  stayed  on. 
He  was  determined  to  succeed  in  life.  He  knew  that 
the  elegant  accomplishment  of  verse-making  might 
add  to  his  reputation,  but  would  hardly  lead  to  any 

1  iEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxeto^  May  1456 ;  iEneas  Silvius, 
De  vir.  clar.j  v. 


68 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


betterment  in  his  position ;  so  he  read  much  and  far 
into  the  night,  spending  the  hours  in  studies  not 
wholly  congenial.  Noceto,  who  shared  his  bedroom 
with  him,  would  come  in  laughing,  and  scoff  at  such 
wasting  labour ;  *  Fortune  does  not  bestow  all  her 
favours  on  the  scholar,'  he  would  say.  But  the  light 
young  secretary  could  not  divert  ^neas  from  his 
resolve.^ 

*  JEn.  Sil.,  EjJ.  ad  Petrum  de  NoxttOy  May  1456.  / 


iENEAS   AT   BASEL  69 


CHAPTER    V 

^NEAS   AT   BASEL — THE   COUNCIL   AND   THE  POPE 

The  Council  had  acquired  some  credit  by  patching  up 
a  truce  with  the  Bohemians.  The  more  moderate 
men  on  both  sides  honestly  desired  to  come  to  terms. 
The  leaders  of  the  Council  at  Basel,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  Utraquists  or  Calixtines,  had  done  their  best. 
Points  of  difference  were  threshed  out  by  small  com- 
mittees. Each  party  remained  unconvinced,  but  both 
sides  curbed  themselves  and  forbore,  though  occasion- 
ally a  moment  of  excitement  caused  that  to  be  said 
which  evoked  sore  feeling.  When  the  envoys  left 
Basel,  Cesarini  blessed  them.  And  the  chief  repre- 
sentative of  dissent,  Rokycana,  afterwards  chosen  by 
his  countrymen  to  be  Archbishop  of  Prague,  declared 
his  sense  of  the  brotherhood  of  all  Christian  believers 
and  the  independence  of  his  sect  by  returning  the 
blessing :  he  raised  his  hands  and  prayed  the  Lord  to 
give  peace  to  the  Council.  One  fat  Catholic  bishop 
ran,  panting  and  weeping,  after  the  departing  heretics, 
to  wring  their  hands.  But  the  Council  was  secretly 
busy,  fomenting  all  those  internal  differences  among 
the  Hussites  that  had  been  revealed  to  them  in  the 
negotiations.  The  Hussites  declared,  as  one  man,  for 
receiving  the  Communion  in  both  kinds :  the  chalice 
was  painted  on  their  flag ;  it  had  become  a  symbol  of 


TO  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

nationality.     But  there  were  those  among  them  who 
preferred  to  trim  their  beards  delicately,  liked  their 
wives  to  wear  long  trains  and  their  daughters  to  be 
dressed  in  a  manner  that  would  not  spoil  their  charms.^ 
And  there  were  those  of  opposite  social  convictions 
who  would  seize  these  well-trimmed  burghers  in  the 
public  streets  and  straightway  relieve  them  of  their 
beards.     Minute  differences  of  faith  gave  emphasis  to 
social  cleavage  within  the  ranks  of  national  dissent. 
It  is  true  that  the  fiercest  of  the  precisians,  the  Tabo- 
rites,  had  been  expelled  from  the  cities  and  dwelt  on 
certain  hills.    But  there  were  still  extremists,  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  refugees  of  Tabor,  that  remained  among 
the  Utraquists.     Procop,  the  successor  to  the  famous 
Ziska,  the  warrior,  and  a  small  party  of  the  outlaws, 
cherished  black  resentment   in   their  hearts ;    their 
minds  were  set  on  the  confiscation  of  the  property  of 
the  Church.     John  of  Palomar,  an  envoy  sent  by  the 
Council  to  Bohemia,  wrote,  in  his  secret  report,  that 
the  majority  of  Bohemians  wanted  peace  and  union 
with  the  Church,  but  this  faction  held  them  back.^ 
The  extremists  were  not  content  to  be  a  mere  drag ; 
Procop  raided  recalcitrant  districts  of  Bohemia ;  he 
besieged  the  German  and  Catholic  town  of  Pilsen.    He 
was  defeated,  his  troops  mutinied,  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  resign  his  command.    The  presence  of  envoys 
at  Basel  put  heart  into  the  Catholics  of  Bohemia. 
Among  the  Utraquists  old  divisions  deepened  and 
new  differences  appeared.     They  suffered  from  that 
lack  of  organised  unity  that  is  always  a  phenomenon 
of  assaults  on  vested  interests  and  accepted  customs. 

^  C.  E.  Maurice,  History  of  Bohemia,  p.  253. 

2  Monumenta  Condi.  Gen.,  sec.  xv.     Condi.  Bas.,  i.  388,  ii  431. 


iENEAS  AT  BASEL  71 

Most  Bohemians  got  sick  of  perpetual  strife,  and 
desired  nothing  but  peace.  In  fact,  reaction  had 
set  in.  The  Taborites  and  irreconcileables  made  their 
last  stand  in  battle  with  the  Utraquists.  They  were 
defeated  and  almost  annihilated  :  Procop  and  thirteen 
thousand  Taborites  lay  dead  on  the  field.  Both  sides 
were  chargeable  with  cruel  massacres ;  and  men  had 
become  sick  of  slaughter. 

Military  adventurers  of  all  kinds  crowded  into 
Bohemia  and  lowered  the  tone  of  the  army  ;  the  zeal  of 
reformers  waned  ;  to  the  horrors  of  civil  warfare  were 
added  those  of  famine  and  plague.  All  these  causes 
inclined  the  nation  to  come  to  terms  with  Sigismund. 

Already,  at  the  end  of  a.d.  1433,  the  Council  had 
agreed  to  sanction,  subject  to  certain  modifications, 
the  famous  four  articles  or  compacts  that  were  pro- 
pounded by  the  Bohemians.  They  were  :  1st,  That 
they  should  enjoy  the  free  preaching  of  the  Word  of 
God ;  2nd,  Excepting  those  who  lived  in  mortal  sin, 
the  laity  were  to  receive  the  Blood  as  well  as  the 
Body  of  Christ ;  3rd,  The  clergy  were  to  be  deprived 
of  secular  overlordship  and  property ;  4th,  Mortal 
sin  was  to  be  forcibly  repressed.  But  it  is  usually  not 
difficult  to  twist  sanctions,  however  carefully  they 
may  be  drawn  up,  and  the  compact  was  diflferently 
interpreted  according  to  the  predilections  of  party. 
The  Emperor  Sigismund  was  equally  astute  in  taking 
advantage  of  the  wording  of  these  articles  and  of  the 
reaction  that  had  set  in.  He  put  forth  all  his  diplo- 
matic skill  to  be  recognised  by  Bohemia  as  her  king, 
and,  on  July  5,  1436,  he  rode  up  to  Prague  in  royal 
state,  and  gave  the  Bohemian  nation  a  charter  by 
signing  the  compact. 


72  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

The  Pope,  at  this  time,  was  living  in  exile  from 
Eome,  supported  by  the  alms  of  the  faithful.  Not 
merely  was  he  unable  to  keep  up  due  state,  but  he 
could  barely  furnish  the  necessary  funds  for  embassies  ; 
he  even  paid  his  secretaries  and  officials  with  difficulty. 
This  was  the  pass  to  which  the  abolition  by  the  Council 
of  pallium-fees,  annates,  and  other  sources  of  income 
had  reduced  him.  The  Council  had  agreed  that  some 
means  of  providing  for  the  necessary  expenses  of  the 
Papacy  must  be  arranged.  Eugenius  sent  envoys  to 
expostulate  with  the  Council  for  non-provision.  The 
only  reply  he  got  was  a  satiric  reference  to  the  poverty 
of  Peter  the  fisherman  and  his  brethren.  But  the 
members  themselves  had  deprived  their  barb  of  its 
point.  They  were  zealous  for  the  reform  of  Eugenius  ; 
on  their  own  reform  they  were  not  so  eagerly  bent, 
though  it  was  quite  as  much  needed.  Many  honest 
men  in  the  Council  earnestly  desired  reform.  But 
reform,  whether  undertaken  by  Council  or  Pope,  met 
with  the  same  insuperable  difficulties.  And  a  Council, 
like  any  other  large  assemblage,  whether  it  be  a  diet 
of  princes  or  a  mob  of  priests,  is  hardly  likely  to  dis- 
tinguish itself  in  wise  statesmanship.  It  did  not 
suffice  the  Council  to  sneer  at  the  Pope  :  the  Emperor 
must  needs  be  flouted  too.  The  Council  entered  into 
close  relations  with  his  crafty,  shifty  feudatory,  the 
Duke  of  Milan.  '  I  am  a  fifth  wheel ;  an  impediment 
to  the  Council,'  said  Sigismund,  when  he  left  it^ 
(May  19,  1434).  He  recommended  a  return  to  the 
old  manner  of  sitting  as  '  nations.'  Reform  would,  he 
believed,  be  more  quickly  arrived  at  in  this  way.  But 
an  CEcumenical  Council  was  as  little  disposed  as  a 

^  Joh.  Segob.,  Mem.  Concil,  663. 


iENEAS  AT  BASEL  73 

Catholic  Pope  to  further  the  development  of  the  spirit 
of  nationality  or  aid  the  peoples  to  take  a  first  step 
towards  national  independence.  Sigismund  departed, 
calling  the  Council  *a  cesspool  of  iniquity/ 

Indeed  the  members  of  the  Council  spoke  of  piety 
and  practised  pluralism.  No  one  could  uproot  one 
single  abuse ;  so  impossible  was  reform  that  the 
Council  issued  no  serious  edict  against  simony,  or  the 
loose  life  of  the  higher  ecclesiastics,  or  the  employ- 
ment of  the  clergy  in  worldly  service.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  raise  them  from  their  incredible  ignorance. 
On  the  contrary,  Basel  became  notorious  for  its  harlotry 
and  impurity  during  the  stay  of  the  Council  in  the 
city,  and  Eugenius  informed  its  members  that  they 
gave  abundant  exhortation  to  good  deeds  but  failed 
to  set  an  example.^ 

Yet  men  did  not  lose  faith  in  a  Council  that 
represented  Western  Europe  and  the  whole  body  of 
Catholic  believers.  The  Council  of  Constance  had 
been  successful  in  healing  the  Great  Schism.  The 
conciliar  principle  was  maintained  by  arguments  drawn 
from  history;  it  was  elaborated  into  a  theory,  and 
supported  by  the  Universities.  Delay,  perhaps  was 
inevitable,  men  thought ;  the  Pope  was  in  abasement 
and  exile ;  the  sole  hope  of  the  Church  resided  in  its 
(Ecumenical  Congress. 

But  a  fatal  blunder  had  been  committed  by 
Cesarini  and  other  men  of  liberal  mind.  They  had 
opened  the  doors  of  the  Council  too  wide;  the 
democratic  parliament  assembled  at  Basel  was  not 
of  a  character  or  constitution  to  rule  the  destinies  of 
ecclesiastical  empire.     At  Pisa  and  Constance  many 

^  Hefele,  Conciliengeschichte^  yii.  663. 


74  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

of  the  prelates  were  by  no  means  learned,  and  the 
presence    of  jurisconsults,    as    advisers     only,    was 
welcomed.^     At  Basel,  the  generous  Cesarini  declared 
that  he  valued  men,  not  their  rank.      Nicholas  of 
Cusa  would  have  no  eligible  person  excluded,  for  was 
not  the  council  one  designed  to  represent  the  whole 
Church?      Shoals   of  monks   and   priests,   bent    on 
reform,  goaded  by  a  grievance,  or  seeking  promotion, 
flocked  to  Basel.     Troops  of  scholars  came  from  the 
Universities  and  received  a  glad  welcome,  for  their 
services  would  be  invaluable  in  the  determination  of 
many  a  knotty  point.     The  admission  of  lay  envoys 
sent  by  princes  was  opposed ;  for  did  not  the  bishops 
of  their  rule  represent  them  ?     iEneas  tells  us  in  his 
Commentaries  on  the  Council  that  he  was  strongly  in 
favour   of  the   admission   of  the   lower  clergy,   but 
opposed  to  that  of  the  laity.     Ecclesiastics  below  the 
rank  of  subdeacon,  that  is  to  say  laymen  (for  such 
have  not  taken  upon  themselves   the  sacred  vow), 
were  admitted.     iEneas  was   one   of  these  men   in 
minor  orders,  yet  he  presided  more  than  once  over 
the  committee  called  the  Deputation  of  Faith.    Many 
great  ecclesiastics  were  unwilling  to  see  themselves 
overwhelmed  by  such  a  crowd.     Men  came  to  the 
Council  when  it  pleased  them  and  left  it  when  they 
chose ;  self-seekers  stuck  to  it  like  burs.     Basel  was 
full  of  priests  and  monks  drawn  from  the  immediate 
neighbourhood.     Long  after  iEneas  was  convinced  of 
the  futility  of  the  conciliar  principle,  he  wrote,  '  no 
one  at  the  Council,  however  lowly  his  rank,  unless 
he  were  a  criminal  or  of  infamous  character,  found 
admission  denied  to  him.'     *  There  was  so  great  a 

1  Voigt,  loc.  cit.,  p.  106. 


iENEAS   AT  BASEL  75 

crowd  that  no  voice  was  effective,  no  guiding  in- 
fluence was  felt ;  heads  were  counted  and  judgment 
neglected.'^  'The  Council  of  Basel,'  says  Turre- 
cremata,  'was  a  scandal  to  the  whole  Church,  and 
this  was  brought  about  through  the  unwise  granting 
of  voting  power  to  so  many  men/^  And  -^neas, 
with  very  little  exaggeration,  describes  how  '  cooks 
and  stablemen  were  to  be  found  there/  ^  Still,  holy 
and  wise  men,  who  hated  Papal  usurpation,  remained 
faithful  to  the  conciliar  principle,  and  gave  weight  by 
their  presence  and  sanction  to  the  futilities  of  Basel. 
There  were  two  chief  parties  in  the  Council.  At  the 
head  of  one  stood  the  judicious  Cesarini,  supported 
by  Cardinal  Cervantes,  whom  iEneas  speaks  of  as 
'  a  reasonable  man,  one  desirous  of  peace  ;  he  was  the 
most  upright  of  men.'  *  Cardinal  Albergati,  Torque- 
mada,  a  Spanish  canonist  and  theologian  of  high 
standing,  and  Nicholas  of  Cusa  also  acted  with 
Cesarini.  This  party  defended  the  Pope,  but  made 
sincere  and  honest  endeavours  at  mediation ;  they 
were  supported  by  the  masters  in  theology  of  the 
Universities,  and,  for  political  reasons,  by  the 
Florentine  and  Venetian  republics.  Antagonistic  to 
the  legates  of  Eugenius  and  their  party  were  the 
subjects  of  Milan  and  Aragon,  the  French,  who 
attended  in  great  force,  and,  in  the  main,  the  great 
body  of  jurists.  The  leader  of  the  opposition  to  the 
Pope  was  Louis  d'Allemand,  Cardinal  of  St.  Cecilia, 
commonly  known  as  the  Cardinal  of  Aries.    D'AUe- 

1  Mn.  Sil.,  Comment,  de  Cone.  BasU.^  apud  Fea,  C. :  Pius  II.  a  calumniis 
vindic.y  p.  46.     Romae,  1823.  2  Voigt,  loc.  cit,  p.  108,  note  3. 

2  Mansi,  Pii  11.  Orationes,  i.  231  :  orat.  adv.  Austriales,  1452. 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Comment,  de  Concil.  BadL^  apud  Fea,  C. :  Fius  II.  a  calumniis 
vindic.y  p.  40. 


76 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


mand  had  been  a  favourite  with  the  late  Pope,  not 
undeservedly,  for  he  was  a  scholar,  a  generous  patron 
of  learning,  and  a  man  of  character.  *  He  was,'  says 
iEneas,  'patient  of  injury,  not  easily  provoked, 
remarkably  generous,  but  a  bitter  hater  of  Eugenius.'  ^ 
The  Duke  of  Milan  co-operated  with  D'AUemand 
and  his  party,  for  his  own  purposes,  it  need  hardly 
be  said,  and  not  for  the  purification  of  religion.  There 
was  a  middle  party,  led  by  the  gentle,  temperate 
John  of  Segovia,  and  the  Spaniards  at  the  Council 
often  followed  his  lead.  But,  in  the  counsels  of  the 
synod,  few  men  were  temperate.  The  Pope  was 
reduced  to  desperate  straits;  he  was  in  danger  of 
becoming  the  servant  of  what,  in  modern  parlance, 
might  be  called  a  fickle  parliamentary  majority,  and 
resistance  might  seem  almost  hopeless,  for  his  sup- 
plies were  cut  off.  The  Council  also  required  money. 
It  usurped  the  Papal  right  of  issuing  indulgences 
and  filled  its  treasury  with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale. 

The  Council  regarded  the  Papacy  as  the  usurper  of 
many  rights,  and  especially  of  property  that  was 
vested  in  the  Church ;  the  Head  of  the  Church  was 
the  source  of  her  corruption.  The  Pope  looked  on 
the  Council  as  a  '  headless,  formless  monster,'  bent 
on  the  spoliation  of  Christ's  Vicar  and  the  destruction 
of  His  organised  Church.  No  basis  of  agreement 
could  be  found  between  these  entirely  hostile  forces  : 
to  show  the  least  sign  of  weakness  on  either  side 
would  have  been  suicidal.  Both  parties  sought  for 
political  support  to  strengthen  their  position ;  both 
were  bidding  eagerly  for  the  favour  of  certain  person- 
ages who  affected  to  represent  the  Eastern  Church. 

1  iEn.  Sil,  Comment,  f  apud  Fea  :  Pius  11.  a  calumniis  vindic.j  p.  66. 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  THE  POPE        77 

Though  Constantinople  was  deemed  well-nigh 
impregnable,  many  Greeks  desired  the  support  of  the 
Western  powers.  All  was  not  taken  by  the  followers 
of  Mahommed ;  much  of  the  ancient  Empire  might 
still  be  recovered.  To  get  the  sympathy  of  the 
West  they  sought  for  reunion  with  its  Church.  The 
Pope,  the  Council,  John  Palseologus,  the  Emperor  of 
Byzantium,  and  certain  ecclesiastics  of  the  Eastern 
Church  were  in  negotiation  concerning  an  European 
congress  for  union,  which  was  to  be  held  in  Western 
Europe,  and  which  the  Greeks  promised  to  attend. 
If  it  met  at  Basel  they  would  have  to  cross  the  Alps, 
and  the  journey  would  prove  too  great,  too  difficult, 
and  too  expensive.  Rome,  that  would  have  seemed 
of  all  places  the  most  suitable,  was  out  of  the  question. 
For  Eugenius  had  not  yet  dared  to  return  thither,  and 
neither  the  Greeks  nor  the  Council  would  have  cared 
to  give  the  Roman  Pontiff  the  prestige  and  advantage 
that  their  appearance  at  the  foot  of  the  Apostolic 
Chair  in  the  Apostolic  city  would  bestow.  It  was 
necessary,  then,  to  find  some  city,  easy  of  access 
alike  for  Greeks  and  Western  Europeans,  but  suffi- 
ciently wealthy  to  contribute  towards  the  necessary 
expenses.  The  project  was  keenly  debated,  both  in 
the  Curia  and  in  the  Council,  and  the  Greeks  nego- 
tiated with  both  parties  to  secure  the  best  terms 
possible  for  themselves.  Florence,  Avignon  and  Pavia 
were  proposed. 

iEneas  found  himself,  a  man  of  letters,  cast  into 
an  arena  of  fierce  theological  disputation  and  political 
warfare,  where  oratorical  power  was  in  eager  request 
and  led  to  preferment.  Like  a  pleader  in  a  law- 
court,    he   was   ready   to   place   his   powers  at  the 


78  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

disposal  of  a  client,  without  concerning  himself  too 
closely  with  the  exact  justice  or  expediency  of  the 
cause  he  was  to  maintain.  That  was  a  question  for 
the  Court  to  determine :  his  sole  duty  was  to  do  his 
best  for  his  employer.  Pavia  lay  in  the  duchy  of 
Milan;  the  orator  who  appeared  on  behalf  of  the 
duke  was  an  incompetent  speaker,  and  the  fathers 
heard  him  with  impatience.  His  cause,  indeed,  was 
hopeless.  The  French  party  would  never  consent 
to  give  up  Avignon  for  Pavia;  the  Venetians  and 
Florentines,  who  belonged  to  the  Papal  party,  were 
foes  of  the  duke,  and  were  still  less  likely  to  do  so. 
iEneas  was  asked  to  plead  for  Pavia.  It  was  a  great 
opportunity.  He  was  to  appear  before  the  assembled 
representatives  of  Europe,  and  could  make  his  force 
felt  by  the  most  important  audience  conceivable : 
cardinals  and  ecclesiastics  of  rank  and  the  envoys 
of  the  Powers  would  be  there.  He  might  achieve  the 
special  favour  of  the  duke.  He  spent  two  days  in 
preparing  his  speech,  so  he  tells  us :  ^  he  sat  up, 
working  at  it  the  night  before  its  delivery,^  probably 
to  give  it  its  finishing  touches.  The  product  of  these 
labours  was  an  oration  as  dexterous  as  it  was  brilliant, 
and  though  it  did  not  change  the  mind  of  the 
assembly,  they  heard  him  with  rapt  attention:  the 
benches  were  as  if  spell-bound,  ^neas  says  that  he 
was  careful  to  avoid  saying  anything  that  might  give 
offence;^  and  he  did  not  omit  the  adulation  of 
princes  that  the  etiquette  of  the  time  demanded : 
indeed  he  gave  special  praise  to  the  Duke  of  Milan, 

*  JEn.  Sil.,  De  Concil.  Bas.j  apud  Fea,  C. :  Pius  II.  a  calumniis  vindic. 
Komae,  1823.  2  p^^  jj  Comment.^  I  1. 

3  iEn.  Sil.,  De  ConciL  Bas.y  apud  Fea,  p.  66. 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  THE  POPE        79 

of  whose  patronage  he  entertained  high  hopes,  but  of 
whose  character,  later,  if  not  now,  he  formed  a  juster 
estimate.^  Things  were  said  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
in  eulogy  of  princes,  so  smooth  and  servile  that,  to- 
day, they  would  only  arouse  contemptuous  mirth  or 
merited  indignation,  and  defeat  their  own  ends.  He 
won  the  ears  of  the  Papal  party  when  he  said  that 
no  one  ought  to  disregard  the  Pope's  authority  before 
the  Church  condemned  him.  Thus  he  adroitly  yielded 
due  honour  to  the  Pope  while  giving  the  Council  the 
supremacy  it  claimed.^ 

The  reader  will  find  the  oration  full  of  animation. 
Here,  instead  of  the  dull  speeches,  full  of  scholastic 
learning,  to  which  the  fathers  were  accustomed,  was 
a  new  style,  persuasive  oratory,  apt  quotation  from 
the   classics,    Ciceronian  Latin,   not   perfect  indeed, 
not   the   ponderous   labour   of  a   pedant,  but  alive. 
And  it  was  delivered  by  an  accomplished  orator  of 
engaging  personality  and  clear,  resonant  voice,  who 
always  kept  to  the  point,  yet  invested  his  argument 
with  scholarly  dignity  and  relieved  it  with  literary 
reminiscences,  whose  periods  had  the  grace  and  light- 
ness of  a  bird's  flight,  yet  who  could  drive  an  argu- 
ment home  with  the  precision  of  a  skilled  marksman 
speeding  his  arrow.     The  speech  for  Pavia  was  the 
first  of  a  long  series  of  oratorical  efibrts,  many  of 
which,  like  this,  were  wasted  on  futile  subjects  at  a 
futile  Council,  but  some,  like  the  one  delivered  at 
Mantua,  were  noble  calls  to  action  in  a  worthy  cause. 
*  No  one  of  his  time  made  so  many  speeches  on  so 

*  iEn.   Sil.,  De  Condi.  Bas-^  apud  Fea,  p.  40;  Europa;  Pentalogui; 
Ep.  ad  Procop.  de  Babenstein,  June,  1444. 


80  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

many  important  occasions/^  They  are  marred  for 
the  modern  reader  by  the  redundance  of  Scriptural 
and  classical  quotations  which  an  age  that  yielded 
servile  authority  to  antiquity  demanded  of  all  literary 
efforts. 

The  speech  was  delivered  in  May  1436.  Party 
feeling  already  ran  very  high.  The  Papacy  was 
opposed  to  the  selection  of  Avignon,  for,  although 
a  Papal  possession,  that  city  lay  under  the  shadow 
of  the  French  Power.  The  Papacy  bore  in  mind 
seventy  years  of  '  Babylonian  captivity,'  the  proximity 
of  Paris,  and  the  herds  of  Parisian  scholars  and  French 
priests  that  would  flock  to  Avignon  and  dominate 
the  Council.  The  Pope  and  his  Curia  had  seen  shoals 
of  monks  and  copyists  and  unbeneficed  clergy  and 
discontented  men  fill  the  Council  at  Basel,  seeking 
personal  promotion  there,  and  not  the  Church's 
welfare.  They  wished  to  keep  power  in  their  own 
hands ;  they  desired  to  preserve  the  universality  of 
the  Church  and  its  independence  of  all  princes  and 
powers  other  than  themselves.  It  was  feared  that  if 
Eugenius  were  to  die  during  the  sittings  at  Avignon, 
a  Frenchman  would  be  elected  and  the  Papacy 
become  bound  once  more,  and  perhaps  finally,  to 
France.  Nor  were  they  in  favour  of  Pavia,  a  city 
under  the  control  of  Eugenius's  foe.  But  the  Council, 
on  the  other  hand,  knew  very  well  that  what  the 
Pope  desired  was  to  get  it  to  sit  at  some  Italian  city, 
where  Italians  would  predominate  and  dissolution  be 
easy  to  effect. 

The  struggle  between  Papalists  and  Baselites  grew 
ever  more  bitter.     The  legates  pointed  out  that  the 

1  Campanus,  Pii  II.  Vita  ;  see  Muratori,  E.  I.  S.,  iii.  pars  il 


i 


THE  COUNCIL   AND  THE  POPE        81 

councils  of  old  were  attended  by  priests  of  episcopal 
rank  only,  and,  moreover,  that  the  mental  and  moral 
qualifications  of  a  voter  may  be  of  some  importance — 
should  even  carry  more  weight  in  a  question  than  a 
mere  number  of  votes.  But  they  were  howled  down 
by  almost  the  whole  body.  Doctors  of  civil  and 
canon  law,  nay  bishops  and  even  archbishops,  would 
have  none  of  this  doctrine.  The  cooler  heads  on  both 
sides  tried  to  mediate.  But  priests  and  those  in  minor 
orders — practically  laymen — came  crowding  in  from 
the  immediate  neighbourhood.  It  is  said  that  men 
knowing  not  a  single  word  of  Latin,  and  therefore 
totally  incapable  of  understanding  the  proceedings  of 
the  Council,  were  to  be  found  sitting  on  its  committees  : 
they  were  taught  the  formula  whereby  they  could  re- 
cord their  vote.  Masters  converted  their  servants  into 
members  of  the  Council  to  add  to  the  voting  strength 
of  their  party. ^  Each  meeting  was  stormier  than 
the  last.  Cesarini,  even,  lost  his  calm  bearing ;  his 
measured  manner  gave  place  to  excitement ;  he  looked 
perturbed,  and  his  words  came  tumbling  out  of  his 
mouth. 

Eugenius  and  his  Curia  saw  that  the  time  had  come 
for  bold  and  resolute  action.  If  they  did  not  push 
their  opportunity,  both  Papacy  and  Christian  Church 
would  be  ruined.  The  Archbishop  of  Taranto  was 
sent  to  Basel.  He  was  a  man  of  energy  and  convic- 
tion, and  he  gave  heart  to  the  Papalists  :  they  began 
to  see  that  the  Council  was  preparing  its  own  ruin, 
and  that  the  hour  had  come  for  the  Papacy  and  its 
followers  to  make  a  last  stand.  The  quiet  old  minster 
above  the  Rhone  became  a  theatre  of  passion.     It 

1  Voigt,  loc.  cit,  p.  123. 
F 


82  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

seemed  as  if  its  red  stone  might  take  a  yet  deeper 
hue.  One  day  it  was  filled  by  a  shouting  mob  of 
armed  men :  happily  they  were  so  many  and  so 
closely  squeezed  together  that  they  could  not  draw 
their  weapons.  Rival  prelates,  pale  with  anxiety, 
rushed  to  forestall  each  other,  to  seize  and  occupy 
the  altar.  They  gabbled  the  Mass,  they  sang  in 
opposition  to  each  other ;  the  discord  was  appalling, 
the  din  deafened  the  ears.  As  each  party  launched 
its  decree,  its  opponents  tried  to  drown  the  voice  of 
the  reader  by  raising  the  psalm  Te  Deum  laudamus. 
iEneas  was  present  at  these  disgraceful  scenes,  and 
has  recorded  them.^  '  So  great  was  the  shouting 
that  you  would  find  the  toss-pots  of  a  tavern  better 
behaved,'  wrote  he  to  a  friend.^ 

Voigt,  quite  gratuitously,  accuses  -^neas  of  having 
been  active  for  Avignon.^  Now,  he  definitely  says  in 
his  epistle  of  retractation,*  '  I  played  no  remarkable 
part  therein ;  for  I  was  of  the  settled  conviction  that 
the  frivolous  Piccolomini  had  throughout  no  great 
insight  into  the  confused  tangle  that  there  was  then, 
and  how  only  one  point  of  view  was  admitted  by 
the  entire  government  of  the  conciliar  theory.'  He 
wrote  on  May  21,  1437,  *  We  have  become  a  horrid 
monstrosity,  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  or 
heard  before.  ...  If  you  ask  my  opinion,  there  are 
few  on  either  side  whose  acts  are  directed  by  their 
conscience.  God  knows  which  side  has  the  truth.  I 
do  not  see,  nor,  if  I  saw,  would  I  dare  to  write  it.' 

*  -^n.   Sil.,  Comment,  de  Condi  Easily  apud  Car.  Fea,  Fius  II.  a 
calumniis  vindic.    Komae,  1823. 

=*  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petr.  de  Noxeto,  May  20,  1437. 
2  Voigt,  loc.  cit.y  p.  146. 

*  See  Fius  II,  a  calumniis  vindic.^  Csir,  Fea.    Bomae,  1823. 


THE  COUNCIL  AND  THE  POPE        83 

He  was  a  humanist,  full  of  love  of  letters  and  joy  of 
life.  Fate,  not  inclination,  had  cast  him  into  this 
theological  bear-garden.  But  his  graphic  pen  re- 
corded what  his  keen  eyes  saw,  and  his  open  ears 
listened  to.  We  can  hear  the  quick  heart-beat  of 
the  combatants ;  we  are  made  to  feel  that  momentous 
issues  are  at  stake ;  we  positively  are  present  at  the 
final  tempestuous  scene. 


84  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    VI 

^NEAS   AT   BASEL — THE   SCHISM 

The  last  violent  scene  at  Basel  took  place  on  May 
7,  1437.  On  the  29tli,  the  Pope  decreed,  in  open 
consistory,  that  the  meeting  with  the  Greeks  should 
take  place  in  Italy ;  for  his  diplomatists,  more  skilful 
than  those  of  the  Council,  had  prevailed ;  moreover 
the  Eastern  monarch  and  the  Eastern  Churchmen, 
who  were  subordinate  to  the  monarch,  had  a  natural 
bias  for  personal  authority,  and  were  better  instructed 
in  the  prestige  that  attached  to  the  Papacy  than 
assured  of  the  might  of  a  Council.  On  July  31st  the 
Council  commanded  the  Pope  to  present  himself  be- 
fore them  at  Basel  within  sixty  days.  On  September 
18th,  Eugenius  declared  the  Council  of  Basel  to  be 
closed,  and  ordered  a  new  Council  to  assemble  at 
Ferrara.  On  January  24,  1438,  the  Council  sus- 
pended the  Pope.  Meanwhile  the  Papal  legates 
departed  from  Basel,  one  by  one,  and  shook  the  dust 
of  the  city  from  their  feet.  One  by  one,  they  turned 
their  horses'  heads  southward,  not  without  sorrow, 
and,  in  time,  many  of  the  noblest  spirits  at  Basel 
found  themselves  gathered  together  round  Eugenius 
and  the  Sacred  College.  The  duty  was  not  painless, 
but  it  appeared  to  them  to  be  imperative.  Parentu- 
celli,  even  when  he  became  a  Pope  himself,  declared 


JENEAS  AT  BASEL  85 

that  'the  Roman  Pontiffs  have  stretched  their  au- 
thority too  far,  and  left  the  other  bishops  no  jurisdic- 
tion/^ Nicholas  of  Cusa  left  early;  he  soon  learned 
to  regard  the  Council  as  a  degenerate,  anarchical 
mob,  and  resolved  to  support  the  regulative  control 
of  the  Papacy.  Cesarini  and  Cervantes  were  slower 
to  admit  the  failure  of  the  conciliar  principle.  But 
they  were  driven  to  conclude  that  there  were  more 
at  Basel  whose  lips  played  with  the  magic  word 
'reform'  than  bore  it  in  their  hearts.  They  were 
the  last  of  the  Papal  party  to  leave.  It  shows  how 
completely  one  opinion  prevailed  at  Basel — perhaps 
it  shows  us  what  self-seeking  was  in  the  hearts  of 
most — that  ^neas  tells  us  '  there  were  few  who  de- 
parted with  Cesarini,  and  they  were  believed  to  have 
done  so  in  order  to  save  their  benefices.'  ^  But  there 
were  honest,  sincere  enthusiasts  still  left  at  Basel, 
men  who  execrated  Papal  autocracy  as  an  usurpation, 
discredited  alike  by  history  and  the  existing  corrup- 
tion of  the  Church.  They  clung  to  the  Council  as 
the  only  hope  of  amendment.  The  universities 
remained  wholly  on  the  conciliar  side.  Louis  d'AUe- 
mand.  Cardinal  of  Aries,  presided  now.  The  learned 
jurists  and  theologians,  Juan  de  Segobia  and  Thomas 
de  Courcelles,  remained,  and  a  knot  of  moderate  men 
gathered  around  them.  These  went  by  the  nick- 
name of  'the  Greys,'  for,  while  prepared  to  accept 
logical  consequences,  they  did  not  deem  unconditional 
submission  to  D'Allemand  one  of  them.  They  wished 
to  preserve  their  own  freedom  of  thought ;  and  were 
rather  inclined  to  take  up  a  neutral  position  with 

^  Muratori,  Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptores,  iii.  pars  ii.  f.  895. 
'^  Pius  II.,  Bulla  retract.,  ed.  Fea,  loc.  ciL,  165. 


86 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


regard  to  Baselites  and  Papalists  alike.  They 
counted  for  very  little,  but  they  had  the  support  of 
the  German  princes. 

The  feeble  occupant  of  the  throne  of  Constantine,  a 
personage  remarkable  for  crabbedness  of  temper  and 
dullness  of  intellect,  arrived  at  Ferrara  on  May  7, 
1438.  Though  reduced  to  a  realm  contained  by  the 
walls  of  a  single  city,  that  city  still  remained  the 
one  unconquered  fragment  of  the  Roman  world,  and 
John  Palaeologus  was  the  successor  of  rulers  that  for 
a  thousand  years  had  claimed  the  ancient  empire  as 
their  possession,  and  received  the  homage  of  no  incon- 
siderable part  of  it.  He  entered  the  city  of  the 
Estensi  in  great  state,  'riding  a  horse  covered  with 
purple  trappings,  and  the  Princes  of  the  House  bore 
a  sky-blue  baldacchino  over  his  head.'  ^  But  Eugenius 
was  compelled  to  transfer  the  Council  from  Ferrara  to 
Florence,  for  Niccolb  Piccinino  was  abroad  ravaging 
the  country,  and  the  roads  were  unsafe.  In  Tuscany, 
too,  the  Greeks  would  be  more  in  the  Pope's  hand 
than  near  the  sea-border ;  he  could  be  sure,  also,  of 
getting  supplies  into  his  treasury  (and  of  these  there 
was  great  need). 

The  Greeks  came  in  the  vain  hope  of  procuring  aid 
from  Western  Christendom.  They  found  it  indifferent 
to  the  fate  of  Constantinople  ;  indifferent  even  to  the 
schism  in  its  own  Church.  Many  wished  to  return, 
but  the  Emperor  overruled  them.  Months  passed  in 
weary  disputation.  At  last  Bessarion,  Archbishop  of 
Nicea,  a  liberal-minded  patriot,  persuaded  his  col- 
leagues that,  if  the  Turk  were  to  be  hurled  back  from 
the  gates  of  Constantinople,  union  with  the  Western 

^  Geo.  Phranzes,  lib.  ii.  cap.  15. 


iENEAS  AT  BASEL  87 

Church  must  be  effected — therein  lay  their  only  hope. 
Latin  supremacy  was  a  small  matter  now  that  the 
followers  of  Mahommed  had  triumphed  throughout 
the  East.  He  persuaded  himself  and  his  colleagues 
that  the  truth  coDcerning  the  Procession  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  the  use  of  leavened  bread  lay  with  Roman 
Catholic  Christianity.  The  Greeks  abandoned  dogmas 
that  had  served  as  rallying  cries  in  the  antagonisms  of 
East  and  West.  Bessarion  moved  a  resolution  which 
declared  the  Roman  Pontiff  to  be  the  Vicar  of  God, 
the  Father  and  Shepherd  of  all  Christian  peoples.  It 
was  a  striking  scene.  The  great  Duomo  of  Florence 
was  crowded  with  faithful  adherents  of  Eugenius  and 
Greek  prelates,  clad  in  the  superb  silken  vestments  of 
the  Eastern  Church.  Submission  was  rendered  to  the 
Pope,  and  Bessarion,  stepping  forward,  exchanged  the 
kiss  of  peace  with  Cesarini.  Men  supposed  that  the 
breach  that  had  persisted  for  so  many  centuries  was 
healed,  and  Eugenius  wrote  to  the  Christian  princes 
that  he,  the  Pope,  had  effected,  not  without  infinite 
labour,  what  no  other  agency  could  have  brought 
about.^  The  submission  of  the  Greeks  restored  no 
small  measure  of  authority  to  the  Papacy,  and  it 
diminished  the  prestige  of  the  Council  in  equal 
degree.  The  Pope,  and  not  the  Council,  had  healed 
the  gaping  wounds  of  so  many  ages.  The  tide  was 
on  the  turn.  Once  again  the  unyielding  policy  of 
Rome  proved  successful ;  once  again  the  forces  of 
attack  would  divide  and  rend  each  other ;  once  again 
the  precise  moment  for  action  had  been  rightly 
judged;  once  again  the  Pope  stood  at  the  head  of 
Christendom  (a.d.  1439). 

1  Raynaldus,  Ad  ann.  1439. 


88 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


But  the  Eastern  Emperor  returned  to  the  curses  of' 
his  people ;  he  had  betrayed  his  Church,  and  his 
Church  was  the  bond  of  union  of  races  that  for  cen- 
turies had  remained  faithful  to  the  Imperial  idea. 
Four  years  later  the  patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  Antioch, 
and  Jerusalem  denounced  the  *  robber- synod  ol 
Florence/ 

Meanwhile  the  principle  of  nationality,  abandoned 
by  the  Greeks,  began  to  manifest  a  sturdy  growth 
among  the  Western  peoples.  Charles  of  France,  the 
feudal  superior  of  a  nobility  ruined  by  the  long  wars 
with  England,  was  surrounding  himself  with  new 
men  that  were  his  creatures,  thereby  laying  the 
foundations  of  a  consolidated  France  under  an 
absolute  monarchy.  He  called  loudly  on  Pope  and 
Council  to  end  their  differences,  and  then  confirmed 
the  decisions  of  a  national  synod  held  at  Bourges, 
which,  by  a  '  Pragmatic  Sanction,'  overrode  all  man- 
dates of  the  Pope,  cut  off  his  revenues,  determined 
French  ecclesiastical  rights,  and  practically  created  a 
French  national  church,  subordinate  to  the  king. 
German  rulers  also  lectured  the  Council,  and  inclined 
towards  the  establishment  of  a  national  church  for 
the  whole  German  land.  John  of  Lysura,  a  German 
who  had  been  educated  in  Italy,  was  the  soul  of  the 
movement.  Diet  followed  diet ;  the  princes  declared 
their  neutrality,  March  17,  1438,  and,  on  March  26 
in  the  following  year,  the  Diet  of  Mainz  copied  the 
example  of  the  Synod  of  Bourges.  Though  Eugenius 
was  growing  stronger  than  the  Council,  the  power  of 
the  mediaeval  Papacy  had  become  a  little  faint  and 
unimpressive ;  the  Papal  taxes  were  resented  as  a 
baneful  outrage  ;  the  feeling  of  national  independence 


^NEAS  AT  BASEL  89 

was  spreading  throughout  Europe.  The  Council 
despatched  anxious  missions  to  Germany  and  else- 
where. In  these  legations  -^neas,  who  had  mani- 
fested his  powers  in  the  speech  for  Pavia,  was  called 
on  to  take  a  subordinate  part. 

He  had  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  Council.  He  had 
little  more  natural  liking  or  aptitude  for  theology 
than  for  law,  but  he  possessed  quite  as  much  capacity 
for  effective  action  in  a  council- chamber  as  for  the 
quieter  but  more  enduring  communications  of  the 
study.  Environment  counts  hardly  less  than  essential 
nature  in  the  development  of  character;  it  is  the 
chief  determinant  in  the  direction  taken  by  power. 
iEneas  was  cast  into  cross-currents  of  theology  and 
politics,  and  he  was  carried  along  by  the  momentum 
of  the  forces  which  played  around  him.  *I  was  like 
a  young  bird  just  flown  from  the  nest  when  I  came 
from  Siena ;  I  was  raw  and  inexperienced ;  we  deemed 
that  to  be  true  which  everybody  said ;  we  did  not 
suspect  their  statements ' :  it  is  thus  that,  many  years 
later,  he  wrote  to  the  rector  of  the  University  of 
Koln.^  Indeed,  at  first,  he  concerned  himself  very 
little  with  theological  discussion :  he  accepted  the 
view  current  at  Basel,  and  he  enjoyed  the  skill  with 
which  he  could  endow  dull  theological  propositions 
with  literary  grace,  and  so  gain  the  applause  of 
learned  men.  He  was  needy,  and  one  must  live  as 
one  can,  not  as  one  would.  There  is  even  a  pleasure 
in  adroitly  steering  one's  bark  through  troubled 
waters.  But  he  never  sold  his  soul  for  wealth, 
though  he  was  influenced  by  a  love  of  decent  comfort 
and   refinement   and   lettered   ease.     He    spent    his 

^  Letter  of  August  13,  1447,  ed.  Fea,  loc.  cit. 


90 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


leisure  with  other  young  secretaries  and  scholars, 
attached  to  the  Council,  in  discussing  the  classical 
authors  and  philosophy  and  the  merits  of  women  and 
wine.  He  was  witty,  good  humoured  and  kindly, 
and  men  sought  his  society.  He  was  a  popular 
member  of  the  light-hearted  circle  of  young  men 
that  he  calls  '  the  Basel  Academy ' ;  ^  they  were 
occupied  throughout  the  day  in  the  pressure  of 
business  or  the  pursuit  of  learning ;  they  sought 
relaxation  in  the  immediacy  and  joy  of  life,  and 
passed  hilarious  nights  together.  Half-suffocated 
in  the  grey  tide  of  affairs,  they  exulted  to  escape 
to  more  cheerful  fields,  and  it  must  be  owned  that 
they  held  no  more  passionate  prejudice  for  chastity 
than  other  men  of  their  time.^ 

Then  came  the  schism  within  the  Council,  -^neas 
was  a  many-sided  man  and  could  see  many  sides  of 
a  question.  'The  more  you  know  of  a  subject  the 
greater  may  be  your  doubt  concerning  it,'  he  was 
wont  to  say.^  Was  the  schism  very  serious  after  all  ? 
The  Universities  supported  the  Council ;  it  was  by 
no  means  certain  that  the  breach  would  be  permanent. 
He  wrote  to  his  friend  Noceto,  who  was  still  in  the 
service  of  Albergati :  '  both  sides  have  strong  leaders; 
both  sides  produce  strong  arguments ;  a  decision  is 
impossible.  The  French  party  has  most  prelates, 
but  which  side  has  most  probity  is  quite  another 
question.  The  greater  number  of  theologians  are 
on  the  legate's  side.  There  you  have  all  the  guidance 
there  is.     Some  are  mendicantes  and  others  would 


*  Mn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxeto,  September  18,  1453. 

*  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Nicol.  Amadamum,  1442  et  1443. 

*  Campanus,  Vita  Pii  II.,  apud  j^En.  Silv.  Opera.     Basileae,  1551. 


THE  SCHISM  91 

be  manducantes.  Do  you  ask  my  meaning  ?  There 
are  very  few  that  I  can  trust  as  being  led  by  their 
conscience.'  He  believed  in  the  conciliar  principle, 
and,  when  schism  came,  that  the  directive  purpose 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  would  declare  itself  in  the  evolution 
of  events.  '  It  was  with  no  venal  spirit,'  he  assures 
us,  *  that  I  held  that  the  Council  should  not  be  at  the 
beck  of  rulers,  but  should  submit  itself  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  ^  But  he  also  admits  that 
his  chief  desire  at  this  time  was  to  get  on  in  the 
world.  *  Then  I  was  a  layman,  and  I  shared  in  the 
general  malice  of  the  laity  against  the  Church,  nor 
was  I  so  anxious  to  discover  truth  as  to  secure  my 
own  advancement.'  He  was  conscious  of  great  powers 
requiring  a  wide  field  for  their  due  exercise;  his 
nature  was  almost  encyclopaedic  in  its  scope,  and 
to  satisfy  it  some  secure  position  must  be  obtained. 
He  had  a  keen  zest  for  life ;  the  desire  of  the  cul- 
tivated humanist  to  make  all  things  go  pleasantly; 
to  speak  smoothly  and  avoid  all  causes  of  offence. 
Many  motives  conflict  in  a  complex  nature;  no  solitary 
impulse  is  likely  to  dominate  it.  His  letters  are 
remarkable  for  their  candour.  That  he  took  chiefly 
an  academic  interest  in  the  discussions  at  Basel  is 
clear  from  them.  He  was  not,  at  this  time,  a  member 
of  the  Council.  But  the  atmosphere  he  breathed 
was  thick  with  charges  against  the  misgovernment 
of  Eugenius.  '  No  one  among  those  at  Basel  might 
be  listened  to  if  he  defended  the  Roman  Curia  or 
gave  Eugenius  a  favourable  word.  But  whoever 
spoke  ill  of  the  Roman  See,  condemned  Eugenius, 
and   detested   the   Curia,   was  held   in  the  highest 

*  Ep.  retract^  loc.  cit. 


92 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


consideration.'^  *  We  wrote  letters  and  pamphlets 
whereby  we  got  high  praise  and  we  were  very  proud 
of  them/ 2  So  wrote  iEneas  in  his  retractations. 
His  inner  life  was  set  on  letters  and  success  and 
amusement. 

The  Pope  was  deemed  by  the  great  majority  of 
the  Council  to  be  contumacious.  It  probably  never 
entered  ^neas's  mind  to  desert  to  the  Papal  side. 
Cesarini  thought  very  highly  of  him  as  a  scholar,^ 
but  that  great  figure  dominated  the  memory  of  Pius 
the  Pope  more  than  it  did  the  mind  of  ^neas  the 
secretary.  'Often  we  find  in  a  footstep  what  we 
failed  to  see  in  a  face.'  iEneas  had  no  very  deep 
spiritual  perceptions  at  this  time ;  the  strife  around 
him  was  vital,  but  it  was  not  of  a  character  calculated 
to  stir  his  nature  to  its  depths. 

He  was  capable  of  great  personal  loyalty,  and  an 
event  now  happened  which  bound  him  to  the  con- 
ciliar  side.  Francesco  di  Picciolpassi,  Archbishop  of 
Milan,  was  a  man  not  unlearned.  The  light,  easy, 
vivid  style  of  the  secretary  so  took  his  fancy  that 
he  asked  ^neas  to  polish  his  own  work.  The  speech 
for  Pavia  had  elicited  thanks  from  the  Duke  of  Milan, 
and  iEneas  hoped  to  get  employment  in  the  ducal 
service.  The  Archbishop  offered  him  the  Provostship 
of  S.  Lorenzo  in  Milan — a  position  which  could  be 
held  by  one  who  was  practically  a  layman — that  is 
to  say,  one  in  minor  orders — below  the  rank  of  sub- 
deacon  and  untrammelled  by  priestly  vows.  But 
the  chapter  had  selected  its  own  man,  and  a  dispen- 


^  In  Fea,  C,  Pius  II.  a  calumniis  vindic.  :  Ep.  retract.y  p.  3. 
2  Ihid.^  Bulla  retract,  p.  155. 
5  See  the  letter  of  May  1,  1443. 


THE  SCHISM  93 

sation  was  required  from  the  Council  to  overrule  the 
chapter,  ^neas  petitioned  the  Council  for  a  dispen- 
sation, and  his  petition  was  contested.  But  opposi- 
tion to  him  was  directed  less  by  principle  than  by 
personal  jealousy.  He  made  an  able  appeal :  *  You 
will  act  according  to  your  sense  of  what  is  right, 
Fathers/  he  said.  *  I  do  not  ask  you  to  decide  con- 
trary to  what  you  deem  honour  to  require  at  your 
hands.  Should  you  decide  in  my  favour,  however, 
I  should  prefer  such  a  token  of  your  good-will,  even 
if  I  never  got  the  office,  to  the  office  itself  as  conferred 
by  any  mere  capitular  election.'  ^  Such  sleek  blan- 
diloquence  was  irresistible.  The  Council  readily  com- 
plied. But  it  should  be  remarked  that,  in  issuing 
a  dispensation,  it  arrogated  to  itself  a  privilege  which 
it  had  denied  to  the  Pope. 

After  the  plague,  -^neas  rode  to  Milan  only  to 
find  the  Provostship  filled  up  by  the  duke,  and 
clamoured  for  by  a  Papal  nominee.  iEneas  petitioned 
the  duke,  and  still  hoped  for  success.  He  threw 
away  fifty  ducats  in  fees  besides  the  expenses  of 
more  than  one  journey  over  the  Alps.^  On  his  return 
to  Basel,  the  archbishop  requested  him,  although  a  lay- 
man, to  preach  for  him  on  the  day  of  St.  Ambrose,  that 
saint  being  the  patron  of  Milan.  The  congregation, 
composed  of  scholarly  and  distinguished  men,  listened 
with  rapt  attention.  Here  were  no  dull,  threadbare 
platitudes,  no  dreary  outpourings  of  scholastic  theology, 
but  words  that  were  alive,  happy  illustrations  drawn 
from  Holy  Writ,  and  still  happier  quotations  from 
those  heathen  authors  that  all  men  loved  and  admired.^ 
iEneas  tells  us  that  he  was  of  opinion  that  the  Classics 

»  Voigt,  loc.  cit.  149.       2  j^i^^  Iq^  ^^i  292.       ^  p^  jj  Comment^  1.  1. 


94 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


furnish  the  soundest,  practical  guidance  for  life.^  His 
brilliant  audience  were  warm  in  their  congratula- 
tions.^ 

He  soon  rose  rapidly  in  the  service  of  the  Council, 
especially  under  the  Anti-Pope  it  elected.  In  a 
year  or  two  he  became  scriptor,  then  transcriber  of 
protocols  ;  then  corrector,  or  overseer  of  the  scriptors ; 
then  he  was  promoted  to  posts  usually  reserved  for 
doctors  of  canon  law,  becoming  first,  abbreviator, 
an  officer  entrusted  with  letters  and  the  less  im- 
portant documents  of  the  Council,  and  afterwards 
superintendent  of  abbreviators.  He  was  often 
appointed  to  the  Committee  of  Faith,  sitting  among 
theologians,  and  was  sometimes  chosen  to  be  its 
President ;  and,  more  than  once,  he  was  selected  to 
be  of  the  Committee  of  Twelve.^  His  gracious  bear- 
ing, his  amiability,  his  great  mental  endowments,  and 
his  discretion  marked  him  out  for  diplomacy ;  and  he 
was  sent  with  missions,  thrice  to  Strassburg,  twice  to 
Constance,  once,  at  least,  both  to  Frankfort  and 
Savoy.  Gratitude  demanded,  his  duty  required  that 
he  should  defend  the  Council  that  he  approved,  that 
employed  him,  and  that  gave  him  advancement : 
intellectual  assent  and  obligation  conspired  to  make 
him  the  Councirs  man.  The  ink  flew  from  his  facile, 
willing  pen  in  numerous  tractates.  *It  caused  me 
no  blush,'  so  he  says  a  few  years  later,  'to  write 
pamphlets  and  foolishly  attack  Papal  authority,  nor,' 
adds  he  with  simple  and  characteristic  vanity,  'was 
the   name   of  JEneas   of  small    account   among   the 


*  Mn.  Sil.,  Epistola  ad  Sigismundunij  Ducem.  Austriae^  December  3, 
1443. 
2  Mn..  Sil,  De  vir.  clar.^  xxi.  ^  p^^  jj  Comment.,  1.  1. 


THE  SCHISM  95 

enemies  of  the  Roman  Curia.' ^  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  these  writings  were  inspired  so  much  by 
polemical  impulse  or  a  strong  sense  of  obligation  as 
by  the  delight  of  a  ready  penman  in  his  skill — the 
pleasure  he  takes  in  lucid  exposition  and  happy 
illustration  and  clear,  pregnant  phrase.^  The  sound 
of  his  own  sentences  probably  had  a  charm  for  ^neas 
greater  than  the  attraction  of  conciliar  principles. 
For  this  Yoigt  chose  to  pillory  him.  Seldom  have 
three  closely  printed  volumes  of  accurate  research 
been  marred  by  more  persistent  anxiety  to  brand  a 
man  with  the  worst  motives,  or  by  such  deliberate 
refusal  to  entertain  those  more  charitable  interpreta- 
tions of  human  character  which,  oftener  than  not, 
are  nearest  the  truth. 

His  earlier  literary  activities  had  quite  another 
direction.  At  Basel  as  at  Siena  he  had  indulged  in 
day-dreams.  Platina  credits  him  with  three  thousand 
poems.  ^  He  sang  of  wine  and  women ;  he  wrote 
satires  and  eclogues  and  elegies  after  the  manner  of 
the  Ancients.  The  Nymphilexis,  an  erotic  poem  of 
at  least  two  hundred  lines,  has  perished ;  only  the 
dedication  to  his  friend  Mariano  de  Sozzini  remains.* 
Campano  tells  us  it  was  sprightly  and  spirited,  but 

^  See  the  Epistle  of  Retractation,  written  to  the  Rector  of  Koln.    1447. 
Ed.  Fea,  loc.  cit. 

2  His  History  of  the  Council,  to  some  extent  a  polemical  tract  of  this 
period,  is  full  of  pithy,  pregnant  remarks  :  e.g.,  *  There  are  none  to  whom 
some  happiness  does  not  fall,  whom  God  does  not  somehow  recompense 
here  ;  and  obstacles  that  are  like  mountains  may  glow  with  celestial  light ' ; 
*  A  man  is  most  shocked  by  vices  that  he  himself  is  not  guilty  of ' ;  *  Worth 
without  power  is  a  mockery ' ;  '  Such  is  the  essential  power  of  goodness 
that  its  very  foe  is  compelled  to  strive  for  it.' 
■  3  Platina,  Vita  Pii  11. 

*  JBn,  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Mar,  de  Soc,  March  1,  1435. 


96  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

the  metre  was  not  too  correct.  In  truth  his  verse 
had  not  the  inevitableness  and  spontaneity  that 
belongs  to  the  born  poet ;  the  lines  did  not  come 
singing  into  his  brain.  He  merely  turned  eloquent 
prose  into  passable  verse.  Yet  his  contemporaries 
thought  highly  of  him  as  a  poet.  These  poetical 
exercises  did  him  the  usual  good  service  of  making 
him  master  of  a  large  vocabulary  and  teaching  him 
the  value  of  point.  He  learned  how  effective  is 
the  precise  epithet ;  how  that  is  the  best  style  which 
best  brings  the  subject  quite  home  to  the  reader's 
mind.  Later  in  life  he  wrote  plays  and  brilliant 
dialogues ;  later  still  he  indulged  in  hymns  and 
epitaphs,  and,  when  he  became  Pope,  he  still  amused 
himself  by  capping  rhymes  with  Campano,  and  he 
versified  on  religious  subjects. 

But  his  letters  have  a  unique  charm.  He  was  a 
voluminous  correspondent,  and  he  took  no  pains  to 
put  on  disguise  with  his  friends.  One  sees  the  man 
just  as  he  was,  without  any  self-consciousness.  If 
he  poses,  it  is  just  as  a  child  might  do.  In  reading 
them  one  is  attracted  to  a  welcome  personality,  a 
warm  friend,  who  chats  and  sometimes  grows  elo- 
quent. His  style  is  always  fresh,  though,  perhaps, 
a  little  overcharged  with  those  literary  reminiscences. 
Scriptural  and  classical,  that  the  taste  of  his  age 
required.  Ideas  and  emotions  and  prejudices  chase 
each  other  like  the  clouds  :  the  momentary  feeling 
is  there,  the  passing  half-thought,  the  fleeting  im- 
pulse. Hence  it  is  dangerous  and  unfair  to  fix  ^neas 
by  a  single  unguarded  expression.  The  letters  reveal 
a  man  chatty  but  wise,  and  sympathetic ;  not  devoid 
of  human  frailty  himself,  and   therefore   condoning 


THE  SCHISM  97 

the  weaknesses  of  other  folk.  No  painter  ever  fixed 
the  inmost  soul  of  his  sitter  on  canvas  with  greater 
candour  than  iEneas  reveals  himself  in  his  letters ; 
no  man  has  ever  laid  his  soul  more  bare,  or  with  so 
little  concern. 

Soon  after  the  stormy  sittings  at  Basel,  Sigismund, 
who  had  restored  some  shadow  of  authority  to  his 
high  office,  died,  and  on  March  18,  1438,  the  day 
after  the  declaration  of  German  neutrality,  Albert 
of  Austria,  his  sister  s  son,  was  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacant  throne.  The  Council  sent  an  embassy  to  con- 
gratulate the  new  monarch,  and  of  this  legation  ^neas 
found  himself  a  member.  He  speaks  of  Albert  as 
*  a  man  of  great  stature,  a  mighty  hunter,  ready  in 
warfare,  better  at  deeds  than  words,  looking  up  to 
men  on  whose  opinion  he  confided  rather  than  relying 
on  his  own  judgement.  His  complexion  was  dark, 
his  eyes  fierce,  he  hated  all  manner  of  wickedness.'  ^ 
^neas  found  his  old  master,  the  Bishop  of  Novara, 
at  Vienna,  whither  he  had  been  sent  as  the  envoy 
of  Milan.  The  bishop  got  him  to  write  a  Latin 
speech,  whereof  the  king  understood  not  one  word. 
Eugenius  sent  ambassadors  too,  but  Albert  would 
declare  neither  for  Pope  nor  Council.  His  position 
was  too  uncertain.  He  was  King  of  Hungary,  but 
his  hold  of  the  country  was  not  strong,  and  the 
Turkish  terror  overshadowed  the  Hungarian  crown, 
while  Bohemia  was  still  in  revolt.  The  Emperor  was 
feebler  than  any  of  the  princes  that  had  elected 
him :  the  brief  resuscitation  of  Imperial  prestige  by 
Sigismund  perished  with  that  monarch. 

-^neas  was  shocked  at  the  complete  ignorance  of 

^  ^neas  Silvius  in  Palacky,  Itolienische  Eeise^  116. 
G 


98  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

the  Austrians  of  all  the  refinements  of  life.  He 
found  them  innocent  of  learning,  barbarous  in  their 
manners,  untouched  by  the  ideality,  the  unsealing 
of  the  spirit,  the  unveiling  of  beauty,  the  warmth 
and  glow  of  life  that  Italy  knew.  The  Austrians 
were  still  a  dull,  gross,  and  indecorous  people. 

He  rode  back  through  a  famished  country,  for  the 
crops  had  failed.  '  In  Bavaria,  children,  both  boys 
and  girls,  clamoured  for  bread  and  fought  for  a  crust 
as  dogs  will  for  a  bone.'^  As  was  usual  in  the 
Middle  Ages  famine  was  followed  by  pestilence.  Next 
year  (a.d.  1439)  a  grim  and  inexorable  horror  took 
up  its  abode  in  Basel.  It  was  the  loathsome,  dreaded 
plague.  Three  hundred  dead  bodies  and  more  were 
carried  every  night  to  the  pits ;  in  all,  five  thousand 
people  perished.  The  pestilence  spared  neither  old 
nor  young  :  the  Patriarch  of  Aquileia,  well  stricken  in 
years,  the  youthful  Pontano,  already  the  foremost  of 
jurists,  succumbed.  The  virile  illusion  that  man  can 
command  his  destinies — that  support  of  vigorous  man- 
hood— was  broken  :  abject  fear  fell  on  all.  iEneas  had 
the  courage  to  stand  beside  and  comfort  the  dying 
Pontano ;  he  gently  urged  him  to  submit  to  the  will 
of  God,  and  meet  the  inevitable  with  manly  courage. 
In  the  watches  of  that  same  night,  at  the  very  hour 
when  a  fellow-countryman  was  being  borne  to  the 
grave,  he  felt  that  he  himself  was  ill,  and,  seeking  for 
the  fatal  swelling,  discovered  it.  A  friend  and  his 
own  servant  bravely  elected  to  watch  by  his  side. 
But  they  called  in  an  ignorant  practitioner,  because  a 
certain  Parisian  doctor,  who  was  credited  with  skill, 
had  the  common  weakness  of  his  profession  :  he  was  a 

^  Pii  II.  Comment  i  1.  1. 


THE  SCHISM  99 

sceptic.  The  quack,  *  since  the  left  groin  was  affected, 
opened  a  vein  in  the  left  foot ;  sleep  was  forbidden  for 
a  whole  day  and  part  of  the  night ;  then  a  powder 
was  mixed  up,  and  had  to  be  drunk,  but  the  nature 
of  this  the  physician  refused  to  state. '  ^  Local  appli- 
cations were  used,  but  ^Eneas  grew  worse  and  worse. 
For  six  days  and  six  nights  he  tossed  about  in  fever, 
and  was  tortured  by  intolerable  headache.  He  was 
supposed  to  be  dying  ;  a  priest  was  fetched  ;  he  made 
confession,  took  the  sacrament,  was  anointed,  and 
looked  death  in  the  face.  That  is  no  unwholesome 
experience  for  any  man  in  the  pride  of  life.  He  re- 
covered by  degrees,  but  it  was  reported  that  he  was 
dead,  and  the  rumour  reached  Milan.  And  so  he  lost 
all  prospect  of  obtaining  the  provostship,  for  the  duke 
put  some  one  else  in  the  office.  But  he  would  not 
abandon  hope  of  recovering  it,  and  continued  to 
petition  Visconti.  He  could  even  deal  with  the 
report  in  a  spirit  of  grim  humour.  '  If  I  were  indeed 
defunct,'  he  wrote  to  the  duke  (long  after  he  was 
aware  of  the  true  fact),  '  if  I  were  indeed  dead,  as  my 
foes  have  reported  to  your  highness,  I  should  hardly 
be  now  writing  to  you,  unless  such  a  thing  is  possible 
to  the  dead.  But,  by  the  indulgence  of  Heaven,  I 
assure  you  that  I  still  enjoy  the  upper  air.' 

Probably  the  spirit  of  religious  prejudice  that  ex- 
cluded the  doctor  from  Paris  also  prevented  his  friends 
from  calling  in  a  necromancer,  the  last  resource  in 
such  cases.  But  iEneas  would  never  have  permitted 
it  so  long  as  consciousness  remained.  Once,  after 
one  of  his  many  journeys  to  Milan,  he  lay  there,  sick 
of  fever,  for  seventy-five  days,  and  they  brought  a 
1  FH  11.  Comment,  1.  1. 


100 


.ENEAS  SILVIUS 


magic -worker  to  his  bedside,  but  iEneas  would  have 
none  of  him,  though  he  was  reputed  to  have  cured  two 
thousand  soldiers  in  Piccinino's  camp.  While  still  an 
invalid  he  cured  himself  by  riding  over  the  high  passes 
of  the  mountains  to  Basel.  ^  His  attitude  towards 
necromancy  is  shown,  as  well  as  his  painstaking  courtesy 
and  sense  of  humour,  by  a  later  letter,  written  to  his 
brother:  *The  bearer  of  this  came  to  me  to  ask  if  I 
knew  of  a  Mount  of  Venus  in  Italy,  where  magic  arts 
are  taught.  His  master,  a  Saxon  and  a  great  astron- 
omer, is  desirous  of  becoming  a  pupil.  I  told  him  I 
knew  a  certain  Porto  Venere  very  well '  (the  Harbour 
of  Venus),  *  as  being  a  port  on  the  rocky  coast  of 
Liguria,  not  far  from  Carrara,  for  I  passed  three  nights 
in  sleep  there  on  the  road  to  Basel.  And  I  found  for 
him  that  there  is  a  mountain  called  Eryx,  in  Sicily, 
which,  once  upon  a  time,  was  sacred  to  Venus,  but  I 
could  find  nothing  about  magic  being  taught  there. 
Then,  while  talking,  I  remembered  hearing  that  near 
Nursia  in  the  old  duchy,  in  Umbria,  beneath  a  preci- 
pice, there  lies  a  cave  whence  water  flows,  and  that 
witches,  daemons,  and  spirits  of  the  night  frequent  it, 
and  that  a  sufficiently  audacious  man  may  hold  con- 
verse with  departed  spirits  and  acquire  magical  arts 
there.  I  had  not  bothered  my  head  about  it,  for,  if 
that  is  the  way  in  which  knowledge  is  to  be  acquired, 
one  is  better  without  it.'  ^ 

As  an  officer  of  the  Council,  -^neas  felt  obliged  to 
continue  the  employment  of  his  ready  pen  in  defence 
of  the  conciliar  principle,  and  the  Council  was  equally 
bound  to  recompense  his  services.     He  was  presented 


1  Pii  II.  Comment^  1.  1. 

2  ^n.  Sil.,  Opera  omnia,  p.  531,  et  seq. 


Basileae,  1553. 


THE  SCHISM  101 

to  a  canonry  at  Trient,  a  position  which  a  layman 
might  hold.  But  when  he  arrived  there  he  found  a 
German  in  possession  :  the  chapter  had  '  foisted  a  sly, 
contentious  man  into  the  office/  he  tells  us.^  The 
declaration  of  neutrality  had  thrown  the  German 
Church  into  the  utmost  confusion  :  often,  as  in  this 
case,  there  were  rival  claimants  to  the  same  benefice ; 
a  bishop  and  his  chapter  would  take  different  sides, 
and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  hear  Eugenius 
anathematised  to-day,  and  the  Council  to-morrow,  from 
the  same  pulpit.^  Both  ecclesiastical  and  political 
anarchy  reigned  in  Germany,  and  hence  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction  of  that  country  failed  to  found  a  national 
church. 

The  Council  was  presided  over  by  a  solitary  car- 
dinal (D'AUemand),  but  it  had  the  strong  support  of 
the  universities,  the  discontented,  and  the  great  body 
of  reformers;  and,  having  suspended  Eugenius  on 
January  24,  1438,  and  waited  a  year  and  a  half  for 
his  submission,  on  June  25,  1439,  it  declared  him 
deposed.  Busy  negotiations  were  carried  on  with  a 
view  to  the  election  of  a  new  Pope.  A  legation  was 
sent  to  confer  with  Amadeo,  the  hermit-duke,  and 
iEneas  was  commanded  to  accompany  it ;  so  once 
again  he  found  himself  sailing  down  the  pleasant  lake 
and  received  in  the  country-mansion,  where  the  recluse 
enjoyed  a  delightful  villeggiatura.  There  was  a  strong 
party  in  the  Council  that  favoured  the  election  of  the 
duke ;  there  were  those  that  believed  him  to  be  a 
true  hermit — one  that  had  voluntarily  abandoned 
the  vanities  of  this  world.     Moreover,  he  was  wealthy, 

*  pan.  Comment.^  1.  1 ;  ^n.  Sil.,  Ejp.  ad  ^amsium, December  5, 1442. 

*  Piickert,  Die  Kurfurstliche  Neutralitdt^  p.  140. 


102  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

his  race  was  allied  by  carefully  selected  marriages  witl 
more  than  one  royal  house ;  his  domains,  occupied 
by  mixed  races,  and  lying  between  France,  Italy, 
Germany,  and  Spain,  gave  him  a  position  of  almost 
cosmopolitan  neutrality  ;  the  powerful  Duke  of  Milan 
was  for  him,  he  was  astute  by  nature  and  a  prince  of 
vast  experience,  and  seven  Savoyard  bishops  had 
joined  the  Council.  Truly,  he  knew  but  little  Latin ; 
but  he  was  clever,  and  would  be  able  to  pick  up 
enough  of  it  to  serve  every  practical  purpose. 

But,  like  most  possessors  of  great  wealth  and  power, 
Amadeo  was  avid  of  more.  He  finessed  with  the 
Council,  for  he  desired  to  be  Pope  in  reality  as  well 
as  in  name  and  to  have  an  assured  income  that  would 
more  than  enable  him  to  support  his  pretensions.  At 
last  he  consented  to  become  a  candidate,  ^neas  was 
now  a  man  of  so  much  importance  that  the  Council 
wished  him  to  vote  at  the  approaching  election,  and 
offered  to  grant  him  a  dispensation  whereby  he  might 
become  sub-deacon  and  deacon  in  a  single  day.  He 
declined  the  honour.  His  refusal  has  been  attributed 
to  interested  motives.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  security  of  the  new  Pope's 
position,  and  was  unwilling  to  compromise  himself 
But,  in  preceding  schisms,  on  making  submission, 
Anti-Popes  and  their  adherents  always  met  with 
honourable  treatment  and  received  due  recompense. 
And,  indeed,  so  it  fell  out  with  Amadeo  and  his 
adherents,  ^neas  was  a  keen  reader  of  character. 
Probably  he  was  not  altogether  satisfied  with  Amadeo  ; 
probably,  too,  while  he  was  willing  to  defend  the 
Council  as  its  servant,  he  was  not  anxious  to  under- 
take the  direct  personal  responsibility  of  voting  for  an 


THE  SCHISM  103 

Anti-Pope ;  perhaps,  too,  he  saw  that  by  the  election 
of  a  monarch  the  Council  would  abrogate  its  position. 
But  there  was  a  stronger  reason  still.  So  far,  he  was 
in  minor  orders  only  ;  he  was  really  a  layman ;  he  had 
not  taken  the  vow  of  celibacy.  And  he  felt  himself 
little  capable  of  keeping  that  vow.  '  I  cannot  trust 
myself  to  take  a  vow  of  continence.'  It  is  thus  that, 
four  years  later,  with  the  utmost  frankness,  he  writes 
concerning  the  priesthood  to  a  friend  :  *  it  is  truly  a 
virtue,  but  more  easily  honoured  in  lip-service  than 
by  conduct,  and  is  more  in  keeping  with  the  philoso- 
phical than  with  the  poetical  temperament.'  ^  Such 
a  scruple  had  little  weight  with  the  priesthood,  of  his 
time  !  The  Bishop  of  Ltibeck  proposed  at  the  Council 
that  the  clergy  should  be  allowed  to  marry,  for,  so 
far  from  keeping  their  vow,  hardly  one  priest  in  a 
thousand  could  be  found  without  a  concubine,  and 
the  confessional  was  suspected  of  abuse.  Bistucci 
tells  us  that  Cardinal  Cesarini  stood  out  a  marvel  to 
all  men,  for  he  was  believed  to  have  remained  chaste 
throughout  his  whole  life. 

^neas,  then,  refused  to  take  the  vows ;  but  he 
accepted  the  post  of  Clerk  of  the  Ceremony  at  the 
election.  On  November  5,  1439,  Amadeo  was  de- 
clared Pope.  He  took  the  title  of  Felix  v.,  and  on 
June  24,  in  the  following  year,  he  made  a  pompous 
entry  into  Basel,  accompanied  by  his  two  sons  (to 
whom  he  now  resigned  the  government  of  his  domains) 
and  by  all  the  chivalry  of  Savoy,  ^neas  formed  one 
of  the  escort  that  conducted  him  thither.  Precisely  a 
month  later,  Felix  y.  was  crowned  with  a  costly  tiara 
amidst  the  jubilation  of  fifty  thousand  spectators. 

^  JEn.  Sil,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxeto,  February  18,  1444. 


104 


^NEAS   STLVIUS 


On  the  recommendation  of  D'Allemand,  iEneas 
was  appointed  Papal  Secretary.  He  had  to  take  his 
part  in  the  diplomacy  of  Felix's  court.  Each  Pope 
angled  for  the  support  of  the  European  powers,  but 
these  had  little  to  gain  from  either  Pontiff,  and 
indeed  were  very  busy  about  their  own  affairs.  The 
zeal  of  the  Duke  of  Milan  cooled.  He  had  secured  his 
end  :  there  was  now  a  rival  to  Eugenius  the  Venetian, 
the  friend  of  his  own  rivals  and  enemies,  the  republics 
of  Venice  and  Florence.  The  French  king  refused 
to  support  Felix,  and  told  him  he  would  do  better 
to  show  his  wonted  wisdom,  and  employ  himself  in 
giving  back  peace  to  the  Church.  The  inner  reason 
of  this  excellent  advice  was  that  Eugenius  favoured 
the  claims  of  the  house  of  Anjou  to  the  Neapolitan 
throne.  The  rival  of  Anjou,  the  King  of  Aragon, 
hung  aloof,  for  he  still  hoped  to  win  Eugenius  over 
to  support  his  own  pretensions.  The  universities 
stood  alone  as  the  firm  supporters  of  Felix.  The 
Cardinals  he  created  were  less  learned,  less  gifted  in 
diplomacy,  and  less  renowned  for  piety  than  those  of 
Eugenius.  The  Council  that  set  out  to  reform  the 
Church  had  miserably  failed  to  do  so,  and  now  it  had 
established  a  disgraceful  schism.  The  election  of 
Felix  vastly  diminished  its  importance,  and,  though  it 
sat  for  four  years  longer,  its  time  was  wholly  occupied 
in  adjudicating  on  wretched  squabbles  about  benefices. 
And  want  of  means  compelled  both  Felix  and  his 
Council  to  continue  the  very  abuses  they  had  con- 
demned, and  that  had  called  the  Council  into  being, 
^neas  found  he  had  accepted  a  position  in  which 
advocacy  was  expected  from  him.  His  sense  of 
loyalty,    his    immediate    and    unquestionable    duty 


THE  SCHISM  105 

appeared  to  him  to  be  the  doing  of  his  best  for  his 
employers.  And  this  was  the  easier,  because  it  was 
no  light  task  for  any  man  to  disentangle  the  con- 
fusion of  rights  and  usurpations  and  injustices  of  the 
ecclesiastical  problem.  Both  sides  adduced  strong 
theological  arguments;  both  sheltered  themselves 
behind  ecclesiastical  theory.  Felix's  position  was  by 
no  means  hopeless;  that  of  Eugenius  was  stronger, 
but  by  no  means  established ;  the  Holy  Spirit  had  not 
yet  given  unmistakeable  evidence  of  His  intention; 
it  was  hard  for  any  temperate  thinker  to  come  to  a 
conclusion.  Cesarini  was  a  learned  theologian,  an 
acute  logician,  an  earnest  man,  yet  he  had  hesitated 
for  a  long  while  before  he  went  over  to  Eugenius.  In 
most  of  the  great  questions  that  divide  mankind,  the 
precise  nature  of  the  forces  that  conflict,  the  real 
issues  they  involve,  the  unchallengeable  line  of  action 
they  demand,  are  rarely  manifest  to  the  men  with 
whom  the  momentous  decision  rests.  The  real  pro- 
blems at  issue  are  revealed  only  to  posterity,  when 
the  fatal  act  is  long  over,  when  its  results  have  come 
into  being  and  a  new  generation  is  already  confronted 
with  new  perplexities. 

And  Piccolomini  was  a  humanist  first.  He  was  in 
love  with  life,  he  had  no  inborn  taste  for  theology,  he 
took  no  delight  in  ecclesiastical  strife,  and,  so  far  as 
his  position  forced  the  serious  consideration  of  these 
questions  on  him,  his  judgement  inclined  him  towards 
the  assertion  of  Church  freedom,  and  his  interest 
induced  him  to  side  with  Felix  and  the  Council.  His 
tractates  of  this  period  merely  invest  the  arguments 
of  others  with  literary  grace.  They  are  presented  in 
so  novel  a  way  that  they  overcome  the  repugnance 


106  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

of  the  natural  man  to  the  dryness  of  the  subjed 
matter,  and  hold  him  captive.  They  present  the 
arguments  of  opponents  with  perfect  fairness,  but 
there  is  a  dexterous  thrust,  here  and  there,  to  the  end 
iEneas  had  in  view.  He  was  convinced  that  in  His 
own  good  time  the  Holy  Spirit  watching  over  the 
guidance  of  God's  Church  would  manifest  His  will. 

Perhaps  the  ablest  of  these  productions  is  a  set  of 
Dialogues,  the  occasion  of  which  was  an  answer  given 
by  the  University  of  Koln  to  questions  set  by  the 
archbishop  of  that  city.  The  last  of  these  was  as  to 
the  legitimacy  of  the  Council  sitting  at  Basel,  and 
the  University  declared  it  to  be  legitimate — unless  it 
had  been  lawfully  translated.  *The  sting  of  the 
scorpion  lay  in  its  tail,'  said  iEneas,  and  he  proceeded 
to  extract  it.  The  Dialogues  are  works  of  consum- 
mate art ;  their  setting  is  truly  delightful,  -^neas 
had  no  real  creative  faculty ;  perhaps  his  only  original 
contribution  to  human  knowledge  was  his  perception 
of  the  dependence  of  a  people's  development  on  the 
physical  characteristics  of  their  land.  But  he  had 
wit  and  imagination,  and  he  never  touched  a  theme 
without  endowing  it  with  freshness  and  charm. 
Poggio  had  already  imitated  the  dialogues  of  Cicero, 
and  ^neas  improved  on  the  Italian  model.  He  and 
Martin  Lefranc,  a  French  co-secretary,  have  been 
wandering  in  the  country,  and  they  are  returning 
towards  evening  to  Basel.  They  praise  the  delights 
of  country-life :  the  thoughts  are  Virgil's,  the  prose 
is  iEneas's  own.  They  perceive  other  members  of  the 
Council,  Nicholas  of  Cusa  and  Stefano  di  Caccia,  a 
jurist  of  Novara,  standing,  talking  earnestly  together. 
So  they  hide  behind  some  bushes  and  listen.     Both 


THE   SCHISM  107 

pairs  dispute  in  turn.  The  discussions  are  managed 
with  great  literary  skill :  we  never  get  wearied,  for 
scholastic  argument  and  quotation  are  relieved  by 
reminiscences  of  the  classics  and  historical  memories 
and  archaeological  observations.  Then  Cusa  and 
Caccia  stop  their  discussion  to  say  the  Canonical 
hours,  a  duty  which  ^neas  characteristically  ob- 
serves, '  may  be  a  relief  to  the  dreary  life  of  the 
monastery,  but  becomes  an  irksome  task  to  the 
scholar.'  Then  ^neas  and  Martin  discover  them- 
selves, and  ^neas  contrives  to  hint  to  the  Council 
that  he  could  do  with  more  means.  It  is  most 
gracefully  done :  he  has  nothing  at  home  for  his 
evening  meal,  so  he  tells  the  others  he  will  invite 
himself  to  sup  with  them. 

The  arguments  are  perfectly  familiar  and  worn, 
but  he  introduces  them  with  a  vivacity  and  force 
very  foreign  to  their  original  authors ;  the  interest 
never  flags ;  there  is  keen  thrust  and  satiric  quip ; 
the  portentous  activity  of  the  religious  tongue,  and 
the  real  indifference  of  the  theologic  heart  are  not 
spared.  Here  is  no  waving  of  dull  banners  of 
pedantry,  but  the  quick  clash  of  sharpened  intellects  ; 
yet  the  antagonists  fully  respect  each  other ;  they 
remain  friends  in  spite  of  difference,  and  go  to  take 
their  supper  together  in  the  heartiest  good  fellowship. 
And  the  free  breeze  of  heaven  blows,  all  the  while, 
over  the  landscape  of  which  the  disputants  are  the 
central  figures. 

Another  delicate  hint  that  iEneas  remains  insu£B- 
ciently  remunerated  is  conveyed  to  his  employers  in 
the  introduction  to  his  History  of  the  Council,  a  work 
in  three  books,  which  wraps  up  party-advocacy  in 


108 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


the  form  of  attractive  narrative.  It  ends  with  the 
election  of  Felix.  (Later  in  life  ^neas  began  to  re- 
write the  story  of  the  Council,  but  left  it  unfinished.) 
'  I  really  ought  to  be  putting  by  money  for  my  old 
age,'  runs  the  introduction,  *and  not  expending  my 
powers  on  the  writing  of  history.  My  friends  com- 
plain. They  ask,  "What  are  you  about,  ^Eneas? 
Have  you  no  shame  at  being  a  pauper  at  your  time  of 
life  ?  You  ought  to  know  that  a  man  should  be  in  his 
full  vigour  at  twenty,  become  cautious  by  thirty,  and 
well-to-do  by  the  time  he  has  reached  forty.  After 
then  it  is  too  late  to  repair  mistakes."  I  must  grant 
that  they  are  right,  and,  time  after  time,  I  have 
turned  my  back  on  poetry  and  history,  yet,  like  a 
poor  moth,  I  flutter  back  to  the  flame.  Such  is  my 
nature,  and  so  must  it  remain.  After  all,  poor  people 
as  well  as  the  rich  manage  to  get  through  life.  If  it 
is  wretched  to  find  oneself  poor  in  one's  old  age,  it  is 
still  worse  to  be  old  without  the  solace  of  letters.  So 
I  will  put  up  with  the  will  of  Heaven,  and  take  up 
the  burden  of  my  old  age,  as  Horace  says,  "  neither 
bearing  it  ignobly  nor  without  a  lute." ' 

Literature  and  the  duties  of  correspondence  were 
by  no  means  ^neas's  sole  employment.  He  was 
frequently  sent  on  missions  to  various  parts  of  the 
Continent.  He  learned  to  endure  the  heats  of  summer 
and  the  rigours  of  winter,  riding  along  unsafe  roads, 
and  finding  them  always  rough  and  sometimes  well- 
nigh  impassable.  Occasionally  he  would  find  a  wel- 
come at  rich  abbeys  and  be  sumptuously  fed ;  often 
he  had  to  put  up  at  humble  priories  that  could  only 
provide  scanty  fare  and  were  wretched  shelters  from 
wind  and  weather,  or  at  worse  inns,  where  the  coat- 


THE  SCHISM 


109 


of-arms,  gaudily  painted  over  the  doorway,  was 
scarcely  matched  by  the  dirty,  plain-deal  furniture 
within  doors,  but  nevertheless  was  the  token  of 
distinguished  patronage.  Here  he  would  be  kept 
waiting  for  his  meals  until  all  possible  guests  were 
assembled,  whittle  what  salt  fish  or  ham  he  wanted 
with  his  own  knife,  take  his  soup  or  gruel  with  a 
wooden  spoon,  wipe  his  mouth  with  a  coarse,  beer- 
stained  table-cloth,  and  be  ushered  by  a  surly  land- 
lord to  an  unclean  bedchamber,  and  discover  that  he 
had  to  lie  in  foul  linen  with  human  and  other  com- 
panions. No  wonder  that,  when  he  became  Pope,  his 
cardinals  complained  that  he  was  so  little  attentive 
to  comfort  that  he  would  lodge  himself  and  them  in 
any  miserable  monastery  or  vile  village. 


no  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    VII 

iENEAS   CROWNED   AS   POET — THE   IMPERIAL 
CHANCELLERY — INNER   STRIFE 

The  Emperor  Albert  died  on  October  27,  1439. 
The  Teutonic  tradition  of  an  elected  war-chief  was 
preserved  by  the  Empire,  though  there  was  a  strong 
tendency  to  favour  a  single  family.  In  theory,  it  was 
held  that  the  Imperial  office  was  too  sacred  to  be 
transmitted  by  blood  :  practically,  it  suited  the 
princes  to  confine  the  dignity  to  one  House,  because 
the  strongest  candidate  was  rarely  to  be  found  in  it, 
and  the  reign  of  a  weak  prince  undermined  Imperial 
authority  and  so  left  them  at  liberty  to  fight  one 
another.  Nor  was  the  practice  quite  inacceptable  to 
the  Papacy,  for  a  feeble  secular  monarchy  gave  all 
the  greater  prestige  to  the  triple  crown.  The  electors 
were  seven  in  number :  the  three  Archbishops  of 
Mainz,  Trier,  and  Koln,  who  represented  the  Church, 
the  King  of  Bohemia,  the  Dukes  of  Saxony  and 
Brandenburg,  and  the  Palgrave  of  the  Hhine.  Some- 
times, in  days  of  peril,  a  strong  Kaiser  was  desirable, 
but  there  was  no  need  to  elect  a  strong  successor  to 
Albert;  there  was  nothing  to  fear  from  France, 
assailed  as  she  was  by  both  Burgundy  and  England  ; 
Burgundy  was  fully  occupied  with  France,  and  the 
chief  desire  of  the  electors  was  to  reduce  the  Imperial 


1 

I 
I 


^NEAS  CROWNED  AS  POET         111 

power  and  be  free  to  gain,  each  one,  his  own  ends. 
They  elected  Frederick,  the  brother  of  the  dead 
Emperor,  the  youthful  head  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg, 
a  poor  prince,  whose  revenue  was  vastly  inferior 
to  that  of  such  states  as  Milan  or  Florence,  over 
which  he  was  supposed  to  exercise  the  Imperial 
authority. 

Frederick  was  a  big,  well-built  man  in  his  twenty- 
fourth  year :  he  had  been  better  educated  than 
Albert.  He  was  a  phlegmatic  person,  however,  whose 
dull  feelings  and  slow  intellect  were  reflected  in  his 
stolid  face.  '  His  expression  never  changes,'  wrote 
^neas  to  the  Imperial  chancellor.^  His  nature  was 
cold ;  he  disliked  wine,  lived  chiefly  on  vegetables, 
and  his  private  character  was  irreproachable ;  but  this 
was  less  due  to  moral  conviction  than  to  constitutional 
tepidity.  He  disliked  the  coarse  jests  in  which  his 
courtiers  indulged,  was  retiring  in  society,  seldom 
spoke,  and  listened  with  closed  eyes.^  He  was  un- 
imaginative, wanting  in  enterprise,  and  had  no  genius 
for  great  aifairs.  But  he  was  industrious,  methodical, 
and  attentive  to  detail,  however  unimportant,  and  he 
was  careful  to  safeguard  his  purse.  In  fact,  the 
burgher  s  habit  would  have  become  this  dull,  decorous 
person ;  he  would  have  made  a  staid  and  successful 
Niirnberg  or  Augsburg  trader.  Yet  the  apparent 
man,  as  he  counts  more  or  less  among  his  fellows,  is 
often  grotesquely  at  variance  with  his  own  heart's 
desire.  It  is  strange  to  find  this  prosaic,  parsimonious 
monarch  possessed  by  a  passion  for  precious  stones, 
and  sparing  no  expense  to  acquire  them.     And  he 

1  JEn.  SiL,  Ep.  ad  Caspar.  Schlick,  December  28,  1443. 
'  Campanus,  Job.  Ant.,  J^p.,  vi.  15. 


112  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

took   an   interest   in   *  the  most  innocent  of  human 
occupations  ' — he  was  fond  of  the  garden. 

The  schism  in  the  Church  and  the  neutral  attitude 
assumed  by  the  German  princes  caused  the  summon- 
ing of  numerous  ineffective  diets.  ^Eneas  remarks 
that  '  each  diet  was  pregnant,  for  it  gave  birth  to 
another.'  Embassies  from  both  Popes  attended  these 
Councils  of  the  Empire,  and  iEneas,  now  become  the 
secretary  of  Felix  v.,  was  sent  to  one  held  at  Frank- 
fort in  1442.  This  brought  him  into  contact  with  the 
Bishop  of  Chiemsee,  an  ecclesiastic  who  prided  himself 
on  his  appreciation  of  style,  and  the  wily  iEneas  per- 
ceived in  this  an  opportunity  to  secure  a  patron.  He 
sent  a  specimen  of  his  own  scholarship  to  the  bishop 
in  the  form  of  a  letter,  and  begged  him  to  condescend 
to  correct  it.  Of  course  there  was  nothing  to  correct ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  bishop  was  glad  to  get  -^neas  to 
write  letters  for  him,  and  then  he  was  wont  to  spoil 
them,  saying  that,  if  he  did  not  do  so,  they  would  not 
be  taken  for  his.^  The  Archbishop  of  Trier  also  took 
a  great  fancy  to  the  Papal  Secretary,  and  these  patrons 
brought  him  and  his  writings  under  the  notice  of  the 
Emperor. 

There  was  a  popular  belief  that  the  Caesars  of 
ancient  Rome  had  been  wont  to  crown  the  illustrious 
poets  of  antiquity  on  the  Capitol.  Petrarch  was 
crowned  there,  in  the  preceding  century,  by  reason 
of  this  tradition;  the  Emperor  Sigismund  had  crowned 
Beccadelli  at  Siena ;  and,  at  various  times  and  places, 
similar  honours  had  been  bestowed  by  Italian  rulers. 
The  German  monarch  was  quite  willing  to  renew 
Imperial   traditions  and  emulate   his  more  civilised 

1  ^]n.  Sil,  Proem,  ad  Comvient  in  Anton.  Fanormit. 


^N'EAS    RECEIVING   THE    POET's   CROWN    FROM    FREDERICK    III. 
Pinturicchio,  Siena. 


^NEAS   CROWNED  AS  POET         113 

neighbours.  So  a  diploma  set  forth  that  '  We,  being 
desirous  of  following  in  the  footsteps  of  our  pre- 
decessors, who,  as  we  believe,  were  wont  to  crown 
distinguished  poets  on  the  Capitol,  after  the  manner 
of  a  triumph  ...  do  now  resolve  to  distinguish  the 
unparalleled  and  illustrious  iEneas  Silvius,'  etc.-^ 
The  honour  was  conferred  with  great  parade ;  there 
would  be  eulogy,  reading  of  his  verses,  disputation, 
and  finally  Caesar  would  put  a  laurel  wreath  on  his 
brow.  Henceforward,  until  he  becomes  a  bishop,  his 
letters  bear  the  superscription  *  ^neas  Silvius,  the 
Poet.' 

The  Bishop  of  Chiemsee  asked  him  whether  he 
would  accept  a  post  that  was  vacant  in  the  Imperial 
Chancellery,  which  was  quite  distinct  from  the 
Austrian.  Felix  gave  him  much  work  and  little 
reward ;  even  if  he  put  in  a  word  for  a  friend  it  fell 
on  deaf  ears.^  He  had  spent  himself  freely  in  Felix's 
service  and  he  felt  aggrieved,  for,  at  Rome,  unmarried 
secretaries  might  expect  a  great  ecclesiastical  career. 
A  few  months  later  we  find  him  writing  to  a  friend, 
complaining  that  at  Basel  they  are  not  in  the  habit 
of  rewarding  meritorious  service,  which  causes  a 
thinking  man  to  question  the  validity  of  their  claims.^ 
^neas  was  not  the  only  one  in  whom  a  latent  sus- 
picion of  their  flag  has  been  aroused  to  activity  by 
non-recognition  of  their  merits.  But  Felix  was 
obliged  to  keep  all  benefices  in  his  own  hands,  and 
the  Council  assented  to  this,  for  it  was  not  always 

^  The  diploma  bears  the  date  July  27,  1442,  and  is  given  in  Ohmela,  J. 
Registers,  vol.  i.  Appendix,  No.  xvii. 

2  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy,  vol.  ii.  p.  243  and  note  2.  London, 
1878. 

^  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  amicum  quemdam  Basiliensem,  October  1443. 

H 


114 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


easy  to  meet  the  expenses  of  his  Papacy.     There  can 
be  little  question  that  the  impecuniosity  of  iEneas 
helped  to  open  his  eyes  to  the  doubtful  legitimacy 
of  the  Baselite  Pope  and  how  his  authority  was  on 
the  wane.     But  he  would  not  leave  Felix  until  he 
could  do  so  honourably.     He  waited  until  Frederick 
reached  Basel  (November  1442),  and  then  the  Emperor 
asked  the  Pope  for  the  service  of  his  secretary,  and 
Felix  consented,  solely  because  he  was  unwilling  to 
offend  so  important  a  person.     ^Eneas  left  Basel  with 
the  Emperor,  but  Felix  expected  him  to  act  as  his 
agent,  and  he  did  so  for  a  few  months.    He  must 
have  been  aware  that  he  would  find  no  easy  bed  at 
Vienna ;    he    knew    the    Cimmerian    darkness    that 
brooded  over  the  land,  how  depressing  it  would  prove 
to   one  brought  up  in  the  sunshine  of  the  Italian 
renaissance  to  dwell  deep  in  Germany;  how  repul- 
sive would  be  the  habits  and  manners  of  his  future 
colleagues.     But  he  found  his  own  views  about  the 
Schism  were  far  from  being  fixed  convictions ;  they 
were  suffering  alteration ;   they  did  not  justify  him 
in  suddenly  turning  over  to  Eugenius,  and  it  would 
not  have  been  decent  to  do  so,  even  if  he  had  been 
assured  of  a  good  reception.    Caspar  Schlick,  the  head 
of  the    Imperial    Chancellery   and   the   confidential 
adviser   of   Frederick,   had   a   partiality   for   Italian 
scholars ;  he  had  once  been  the  guest  of  ^neas's  aunt 
and  had  stood  godfather  to  her  son  :  something  might 
be  hoped  from  him.     These  were  the  reasons  why  he 
*  was  unwilling  to  go  straight  over  to  Eugenius.'  ^ 
iEneas  was  in  the  habit  of  setting  down  every  tran- 
sitory feeling,  every  stray  thought  that  might  visit 
1  He  merely  records  the  fact.    See  Fii  JI.  Comment.,  1.  1. 


THE  IMPERIAL  CHANCELLERY       115 

him  while  he  was  wielding  the  pen,  but  there  would 
seem  to  be  rooted  conviction  in  his  complaint  to  his 
friend  Giovanni  Campisio.  He  regrets  the  waste  of 
so  much  time  at  Basel :  *  There  I  found  myself 
stranded,'  he  says,  'and  I  knew  not  how  to  escape 
save  by  burrowing  yet  deeper  into  German  earth/ ^ 
Even  in  the  miseries  of  his  new  position,  he  could 
write  how  happy  he  felt  '  to  have  escaped  from  the 
bickerings  of  priests  and  to  be  able  to  get  some  enjoy- 
ment out  of  life.' ^ 

Caspar  Schlick,  to  whom  he  looked  for  advance- 
ment, was  the  capable  son  of  an  incapable  father. 
He  was  of  burgher  descent,  had  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  both  civil  and  canon  law,  and  combined  these 
achievements  with  native  shrewdness  and  marvellous 
business  capacity.  He  was  a  rare  reader  of  men, 
but  he  was  incapable  of  entertaining  great  projects, 
and  his  conduct  of  public  affairs  was  marred  by  a 
private  vice — he  was  avaricious.  Often  he  failed  to 
think  broadly  for  his  master,  because  he  was  thinking 
narrowly  for  himself;  but  his  craft  was  consummate, 
his  tact  perfect,  and  so  he  was  able  to  cover  up  his 
defects.  In  other  respects  his  private  character  stood 
no  higher  nor  any  lower  than  that  of  the  average 
man  of  his  time ;  he  had  not  disdained  to  add  to  the 
other  services  he  rendered  the  Emperor  Sigismund 
by  playing  the  part  of  Sir  Pandar,  and,  could  it  have 
entered  into  his  head  to  refuse,  there  were  plenty  of 
knightly  courtiers  who  would  have  replaced  him  in 
that  congenial  oflSce.  He  was  brave ;  he  had  fought 
with  distinction  against  both  Hussite  and  Turk ;  he 

1  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Campisiurriy  1445. 

2  xhid.,  1443. 


116  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

had  acquired  vast  political  experience,  for  lie  had 
been  a  member  of  many  embassies,  and  Frederick 
was  the  third  Caesar  who  chose  him  for  confidant  and 
adviser. 

The  politics  of  the  Imperial  Court  presented  the 
familiar  spectacle  of  two  contending  parties.  The 
nobles  in  the  Council  represented  the  claims  of  their 
order;  ecclesiastics  and  jurisconsults  supported  the 
demands  of  the  burghers.  The  Kurfurst  of  Mainz 
was  the  nominal  head  of  the  Chancellery,  but 
Schlick  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  Chancellor. 
Under  him  were  the  secretaries,  and  iEneas  was 
now  appointed  of  their  number.  They  received 
no  direct  payment,  nor  were  they  allowed  to  ask 
for  presents  from  those  who  had  business  with 
the  Chancellery,  but  they  were  not  prohibited  from 
receiving  them. 

It  was  a  miserable  life.  In  a  letter  to  Sigismund, 
the  young  Duke  of  Austria,^  ^neas  complains,  '  We 
are  all  squeezed  together  in  the  same  abode ;  many 
as  we  are,  we  eat  and  drink  at  the  same  table.  Ants 
are  not  more  crowded  in  their  habitation  than  we  in 
our  single  hall.'  And  then  he  gives  an  illustration  of 
discomfort  which  shows  that  a  habit,  still  regarded 
by  the  modern  Italian  as  laudable  and  necessary  to 
health,  bears  the  sanction  of  time  :  '  One  cannot  even 
spit  comfortably,  but  one  must  needs  soil  the  clothes 
of  a  neighbour.'  ^  There  was  much  jealousy  among  the 
secretaries  too,  and,  as  one  older  than  themselves,  a 
foreigner  and  a  protege  of  Schlick,  ^Eneas  experienced, 
to  the  full,  the  malice  of  which  these  young  men  were 

^  JEa.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Sigismund.  Ducem  Austriae^  December  5,  1443. 
2  See  also  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Freund^  June  1,  1445. 


THE  IMPEEIAL  CHANCELLERY       117 

capable.  They  took  advantage  of  Schlick's  being  away 
to  give  the  former  secretary  of  a  Pope  the  lowest 
place  at  table  and  the  worst  of  their  bad  beds ;  they 
scoffed  at  him  and  flouted  him  at  every  turn.  It 
was  as  well  that  he  did  not  always  understand  their 
cacophonous  jeers,  for  if  they  spoke  German  the 
sneer  missed  fire ;  he  never  gave  himself  the  pains 
to  learn  what  was,  at  that  time,  an  unlettered 
language.  When  Schlick  was  away  on  a  mission  at 
Niirnberg,  his  position  became  well-nigh  unendurable. 
One  Wilhelm  Tag,  a  Bavarian,  was  left  in  charge  of 
the  Chancellery,  and  this  man  had  a  rooted  antipathy 
to  all  Italians ;  he  treated  ^neas  so  contemptuously 
that  the  Chancellor,  on  his  return,  put  him  under 
iEneas,  '  so  that  all  might  learn  how  easily  the 
humble  may  be  exalted  and  the  proud  abased.'^ 
-^neas  wrote  to  a  young  friend,  *  There  is,  believe 
me,  no  more  hard-hearted  camp  than  the  court  of  a 
prince.  There,  envy,  jealousy,  calumny,  hatred, 
enmity,  infamy,  insult  and  ceaseless  torment  take  up 
their  abode — things  that  only  patience  can  subdue.'^ 
We  are  reminded  of  the  celebrated  outburst  of 
Guarini  in  11  Pastor  Fido.  iEneas  was  dainty  in  his 
food :  he  found  the  fare  provided  for  him  coarse  and 
detestable.  He  was  naturally  refined  and  his  taste 
had  been  cultivated  :  the  brutal  forms  that  vice  took 
in  Germany  offended  his  Italian  sensibilities.  He 
could  not  suffer  himself  to  degenerate,  though  he 
tells  us  that  he  believes  it  easier  for  an  Italian  to 
drop  into  such  German  ways  as  gobbling  at  table 
than  for  a  German  to  acquire  the  finer  manners  of 

1  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  1. 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  JEp.  ad  Caspar,  de  Fara,  October  6,  1443. 


118 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


Italy.  ^  However,  he  made  the  best  of  the  situation, 
and  doubtless  enjoyed  the  painting  of  his  miseries, 
for  he  does  this  with  rare  humour.^  He  was  only 
admitted  into  the  presence  of  Caesar  at  public 
audiences.  The  cook,  the  cupbearer,  the  falconer, 
the  stable-boy,  and  the  dog-keeper  were  passed  on 
into  the  royal  presence,  but  the  scholar,  though  poet- 
laureate,  was  told  by  the  porter  to  be  about  his  own 
business.^  *  Our  only  concern  is  to  curry  favour  with 
the  great,  and  hold  on  to  it,'  he  writes.  '  If  men  were 
contented  to  be  humble  in  station,  and  were  as  eager 
after  their  soul's  welfare,  few  would  be  found  in- 
dulging in  such  a  scramble.'  He  was  conscious,  at 
least,  of  the  possibility  of  a  nobler  kind  of  life  than 
the  pursuit  of  court-favour. 

If  he  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  insult  and  intrigue 
within  doors,  he  had  to  put  up  with  equally  coarse 
manners  without,  and  submit  to  the  scorn  of  an 
arrogant  nobility.  No  one  seems  to  have  had  very 
much  polish  of  manner  or  culture  of  intellect  to 
commend  him.  He  tells  us  how  Heinrich,  Count  of 
Goriz,  who  was  the  father  of  two  little  sons  by  a 
noble  and  virtuous  Hungarian  lady,  was  wont  to 
awaken  them  from  deep  sleep  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  ask  them  if  they  were  not  thirsty.  Then 
he  would  get  out  of  bed  and  force  them  to  drink 
wine.  The  poor  children,  dead  asleep,  might  murmur 
and  spew  it  out  of  their  mouths,  whereupon  the  father 
would  turn  to  his  spouse  in  high  disgust  and  dudgeon 
and  shout,  *  These  brats  be  none  of  mine,  strumpet ; 

1  Mo..  Sil.,  De  liheror.  educ.  apud  Opera  quoe  extant  omnia.    Basileae, 
1551.     fol.  965  et  seq. 

2  Id.,  Tractatus  de  Curialium  miseriis. 

3  Id.,  Pentalogus. 


THE  IMPEEIAL  CHANCELLEEY       119 

no  sons  of  mine  would  sleep  the  whole  night  through 
without  drinking.'^  Here,  even  if  great  folk  had 
patronised  him,  was  no  society  for  the  cultured  Italian 
scholar ;  one,  moreover,  who,  in  spite  of  his  own  noble 
birth,  had  the  true  democratic  feeling  of  an  Italian. 
In  his  novel  De  Duobus  Amantibus,  as  well  as  in  his 
History  of  Bohemia  (chap,  ii.),  he  speaks  with  scorn 
of  mere  rank,  and  describes  the  ignoble  means  by 
which  it  has  usually  been  obtained.  The  barons  had 
no  other  interests  than  hunting  and  fishing.^  Of 
certain  princes,  he  remarks  that  such  people  rejoice 
in  dogs  and  horses,  and  will  be  remembered  when 
they  depart  this  life  just  as  much  as  their  animals. 
He  found  little  to  commend  in  the  professors  and 
students  at  the  University  of  Vienna.  *  The  students,' 
he  says,  *  give  themselves  over  to  pleasure ;  they  are 
gluttons  and  wine-bibbers;  they  prowl  the  streets 
at  night  and  attack  citizens ;  their  minds  are  wholly 
taken  up  with  light  women.' ^  He  tells  us  of  a 
Leipzig  student  '  who  was  held  in  high  honour  by  his 
fellows,  for  he  had  outdrunk  fifty  of  them,  and  so 
bore  the  palm.  For  there  is  a  custom  at  the  gather- 
ings of  the  Saxons  to  give  the  place  of  honour  to 
those  who  can  swill  the  most,  and  they  call  the 
pastime  a  drinking  match.' ^  He  describes  Neustadt 
as  a  city  of  monks  and  Jews  ;  Styria,  Carinthia,  and 
Carniola  are  inhabited  by  barbarians.^ 

He  yearned  to  return  to  his  native  Italy.     It  set 

1  JEu.  Silvius,  Comment,  in  Anton.  Panorm.,  i. 

2  Id.,  Ey.  ad  Johan.  Campisium,  July  22,  1444. 

2  Id.,  Ep.  165.,  Opera  quce  extant  omnia.  Basileae,  1551.     fol.  719. 
*  Id.y  Comment,  in  Anton.  Panorm.,  ii. 

^  Id.,  Ep.  ad  Caspar  SchlicJc,  March   1444 ;   ad  Johan.  Peregallum^ 
April  16,  1444. 


120 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


his  pulses  beating  to  see  the  Itahan  embassies  arrive 
and  hear  the  soft,  free  flow  of  his  native  tongue.  He 
tried  to  reconcile  himself  to  his  fate.  He  is  better  off, 
he  says,  dwelling  with  foreigners  in  plenty  than  in 
indigence  at  home.^  But  waves  of  severe  home- 
sickness swept  over  his  soul,  and,  at  times,  almost 
overwhelmed  him.  '  There  is  nothing  I  have  dreaded 
more,'  he  writes,  *than  to  lay  my  bones  in  foreign 
soil,  though  where  they  lie  does  not  affect  our 
destination  to  heaven  or  hell.  But  so  it  is,  I  know 
not  why,  death  would  come  with  less  of  bitterness 
if  I  were  supported  by  the  arms  of  brothers,  sisters, 
children,  and  grandchildren.  And  is  close  friendship 
so  readily  formed  here  as  at  home  ?  Elsewhere,  I 
find  no  intimacy  possible  that  can  be  so  sweet  and 
enduring.'^  And,  later  on,  when  his  prospects  had 
improved,  he  writes,  *  When  shall  I  return  to  my 
native  land  ?  Oh,  that  it  could  be  this  year !  I  am 
on  my  travels.  But  whither?  In  Germany.  But 
to  what  part  ?  To  the  Hungarian  frontier.  Here 
am  I  established ;  here  must  I  live  and  die,  without 
relatives  or  friends  or  acquaintances  or  the  friendly 
talk  of  yourself  and  others.  Oh,  that  I  had  never 
seen  Basel ;  then  had  I  died  in  the  land  that  is  home, 
and  lain  in  the  bosom  of  my  progenitors.  A  crust 
of  bread  had  been  more  grateful  there  than  fat-living 
here.  I  may  say  that  I  am  dead  already.  My  life  is 
no  better  than  that  of  Naso,  when  he  dwelt  at  Tomi,  in 
banishment.  I  admit  that  I  shall  attain  a  satisfactory 
position  in  the  future ;  my  services  are  recognised. 
But  what  is  the  good  of  it  without  companionship  ? 

*  ^n.  Silvii,  Ep.  ad  Hieronymum  Senenserrif  July  1443. 
2  Id.j  Up.  ad  Julianum  Card.  8.  Angelo,  May  28,  1444. 


THE  IMPERIAL  CHANCELLERY        121 

Have  I  then  no  comrades?  Well,  truly  there  are 
good,  sincere  folk  enough,  but  thej  do  not  take  up 
their  abode  with  me  among  those  things  of  the  mind 
that  I  care  for.'  ^ 

^neas  was  prudent  and  patient.  He  was  an 
eminently  companionable  man.  He  spoke  all  men 
fair ;  and  the  world  usually  returns  us  our  own  treat- 
ment of  it.  When  he  became  Pope,  he  referred  to 
the  time  as  one  when  he  *  copied  the  much  abused 
ass  that  drooped  his  ears,  awaiting  the  moment  when 
his  back  might  be  released  from  its  heavy  burden.'^ 
He  found  it  difficult  to  ingratiate  himself  with  one 
man,  a  certain  John  Gers,  'a  disagreeable  person  of 
somewhat  malign  nature ' — so  he  describes  him.^  Gers 
was  a  domestic  tyrant,  but  showed  resentment  when 
^neas  referred  to  his  wife,  a  plain,  stupid  woman, 
as  more  remarkable  for  her  good  disposition  than  for 
her  other  endowments.  He  got  on  very  well  with 
a  certain  Michael  von  Fiillendorf,  a  good-natured 
Swabian,  addicted  to  women  and  wine ;  *  but  JEneas 
shocked  this  virtuous  gentleman  and  others  by  the 
freedom  of  a  comedy  which  he  wrote  in  the  style  of 
the  Latin  dramatists.  What  learning  his  fellow- 
secretaries  possessed  was  scholastic,  not  humanistic ; 
and,  whatever  we  do,  a  certain  code  of  propriety  must 
be  preserved. 

The  secretary  did  not  neglect  to  seek  the  favour  of 
his  chief.  He  took  no  pains  to  disguise  his  motives. 
He  told  him  that  *  a  useful  friend  is  more  to  be  sought 

^  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Campisiurrif  end  of  August  or  beginDing  of 

September  1445. 
2  Pii  II.  Comment,  y  1.  1.  3  ji{^^ 

*  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johannem  Gers,  September  22  and  Norember  3, 

1444. 


122  ^NEAS   SILVIUS  m 

than  a  merely  honest  one ;  for  such  friendship  is  of 
value  nowadays ;  the  stoic  may  prate  in  his  privation 
about  austere  virtue ;  but  that  doctrine  has  been  at  a 
discount  this  long  while/  ^  *  We  must  deal  with  men 
as  they  are' — ^judgements  of  which  Schlick  would 
heartily  approve.  JEneas  never  failed  to  get  the 
good-will  of  any  one  to  whom  he  paid  court.  He 
measured  his  man  with  almost  unerring  accuracy,  said 
precisely  what  would  take  him,  and  presented  that 
side  of  his  complex  character  that  would  be  most 
likely  to  please.  Schlick  admitted  him  to  his  table 
and  gave  him  his  confidence.^ 

The  frequent  journeys  to  Graz  and  other  places, 
though  'wild  and  barbarous  races  inhabited  them,'^ 
were  a  source  of  pleasure  to  one  who  delighted  in 
travel  and  loved  to  see  everything  and  record  what 
he  saw.  He  rejoiced  to  be  in  the  country.  When  he 
became  Pope,  he  spoke  of  himself  as  '  a  lover  of  woods 
and  one  eager  for  all  fresh  experience.'*  When 
pestilence  once  drove  Frederick  to  Briick,  ^neas 
found  a  great  charm  in  scenery  so  different  from  that 
of  his  Italy.  Few  men  have  found  greater  kinship 
with  Nature  in  her  many  attires  and  in  all  her 
changing  moods  than  he.  He  wrote  of  Briick  as  'a 
place  confronting  two  sister-streams  that  unite  there, 
and  then  flow  on  as  one  to  the  Piave.  Here  are  held 
fairs  at  Martinmas  that  last  fully  eight  days,  and  I 
and  the  rest,  being  set  at  liberty,  sometimes  go  and 

1  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Caspar  Schlick,  November  1,  1443. 

2  Ibid.,  December  28,  1443. 

'  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Peregallum. 

*  '  Silvarum  amator  et  varii  vivendi  cupidus,'  a  phrase  whereon  Campano 
played  Id  a  metrical  pun  : — 

•  Quod  placeant  silvae  et  magnum  lustraverit  orbem 
Silvius  hac  genuit  conditione  Pater.' 


THE  IMPERIAL  CHANCELLERY        123 

look  at  the  wares,  and  sometimes  take  a  walk  into  the 
country.  There,  with  no  little  refreshment  of  soul, 
you  may  mark  the  sunlight  smiling  on  the  mountain- 
slope,  the  mystery  of  the  forest,  and  the  clearness  and 
purity  of  the  stream.'^ 

iEneas  never  forgot  to  keep  a  smiling  face  and  a 
pleasant  tongue  for  friend  and  foe,  rich  and  poor,  and, 
at  last,  his  imperturbable  good-humour  and  kindliness 
prevailed  over  his  colleagues.  They  were  compelled 
to  respect  him  and  even  give  him  their  affection.  But 
he  did  not  remain  contented  with  his  position ;  he 
had  not  yet  found  so  wide  a  field  as  his  powers 
needed ;  he  sought  greater  independence  than  an 
income  derived  from  casual  largesse  might  grant. 
He  would  not  abandon  all  hope  concerning  the  lost 
provostship  at  Milan;  he  was  very  persistent  in  his 
efforts  to  recover  it,  and  he  persuaded  the  Emperor 
to  use  his  influence  with  Visconti.  It  was  soon  after 
he  entered  the  service  of  the  German  Caesar  that  he 
wrote  the  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Milan,  of  which  a 
sentence  has  already  been  given — an  epistle  in  which 
the  fawning  servility  then  required  of  the  true 
courtier  is  relieved  by  a  touch  of  ironical  humour. 
A  certain  note  of  independence,  even,  may  be  read 
between  the  lines  of  an  epistle  that  is  formally  ob- 
sequious :  the  letter  hints  that  ^neas  can  prove 
quite  as  serviceable  to  the  duke  as  the  duke  to  him. 
It  runs  :  '  If  I  were  indeed  dead,  as  my  foes  have  told 
your  Highness,  I  should  hardly  be  writing  now, 
unless  by  a  miracle.  But,  by  the  indulgence  of 
Heaven,  I  am  become  secretary  to  the  Most  Serene 
King  of  the  Romans,  a  position  which,  if  not  satis- 

1  ^n.  Sil.,  Ejp.  ad  Johan.  Lauterhach^  November  13,  1444. 


124  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

factory  in  all  respects,  may  enable  me  to  do  honour 
to  Your  Excellency.  But,  though  they  have  killed 
me,  I  may  yet  contrive  to  be  even  more  vitally  ser- 
viceable to  your  High  Honour  than  a  mere  living 
person.  I  deserve  better  things,  for,  that  the  right 
lies  with  me  cannot  be  disputed,  and  I  could  be 
exceedingly  useful  to  you.  Wherefore,  I  beseech 
your  Clemency  to  turn  the  matter  over  and  restore 
my  office  at  S.  Lorenzo  to  me,  that  I  may  be  bound 
hand  and  foot  to  your  Honour  in  a  position  that  I 
covet.  If  you  should  do  so  you  would  attach  not 
myself  alone,  but  would  gratify  the  king,  who  is 
writing  on  my  behalf  However,  whether  you  enter- 
tain my  appeal  or  no,  I  am  always  at  your  service, 
but  I  shall  be  the  more  so  if  I  obtain  it.' 

He  tried  to  ingratiate  himself  with  Sigismund,  the 
youthful  Duke  of  Austria.  He  hoped  to  find  a 
Maecenas  in  Schlick,  and  wrote  him  letters  full  of 
mellifluous  adaptations  of  classical  poetry.  *  I  would 
haunt  a  cool  grove  with  the  Muses,'  he  says.  '  I  am 
out  of  place  herding  with  the  crowd  .  .  .  then  should 
my  name  be  not  all  forgotten  by  posterity,  and  most 
surely  so  if  thou  befriend  me,  O  my  Caspar,  in  whose 
command  over  my  life  I  cherish  pride.' 

Schlick  was  no  Maecenas ;  pelf  and  power  were  his 
ambition,  and  he  only  toyed  with  the  Muses,  ^neas 
saw  that  it  would  only  be  by  the  exhibition  of  busi- 
ness ability  and  industry  that  he  could  hope  to  win 
the  Chancellor's  favour ;  '  nor  was  he  deceived,'  he 
tells  us.^  Convinced  of  his  diplomatic  skill,  Caspar 
employed  ^Eneas  in  an  attempt  to  secure  the  rich 
bishopric  of  Freising  for  Heinrich  Schlick,  his  brother. 

^  Fii  II.  Comment,  f  1.  1. 


THE  IMPERIAL  CHANCELLERY        125 

Nicodemus,  in  whose  service  the  secretary  had  been 
during  early  days  at  Basel,  was  dead,  and  so  a  bene- 
fice of  unusual  value  had  become  vacant.  A  few 
months  after  leaving  Basel,  j^neas  wrote  more  than 
one  appeal  to  D'Allemand,  Cardinal  of  Aries,  who 
still  remained  President  of  the  Council,  setting  forth 
the  merits  of  Heinrich  (who  was  really  a  worthy  and 
excellent  man).  Of  course  Frederick  had  interested 
himself  in  the  success  of  his  Chancellor's  brother.  *  I 
had  thought  so  powerful  a  prince  would  have  received 
some  attention' — so  ^Eneas  wrote.  'However,  this 
expectation  was  disappointed  ;  the  petition  met  with 
flat  refusal.  Meanwhile  the  chapter,  whether  law- 
fully or  unlawfully,  elected  the  Cardinal  of  St.  Martin, 
who  is  on  his  way  to  you  for  confirmation.  Once 
again  His  Imperial  Dignity  writes  you,  desiring  his 
suspension,  and  asking  you  to  defer  his  confirmation. 
I,  also,  would  urge  and  entreat  you,  for  the  welfare  of 
the  Council,  not  to  trifle  with  the  request.  For  surely 
it  were  wise  to  render  such  a  Prince  favourable  to 
yourself  and  the  Council,  he  being  one  to  whom  all 
eyes  are  turned,  one  that  neither  gifts  nor  entreaties 
can  persuade  to  injustice.  Heaping  annoyance  on 
annoyance  will  not  bend  His  Clemency  from  his 
course.  Remember,  too,  the  great  influence  that 
Caspar,  his  Chancellor,  has  over  him,  and  that,  if  you 
gain  his  favour,  you  have  little  to  fear  from  other 
people.'^ 

Now  this  Cardinal  St.  Martin  was  a  natural  son  of 
Duke  John  of  Bavaria- Munich ;  he  had  declared  for 
Felix,  was  a  personal  friend  of  the  all-powerful 
D'Allemand,  had  influenced  his  brother  Albert,  the 

*  See  his  two  Epistles  to  D'Allemand  of  September  and  October  1443. 


126  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

reigning  duke,  in  favour  of  the  Anti-Pope,  and  had 
written  against  the  neutrality  of  Germany.  The 
Council  still  refused  the  Emperor's  request,  and  stood 
by  St.  Martin,  while  Eugenius  supported  Heinrich 
Schlick.  This  refusal  certainly  prejudiced  Frederick 
and  Caspar  in  favour  of  the  legitimate  Pope,  and  it 
did  not  incline  iEneas  to  remain  in  close  sympathy 
with  Felix,  for  he  deemed  his  action  in  this  matter 
of  a  piece  with  the  failure  of  the  Baselites  to  fulfil 
their   promises  to  himself.     He  writes  to  a  friend, 

*  The  last  words  you  said  to  me  at  Basel  were  that 
the  Holy  Pontiff,  Felix,  would  secure  me  a  benefice, 
whether  I  were  there  or  away,  and  you  assured  me 
that  you  would  work  to  that  end  ;  but  nothing  has 
followed,  although  I  have  been  of  service  to  our  Holy 
Pontiff  with  His  Majesty  the  Emperor,  and  may 
be  so  constantly.'^  Five  months  later  he  wrote  to 
his  friend  Campisio,  who  was  in  Eugenius's  service, 

*  Deeds  are  stronger  than  promises.  The  Chancellor 
is  bound,  hand  and  foot,  to  acknowledge  this  favour, 
and,  unless  I  mistake,  he  will  do  so.  You  may 
persuade  the  cardinals  of  this.'  ^  Men  did  not  set 
boundaries  between  the  spiritual  and  temporal  king- 
doms in  the  fifteenth  century.  Both  made  one 
single  world  of  God.  We  may,  perhaps,  be  con- 
fident that  the  more  enlightened  churches  of  to-day 
are  free  from  such  influences  and  intrigues  of  earth. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  -^neas  had  seen  and 
experienced  much  at  Basel  that  gave  him  small  con- 
fidence in  Felix.  So  far,  he  was  a  self-seeker,  even 
as  most  men  were  self-seekers  in  this  miserable  schism, 

^  October  1443.     Kunde  fiir  (Ester  Geschichtsquelltn^  xvi.  345. 
2  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Campisiumf  February  18,  1444. 


INNEE  STEIFE  127 

one  unwilling  to  risk  his  own  interests,  in  a  measure  a 
disappointed  man.    There  was  no  question  of  ecclesias- 
tical reform  now,  either  with  Eugenius  or  with  Felix 
and  the  Council;    each  of  the  rival  Popes  was  sup- 
ported by  a  party  in  Europe  whose  loyalty  sprang 
from  political  cleavage  and  not  at  all  from  ecclesias- 
tical conviction.     The  nations  and  their  princes  used 
the  Church  to  political  and  even  to  personal  ends. 
iEneas  was  no  enthusiast ;  he  had  suffered  the  sting 
of  no  divine  gadfly ;  he  was  not  the  man  to  suffer 
deep  agony  in  spiritual  wrestlings  for  truth,  to  delve 
in  search  of  it  with  painful  labour,  or  make  for  it 
through  blood  and  tears.    He  was  a  man  of  the  world, 
and  knew  that  the  enthusiast,  proud  of  possessing 
absolute  truth,  often  hugs  a  false  jewel,  a  one-sided 
fallacy,  to  his  bosom.     He  was  keenly  alert  to  every 
side  of  a  question,  and  he  had  the  defects  usually 
attendant  on  this  quaUty.     His  character  was  open 
to  so  many  influences,  he  was  tugged  at  by  so  many 
forces  in  so  many  different  directions,  that  it  was  not 
possible  for  him  to  become  quite  single-minded  or  the 
devotee  of  a  solitary  idea.     For  many  reasons,  both 
personal  and  impersonal,  his  way  was  by  no  means 
clear  to  him.     No  one  had  a  stronger  sense  of  duty 
that  was  imposed  on  him ;  as  a  servant,  he  fulfilled 
the  obligations  of  a  servant  loyally.     We  shall  see, 
however,  that  his  mind  was  not  at  peace  concerning 
the  Church :  still  less  was  he  at  peace  with  himself. 
Diplomatic    duties    often   imposed   caution,    but   his 
letters  to  his  friends  are  so  unrestrained,  so  entirely 
without  arriere  pensee,  that  the  man's  soul  is  exposed 
there,  naked,  to  our  view.     It  is  true  that  he  is  so 
sympathetic  that  he  cannot  help  writing  a  different  sort 


128  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


of  letter  to  each  different  sort  of  man.  The  discern 
ing  eye  can  read  what  manner  of  man  the  recipient 
is  more  readily  than  the  character  of  the  writer. 
Few  folk  are  aware  of  how  complex  the  nature  of 
the  simplest  man  is ;  most  are  under  the  illusion  that 
they  themselves  are  quite  single-minded ;  they  are 
incapable  of  understanding  a  many-sided  character, 
and  think  that  it  cannot  be  ingenuous  and  sincere. 
Now,  these  easy,  familiar  letters  have  little  that 
is  disingenuous  about  them;  there  are  hardly  any 
attempts  at  self-concealment,  and  such  are  quite 
transparent ;  ^Eneas's  essential  honesty  shines  forth  in 
them,  and  he  speaks  so  openly  of  his  own  faults  and 
vices  that  they  stand  out  in  very  high  relief.  The 
absence  of  any  trace  of  subterfuge  produces  a  posi- 
tively deceptive  effect,  and  so  ^Eneas  has  come  to 
be  misjudged  by  scholars  incapable  of  understanding 
that  complexity  may  be  combined  with  candour. 
And  they  have  laid  particular  stress  on  chance  words. 
But  isolated  sentiments  in  the  utterances  of  a  man 
of  complex  character  must  be  taken  in  relation  to  the 
whole  mass. 

Let  us,  with  the  warning  not  to  be  too  much 
influenced  by  solitary  passages,  see  what  he  says 
at  this  period  concerning  his  relation  to  the  Schism. 
On  leaving  Basel,  he  wrote  to  Guidoforto,  a  doctor 
in  both  laws,  concerning  his  claim  to  the  provostship 
and  the  relations  in  which  he  stood  to  the  Duke  of 
Milan.  There  is  a  remarkable  sentence  in  this  letter 
which  shows  that  he  is  seriously  perturbed.  *  I 
cannot  speak  of  obedience  in  other  matters,  since  I 
follow  the  king,  who  is  entirely  neutral,  though 
I  might  write  more  if  it  ivere  prudent.'     To  the  Arch- 


rn-  ^ 


INNER  STRIFE  129 

bishop  of  Milan  he  wrote,  December  5,  1442  :  *  Best 
of  Fa.thers,  write  me  in  such  wise  that  I  may  come 
out  from  among  the  indifferent  and  he  made  whole. 
For  I  have  an  inquiring  spirit,  when  my  words  and 
deeds,  done  according  to  the  prince's  will,  do  not  put 
it  out  of  the  question  (for  I  wish  to  limit  myself  to 
his  intention).'  At  Vienna  he  came  across  Cesarini 
and  Carvajal  again.  Eugenius  had  sent  them,  as  his 
legates,  to  advance  the  claims  of  Ladislas,  King  of 
Poland,  whom  the  nobles  of  Hungary  had  chosen  to 
be  their  king,  while  Frederick  supported  the  legiti- 
mate pretensions  of  his  ward,  also  named  Ladislas, 
who  was  the  son  of  his  dead  brother  Albert.  Cesarini 
and  Carvajal  stayed  more  than  once  at  Vienna. 
Felix  also  sent  legates,  but  Cesarini  and  Carvajal 
were  the  better  diplomatists,  as  we  can  see  from  a 
letter  that  ^Eneas  wrote  to  D'AUemand :  *  The  Car- 
dinal of  Aquileia  is  seriously  ill,  nor  do  so  many  incline 
to  him  as  to  Cardinal  Julian,  nor  is  Aquileia  such 
a  strong  man  as  Carvajal.'^  Both  Cesarini  and 
Carvajal  paid  the  secretary  great  attention.  He 
came  into  close  contact  and  had  much  serious  con- 
verse with  them,  and  the  personalities  of  both  men 
impressed  him  deeply.  To  this  intercourse,  in  large 
measure,  he  attributed  his  conversion  to  the  side  of 
Eugenius.  But  he  held  back.  *  If  you  perceive,  you 
should  act  according  to  your  perception,'  Cesarini 
told  him.  When  ^neas  became  Pope  he  wrote : 
*  John  Carvajal  was  very  active.  He  was  Apostolic 
Envoy,  a  Spaniard  by  birth,  who,  when  Julian  died, 
succeeded  him  in  the  Cardinalate.  With  him  we 
had  many  a  friendly  dispute.    Indeed,  not  a  single 

^  (Ester.  Geschichtsquellen,  xvi.  344. 
I 


130 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


learned  person  came  to  the  Court,  but  we  fell  to 
and  debated  these  matters.  Then  Caesar  summoned 
a  diet  at  Nlirnberg,  with  a  view  to  union  in  the 
Church,  and  decreed  that  the  Pontiff  should  be  ex- 
horted to  assemble  a  new  Council  at  Constance  and 
send  a  legate,  and,  moreover,  induce  the  Baselites 
to  transfer  themselves  thither,  so  as  to  give  peace 
to  the  Church.  They  were  the  first  to  refuse. 
Learning  this,  Thomas  Assalbach,  a  distinguished 
German  theologian,  said,  '*  Now,  I  know  that  the 
Baselites  are  not  directed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  seeing 
that  they  shrink  from  obeying  such  a  reasonable 
command  of  the  Emperor."  And  so  said  many  other 
learned  and  unquestionably  holy  men.'  ^ 

But  ^neas  hesitated  for  a  long  time.  He  wrote 
to  Carvajal,  pointing  out  difiSculties  that  beset  the 
problem  :  *  After  my  withdrawl  from  Basel,  I  kept 
silence  on  ecclesiastical  matters,  for  I  observed  that 
the  folk  there  were  swayed  by  human  passion,  and 
were  not  under  the  divine  guidance.  You  urge  me 
to  speak  right  out,  and  imitate  ^neas  in  harness, 
but  I  prefer  to  maintain  my  silence,  because  my 
opinion  would  be  satisfactory  to  no  party,  and  is 
indeed  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  myself  But, 
since  you  wish  me  to  declare  myself,  I  am  ready, 
though  ^ou  will  hear  what  you  do  not  wish.  .  .  . 
Not  those  are  worthiest  who  hold  fast  to  their 
dignities,  but  those  who  are  ready  to  lay  them  aside. 
.  .  .  You  are  a  forbearing  man.  I  want  to  open  my 
heart  to  you.  For,  if  one  is  to  speak  at  all,  let  him 
speak  right  out.  So,  here  am  I,  iEneas  in  panoply  : 
that  is  how  I  bear  myself.     He  shall  be  my  Anchises 

*  Bull  of  Retractation  in  Fea,  loc.  cit. 


INNER  STRIFE  131 

whom  the  Universal  Church  shall  declare.  But,  so 
long  as  Germany,  which  is  the  greater  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  remains  uncertain,  I  also,  am  doubt- 
ful. I  incline  mine  ear,  awaiting  unanimity ;  nor 
do  I  trust  my  own  judgement  in  matters  of  faith. 
Farewell.' ' 

The  Schism  seriously  disturbed  him  now,  and  he 
was  desirous  of  seeing  ecclesiastical  peace  restored, 
no  matter  by  what  means.  To  the  Bishop  of  Chiem- 
see  he  wrote  :  '  If  I  were  Caesar,  I  would  call  on  all 
the  princes  to  send  envoys  to  some  appointed  place 
and  arrange  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  .  .  .  For  people 
and  priesthood  would  follow  the  princes.  If  it  might 
not  be  called  a  Council,  it  is  the  thing,  not  the  name, 
we  care  for.  To  end  the  schism  is  all  important :  call 
it  what  you  please,  but  let  it  have  consequences.'^ 
And,  about  this  time,  he  wrote  the  Peritalogus, 
wherein  Frederick,  the  bishops,  Nicodemus  of  Frei- 
sing  and  Sylvester  of  Chiemsee,  and  Caspar  Schlick 
discuss  the  afiairs  of  the  Church.  The  work  presents 
various  views  fairly  and  exhaustively,  shows  an  earnest 
desire  for  union,  and  contains  noble  and  eloquent 
digressions,  and  some  wise  observations  of  truly 
statesmanlike  quality.  Of  such  is  a  passage  wherein 
he  tells  us  how  great  deeds  and  great  virtues  can 
only  be  duly  set  forth  by  letters,  and  thus  remain 
permanent  memorials  and  examples  for  mankind. 
*  Letters  as  much  as  arms  hold  an  Empire  together. 
And,  would  you  know  why  the  Papacy  surpasseth 
the  Empire  so  much  in  these  latter  days?  It  is 
chiefly  because  of  its  superior  discipline  in  literature. 

^  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Carvajal,  October  23,  1443. 
2  Id.,  Ep.  ad  Sylvestr.  episcopum,  December  1443. 


132 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


For  the  Imperial  Power  was  always  stronger  in  mere 
arms  than  the  Papal.  As  wisdom  in  letters  exalts 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  so  Imperial  ignorance  debases  the 
Empire.  A  people  is  subject  to  two  great  powers 
that  keep  them  in  restraint.  They  are  culture  and 
the  force  of  arms.  Those  are  perfect,  0  my  King, 
who  unite  civil  power  with  mental  cultivation.  They 
may  behold  their  labours  rewarded.  For  they  have 
acquired  knowledge  of  what  is  for  the  public  weal ; 
they  possess  themselves,  too,  and  are  not  readily 
turned  aside  from  wise  counsels.' 

Early  in  1444,  iEneas  received  a  letter  from  his 
old  friend  Noceto,  who  was  in  the  employment  of 
Eugenius,  and  who,  finding  himself  in  pressing  need, 
begged  his  former  companion  to  exercise  his  influ- 
ence at  Court,  and  work  for  Eugenius,  for  he,  No- 
ceto, would  stand  better  with  the  Pope  if  his  friend 
-^neas  would  come  round  to  his  side.  *  You  urge 
me  to  favour  your  party  on  your  account,  if  for  no 
other  reason,'  j^neas  replied ;  '  it  is  an  adjuration  of 
almost  compulsive  force.  But  you  must  learn  that  I 
serve  a  prince  who  belongs  to  no  party ;  whose  sole 
aim  is  union.  Nor,  if  what  is  in  the  royal  mind 
prove  successful,  will  you  be  in  any  way  worse  off, 
but,  as  I  think,  far  better  provided  for ;  for,  if  God 
shall  give  union,  the  Curia  and  its  ojfl&cials  will  be 
well  to  do,  and  both  you  and  I  will  derive  profit  from 
it.  But  I  know  not  when  that  will  come.  Mean- 
while, I  try  to  stand  well  with  the  king.  I  obey 
him ;  I  follow  him ;  his  desire  is  mine.  I  shall  oppose 
him  in  nothing  that  does  not  directly  affect  myself. 
I  am  a  person  of  small  importance  now,  and,  if  I  did 
otherwise,  I  should  fall  to  the  ground  and  come  to 


INNER  STRIFE  133 

nought.'^  The  reader  must  infer  from  this  letter 
that  Frederick  was  already  inclining  favourably 
towards  Eugenius.  Four  months  later  iEneas  wrote 
to  Cesarini :  *  It  will  be  difficult  to  get  out  of  this 
neutrality,  because  so  many  find  it  profitable.  Few 
follow  truth ;  almost  everybody  seeks  his  own  per- 
sonal advantage.  This  new  doctrine  of  neutrality  is 
welcome  precisely  because  no  one  can  be  deprived  of 
what  he  holds,  whether  he  has  come  by  it  squarely  or 
not.  And  the  ordinaries  get  what  benefices  they 
desire.  Believe  me,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  tear  his 
prey  from  the  fangs  of  a  wolf.  But,  so  far  as  I  can 
see,  all  Christian  peoples  are  for  Eugenius.  Germany 
is  so  divided  that  I  would  fain  see  union  there,  because 
I  believe  the  nation  is  not  influenced  by  fear,  but  by 
its  own  free  decision/ 

^neas  means  that  there  is  no  external  political 
pressure  there :  the  country  is  not  like  France  or 
Aragon  or  an  Italian  State,  forced  into  partisanship 
by  the  exigencies  of  foreign  politics.  Within  the 
German  State,  there  existed,  of  course,  the  antagonism 
of  the  Emperor  and  his  feudatories,  and  this  was  the 
chief  and  final  determinant  of  Frederick's  return  to 
Eugenius's  obedience.  Still,  it  was  a  free  struggle  in 
the  sense  that  Germany  was  independent  of  other 
interests  than  those  of  its  own  conflicting  forces. 
And  there  were  many  earnest  and  conscientious  men 
in  Germany,  men  desirous  of  nothing  better  than  the 
Church's  welfare,  and  they  were  not  without  in- 
fluence in  the  counsels  of  the  princes.  Nor  was 
Frederick  himself  inaccessible  to  honest  conviction. 

He    continues :     *  Whithersoever    the    king    and 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxtto^  January  16,  1444. 


184  iENEAS  STLVIUS 

electors  incline,  I  and  my  dependants  will  follow,  nor 
have  I  greater  trust  in  my  own  judgement  than  in 
that  of  others.  I  am  impelled  to  write  this,  or  not 
at  all,  and,  henceforth,  I  must  be  excused  if  I  main- 
tain silence.  Farewell,  and  make  use  of  me  at  your 
pleasure.'  ^  In  the  same  year  he  wrote  to  his  old 
master  Capranica  to  the  effect  that  he  would  gladly 
come  to  the  feet  of  Eugenius,  and  is  endeavouring  to 
do  so  as  far  as  his  feebleness  will  allow.* 

One  observes  in  these  letters  a  gathering  earnest- 
ness, an  increased  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  the  Church, 
a  gradual  and  sincere  change  of  view.  But  here  is  a 
man  naturally  prudent,  one  taught  caution  by  a  large 
experience  of  the  world  and  by  diplomatic  training ; 
he  will  not  let  zeal  run  away  with  him  ;  he  is  neither 
a  saint  nor  a  theologian,  he  will  not  wreck  his  career 
for  a  conviction  that  may  be  mistaken,  and  he  mis- 
trusts his  own  judgement  in  matters  of  religion.  *  Shall 
a  man  take  up  arms  and  confront  death  in  a  barren 
cause  ? '  he  asks  in  his  book,  Concerning  the  World, 
*  The  safest  thing  is  to  abide  by  a  friend's  judgement,' 
he  wrote  elsewhere.^  Evidence  of  an  increased  moral 
earnestness  is  also  present.  In  the  autumn  of  1444 
he  urges  his  friend,  John  Thuscon,  to  purchase  a  Bible. 
'  I  joyfully  resist  worldly  allurements,'  he  writes,  '  and 
would  serve  God  alone,  and,  since  I  have  ever  sought 
after  knowledge,  I  know  not  how  I  can  render  Him 
more  pleasing  service  than  as  a  man  of  letters.'  *  And 
a  benefice,  though  it  might  involve  a  vow  hard  to 
keep,  would  not  be  unacceptable,  nor,  in  those  days 

»  Mn.  Sil.,  E'p.  ad  Julian  Card.,  May  1444. 

2  Voigt,  Die  Brief e  des  Mneas  Sylvius,  Ep.  Ixxxiii.,  8.  352. 

3  ^n.  Sil.,  Comment,  in  Anton.  Panorm.,  1.  4. 
*  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Thuscon,  October  31,  1444. 


INNER  STRIFE  135 

of  pluralism,  would  it  interfere  with  his  continuance 
in  the  king's  service.  He  would  be  set  free  from  his 
disagreeable  surroundings  in  the  Chancellery ;  and  so 
he  makes  himself  agreeable,  as  he  so  well  knew  how, 
to  more  than  one  possible  patron.  His  religious  zeal 
has  by  no  means  subjugated  self;  still,  he  is  more  in 
earnest  for  higher  ends.  And  yet  it  is  precisely  in 
these  years  of  deepening  character  that  we  are 
astounded  at  a  remarkable  outburst  of  erotic  senti- 
ments, an  amazing  rebellion  of  the  natural  man.  What 
is  the  explanation  of  this  strange  phenomenon  ?  In 
order  to  find  an  answer  we  must  pass  his  literary 
productions,  at  this  period,  in  review. 

It  can  be  hardly  necessary  to  remind  the  reader 
that  sexual  irregularity  in  the  fifteenth  century  must 
not  be  judged  according  to  the  standard  of  the 
twentieth  century  as  accepted  by  middle -class  Pro- 
testants. It  was  lax,  and  transgressions  were  by  no 
means  anxiously  concealed.  We  have  seen  how  almost 
universal  concubinage  was  among  the  clergy.  The 
morals  observed  in  a  Wiltshire  village  to-day  are  a 
pale  survival  of  what  was  general  throughout  Europe 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  Italy,  and,  to  a  less  extent, 
in  other  countries,  families  strengthened  themselves 
by  the  welcome  support  of  vigorous  bastards.  The 
ablest  man  succeeded  to  an  Italian  throne  whether 
he  were  of  legitimate  birth  or  not.  During  more 
than  a  hundred  years  all  the  rulers  at  Ferrara  were 
bastards.  Chastity  was  regarded  as  the  ultimate 
proof  of  extreme  sanctity.  The  severe  Dante  placed 
sinful  lovers  in  that  circle  of  transgressors  which  was 
the  remotest  from  the  centre  of  hell  and  in  the  region 
of  purgation  which  lay  nearest  to  the  Earthly  Paradise. 


136 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


Towards  the  close  of  his  first  year  at  the  Chan- 
cellery, we  find  iEneas  (who,  if  he  had  no  great  ad- 
miration for  German  princes,  liked  to  stand  well  with 
them)  writing  a  letter  to  Sigismund,  Duke  of  Austria, 
a  lad  of  seventeen,  urging  him  to  bend  his  mind  to 
letters  and  wisdom,  and  warning  him  against  flatterers 
and  the  temptations  that  beset  a  prince.^  Eight  days 
later,  he  sent  him  a  novel  concerning  the  loves  of 
Hannibal,  Duke  of  Numidia,  and  that  fairest  of  virgins, 
Lucretia,  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Epirus.  It  was 
obviously  intended  to  amuse  the  young  prince,  but  a 
letter  accompanied  it,  saying  that  it  might  enable 
him  to  efiect  the  conquest  of  a  young  lady  with  whom 
he  was  in  love.  One  can  hardly  suppose  that  the  girl, 
if  a  German,  would  understand  the  Latin  tongue ;  the 
apology  for  the  novel  is  obviously  a  fiction,  and  the 
tale  itself  was  intended  to  gain  the  young  duke's  ear 
and  favour.  *  You  importune  me  with  some  bashful- 
ness ' — thus  runs  the  accompanying  letter — *  to  write 
you  such  words  of  love  as  will  persuade  a  young  girl, 
whom  you  court,  to  yield  to  you.  Another  man  might 
deny  the  request,  fearing  to  corrupt  you.  But  I 
accede,  for  I  know  life.  If  a  man  does  not  fall  in  love 
in  youth,  he  is  doomed  to  prove  himself  an  old  fool 
later  on,  and  become  a  public  butt  at  a  time  when 
love  is  out  of  place.  I  know,  too,  the  power  of  love 
to  excite  virtues  that  lie  dormant  in  youth.  One 
man,  in  order  to  please  his  lady,  will  put  forth  his 
prowess  in  arms ;  another,  in  letters.  For,  since 
reputation  attaches  to  merit,  the  lad  in  love  develops 
his  powers  to  be  worthy  in  his  mistress'  eyes.  Very 
likely  you  will  find  your  prize  less  valuable  than  you 

*  iEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Sigismundum^  Ducem  Austriae^  December  5,  1443. 


INNER  STRIFE  137 

think ;  but,  with  a  little  advice,  it  may  be  a  means 
whereby  you  may  obtain  some  excellence.  Youths 
must  not  be  held  too  tight,  or  they  become  degenerate 
and  listless ;  pranks  must  be  allowed  to  them ;  they 
need  a  slack  rein  that  they  may  pleasure  heart  and 
soul,  distinguish  good  from  evil,  and  learn  the  crafty 
ways  of  the  world  and  how  to  escape  them.  Hence  I 
have  complied  with  your  request,  and  send  you  what 
was  demanded,  on  condition  that  you  do  not  neglect 
the  study  of  letters  for  love.  See  to  it  that,  as  the 
bee  gathers  honey  from  flowers,  so  you  disentangle 
the  virtues  of  the  goddess  of  love  from  her  blandish- 
ments.' ^  As  Pope,  Pius  had  to  pay  heavily  for  this 
letter.  Probably  it  was  written  in  this  way :  Sigis- 
mund  was  pursuing  the  usual  diversions  of  a  youthful 
prince,  and  iEneas  as  a  man  of  the  world  took  the 
facts  as  they  were,  made  the  best  of  them,  and  followed 
up  his  previous  letter  on  the  cultivation  of  the  mind, 
by  an  attempt  to  steer  the  young  prince  as  well  as  he 
could.  He  will  give  him  a  hint  that  may  be  useful 
and  that  yet  will  not  alienate  a  possible  patron.  But 
it  may  have  been  written  at  some  moment  when  he 
took  an  attitude  of  defiance  and  bravado  towards 
those  scruples  concerning  sexual  relations  which  we 
shall  find  were  assailing  him  now  that  the  question 
of  an  ecclesiastical  career  was  pressingly  before  him. 
Anyhow,  one  should  note,  in  this  epistle,  a  debased 
flavour  of  that  doctrine  of  Love  the  Regenerator,  which, 
coming  into  Italy  from  Provence,  dominated  Italian 
literature — a  doctrine  found  in  its  highest  spirituality 
in  the  writings  of  Dante,  and  revived,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  as  the  ridiculous  courtly  service  of  Love. 

^  iEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Sigismundum^  Ducem  Austriae^  December  13,  1443. 


138  .ENEAS   SILVIUS 

In  six  months*  time,  we  find  him  seeking  to  please 
Schlick  with  the  novel  De  Duohus  Amantihus,  a 
work  that  has  been  translated  into  most  European 
languages.  Under  the  guise  of  the  loves  of  Euryalus 
and  Lucretia,  certain  passages  between  the  Chancellor 
and  a  fair  wedded-lady  of  Siena  are  invested  with 
literary  charm,  ^neas  took  Boccaccio  for  his  model, 
and  he  indulged  in  a  fair  measure  of  the  licence  of 
that  master.  The  novel  is  one  of  passion  and  in- 
trigue. The  passion  is  the  quick,  hot  fire  of  Italian 
youth  ;  the  atmosphere  that  which  Romeo  and  Juliet 
breathed,  where  sensuous  emotion  ripens  in  a  night. 
The  intrigue  is  managed  with  a  skill  that  reminds 
one  of  the  antique  dramatists,  and  foreshadows  Pietro 
Aretino  and  Moli^re.  The  situations  often  have  the 
fun  of  farce;  the  conversations  are  full  of  genuine 
humour ;  the  construction  is  less  strong,  forceful  and 
condensed  than  that  of  Boccaccio's  tragic  tales,  but 
there  are  graceful,  eloquent,  and  charming  passages. 
The  delightful  inconsequence  of  the  woman  in  love 
is  wonderfully  drawn — the  battle  in  her  breast  when 
the  tongue  denies  the  love  that  fills  her  heart. 
iEneas  would  appear,  from  his  writings,  to  have  held 
no  very  exalted  notion  of  womankind.  *  They  are 
frivolous,  feeble,  faint-hearted  creatures/  he  wrote.  ^ 
He  read  the  hearts  of  Glycerium  and  Philorcium 
of  the  inn  where  he  took  his  wine,  and  was  acquainted 
with  all  the  workings  in  the  bosom  of  a  coquette. 
It  was,  however,  fashionable  to  repeat  *  Quid  femina 
levius,'  and  imitate  the  gibes  of  the  Classics.  He 
used  ancient  attacks  on  women  to  enforce  the 
doctrine  of  continence.     But  he  showed  great  afiec- 

1  Mu.  Silvius,  Ep.  xcix.,  p.  588.     Ed.  Basileae. 


INNER  STRIFE  189 

tion  for  his  mother  and  sisters,  and  he  held  the 
Mother  of  Our  Lord  in  special  veneration,  composing 
hymns  in  her  honour,  making  frequent  pilgrimages 
to  her  shrines,  loading  them  with  gifts,  and  relying 
on  her  protection.^  He  appreciated  the  comparative 
freedom  accorded  to  the  German  woman,  and  remarks 
that '  it  is  a  mistake,  widespread  in  Italy,  to  safeguard 
woman  as  a  miser  does  his  gold.  In  my  judgement 
this  does  more  harm  than  good,  for  all  women  want 
a  thing  only  the  more  if  it  is  denied  to  them.  Their 
nature  is  such  that  what  you  want,  they  do  not  desire, 
and  what  you  do  not  incline  to  is  precisely  what  they 
hanker  after.' ^ 

Noceto  asked  his  advice  as  to  whether  he  should 
marry  his  mistress  who  had  borne  him  several 
children,  ^neas  has  learned  that  all  women  are  not 
angels,  and  furnishes  precisely  the  argument  that 
would  be  likely  to  prevail  with  Noceto.  *  I  have 
had  experience,'  he  replies,  *  and,  if  I  were  going  to 
marry,  I  should  choose  a  mate  that  I  knew  all 
about.     I  speak  quite  frankly  with  you.' ' 

About  this  time  he  wrote  Chrisis,  a  comedy  in  the 
style  of  Terence.  It  has  perished,  but  we  may  take 
it  that  it  would  serve  us  as  another  of  the  many 

1  Pii  II.  Opera  Omn.  Basileae,  1551,  p.  964.  See  also  Pit  II.  Com- 
mentarii  Rerum  Memorahilium  Joanne  Gobellino  jamdiu  compositi. 
Francofurti,  1614,  pp.  131,  360. 

2  ^n.  Silvius,  De  Duobus  Amantihus.  By  the  time  that  iEneas  had 
come  to  occupy  the  Apostolic  Chair,  the  novel  was  copied  and  recopied,  and 
80  widely  spread  throughout  Europe  that  he  found  it  impossible  to  suppress 
it.  He  deemed  it  necessary  to  urge,  as  some  excuse  for  the  work,  that  it 
contains  a  moral  lesson,  and  he  regrets  that  men  lay  emphasis  on  the 
indelicacy  of  the  story  and  neglect  what  they  might  profit  by  (see  Epistle 
395,  ed.  Basel).  He  would  be  a  close  and  attentive  reader  who  should 
easily  glean  a  moral  from  a  tale  the  sole  object  of  which  was  to  amuse. 

3  iEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxeto,  January  16,  1444. 


140 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


illustrations  we  possess  of  the  corrupting  effect  of  the 
baser  kinds  of  Latin  literature  on  the  Humanists. 
Many  men  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  Renaissance  wrote 
lascivious  works.  Most  of  them  were  so  ingenuous  as 
to  do  so  without  a  blush  :  a  few  append  a  moral  tag 
to  serve  as  an  excuse,  -^neas  is  at  strange  pains  to 
defend  the  irregularities  of  his  life  and  writings. 
He  tells  one  friend  that  *  he  who  has  not  been  singed 
by  the  fires  of  love  is  a  stone  or  a  beast.'  ^  *  Who  at 
thirty,  with  half  his  life  gone,  is  without  reproach  ? ' 
he  asks  of  another.  *  I  cast  love  from  me  that  has 
brought  me  into  a  thousand  troubles.'^  *  By  the 
undying  gods,  what  can  be  sharper,  crueller,  and  more 
unmanly  than  to  separate  lovers?  It  gives  me  no 
surprise  that  a  man  burns  for  a  maid,  and  seeks  to 
perpetuate  his  kind.  It  is  a  manly  passion,  implanted 
by  Nature.  If  there  be  a  man  who  has  never  loved 
a  woman  nor  felt  the  sting  of  attraction,  he  is  either 
a  god  or  a  beast.  One  may  be  fond  of  dogs  or  jewels 
or  wealth,  and  no  disgrace  attaches.  Where  lies  the 
shame  if  one  loves  a  woman,  the  highest  of  created 
beings.''  It  is  quite  exceptional  to  find  an  Italian 
of  his  period  conscious  of  any  such  shame  or  seeking 
any  such  defence.  For  the  hypocrisy  of  northern 
nations  was  no  characteristic  of  the  Italian,  whatever 
his  other  vices  may  have  been. 

Somewhat  earlier  than  these  letters  Silvio  Picco- 
lomini  the  elder  received  what  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
astounding  epistle  father  ever  received  from  son. 
While  at  Strassburg,  on  a  mission  of  the  Council, 


^  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Marianum  Socinum,  July  3,  1444. 
2  Id.,  Ep.  ad  Caspar  Schlick,  July  3,  1444. 
'  Id.y  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Campisium,  June  1,  1445. 


INNER  STRIFE  141 

iEneas  met  a  British  (or  Breton  ?)  woraan  named 
Elizabeth.  Probably  she  was  of  our  own  race,  for 
he  had  a  great  admiration  for  fair  women,  and  this 
young  person,  lively  and  able  to  speak  Italian  (for 
she  had  been  in  Italy),  took  his  fancy.  She  bore 
him  a  son,  that  first  saw  the  light  at  Florence,  and 
iEneas  wrote  to  his  father,  asking  him  to  receive  the 
child,  according  to  the  wont  of  Italian  families  of 
the  period.  The  letter  is  adduced  by  Voigt  as  one 
of  the  evidences  of  a  corrupt  nature.  That  it  is 
pervaded  by  a  certain  tone  of  bravado  may  readily 
be  granted :  the  deep  ground  of  this  we  hope  pre- 
sently to  make  clear.  iEneas,  denied  the  joy  and 
affectionate  intercourse  of  family  life  by  his  poverty 
and  position,  makes  appeal  to  the  feelings  natural  to 
an  aged  man  who  has  become  a  grandfather.  Silvio 
would  appear  to  have  been  somewhat  of  a  rake  in 
the  days  when  he  was  a  soldier  in  Lombardy,  and 
iEneas's  acquaintance  with  human  nature  had  taught 
him  that  such  men  are  apt  to  take  a  pride  in  the 
memories  of  their  own  unbridled  youth.  The  whole 
letter  is  a  marvellous  revelation  of  the  paternal 
character — the  not  unkindly  man,  rendered  a  little 
severe  by  poverty — become  with  years  a  somewhat 
rigid  moralist,  a  little  pietistic  perhaps,  yet  whose 
eye  may  still  sparkle  and  the  ashes  of  his  ancient 
fires  revive  at  suggestions  of  the  gallant,  licensed 
days  of  his  youth.  iEneas  appeals,  first  of  all,  to  a 
grandparent's  natural  affection ;  next,  he  reminds 
Silvio  that  he,  too,  may  charge  himself  with  no  less 
a  folly ;  then,  in  order  to  show  that  the  son  is  really 
his,  he  proceeds,  still  preserving  this  second  vein,  to 
give  a  detailed  account   of  how  his   relations  with 


U2 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


Elizabeth  arose,  and  he  does  this  in  such  a  way  as 
to  take  the  chief  blame  on  himself.^  '  You  wrote,'  so 
the  letter  runs,  *  that  you  do  not  know  whether  to 
be  glad  or  sorry  that  God  has  given  this  little  child. 
But  I  see  grounds  for  joy  only,  and  none  for  regret. 
What  is  sweeter  than  to  beget  offspring  in  one's 
own  image,  to  see  one's  own  race  continued,  to  leave 
some  one  behind  to  fill  one's  place?  Recollecting 
one's  own  childhood,  what  is  happier  than  to  behold 
a  child  of  one's  very  own  ?  To  me,  at  least,  to  have 
multiplied,  and  to  know  that  I  shall  leave  offspring 
on  earth  when  I  take  my  departure  hence  is  full 
of  joy.  I  thank  the  Lord  who  has  formed  a  child 
in  his  mother's  womb,  so  that  a  little  Enea  shall 
climb  your  and  my  mother's  knees,  and  be  a  comfort 
to  his  grandparents.  If  my  own  birth  gave  you 
delight,  father,  shall  not  my  son's  too?  Will  not 
the  boy's  face  be  welcome  to  you  when  you  see  in 
it  my  own  again  ?  Will  it  not  be  charming  when 
a  little  Enea  clings  round  your  neck  and  cajoles 
you  with  his  childish  wiles  ? 

'  But  you  will  say,  very  likely,  you  are  angry  at  my 
offence,  since  the  boy  is  one  born  out  of  wedlock.  I 
do  not  know  what  you  take  me  for.  Certainly  you 
yourself  are  made  of  flesh  and  did  not  beget  a  son  of 
stone  or  iron.^  Surely  you  must  remember  what  kind 
of  a  spark  (gallus)  you  have  been  in  your  time.  I, 
also,  am  no  eunuch,  nor  one  of  the  frigid  sort.  At 
least  I  am  no  hypocrite,  wishing  to  appear  better 
than  I  am.     I  frankly  confess  that  it  is  a  fault.     I  am 

1  For  this  portion  of  the  letter,  the  reader  must  refer  to  the  epistle  itself, 
^n.  SUvii,  Opera  Omn.y  Basileae,  1551,  Ep,  xv.,  September  20,  1443. 

2  An  excuse  drawn  from  Boccaccio,  iv.  novella  1,  and  iii.  novella  5. 


INNER  STRIFE  143 

not  holier  than  David  nor  wiser  than  Solomon.  It  is 
an  old  vice,  bred  in  the  bone,  and  I  know  of  none 
that  are  free  from  it.  If  it  be  a  sin  to  follow  natural 
impulses,  it  is  an  universal  one.  And  I  do  not  see 
why  one  should  be  severely  reprehended,  since  Nature, 
that  does  nothing  amiss,  has  implanted  this  instinct 
in  all  creatures.^  Mankind  also  desires  to  multiply. 
But  you  will  say — so  I  perceive — "  there  are  limits 
within  which  this  is  lawful,  outside  wedlock  it  is  not 
lawful."  That  is  true,  and,  even  so,  incontinence  will 
often  obtain  within  the  matrimonial  bounds.  To 
eating  and  drinking  bounds  are  set  also ;  but  who 
regards  them?  Who  is  so  upright  as  not  to  fall 
seven  times  a  day  ?  Let  the  hypocrite  profess  that 
he  is  without  sin.  I  am  quite  unaware  of  any  such 
merit  in  myself,  and  the  Divine  Compassion  alone 
gives  me  hope  of  pardon.  God  is  aware  that  we  are 
all  weak  and  prone  to  sin,  nor  will  His  fountain  of 
forgiveness  cease,  that  flows  to  all.'  The  grandfather 
was  little  touched  by  this  appeal.^  There  is  nothing 
to  indicate  whether  the  child  grew  up  to  man's  estate, 
or  what  became  of  him. 

^neas's  letters  to  his  friends  are  just  as  devoid  of 
concealment  as  the  one  addressed  to  his  father.  '  I 
am  amused  that  any  one  should  say  that  I  lead  a 

*  Lorenzo  Vallo,  in  his  De  Voluptate  ac  vero  BonOy  puts  the  following 
words  into  the  mouth  of  Beccadelli,  the  author  of  that  infamous  work,  the 
Hermaphroditus  :  '  What  Nature  has  formed  and  produced  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  holy  and  deserving  of  praise.  .  .  .  Kindly  Nature  is  the 
same,  or  almost  the  same,  as  God.'  He  praises  Plato's  idea,  in  the  Republic^ 
of  community  in  women  as  being  after  Nature,  condemns  continence  as  a 
crime  against  Nature,  and  pronounces  all  sensual  pleasures  to  be  good.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  Beccadelli  was  an  intimate  friend  of  -(Eneas 
during  his  university  days  at  Siena. 

2  Mn.  Sil.,  £p.  ad  Ghregor.  Lollium,  January  15,  1444. 


144 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


chaste  lite,'  he  wrote  to  one  of  them.  '  I  am  a  po( 
not  a  stoic ;  but  I  dare  say  I  shall  get  discredit  for 
not  being  more  discreet  in  what  I  say.  What  I  am 
I  declare.'  ^ 

The  tone  of  bravado,  of  self-defence,  to  be  found  in 
some  of  these  letters  is  precisely  that  adopted  by 
men  who  are  conscious  of  maintaining  an  untenable 
position,  or  who  cling  to  a  favourite  vice.  If  they 
are  naturally  candid,  if  they  love  truth  and  are  con- 
scious of  the  demands  of  duty,  the  vigour  of  their 
apology  is  often  a  measure  of  the  severity  of  the  inner 
conflict.  It  may  be  taken  as  a  proof  that  they  find 
their  conduct  unsatisfactory  to  themselves. 

Now,  when  iEneas  arrived  at  Vienna,  he  was  cast 
into  the  society  of  men  younger  than  himself — men 
who  did  not  share  his  intellectual  tastes.  When  set 
free  from  the  dull  routine  of  official  life  they  pursued 
pleasure  riotously,  and  he  joined  them  at  the  tavern. 
He  was  framed  for  social  intercourse ;  he  yearned  for 
his  home-land  and  his  friends,  for  whom,  as  his  letters 
show,  he  entertained  deep  and  enduring  afiection  ;  he 
could  speak  no  German.  Fate  had  denied  him  the 
pleasures  of  domestic  life;  he  could  have  made  a 
home  very  happy,  as  his  devotion  to  his  mother,  his 
sisters,  and  his  nephews  shows,  but  to  do  so  was  not 
his  lot.  In  many  respects  he  was  a  disappointed 
man ;  his  real  intellectual  interests  lay  in  poetry,  in 
noting  all  that  he  saw,  and  conveying  his  own  vivid 
feelings  about  many  things  in  fresh  and  forcible 
phrases,  and  in  tracking  events  to  their  causes.  But 
fate  had  cast  him  into  the  world  of  diplomacy ;  diplo- 
matic treatment  of  those  above  him  in  rank  was  the 

1  JEq.  Silvius,  Letter  to  Wilhelvi  von  SteiUy  July  1444. 


INNER  STRIFE  145 

only  way  to  escape  from  penury  and  a  position  un- 
worthy of  his  powers.  Yet  he  did  not  like  diplomacy  ; 
he  was  of  too  candid  a  nature  to  feel  quite  happy  in 
such  employment ;  it  did  not  always  leave  his  con- 
science at  ease,  ^neas  felt  it  necessary  to  furnish 
an  excuse  to  Schlick,  of  all  people  in  the  world,  for 
Schlick's  and  his  own  conduct  when  the  Chancellor 
employed  him  to  secure  the  bishopric  for  his  brother. 
Christ  Himself,  he  urges,  did  not  always  declare  all 
that  was  in  His  mind  or  His  real  intention.  *  Nothing,' 
he  says  in  his  Commentaries  on  Panormitanus,  4s  more 
wobbling  than  a  lie,  nothing  so  stable  as  the  truth.' 

Nature  had  designed  him  for  a  man  of  letters  ;  the 
irony  of  life  had  condemned  him  to  be  a  state-official, 
had  destined  that  his  genius  should  waste  itself  on 
theological  subtleties,  ecclesiastical  squabbles,  and  the 
machinations  of  policy.  He  was  an  exile  from  all  that 
rendered  life  most  dear.  What  wonder  that  he  took 
refuge  in  sensuous  pleasures  1  New  convictions  arose, 
but  he  still  tried  hard  to  batter  himself  into  enjoy- 
ment. But  such  dissipation  as  his  colleagues  indulged 
in  could  have  given  but  little  delight  to  this  man  of 
forty,  worn  with  the  hardships  of  more  travel  in  more 
lands  than  any  man  of  his  time  had  undertaken; 
worn,  too,  by  work,  worry,  shortened  sleep,  and 
irregular  and  often  scanty  meals.  He  was  tortured 
by  frequent  attacks  of  gout ;  he  was  already  bald, 
wrinkled,  perhaps  feeling  a  little  older  than  his  years. 
The  blondes  of  a  German  inn  brought  no  sunshine  to 
his  heart ;  the  pleasures  of  sense  palled  on  him ;  he 
was  tasting  fruit  that  once  had  been  pleasant  to  the 
palate,  but  the  keen  edge  of  appetite  and  enjoyment 
pertains  to  more  youthful  years. 

K 


146 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


He  was  far  from  being  at  peace  with  his  own  soul. 
At  such  moments  forgotten  impressions  are  apt  to 
come  back.  Perhaps  the  preaching  of  Bernardino, 
that  had  once  so  strongly  affected  him,  was  remem- 
bered. Had  the  saintly  Cesarini,  at  whose  table  he 
so  often  sat,  and  with  whom  he  held  such  serious 
conversation,  no  influence  over  the  soul  of  his  guest  ? 

He  possessed  the  intimate  confidence  of  the  king 
and  his  chancellor,  and  found  himself  growing  in 
favour  with  them  daily.  But,  as  a  foreigner,  he  could 
never  obtain  commanding  employment  in  Germany 
unless  he  held  some  position  in  that  truly  cosmo- 
politan institution — the  Universal  Church.  He  never 
cared  for  wealth,  but  he  loved  the  refinements  of  life, 
which  are  unobtainable  without  means,  and  he  was 
miserably  poor  :  some  of  those  tempting  manuscripts, 
for  example,  that  he  was  always  on  the  look-out  for 
and  that  he  frequently  discovered,  might  be  his  if 
he  were  better  off.  He  was  fully  conscious  that  he 
possessed  great  powers,  and  church-craft  and  state- 
craft would  afford  him  a  field  for  their  exercise.  He 
regarded  ecclesiastical  matters  as  of  vastly  more 
serious  importance  now  than  he  did  in  earlier  life ; 
he  felt  the  sobering  influence  of  age  and  experience ; 
he  was  a  practised  hand  at  affairs,  and  regarded  the 
political  world  of  the  Empire  from  its  very  centre. 
An  ecclesiastic  career  would  furnish  scope  for  his 
powers,  release  him  from  pecuniary  embarrassment, 
and  satisfy  the  deeper  yearnings  of  his  soul. 

Never  was  there  a  man  of  more  complex  nature. 
Simple  as  a  child  in  some  things,  he  saw  all  sides  of  a 
question  at  once,  he  was  drawn  by  diverse  allure- 
ments, storm-tossed  by  many  conflicting  emotions. 


INNER  STRIFE  147 

A  not  unworthy  ambition  as  well  as  a  deepened 
moral  and  religious  sense  were  at  variance  with  the 
natural  tendencies  of  a  literary  and  joyously  artistic 
temperament ;  the  spiritual  was  at  war  with  the 
natural  man.  ^neas  the  theologian  and  philosopher 
stood  in  arms  against  ^neas  the  poet.  Even  as  early 
as  November  1444  he  wrote  from  Ntirnberg  to  John 
Gers  that  he  *has  become  strong  and  can  praise 
chastity.'  The  struggle  was  severe,  but  servitude  to 
the  flesh  was  weakened  by  disillusion  and  the  passage 
of  the  years.  He  had  held  back  from  taking  orders 
because  he  feared  he  could  not  keep  his  vow ;  ^  now, 
at  last,  he  accepted  a  benefice  in  the  remote  mountains. 
Once  having  accepted  a  new  obligation  he  would 
fulfil  it  loyally.  On  May  25,  1445,  he  informs  his 
friend  Campisio  that  he  has  been  presented  to  a 
benefice,  and  is  to  be  ordained;  on  March  6,  1446, 
he  tells  him  that  the  deed  is  done ;  he  is  a  sub-deacon 
and  soon  will  be  a  priest.  *  That  levity  of  mind  which 
would  have  held  me  among  the  laity  is  passing  away. 
I  wish  for  nothing  more  eagerly  than  to  become  a 
priest  now.  .  .  .  Therefore  do  I  render  God  thanks, 
and  I  will  submit  to  His  Will  only,  and  conduct  my 
life  in  accordance  with  it.'  Pastor  has  discovered 
the  record  of  his  admission  to  the  rank  of  priest  in 
the  Liber  Officiorum  of  Eugenius :  he  was  ordained 
presbyter  in  February  1447. 

He  bitterly  repented,  now,  of  his  erotic  writings, 
so  many  of  which,  too,  were  of  such  recent  dates. 
He  made  the  usual  vain  attempt  at  trying  to  undo 
the  past.  His  letters  to  his  friends  John  Freund 
(March  8,  1446),  to  Nicholas  Wartenburg  and  Ippolito 

1  iEn.  Sylvii,  Ep.  ad  Fetr.  de  Noxdo,  February  18, 1444. 


148 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


of  Milan  (December  31,  1446),  and  to  Carolus 
Cypriacus,  although  written  in  the  vein  that  would 
exactly  commend  themselves  to  their  recipients,  gave 
evidence  of  sincere  repentance.  He  learned,  to  his 
regret,  how  widely  his  novels  were  circulated,  and 
he  wrote  an  earnest  retractation  and  the  work  De 
Pravis  Mulierihus,  the  precise  dates  of  which  are 
unknown.^ 

The  first-named  of  these  productions  is  a  letter 
of  advice  to  Freund,  who  was  one  of  his  co-secretaries 
in  the  Chancellery.  It  exhibits  ^neas's  wonted 
penetration  into  the  recesses  of  the  human  heart,  and 
how  unerringly  he  could  read  what  other  folk  would 
be  sure  to  think  and  say  concerning  himself  He 
writes  :  '  As  regards  your  light  o'  love  whom  you 
have  given  in  marriage,  I  commend  your  action. 
What  is  better  than  the  wedded  state,  with  the 
babes  it  brings ;  gifts,  these  latter,  to  the  State  for 
its  defence  and  preservation.  But  it  is  unnatural  for 
you  to  grieve  over  what  you  have  done.  Repentance 
should  follow  wrong-doing  only.  Why,  therefore, 
should  you  regret  having  done  a  good  deed  ?  Deeds, 
not  words,  tell.  If  you  have  given  her  to  an  honest 
man,  all  is  well.  You  have  done  what  is  pleasing  to 
God  and  disregarded  the  criticisms  of  men.  Remem- 
ber that  Scripture  couples  fornication  with  death. 
You  will  say,  "  How  straight- laced  iEneas  has  become !" 
It  is  true  that  I  have  a  different  sort  of  reputation 
now  from  what  I  used  to  have  at  Vienna  and  Frank- 
fort. I  do  not  deny  my  past,  dearest  John,  but  we 
are  older,  nearer  to  death,  and  it  behoves  us  to  think 


^  Weiss,  Anton,  ^neas  S.  Piccolomini  ah  Fapst  Pius  II.,  sein  Lehen  und 
Einfluss  auf  die  literarische  Cvltur  Deutschlands.     Graz,  1897. 


INNER  STRIFE  149 

less  about  life  and  more  about  the  grave.  Wretched 
is  that  man,  and  devoid  of  the  grace  of  God,  whose 
soul  is  never  touched,  who  never  examines  his  own 
heart,  nor  seeks  to  amend  his  ways,  nor  thinks  of 
eternity.  I  have  been  a  great  wanderer  from  what 
is  right,  but  I  know  it,  and,  I  hope,  the  knowledge 
has  not  come  too  late.  My  fortieth  year  is  here,  and 
with  it  the  day  of  mercy  and  salvation. 

'  Forget  all  about  the  girl.  If  you  wish  for  eternal 
life,  do  as  if  she  were  dead.  How  poor  would  be  your 
joy  with  her,  how  fleeting  is  our  delight  in  women, 
how  momentary  the  satisfaction,  how  foolish  the  man 
who  loses  eternal  happiness  for  the  brief  delights  of 
this  world !  I  preach  to  you  because  you  are  well 
aware  how  the  poets  moralise  on  the  subject.  ,  ,  .' 
Then  ^neas  appeals  to  John  Freund's  pride,  reminds 
him  that,  if  he  chooses  another  girl,  he  will  merely 
have  escaped  from  one  fire  to  pass  into  another,  and 
quotes  from  the  Classics  concerning  the  levity  of 
woman.  He  proceeds  :  '  But  I  am  afraid  it  is  useless 
for  me  to  talk  seriously  with  you,  because  you  will  not 
give  me  any  credit  for  sincerity.  You  will  say  that 
I  am  a  man  full  fed  who  calls  on  the  hungry  to  fast. 
Yes,  I  must  admit  that  this  is  true.  I  am  nauseated. 
But  supposing  that,  spurned  by  Venus,  I  should  seek 
consolation  with  Bacchus.  Here  also  were  sin.  I  am 
not,  indeed,  surprised  that  a  strapping,  full-blooded 
fellow  like  yourself  should  fall  in  love  (though  I  doubt 
whether  your  boasts  are  not  stronger  than  the  facts 
warrant),  but,  let  it  be  as  you  say,  then,  the  stronger 
the  temptation,  the  greater  is  the  merit  of  resisting 
it.  I,  by  Hercules,  am  far  from  being  naturally 
continent,  and  to  speak  truly,  Venus  avoids  me  now 


150 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


quite  as  much  as  I  turn  my  back  on  her.  But  I 
thank  God  that  my  temptation  is  lessened,  so  that  I 
can  overcome  it.  You  will  say,  '*  Why  yield  the  spoil 
to  the  enemy  before  he  is  victorious  ?  "  but  this  maxim 
has  no  application  to  spiritual  warfare.*  And  so  the 
argument  is  continued,  with  quotations  from  the 
Bible  and  the  Classics.  Could  anything  be  more 
transparent,  sincere,  and  candid  than  this  letter? 
Yet  Voigt  finds  in  it  *  eine  Bordell-Comodie ' ;  ^  a 
'  farce  of  the  brothel ' ! 

iEneas  judged  himself  by  a  higher  standard  than 
that  employed  by  his  contemporaries.  No  one 
regarded  incontinence  as  other  than  a  foible ;  most 
folk  pronounced  it  praiseworthy,  ^neas's  father  is 
the  only  one  who  seems  to  have  condemned  his  son's 
irregularities.  Even  the  austere  Gregory  Heimburg, 
the  precursor  of  severe  German  Protestantism,  though 
he  became  a  bitter  foe  of  Pope  Pius,  never  reproached 
him  in  this  regard.  He  sneers,  indeed,  at  a  Pope 
who  is  fond  of  bastards,  because  Pius  favoured  the 
claims  of  Ferrante  to  the  Neapolitan  throne ;  he 
accuses  him  of  defending  adulterers  at  Mantua,  he 
covertly  hints  at  the  licentiousness  of  early  writings, 
but  he  does  no  more.  It  would  hardly  have  occurred 
to  any  one  to  hurl  so  trifling  a  matter  even  at  the 
teeth  of  a  Pope.^  A  layman  might  do  what  a  man 
who  became  Pope  should  not  have  written  about. 

1  Voigt,  jEnea  Silvio  Piccolomini  als  Papst  Pins  11.^  i.  438. 

2  See  Goldast,  Monarchia,  ii.,  or  Freher,  Rerum  Germanicarum  Scrip- 
toreSf  ed.  Struvii,  ii. ;  Pez,  Rerum  Atist.  Scriptores,  ii.,  and  the  speech 
preserved  in  the  Munich  Archives,  Cod.  lat.  522,  fol.  161. 


GERMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO  EUGENIUS     151 


CHAPTER    VIII 

iENBAS  AND  THE  BESTORATION  OF  GERMAN  OBEDIENCE 
TO   EUGENIUS — HE   ENTERS   THE   CHURCH 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  Frederick,  at  one  of  his 
innumerable  diets,  the  majority  of  the  Electors  were 
in  favour  of  recognising  whichever  Pope  might  favour 
precisely  those  reforms  in  the  Church  by  which  they 
would  obtain  most  power  and  advantage.  At  the 
diet  of  Frankfort  (a.d.  1442)  five  of  the  Electors 
inclined  towards  Eugenius,  but  Frederick  could  not 
afford  to  quarrel  with  Felix  and  the  Baselites,  for 
that  would  imply  the  antagonism  of  Savoy  and 
strengthen  the  opposition  to  him  that  existed 
throughout  Switzerland.  Swiss  Cantons  held  posses- 
sion of  certain  lands  that  had  belonged  to  the  House 
of  Hapsburg,  and  Frederick  had  not  yet  abandoned 
hope  of  recovering  them.  The  Electors  still  preserved 
sufficient  respect  for  Caesar  to  leave  the  matter  in 
his  hands.  Felix,  through  Cardinal  D'AUemand, 
offered  the  hand  of  his  daughter  Margaret,  the  widow 
of  Louis  of  Anjou,  to  Frederick,  with  a  dowry  or  bribe 
of  200,000  gold  pieces.  But  Frederick  held  back. 
When  he  left  Basel  with  jiEneas  in  his  train,  he  said, 
*  Popes  have  sold  their  rights  before  to-day,  but  Felix 
would  fain  buy  them.'  ^    He,  as  well  as  other  shrewd 

^  JEu.  Silvius,  De  Dictis  Alfons%  lib.  u. 


152 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


observers  of  character,  held  Felix  in  no  very  high 
estimation.  Soon  after  the.  Anti-Pope's  election 
Cesarini  wrote  to  Rome :  '  Fear  not.  The  victory 
is  with  you.  The  Council  have  elected  a  man  re- 
vealed to  them  not  by  the  Holy  Spirit  but  by 
earthly  motives.  I  dreaded  lest  they  should  choose 
some  poor,  learned,  holy  man,  whose  virtues  had 
been  a  danger.  They  have  chosen  a  man  of  the 
world.' ^ 

But  a  wealthy  prince  with  a  marriageable  daughter 
finds  many  friends.  The  Electors  inclined  at  once 
towards  Felix.  One  of  them,  the  Pfalsgraf  of  the 
Rhine,  secured  Margaret  and  her  huge  dowry.  They 
all  flouted  their  Emperor.  They  were  less  dis- 
gusted with  his  inertia  than  eager  to  take  advantage 
of  his  supineness  and  push  their  own  claims,  increase 
their  own  power,  and  enhance  their  own  prestige. 
Zurich  had  supported  the  claim  of  Frederick  to  the 
ancient  possessions  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  in 
Switzerland.  The  Swiss  closely  beleaguered  the  city, 
and  the  Electors  refused  to  help  their  monarch.  The 
*  Armagnacs,'  soldiery  left  unemployed  by  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  French  war  with  England,  were  sent  by 
the  dauphin  to  aid  Frederick,  for  the  French  prince 
was  glad  to  get  them  out  of  France,  and  hoped  by 
their  means  to  push  forward  the  boundary  of  French 
territory.  But  the  Armagnacs  met  with  such  sturdy 
resistance  from  the  Swiss  that  they  retired  to  certain 
lands  of  the  Empire  in  Alsace,  and  subjected  them  to 
rape,  fire,  and  pillage.  Hence,  at  the  diet  of  Niirn- 
berg,    iEneas    heard    Frederick    overwhelmed    with 

*  Fea,  Pius  II.  a  column,  vindic.  Borne,  1822 ;  (Pii  ii.,  Comnunt.  de 
ConcU.  Basil.) J  p.  79. 


GERMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO   EUGENIUS     153 

invective  and  reproach,  nor,  for  twenty-seven  years, 
did  the  Caesar  dare  to  face  a  diet  again.  Four  of  the 
Electors  were  now  on  the  side  of  FeHx.  They  saw 
an  opportunity  to  take  advantage  of  the  supineness 
of  Frederick  and  aim  a  blow  at  the  royal  authority. 
They  assumed  religious  zeal,  but  it  was  a  mere  veil 
for  political  intrigue,  -^neas  saw  through  these 
stratagems  of  statecraft.  *  We  are  ready,'  he  wrote, 
*  at  the  command  of  a  secular  power,  not  merely  to 
abjure  a  Pope,  but  to  deny  Christ  Himself  For  love 
is  dead  and  faith  lies  buried.'^  But  later  on,  as  a 
practical  politician,  he  did  not  disdain  to  utilise  the 
strategy  of  others,  bent  on  self-advancement,  to 
further  what  he  deemed  the  just  and  right  cause. 

Eugenius  had  repaired,  by  dogged  persistency,  the 
damage  caused  by  his  rash  obstinacy.  The  large- 
minded  policy  that  united  the  Greeks  with  the 
Roman  Church  added  enormously  to  his  prestige ; 
the  attacks  of  the  Council  only  served  to  throw  the 
most  distinguished  theologians,  the  most  saintly  men 
on  to  his  side,  and  they  took  up  his  cause  with  ardour; 
Vitelleschi,  his  military  lieutenant,  had  reduced  Rome 
to  such  order  that  the  Pope  was  able  to  return  to 
his  own  see  and  dwell  there;  Castile  and  Scotland 
had  come  over  to  his  obedience ;  the  King  of  Aragon, 
now  master  of  Naples,  had  entered  into  alliance  with 
him.  But  the  battle  was  not  at  an  end  in  Germany ; 
the  Electors  were  intriguing  with  France,  the  natural 
foe  of  their  country,  and,  since  Anjou  was  expelled 
from  Naples,  Eugenius  could  expect  no  aid  from  His 
Most  Christian  Majesty.  Yet  it  was  clear  that  the 
traditional  persistency  of  the  Papacy  had  prevailed ; 

1  ^n.  Silyius,  Ep.  liv.     Ed.  Basel. 


154 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


as 


so  often   before,  the  dark  hour  had 
a  passing  eclipse,  and   the  authority  of 


once   more, 
proved  but 

Rome  was,  in  measure,  restored.  Only  Germany 
remained  to  be  won.  Frederick  had  never  been 
unfavourable  to  Eugenius,  and  the  action  of  the 
Electors  inclined  him  to  support  the  Pope,  for  he 
needed  what  protection  Rome  could  give  him  against 
domestic  foes.  Nor  was  this  all.  A  terrible  disaster 
had  happened  in  Hungary,  an  event  that  spread  con- 
sternation through  Europe ;  a  danger  was  imminent 
that  demanded  the  union  of  divided  Christianity  :  the 
Turk  had  almost  annihilated  the  Christian  forces  at 
Varna ;  the  noble  Cesarini  and  Ladislas,  King  of 
Poland,  were  among  the  slain.  And  the  Hungarian 
nobility  opposed  the  claims  of  the  youthful  Ladislas 
to  the  Hungarian  throne,  which  the  death  of  Ladislas 
of  Poland  had  rendered  vacant.  If  Frederick  were 
to  restore  the  aims  of  Imperial  authority,  then,  and  to 
check  the  Turkish  advance,  the  aid  of  Eugenius  was 
necessary  to  him. 

JEneas  was  present  at  the  Diet  of  Nlirnberg  (a.d. 
1444),  and  there  he  perceived,  not  only  how  feeble 
the  Caesar  really  was,  but  how  weak  was  the  bond 
that  united  the  self-seeking  Electors.  Felix  and  the 
Council  had  refused  the  request  of  the  German 
princes  to  summon  a  new  council.  iEneas,  appointed 
by  Frederick  as  one  of  his  commissioners  in  ecclesias- 
tical affairs,  was  sent,  though  still  a  layman,  with 
three  other  delegates,  to  lay  the  same  proposal  before 
Eugenius  and  request  him  to  summon  the  Council 
in  a  definite  (namely,  two  years')  time,  .^neas  had 
waited  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  an  unmistakeable 
direction  to  events ;  and  it  was  now  quite  clear  that 


GERMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO  EUGENIUS     155 

Europe  was  passing  over  to  the  side  of  Kome.  He 
began  to  take  a  much  stronger  and  more  active  part 
in  the  attempt  to  determine  the  Schism.  *  Opposition 
is  useless/  he  told  Schlick,  'and  will  only  lead  to 
new  schism.'^  Eugenius  had  won  Schlick  over  by 
nominating  his  brother  to  the  vacant  bishopric,  and 
Frederick  was  only  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  come 
to  terms,  ^neas  had  acquired  the  close  confidence 
of  both  Schlick  and  the  king,  and  he  found  that  his 
counsels  had  weight  with  them.  Aforetime  he  had 
been,  he  could  have  been,  no  other  than  an  eloquent 
mouthpiece ;  but  now  he  found  himself  in  a  position 
where  his  own  opinion  and  advice  were  sought. 
Experience  had  deepened  his  sense  of  responsibility ; 
he  perceived  that  Frederick,  though  by  no  means 
devoid  of  sound  judgement,  was  tardy  in  action  and 
sluggish  in  thought — a  man  to  be  led,  not  to  be 
followed.  He  determined  to  do  all  that  in  him  lay, 
and  conduct  Germany  over  to  Eugenius.  The 
greater  part  of  the  Catholic  world  had  decided :  for 
the  sake  of  religion,  of  Christian  peace,  and,  above 
all,  for  united  action  against  the  rapidly  advancing 
Turk,  the  Pope  must  be  supported,  ^neas  had  the 
adaptable  mind  of  the  practical  statesman,  who  will 
undertake  nothing  that  is  not  opportune  and  ex- 
pedient. His  large  intellect  enabled  him  to  grasp 
great  conceptions  and  lofty  ideas  ;  he  honoured  them, 
but  he  believed  the  when  and  how  of  their  realisation 
must  depend  much  on  circumstance  and,  often,  on 
device.  A  new  and  noble  duty  was  before  him,  but 
he  would  undertake  it  with  prudence  and  conduct 
it  with  caution — with  boldness,  though,  if  boldness 

*  ^n.  Silvius,  Ep.  liv.     Ed.  Basel. 


156  .ENEAS   SILVIUS 

should  become  opportune.  In  the  spring  of  1445 
he  joyfully  set  out  on  his  journey  to  Rome.  Once 
again  he  would  behold  his  beloved  land  and  the  faces 
of  his  kindred. 

When  he  arrived  at  Siena,  his  simple-minded 
relatives,  ignorant  of  the  immunity  accorded  to  an 
Imperial  envoy,  were  struck  with  horror  at  the  notion 
of  his  venturing  near  Eugenius.  They  remembered 
his  entanglement  in  the  Bishop  of  Novara's  plot  and 
his  many  writings  against  the  Pope.  One  and  all, 
they  begged  him  not  to  venture  into  the  lion's  den ; 
they  clung  fast  to  him  and  sought,  with  tearful 
entreaty,  to  turn  him  from  his  purpose.  His  pontifical 
pen  records,  with  dry  humour,  how  they  told  him  of 
*the  cruelty  of  Eugenius,  how  unforgiving  he  was, 
how  no  compunction,  no  sense  of  right  ever  restrained 
him,  how  he  was  surrounded  by  agents  that  stopped 
at  nothing.  Once  in  Home  JEneas  would  never 
return.'  The  envoy  could  not  hold  himself  back  ;  he 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  comedy.  Assuming 
the  r61e  of  a  hero,  he  proclaimed  that  *  duty  must  be 
performed,  even  at  the  cost  of  life,'  and  so,  tearing 
himself  away  from  those  that  would  have  restrained 
him,  he  rode  off  for  Rome.^ 

The  Papal  legates  in  Germany  had  prepared 
Eugenius  for  iEneas's  coming,  and  his  kindred's  fears 
were  soon  turned  into  joy  at  his  success.  He  received 
a  cordial  welcome  at  Rome,  for  all  were  aware  how 
very  useful  the  Imperial  secretary  could  be.  Before 
unfolding  his  mission,  however,  it  was  necessary  to 
be  absolved  from  the  Papal  anathema  pronounced 
against  adherents  of  the  Council.     Two  cardinals  led 

*  Fit  II.  Comment.,  1.  1. 


iENEAS    SiLVIUS   AT   THE    FEET   OF    POPE    EUGENIUS    IV. 
Pinturicchio,  Siena. 


GEEMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO  EUGENIUS     157 

him  into  the  Papal  presence.  When  he  had  knelt 
and  done  reverence  to  the  Apostolic  feet,  Eugenius 
presented  him  with  both  hand  and  cheek  to  kiss, 
^neas  then  spoke  to  His  Holiness  in  a  singularly- 
bold  and  manly  way.  *  Holy  Father/  he  said,  *  before 
I  deliver  the  king's  message,  I  wish  to  say  a  few 
words  concerning  myself  I  am  aware  that  you  have 
heard  much  about  me,  and  that  little  of  it  is  to  my 
credit.  I  must  plead  guilty  to  having  spoken  and 
written  and  contrived  much  against  you  at  Basel. 
I  did  so,  but  it  was  less  designed  against  yourself 
than,  as  I  then  thought,  to  serve  the  Church.  I  did 
wrong ;  but  I  erred  with  many  men  of  high  reputa- 
tion. I  followed  Julian,  Cardinal  of  St.  Angelo, 
Niccol5,  Archbishop  of  Palermo,  and  Ludovico 
Pontano,  Apostolic  notary.  These  men  were  regarded 
as  the  very  eyes  of  the  law  and  masters  of  truth. 
Need  I  speak  of  the  Universities  or  of  other  schools, 
of  which  most  were  against  you  ?  Who  would  not 
have  gone  astray  with  such  a  company  ?  But,  when 
I  discovered  the  error  of  the  Baselites,  I  confess  that 
I  did  not  come  over  to  you,  as  most  did.  I  was 
afraid  of  falling  from  one  error  into  another,  as  one 
escapes  from  Scylla  to  be  caught  by  Charybdis,  and 
so  I  joined  the  camp  of  the  neutrals.  I  was  unwilling 
to  pass  from  one  extreme  to  another  without  taking 
time  and  reflecting.  I  remained  three  years  with 
the  king.  But,  as  I  heard  more  and  more  about  the 
points  of  difference  between  the  Baselites  and  your 
legates,  it  became  clear  to  me  that  the  right  lay  with 
you.  Therefore  I  rejoiced  when  the  king  himself 
wished  to  open  relations  with  Your  Holiness  by  my 
means.     I  hoped  to  be  restored  to  your  favour.     So, 


158 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


now  I  stand  before  you,  and  I  ask  your  pardon  for 
what  I  did  without  true  knowledge/ 

The  Pope  replied  :  *  You  fell  into  error  with  many. 
We  cannot  refuse  to  pardon  the  repentant,  for  the 
Church  is  a  loving  Mother.  You  have  reached  the 
truth  :  take  heed  that  you  hold  it  fast.  You  occupy 
a  station  where  you  may  defend  the  truth  and  benefit 
the  Church.  We  will  forget  the  injury  you  have 
done  Us  and  love  you  well,  if  you  continue  to  deserve 
Our  love.'^  iEneas  wrote  about  the  interview  to 
his  friends  when  he  returned  to  Vienna.  *  When 
I  saw  Eugenius,'  he  says,  '  he  was  as  well  as  an  old 
man  can  be.  .  .  .  He  will  not  promise  to  grant  the 
king's  request,  nor  allow  a  Council  to  be  held  in 
Germany,  nor  fix  a  date  for  one.*^  The  Papacy  has 
never  failed  to  give  its  right  value  to  the  policy  of 
Quintus  Fabius  Cunctator. 

The  cardinals  received  him  heartily  and  treated 
him  with  all  due  honour ;  but  his  former  master  in 
Albergati's  household,  Tommaso  Parentucelli,  now 
become  Bishop  of  Bologna,  and  destined,  in  no  short 
time,  to  occupy  the  Apostolic  Chair,  turned  aside 
rather  than  take  his  hand.  Perhaps  Parentucelli 
thought  him  still  under  censure.  Of  lofty  spirit  and 
remarkable  directness  of  mind,  a  plain-dealer  and 
plain-speaker,  the  bishop  was  a  man  ready  to  con- 
front a  world  in  arms  with  a  single  purpose  in  his 
soul ;  ready  to  subdue  it  to  his  will  or  be  broken  in 
the  attempt.  He  and  Albergati  had  always  been  for 
Eugenius.  He  was  incapable  of  understanding  the 
subtle,  complex  character  of  w^neas,  his  adaptability 

^  Pii  [I.  Comment. y  1.  1. 

2  ^a.  Sil.,  Ep,  ad  Leonard.  Episc.  Patav.^  May  or  June  1445. 


GERMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO   EUGENIUS     159 

and  circumspection,  his  wide,  cautious  outlook,  his 
awareness  of  all  the  difficulties  of  a  situation,  his 
skilful  manoeuvring  to  overcome  them.  Parentucelli 
may  have  fallen  into  the  error  that  a  great  and 
minute  scholar  has  not  avoided.^  It  may  even  have 
seemed  to  him  that  he  had  before  him,  not  the  wary 
politician,  sincerer  and  less  self-centred  than  most  of 
his  tribe,  but  only  a  disingenuous  trimmer,  a  time- 
server  and  a  toady. 

But  there  was  j  ust  enough  of  truth  in  the  unspoken 
judgement  to  cut  ^neas  to  the  heart.  He  resented 
it.  He  cannot  forget  the  incident,  even  when  he 
becomes  Pope,  and  it  is  characteristic  of  him  that 
he  records  it.  'How  ignorant  we  are  of  what  the 
Future  is  to  bring  about ! '  he  remarks,  and  some- 
what ingenuously  adds,  'if  ^neas  had  known  that 
Parentucelli  was  to  become  Pope  he  would  have  for- 
given him.'I^  He  would  have  been  restrained  by 
respect  for  the  Apostolic  Chair,  for  the  Chosen  Vessel, 
and  by  worldly  prudence.  The  old  experienced 
statesman  approves  of  caution  in  the  conduct  of  life. 
Like  so  many  of  the  Pope's  incidental  remarks,  this 
admixture  of  simpHcity  and  shrewdness  brings  the 
very  man  before  us.  Friends  soon  brought  about  a 
reconciliation.  Perhaps  iEneas  was  never  a  favourite 
with  Tommaso  Parentucelli,  the  housemaster  who, 
as  Bishop  of  Bologna  and  Pope  Nicholas  v.,  never 
took  him  to  his  heart :  yet,  henceforward,  the  two 
men  co-operated  in  perfect  agreement,  to  great  ends. 

iEneas  now  finally  takes  his  stand  as  a  supporter 

*  The  author  refers  to  Voigt. 

2  Fea,  Pius  II,  a  column,  vindic, ;  (Pii  II.  Comment  de  reb.  Basil.), 
p.  88. 


160 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


of  the  theocratic  throne.  The  Turk  was  fixing  him- 
self firmly  in  Eastern  Europe  and  rapidly  advancing 
his  forces  towards  its  centre ;  no  limit  seemed  to  be 
set  to  his  victorious  progress ;  the  growing  spirit  of 
nationality  was  adding  terrible  force  to  the  existing 
antagonisms  of  Christendom  :  to  iEneas,  there  seemed 
no  other  way  to  repel  the  Infidel  and  unify  the 
nations  than  by  upholding  Christ's  Vicar  as  the 
Father  of  all  peoples.  In  the  Vicegerent  of  Heaven 
lay  the  sole  hope  of  public  safety  and  public  order. 
Shall  we  condemn  his  judgement  ?  Let  it  be  granted 
that  no  tyranny  is  so  terrible  as  a  spiritual  despotism. 
Is  the  spectacle,  to-day,  of  feud  and  anarchy  in  the 
great  Empire  of  Constantine  ;  is  the  crushing  burden 
of  our  national  debts,  the  oppression  of  militarism, 
the  veiled  enmity  of  nations  that,  unconscious  of 
irony,  name  an  armed  truce  'peace' — each  a  conse- 
quence of  the  failure  of  Papal  theory  to  realise  itself 
— so  entirely  preferable  ?  We  know  how  limited 
was  the  power  of  Papal  authority,  even  at  its  height, 
to  bring  the  Princes  of  Europe  under  control ;  we 
may  perceive  that  the  dream  is  one  that  has  come 
through  the  gate  of  ivory  and  not  through  that  of 
horn ;  but  the  conception  was  no  ignoble  one ;  it 
did  not  seem  impracticable  to  iEneas,  nor  does  the 
Papacy,  to-day,  regard  it  as  other  than  a  destiny  not 
yet  fulfilled. 

iEneas  resolved  to  do  all  that  he  could  to  procure 
union.  He  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends  at  Home  :  '  If 
my  embassy  can  get  anything  from  you  it  will  be  the 
safer  and  render  it  easier  to  lead  all  into  union.  The 
electors  met  at  Frankfort  on  St.  John's  day,  nor  is 
there  any  one  who  does  not  expect  novel  events  from 


GERMAN   OBEDIENCE  TO   EUGENIUS     161 

it.  But  God,  who  is  wiser  than  we,  will  direct  the 
result/  ^  And  he  wrote  to  a  German  friend :  *  My 
journey  has  the  honest  object  of  procuring  unity. 
What  I  shall  further  report  concerning  the  Frank- 
forters,  time  will  show.  My  silence  may  be  taken  to 
indicate  what  may  be  brought  about.'  ^ 

On  his  way  back  to  Vienna,  ^neas  revisited  Siena, 
and  embraced  his  aged  father  for  the  last  time. 

Eugenius  replied  to  the  Electors'  request  for  a 
council  by  a  series  of  hostile  measures.  At  the 
request  of  the  Duke  of  Cleves,  he  removed  certain 
lands  from  the  jurisdictions  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Koln  and  the  Bishop  of  Miinster,  and  he  denounced 
the  latter  as  a  *  son  of  wickedness.'  He  agreed  to 
purchase  the  aid  of  Frederick  by  giving  him  the  right 
of  filling  up  six  important  German  bishoprics  during 
his  lifetime  and  by  granting  certain  concessions. 
Heimburg  says  that  he  promised  to  pay  Caesar 
221,000  ducats,  whereof  100,000  were  to  be  furnished 
by  Eugenius  and  the  remainder  by  his  successors.^ 
The  expenses  of  the  projected  journey  to  Bome  for 
Imperial  coronation  would  furnish  an  excuse  for  this 
bribe.  Eugenius  followed  all  up  by  a  Bull  deposing 
the  Archbishop-electors  of  Koln  and  Trier  (February  1, 
1446).  Each  side  miscalculated  the  strength  of  the 
other.  Eugenius  overestimated  the  power  of  Frederick, 
and  the  king  placed  too  high  a  value  on  the  restored 
Papal  authority. 

The   Electors,    however,   abandoned  the  intrigues 
they  had  been  carrying  on  with  Felix,  and  turned  to 

^  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Campisium,  May  21,  1446. 

2  ^n.  Sil,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Freund.     From  Vienna,  1446. 

3  Diix,  Nicolas  von  Cusa,  i.  Beilage  iv. 

L 


162 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


the  king,  entreating  him  to  renounce  his  under- 
standing with  Eugenius.  Then  they  met  at  Frank- 
fort, and  agreed  to  forsake  Felix  and  acknowledge 
Eugenius  if  the  Pope  would  accept  such  decrees  of 
Basel  as  related  to  reform,  recall  all  censures  directed 
against  neutrals,  and  agree  to  summon  a  council 
within  a  year  in  a  German  city  (March  1446).  If 
Eugenius  refused  to  conform,  they  would  accept  the 
Council  of  Basel ;  but  knowledge  of  this  was  to  be 
withheld  from  the  Pope.^ 

They  sent  Gregory  Heimburg,  a  zealous  reformer, 
and  other  envoys  to  announce  their  decision  to 
Frederick.  After  seeing  him,  the  embassy  was  to 
proceed  to  Rome,  but  by  no  means  to  show  the  docu- 
ments they  bore  to  Eugenius  unless  he  accepted  their 
terms  without  reservation ;  above  all,  their  resolve  to 
pass  over  to  Felix,  if  these  were  rejected,  was  to 
remain  a  secret  from  the  Pope.  The  king  received 
the  envoys  in  the  presence  of  six  of  his  counsellors. 
They,  but  not  Frederick,  were  sworn  to  secrecy. 

Frederick  found  himself  placed  in  a  difficult  posi- 
tion. Carvajal  and  Parentucelli  were  at  his  Court, 
bearing  with  them  the  Emperor's  treaty  with  Eugenius 
for  ratification.  Frederick  complained  to  the  Electors' 
envoys  that  it  was  quite  a  new  thing  for  arrange- 
ments to  be  made  behind  the  monarch's  back  and 
his  assent  demanded  before  he  had  fully  and  freely 
discussed  the  questions  they  involved.  He  agreed, 
however,  to  summon  a  diet  in  the  autumn  (a.d.  1446) 
to  receive  the  Pope's  answer.  Although  he  had 
taken  no  oath,  it  was  incumbent  on  the  duty  and 
dignity  of  the  throne  to  preserve  secrecy ;  yet  he  felt 

1  Piickert,  Die  Kurfiirstliche  Neutralitdt,  p.  259. 


GEEMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO   EUGENIUS     163 

it  desirable  to  give  Eugenius  an  inkling  of  the  hidden 
reservation.^  He  told  Parentucelli,  directly  the  envoys 
had  left,  that  he  had  better  hasten  his  departure  for 
Rome,  relying  on  the  astuteness  of  the  Legate  to 
penetrate  the  meaning  of  such  strange  advice,  and  he 
sent  ^neas  with  him  as  his  own  envoy.  As  an 
Imperial  Secretary,  Piccolomini  was  bound  by  general 
oath  to  secrecy,  but  he  may  not  have  been  one  of  the 
six  counsellors  who  took  the  special  oath. 

Sending  JEneas  with  Parentucelli  was  an  astute 
piece  of  diplomacy.  A  little  more  might  leak  out  on 
the  way,  and  it  would  give  Eugenius  a  diplomatic 
advantage  to  appear  to  treat  the  Electors'  legation  as 
if  that  were  one  and  the  same  with  the  legation  of 
his  friend,  their  master.  He  could  confound  the  two 
together.  The  secretary,  in  his  History  of  Frederick, 
tells  us  that  *  the  bishop,  though  he  could  not  know 
all,  guessed  much,'  ^  which  speaks  well  for  Parentu- 
celli's  training  in  Albergati's  household,  for  he  was  by 
nature  phenomenally  straightforward  in  his  own  deal- 
ings. In  Piccolomini's  Commentaries  on  the  Council 
we  learn  that  *  instructed  by  ^neas,  Parentucelli 
warned  the  Pope  concerning  the  matter,  and  advised 
him  to  give  the  envoys  a  mild  answer.'^  There  was 
no  need  to  speak  right  out.  Under  such  circum- 
stances it  is  easy  to  lead  up  to  a  question,  and  a 
shrug  of  the  shoulders,  a  single  glance,  a  dubious  tone 
will  answer  it.  ^Eneas  has  been  charged  with  double 
dealing.  If  he  was  the  servant  of  the  Empire,  the 
Electors  had  forced  their  king's  hand,  and  he  was 

^  Pii  II.  Comment,  de  rehus  Basil,  in  Fea  (Pius  II.  a  calumniis  vindic.\ 
p.  91. 

2  ^n.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred,  in  Kollar,  ii.  p.  122. 
'  Fii  II.  Comment,  de  rehus  Basil,  in  Fea,  p.  91. 


164 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


bound  to  be  faithful  to  the  real  interests  of  the? 
Empire,  which  he  identified  with  those  of  the  king : 
the  Empire  could  not  continue  to  exist  if  the  king's 
authority  were  flouted  and  curtailed  by  his  lieges. 
He  knew  that  the  king  would  approve  of  his  action. 
And  there  are  few  occasions  when  the  close  observer 
will  not  discover  that,  so  far  from  the  course  of  duty 
being  wholly  indisputable,  it  usually  involves  a  de- 
cision, not  between  plain  right  and  plain  wrong,  but 
between  doubtful  courses  of  action,  all  of  which 
involve  some  wrong.  The  future  of  Christendom  was 
in  the  balance :  the  unity  of  the  Church  was  within 
view,  and,  if  Eugenius  remained  in  the  dark,  an 
unguarded  reply  would  renew  and  reinforce  schism, 
perhaps  to  the  destruction  of  Catholic  Christianity. 

There  might  be  found  those  who  would  hold  these 
reasons  as  weighty,  and  sufficient  excuse  for  ^Eneas's 
conduct.  It  is  a  question  for  casuistry,  and  ^neas, 
certainly,  was  never  visited  by  the  slightest  misgiving 
that  he  had  acted  otherwise  than  in  the  manner  that 
strict  allegiance  to  duty  and  moral  obligation  de- 
manded of  him.  To-day,  even,  we  hardly  apply  the 
standards  of  conduct  and  honour  required  in  private 
life  to  the  statesman.  ^Eneas  held  the  views  of  a 
practical  politician.  *  Wisdom,'  he  says,  *  fears  Destiny 
not  one  jot.  The  wise  apply  their  intelligence  to  the 
events  that  Time  unfolds,  and  expect  men  to  act 
according  to  their  nature.'^  'The  fruit  of  a  man's 
life  is  the  unfolding  of  his  nature.  What  the  prudent 
enjoy  is  due  to  their  superiority  ;  what  the  less  gifted 
miss  is  due  to  their  inability  to  profit  by  experience. 
So  success  does  not  always  come  from  honest  service, 

1  -^n.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred,  in  Kollar,  ii.  p.  192. 


GERMAN   OBEDIENCE  TO   EUGENIUS     165 

nor  is  failure  always  the  result  of  crime.  Most  useful 
results  in  human  affairs  are  the  consequences  of  correct 
judgement.'  ^ 

^neas,  as  envoy  of  Caesar,  introduced  the  embassy 
of  the  Electors,  and  hinted,  in  the  vaguest  way,  that 
a  favourable  reply  to  their  requests  would  bring  peace 
to  the  Church.  Heimburg  set  forth  the  demands  of 
the  Electors  in  a  hard  and  almost  peremptory  way. 
Eugenius  was  attentive.  He  remained  silent  for  a 
while,  and  then  returned  an  indefinite,  diplomatic 
answer.     He  must  take  time  for  consideration. 

Heimburg  and  ^neas  recognised  one  another  as 
irreconcileable  foes.  Their  enmity  endured  through- 
out their  lives.  In  appearance  and  in  character  no 
men  could  be  more  completely  contrasted,  ^neas 
was  of  slight  and  unimposing  figure ;  he  bore  the 
marks  of  travel  and  vigil ;  his  face  was  worn  ;  he  was 
grey  and  looked  prematurely  aged ;  but  his  eye  re- 
tained its  youthful  fire  and  flashed  forth  keen  and 
brilliant  glances.  Heimburg  was  a  big,  bulky  man, 
full  fed,  yet  of  imposing  presence,  with  a  fat,  honest, 
German  face.  He  was  a  clear,  straightforward  speaker 
and  his  words  came  from  the  heart ;  but,  when  annoyed, 
he  could  show  himself  a  master  of  bitter  sarcasm  and 
biting  irony,  ^neas  was  fluent ;  Campano  tells  us 
that  his  oratory  was  overladen  with  thoughtful 
digressions,  and  his  selection  of  words  was  not  always 
such  as  an  exact  scholar  would  approve.  But  no  one 
could  be  more  forcible  when  he  spoke  on  a  matter  that 
he  held  at  heart.  He  did  so  now.  Heimburg  was  an 
enthusiast  for  reform,  and  he  nursed  the  rancour  of  a 
disappointed  zealot :  he  detested  the  opportunist  with 

^  ^n.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred,  in  Kollar,  ii.  p.  256. 


166 


iENEAS  SILYIUS 


all  ilia  soul.  To  this  obstinate,  hot-tempered,  straight- 
forward precisian,  JEneas  appeared  nothing  but  a 
cunning,  insidious,  double-dealing  Italian.^ 

Heimburg  chafed  at  the  Pope's  evasive  answer, 
^neas  tells  us,  with  malicious  enjoyment,  how  he 
would  take  the  air  in  the  evening,  sweating  with  heat 
but  still  more  from  rage,  and  pace  up  and  down, 
panting  for  breath,  his  breast  and  head  bared  for 
coolness ;  he  would  lash  himself  into  a  still  greater 
fever  and  perspiration  as  he  execrated  Eugenius  and 
the  cardinals.  JEneas  had  a  private  interview  with 
the  Pope  and  advised  him  to  compromise.  Eugenius 
seemed  to  assent.  The  cardinals  entertained  the 
envoys,  and  finessed  to  discover  what  they  were  hold- 
ing back.  Finally,  the  embassy  was  told  that  the 
Pope  would  send  his  reply  to  the  forthcoming  diet  at 
Frankfort.  An  embassy  that  the  Electors  sent  to 
Felix  and  his  Council  met  with  no  better  treatment 
than  the  one  sent  to  Eugenius. 

At  the  Diet  of  Frankfort  (September  1446)  a  reply 
was  received  from  Eugenius.  It  was  evasive.  Eu- 
genius and  the  Curia  knew  that,  whatever  the  religious 
zealots  of  Germany  might  desire,  the  princes  were 
actuated  by  no  motives  that  were  not  entirely  political ; 
that  each  sought  only  to  consolidate  and  extend  his 
own  power,  and  that,  if  only  time  could  be  gained, 
dissensions  would  assuredly  arise  among  them.  In 
utmost  need,  in  darkest  eclipse,  Home  has  never  for- 
gotten to  maintain  her  pretensions,  for  the  Pope,  as  a 
rule,  and  some,  at  least,  of  the  Sacred  College,  have 
always  been  convinced  of  the  justice  of  their  claim  to 
universal  authority,  and  remained  unyielding  in  their 

1  Mn.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred,  in  Kollar,  ii.  p.  123. 


GERMAN  OBEDIENCE  TO  EUGENIUS     167 

demand  for  obedience.  They  have  always  refused  to 
establish  a  precedent  that  might  abase  the  theocracy. 
En  genius  was  as  stiffnecked  before  the  princes  as  he 
had  been  before  the  Council,  and  with  greater  reason. 
He  was  able  to  make  a  firm  stand  because  he  knew 
that  they  were  to  be  bought,  ^neas  tells  us  frankly 
that  he  himself  paid  two  thousand  florins  to  the 
confidential  advisers  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz.  ^ 
In  that  age  bribes,  under  the  excuse  of  rewards 
for  right-doing,  were  quite  usual,  and  were  not 
censured. 

JEneas  was  so  earnestly  energetic  at  this  congress 
and  throughout  all  these  transactions  that  it  would 
be  natural  for  him  to  exaggerate  his  own  importance, 
and  it  is  possible  that  he  has  given  posterity  the  im- 
pression that  he  had  a  greater  share  in  bringing  Ger- 
many into  obedience  to  Eugenius  than  was  actually 
the  case.  But  he  certainly  drew  up  a  proposal  which, 
to  use  a  phrase  of  his,  '  squeezed  the  venom '  from  the 
Electors. 

It  was  evident  that  the  peril  in  which  the  Papal 
party  was  placed,  though  greatly  diminished,  remained 
very  real.  Some  concessions  must  be  made.  ^jEneas 
prepared  a  document  whereby,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
Electors  should  surrender  their  neutrality  and  the 
deposed  archbishops  return  to  their  obedience,  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Pope  should  restore  the  arch- 
bishops, summon  a  Council  within  ten  months,  and 
recognise  certain  decrees  of  Constance  and  Basel  until 
such  time  as  the  future  Council  might  choose  to  re- 
consider them.    He  acted  in  a  manner  that  suggested 

1  See  his  Hist.  Fred,  in  Kollar,  p.  128  et  seq.,  and  his  Commentaries  in 
Fea,  p.  98. 


168 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


to  the  prince  that  he  was  directly  commissioned  by 
Eugenius  to  make  this  offer.  D'Allemand  was  present 
at  this  diet,  and  Mnea.8  tried  to  win  him  over,  but 
was  snubbed  for  his  pains.  The  Cardinal  requested 
him  to  be  modest  and  reserve  his  counsels  for  Eugenius. 
Parentucelli  and  Nicholas  of  Cusa  accepted  his  pro- 
posal. Carvajal  was  reluctant  to  do  so  ;  he  and  ^Eneas 
came  to  high  words,  for  the  Secretary  feared  that  all 
might  be  ruined.  Heimburg  and  Lysura  asked  him 
whether  he  had  come  from  the  juridical  school  of  Siena 
to  lay  down  the  law  for  Germany.  He  kept  himself 
under  control  and  did  not  reply.  The  Cardinal  of 
Aries  was  not  listened  to  by  the  diet.  He  and  his 
companions  rode  back  to  Basel  wholly  disheartened. 
On  the  road  they  were  attacked  by  a  band  of  robbers 
and  the  Cardinal  only  escaped  by  the  swiftness  of  his 
steed.  '  Christ,'  said  he,  *  was  sold  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  :  Eugenius  has  offered  sixty  thousand  for 
me.'  ^  The  league  of  the  electors,'  says  Creighton, 
'  had  been  overthrown  at  Frankfort,  and  with  it  also 
fell  the  cause  of  the  Council  of  Basel.  Germany  was 
the  Council's  last  hope  and  Germany  had  failed. 
The  diplomacy  of  the  Curia  had  helped  Frederick  in. 
to  overcome  the  oligarchical  rising  in  Germany,  but 
the  Pope  had  won  more  than  the  king.  The 
oligarchy  might  find  new  grounds  on  which  to  assert 
its  privileges  against  the  royal  power ;  the  conciliar 
movement  was  abandoned,  and  the  summoning  of 
another  council  was  vaguely  left  to  the  Pope's  good 
pleasure.  The  ecclesiastical  reforms  which  had  been 
made  by  the  Council  of  Basel  survived  merely  as  a 
basis  for  further  negotiations  with  the  Pope.  If  the 
Papal  diplomacy  had  withstood  the  full  force  of  the 


GERMAN   OBEDIENCE  TO  EUGENIUS     169 

conciliar  movement,  it  was  not  likely  that  the  last 
of  the  falling  tide  would  prevail  against  it/ 

In  a  very  short  time  the  Council  ceased  to  exist. 
Felix  was  made  a  Prince  of  the  Church  and  allowed 
to  retain  the  outward  honours  paid  to  a  Pontiff. 
D'AUemand  retired  to  Aries,  where  the  sanctity  of 
his  life  brought  him  universal  respect,  and,  after 
his  death,  miracles  were  said  to  be  wrought  by  his 
corpse.  John  of  Segovia  retired  to  a  small  episcopal 
see  in  his  native  country  and  employed  the  remnant 
of  his  days  in  the  useful  task  of  exposing  the  fallacies 
of  the  Koran. 

The  proposals  of  the  diet  were  laid  before  Eugenius 
by  ^neas,  Procopius  of  Rabstein,  a  Bohemian,  who 
represented  the  king,  John  of  Lysura,  who  appeared 
as  vicar  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  and  others. 
They  met  at  Siena,  and  rode  on  to  Rome,  a  troop  of 
horsemen  sixty  strong.  They  were  received  by  the 
Pope  and  fifteen  cardinals,  ^neas  made  a  speech 
remarkable  for  its  plausibility  and  the  dexterity 
with  which  he  avoided  giving  ofience  either  to  the 
Germans  or  to  Eugenius.^  The  members  of  the 
Sacred  College  set  themselves  out  to  entertain  and 
flatter  the  envoys.  ^Eneas  promised  Eugenius  that 
the  king  would  both  recognise  him  and  order  the 
city  of  Basel  to  withdraw  its  safe-conduct  from 
members  of  the  Council.  Eugenius  was  feeble  now, 
and  drawing  very  near  to  death  :  he  accepted  the 
general  principles  set  forth  by  the  Germans ;  but  the 
astute  diplomacy  of  the  Curia  drew  up  the  articles 
in  so  loose  a  manner  as  to  open  ways  of  escape  from 
their  provisions ;  and  the  Pope  signed  a  secret  state- 

^  It  is  given  in  Mansi,  Pii  II.  Orationes,  i.  p.  108. 


170 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


ment  that  whatever  concessions  he  might  have  given 
were  wrung  from  him  when  he  was  weakened  by 
sickness,  and  were  never  intended  to  derogate  from 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church  or  the  authority  and 
privileges  of  the  Apostolic  Chair. ^  But  the  simple- 
minded  Germans,  led  by  Lysura,  believed  that 
Eugenius  had  acted  in  perfect  good  faith  and  that 
his  successor  was  bound  by  the  document  he  signed. 
Eugenius  had  only  just  sufficient  strength  left  to 
receive  the  envoys,  and  ^neas  gave  in  a  declaration 
of  fidelity  to  the  Pope,  who  handed  him  his  Bull.  A 
few  days  after  (February  23,  1447)  the  Pope  breathed 
his  last.  After  a  stormy  pontificate,  during  which  the 
Church  was  rent  asunder,  the  Apostolic  Chair  abased, 
and  almost  universal  contempt  exhibited  for  its 
authority,  Eugenius  saw,  in  his  last  days,  some 
measure  of  Papal  power  and  prestige  restored  and  the 
healing  of  schism  close  at  hand.  This  Pisgah  vision  of 
promise  that  greeted  his  dying  eyes  was  due,  in  part, 
to  his  resolute  firmness  and,  in  part,  to  the  activity  of 
partisans  that  were  converts  to  his  cause.  No  man 
is  so  zealous  as  he  who  has  changed  his  convictions, 
and  Eugenius  would  hardly  have  triumphed  but  for 
the  zeal  of  ^neas  and  other  seceders  from  the 
Council  of  Basel. 


It  was  usual  to  employ  able  ecclesiastics  in  the 
service  of  the  state  when  they  happened  to  be 
learned  and  experienced  men,  and  it  was  well  under- 
stood that  when  ^neas  became  a  cleric  he  would 
still  continue  to  serve  the  king.  Bare  at  all  times 
is   the   combination   of    literary   temperament    with 

^  Kaynaldus,  Ad  ann.  1447. 


GERMAN   OBEDIENCE  TO  EUGENIUS     171 

practical  ability ;  far  rarer  is  such  a  combination  of 
literary  power  with  great  capacity  for  statesmanship 
as  ^neas  exhibited.  Frederick  rewarded  him  with  a 
parish  in  the  Tyrol,  ^neas  describes  it  as  *  reached 
only  by  a  difficult  pass  over  lofty  and  precipitous 
mountains,  a  place  surrounded  by  snow  and  the 
horrors  of  ice,  frozen  out  three  parts  of  the  year. 
The  husbandmen  of  the  valley  are  compelled  to  dwell 
within  doors  throughout  the  long  winter.  They  are 
dexterous  workers  in  wood,  carving  chests  and  doing 
other  skilful  carpentry,  and  they  take  their  manu- 
factures down  to  Bozen  and  Trent.  But  most  of 
their  time  they  waste  at  chequers,  at  which  they  are 
marvellously  quick.  No  warfare  calls  them  to  arms, 
no  ambition  affects,  no  lust  for  gold  disturbs  them. 
Time  creeps  on  while  they  are  looking  after  the  hay- 
crop  or  attending  to  their  herds ;  their  beasts  share 
their  dwellings,  and  drunkenness  is  unknown,  for 
cheese  and  milk  are  their  only  meat  and  drink.  The 
church  is  far  away,  and  they  keep  the  frozen  bodies 
of  those  that  die  in  the  winter  season  until  the  thaw 
comes.  But,  when  summer  is  established,  folk 
assemble  from  all  parts  of  the  parish,  and  a  long 
funeral  procession  is  formed,  and  everybody  is  busy 
spreading  news  of  what  has  happened  meanwhile. 
So  simple  a  life  should  make  them  the  happiest  of 
mortals,  were  they  as  good  as  they  are  primitive. 
But  they  are  given  over  to  fornication  and  adultery, 
nor  does  a  man  among  them  ever  take  a  woman  to 
wife  that  is  a  maid.  ^Eneas  did  not  hold  that 
benefice  long.' 

So  wrote  he,  when  he  became  Pope.     He  could  not 

^  Pii  II.  Comment^  1.  i. 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 

speak  the  patois  of  the  Sarantaner  Thai,  and  he  felt 
that  his  powers  would  be  thrown  away  on  these  raw 
mountaineers.     The  stipend  was  only  sixty  ducats  a 
year,  and  the  fee  for  investiture  was  one  hundred  and 
forty  ducats.     His  life's  work  lay  in  far  other  direc- 
tions.    But  he  did  not  take  orders  to  acquire  this 
benefice,    and    he    was    never    in    possession    of    it. 
Frederick's  right  to  bestow  it  was  more  than  question- 
able, and  Albert  of  Austria,  in  whose  dominions  it 
lay,  asserted  his  rights  in  this  and  other  matters, 
while  the  local  parliament  would  have  none  of  the 
king's  nomination.     So,  for  the  third  time,  iEneas's 
ecclesiastical  hopes  were  doomed  to  miscarry.     How- 
ever, not  long  afterwards,  the  Bishop  of  Passau  pre- 
sented him  to  a  benefice  at  Anspach,  and  then  he 
took  the  vow  concerning  which  he  had  had  so  many 
misgivings.     On  March  6,   1446,  he  writes  to  Cam- 
pisio,   *I  have  conquered  that  levity  of  mind  that 
kept   me   among   the   laity,'  and  adds  that  he  is  a 
sub-deacon  now,  and   hopes  to  be  admitted  to  the 
diaconate  in  eight  days'  time ;  Campisio  may  live  to 
see   him   a   bishop.     His   parishioners    were    mostly 
handicraftsmen   and   farmers,   but   fine   oratory   was 
indispensable  on  such  an  occasion,  and  the  display  of 
scholarship,   in   season   and    out   of  season,   was   in 
fashion,     ^neas  wrote   a   sermon   in   Latin   that  is 
earnest  and  sincere  enough,  but  was  quite  as  much 
intended  to  be  read  by  the  admirers  of  style  as  to  be 
listened   to  by  the   good   folk  at  Anspach.     It  was 
adorned    by    quotations    from   the   sacred    Epistles, 
Lactantius,  Ovid,  Juvenal,  Seneca,  and  Epicurus.     *  I 
am  deeply  sensible  of  what  manner  of  burden  I  have 
undertaken,'  says  the  new  vicar,  *  I  know  the  obliga- 


HE  ENTEKS  THE  CHURCH  173 

tion  to  which  I  am  sworn.  I  have  taken  an  oath  to 
point  out  the  heavenly  way  to  you,  and  to  care  for 
your  souls.  ...  I  will  strive,  not  only  to  make  you 
better  men  and  women,  but  also  to  improve  my  own 
character.  Thus  may  we  gain  the  everlasting  life 
together.  But  I  am  not  skilled  in  your  speech,  so, 
though  sometimes  I  will  write  you  letters,  I  will 
employ  a  vicar  as  my  interpreter,  and  he  shall  unfold 
the  word  of  God  to  you,  and  point  out  the  road  that 
leads  to  bliss.' ^  Pastor  has  discovered  that  eleven 
months  after  taking  orders,  ^neas  was  admitted  to 
the  priesthood.  The  record  of  the  event  is  contained 
in  the  Liher  Officiorum  of  Eugenius,  and  it  took  place 
at  Eome  a  few  days  before  that  Pontiff's  death. 

It  is  clear  that  JEneas  was  possessed  by  no  fierce 
fire  of  evangelical  enthusiasm.  But  he  could  be  a 
kindly  friend  to  those  in  need  of  counsel  or  help. 
His  advice  was  sought  on  the  very  difficulty  that  had 
delayed  his  own  entrance  into  holy  orders,  and  the 
dates  of  his  anti-erotic  writings  should  be  carefully 
noted. ^  They  begin  with  his  pastorate.  Once,  during 
this  period  of  deepening  earnestness,  his  duties  called 
him  to  a  town  in  Franconia,  and  a  woman  came 
running  up  to  greet  him.  She  was  '  no  great  beauty, 
having  a  strange  figure,  short  and  stumpy.'  He 
asked  her  how  she  was,  and  what  she  did  there,  and 
if  she  came  on  some  love-affair,  for  he  recognised  her 
as  one  whom  he  had  seen  at  Basel.  She  replied  that 
she  was  well,  had  no  lover,  and  maintained  herself 

^  Pii  II.  Orationes,  in  Mansi,  i.  p.  54. 

2  The  epistles  to  John  Freund,  to  Nicholas  Wartenburg,  and  to  Ippolito 
of  Milan,  all  lie  between  March  and  December  1446.  His  work  De  Pravis 
Mulierihus  is  undated,  and  also  his  letter  to  Carolus  Cypriacus,  a  nobleman, 
containing  an  earnest  denunciation  of  his  novel  De  Duobus  Amantibus. 


174 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


by  needlework.  Then  she  took  him  to  the  humbh 
room  that  she  occupied,  and  showed  him  the  clothes 
she  was  working  at,  and,  whatever  his  suspicions 
might  have  been,  there  was  no  evidence  of  her  leading 
other  than  a  decent  life.  '  Have  you  no  husband  ? ' 
asked  ^neas.  *Yes,  but  I  am  better  away  from 
him,'  she  answered,  ^neas  asked  more  questions 
and  found  that  the  husband  was  a  certain  Hermann 
Aspel  of  Basel,  from  whom  the  woman  had  separated 
years  before.  Aspel  had  persistently  maltreated  her, 
beating  her  with  fist  and  stick,  and  threatening  to 
kill  her.  '  But  why  do  you  not  go  back  to  him  and 
try  to  live  with  him  again  ? '  asked  ^neas.  *  Because 
he  has  taken  another  woman  to  live  with  him,'  she 
replied.  '  But  he  may  have  repented,  and  be  willing 
to  live  with  you  again,'  urged  ^neas,  and,  acting 
according  to  his  lights,  he  offered  to  find  out  all 
about  her  husband,  and  to  try  to  effect  a  reconcilia- 
tion. He  gives  the  account  of  this  little  adventure 
to  a  clergyman  resident  at  Basel,  whom  he  begs  to 
gather  what  information  he  can,  and  try  to  get  the 
concubine  out  of  the  house,  so  that  the  wife  may  be 
free  to  return.^  As  a  cleric,  his  friends  found  him 
precisely  the  same  kindly,  genial  companion  as  before. 
*  What  Michael  and  I  chiefly  long  for,'  he  tells  an 
intimate,  when  he  is  away  on  one  of  his  innumerable 
journeys,  *is  that  we  may  meet  and  chat,  and  laugh 
and  drink  and  sing  together  once  again.' 

Two  months  after  he  was  ordained  priest,  Tommaso 
Parentucelli,  now  become  Nicholas  v.,  advanced  him 
to  the  bishopric  of  Trieste.  The  Pope  invaded  the 
right  of  the  king  in  doing  so ;   for  the  benefice  was 

*  ^n.  SiL,  Opera  Omnia.    Basileae,  1551,  Ep.  xcix.  p.  588. 


HE  ENTERS  THE  CHURCH  175 

one  of  those  reserved  to  Caesar  by  the  compact 
between  the  latter  and  Eugenius.  But  Frederick 
had  also  nominated  ^neas,  so  no  difficulty  arose. 
Both  king  and  Pope  were  under  deep  obligations  to 
him.  It  was  he  who  guided  Frederick  to  renew  to 
Nicholas  the  obedience  he  had  yielded  to  Eugenius, 
and  he  had  prepared  the  way  for  the  restitution  of 
Papal  authority  in  Germany.  For  the  fourth  time 
he  encountered  the  resistance  of  a  chapter.  That  of 
Trieste  made  an  attempt  to  elect  their  own  bishop ; 
but  they  were  powerless  to  oppose  Pope  and  Caesar 
in  accord  with  one  another.-^  The  way  now  lay 
open  to  the  highest  seats  in  the  hierarchy  of  the 
Church.^ 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.^  1.  1. 

2  Voigt's  judgement  on  j^neas's  character  has  been  repeated  recently, 
without  any  evidence  of  a  re- examination  of  the  facts,  by  Dr.  A.  Meusel, 
in  his  Enea  Silvio  als  Publicist :  Untersuchungen  zur  deutschen  Staats-  und 
Eechtsgeschichte,  Hft.  77.  1905.  But  Dr.  Meusel  deals  exhaustively  and 
destructively  with  ^neas's  treatise,  On  the  Origin  and  Authority  of  the 
Imperial  Power.  Yet  it  may  be  allowed  to  us  to  remark  that  ^neas  was 
no  jurist — only  a  man  alive  to  large  ideas  and  skilful  in  finding  arguments  to 
speed  them.  Scholastic  quibbles  and  meticulous  pedantry  were  alien  to 
his  nature,  and  scientific  method  and  historical  criticism  were  unknown  in 
his  age. 


176 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    IX 


^NEAS  AS  BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOR  :  AS  CON- 
FIDENTIAL ADVISER  OF  THE  CROWN  —  THE 
CORONATION   AND   MARRIAGE   OF   FREDERICK   III. 

-^NEAS  was  present  at  Eugenius's  funeral,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  he  witnessed 
much  that  excited  his  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous  : 
there  were  customs  observed  quite  incongruous  with 
a  spectacle  that  should  have  been  impressive,  and 
these,  he  says,  he  would  like  to  see  abolished. 
*  Servants  presented  to  each  cardinal  a  box  painted 
with  his  coat-of-arms  and  containing  a  repast ;  his 
household  followed  it,  and  then  a  train  of  priests  and 
parasites,  that  bowed  to  the  dinner.  These  gaudy 
dinner-boxes  were  borne  through  Eome  with  much 
solemnity,  so  that  each  procession  resembled  a  sepa- 
rate funeral  cortege.  Four  mourners  stood  beside  the 
coflBn  of  the  dead  Pope  to  flick  the  flies  away,  but,  it 
being  winter- time,  there  were  none :  perhaps,  how- 
ever, a  refreshing  breeze  was  created  for  Eugenius, 
who  was  not  there.'  ^ 

^neas  was  selected  to  be  one  of  the  cross-bearers 
at  Nicholas's  coronation.^  The  procession  was  headed 
by  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  many  torch-bearers 
guarded  It.    Three  banners  and  an  umbrella  preceded 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Hist.  Fred,  apud  KoUar,  loc.  tit.y  pp.  104,  105. 
2  ^n.   Sil.,   Belatio    apud   Muratori,    Berum    Italicarum    Scriptores 
iii.  2.  p.  896. 


AS  BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOR       177 

the  Pope,  who  rode  a  white  horse,  bore  the  Golden 
Rose  in  his  left  hand  and  employed  his  right  hand 
in  blessing  the  people.  The  envoys  of  the  King  of 
Aragon  (who  held  Naples  of  the  Papacy  as  a  fief)  and 
the  barons  of  Rome  took  turns  at  leading  his  horse. 
At  Monte  Giordano,  the  Jews  presented  Nicholas 
with  their  book  of  the  Law,  which  he  accepted,  but 
condemned  their  interpretation  of  it.  The  ceremony 
took  place  at  St.  John's  Lateran,  and,  at  its  close, 
gold  and  silver  medals  were  given  to  the  cardinals, 
prelates,  and  envoys.  A  feast  followed,  the  Pope 
dining  alone  in  his  palace,  and  everybody  else  in  the 
House  of  the  Canons.  '  We '  {^neas  and  Procopius) 
*  were  the  guests  of  Cardinal  Carvajal.' 

When  u^neas  arrived  at  Rome  a  rumour  of  the 
death  of  the  Bishop  of  Trieste  had  reached  the  city. 
Eugenius  intended  to  confer  the  benefice  on  him,  but 
the  report  proved  to  be  premature.  But  soon  after- 
wards the  bishop  died,  and  Nicholas,  as  we  have  seen, 
carried  out  Eugenius's  desire.  As  a  humanist,  Nicholas 
loved  to  advance  his  fellow  -  scholars.  Vespasiano 
Bistucci  tells  us  that  his  eloquent  oration  at  the 
funeral  of  Eugenius  gave  him  the  Papacy,  a  state- 
ment which,  though  not  correct,  is  evidence  of  the 
high  estimation  in  which  oratory  was  held  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  '  Nicholas  began  all  the  liberal 
studies  early  in  life,'  says  ^Eneas  in  his  ambassadorial 
report ;  *  he  is  familiar  with  all  the  historians,  poets, 
and  cosmographers ;  he  is  well  acquainted  with  the 
theologians,  and  is  well  read  in  civil  and  canon  law, 
and  even  in  medicine.'^     The  new  Pope  found  the 

1  ^n.  Silvius,  Belatio,  a.d.  1447,  apud  Muratori,  Berum  Italicarum 
ScriptoreSf  iii.  2,  p.  895. 

M 


178  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

states  of  the  Church  still  in  disorder ;  the  national 
church  of  France  was  practically  independent  of  the 
Papacy ;  there  was  still  a  rival  Pope ;  the  Papal 
revenues  were  much  reduced,  and  it  was  all-important 
that  Germany  should  not  remain  alienated.  '  Nicholas 
succeeds  to  difficulty,'  wrote  Poggio ;  *  the  realm  is  a 
hurly-burly,  and,  what  is  even  more  embarrassing, 
quite  ruined.'^  If  arms  had  been  at  his  command, 
the  new  Pope  would  hardly  have  used  them ;  he  was 
essentially  a  man  of  peace ;  '  he  prayed  Heaven  that 
he  might  never  use  any  other  weapon  in  his  defence 
than  the  one  God  had  given  him.'  ^  This  peaceful 
scholar,  though  he  was  a  man  who  loved  to  express 
himself  freely,  was  called  to  a  position  that  required 
stratagem  and  manoeuvre,  and  he  found  a  use  in  the 
services  of  ^neas,  the  scholarly  diplomatist. 

On  March  30,  1447  (he  was  not  yet  nominated  to 
the  bishopric),  -^neas  rode  off  for  Germany.  It  was 
a  month  later  that  he  became  Bishop  of  Trieste.  In 
July,  he  was  sent  by  the  king,  with  another  repre- 
sentative, to  the  diet  of  Aschaffenburg,  but  he,  no 
less  than  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  the  Papal  Legate,  repre- 
sented the  claims  of  Rome.  The  diet  decided  that 
Nicholas  should  be  recognised,  and  a  fresh  diet  was 
agreed  on,  to  arrange  what  compensation  was  to  be 
given  to  the  Pope  in  lieu  of  the  time-honoured  per- 
quisites that  had  been  withdrawn,  ^neas  then  went 
to  Koln  to  win  over  the  archbishop.  He  was  success- 
ful in  his  mission,  but  the  University  taunted  him 
with  being  a  turncoat.  Indeed,  he  found  himself 
regarded  as  a  Judas  who  had  sold  his  master  for 

^  Poggio,  Ep.  ix.  17. 

2  See    Vespasiano    di    Bistucci,    apud    Muratori,    Berum    Italicarum 
Scriptores,  xxv.  270,  et  seq. 


AS  BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOR      179 

silver,  and  he  felt  obliged  to  vindicate  himself  from 
the  charge.  He  wrote  an  open  letter  to  the  Bector 
of  the  University.  '  I  am  but  a  man,'  he  says,  *  and 
therefore  born  to  sin  ;  I  have  gone  astray,  and  am 
fully  aware  of  it.  And  I  give  thanks  to  God  who 
rescued  me  from  further  error.  No  one  who  reads  my 
writings  will  deem  that  I  was  so  perfectly  convinced, 
so  entirely  rooted  in  my  opinions,  as  to  be  incapable 
of  change.  It  were  unfortunate  for  men  if  they  could 
not  alter  their  judgements !  Augustine  denounced 
the  books  he  had  written.^  We  are  free  agents  while 
life  lasts,  and  are  judged  by  our  final  state  of  mind ; 
the  evildoer  may  find  salvation  by  remorseful  repent- 
ance. In  the  spirit  of  Saul  going  to  Damascus,  an 
enemy  of  Christianity,  I  went  to  Frankfort.'  He 
recounts  his  experiences  at  Basel ;  how  he  came  to 
see  that  the  Pope  was  neither  heretical  nor  schismatic, 
nor  a  cause  of  scandal,  and  that,  therefore,  he  could 
not  be  deposed,  while  the  Council  was  illegal,  since  it 
sat  on  at  Basel  when  it  had  been  translated  by  the 
lawful  head  of  the  Church.  Nor  did  it  represent  the 
Universal  Church,  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  resides : 
it  was  supported  by  Savoy  alone  among  the  nations. 
Men  highly  revered  by  the  Church  have  erred  and 
been  forgiven.  Therefore  as  a  human  being,  subject 
to  error,  he,  also,  might  repent.  *  Is  faith  only  to  be 
found  at  Basel,  as  Apollo  gave  oracles  only  at  Delphi  ? 
By  refusing  to  go  elsewhere,  the  Council  showed  that 
it  had  little  faith  in  itself  ^ 

Gregorovius  remarks  that  '  this  retractation,  which 

^  See  S.  Aurelii  Augustini  Hipponensis,  Bpiscopi  Betractationum  lihri 
duOj  apud  Migne,  Fatrologia  Latinay  t.  xxx.  ii. 

2  This  epistle  of  retractation  and  also  the  Bull  of  Ketractation,  which  is 
an  expanded  form  of  it,  issued  when  ^neas  became  Pope,  are  both  given 
in  Fea,  Pius  II.  a  cahLmniis  vindic.    Kome,  1822. 


180 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


he  addresses  to  the  surly  theologians  at  Koln,  bears 
no  trace  of  hypocrisy  nor  yet  the  contrition  of  a 
repentant  devotee.  It  is  a  confession,  written  in 
an  elegant  and  rhetorical  style,  of  a  man  well 
acquainted  with  the  world,  who  solaces  himself  with 
the  axiom  that  to  err  is  human.  Devout  Christians 
may  judge  whether  St.  Paul  or  St.  Augustine  would 
have  regarded  Piccolomini  as  their  equal,  as  a  hero 
whom  conviction  has  redeemed  from  error.  There 
were,  however,  men  of  sincere  piety  as  well  as 
pedants  and  scoffers  who  made  Pius  suffer  for  the 
sins  of  iEneas.  But  was  he  not  the  son  of  the 
century?  The  recollection  of  his  past,  which,  more- 
over, had  not  been  sullied  by  any  crime,  soon  vanished 
in  the  genial  humanism,  perhaps  in  the  general  de- 
pravity of  his  day,  and  if  ever  the  errors  of  youth 
may  be  pardoned  to  age,  Pius  ii.  may  claim  forgive- 


ness, 


>i 


Gregorovius  should  have  observed,  however,  that 
the  epistle  addressed  to  the  Rector  of  Koln  Univer- 
sity is  an  apology  for  adherence  to  the  Council  only. 
No  one  had  accused  ^Eneas  of  other  sin ;  least  of  all 
of  sexual  offence.  Who  in  that  age  would  have 
thought  it  necessary  to  do  so  ?  He  had  been  under 
no  vow  of  continence ;  only  recently  had  he  taken 
orders.  Yet  in  his  later  renunciation — the  Bull 
In  minorihus  agentihus,  published  April  26,  1463,^ — 
though  it  is  based  on  this  epistle,  the  Pope  would 
seem,  implicitly,  to  refer  to  other  errors  than  polemical 
writings  against  Eugenius.  He  had  written  con- 
demning his  erotic  writings.     Now,  he  says :    *  The 

*  See  Gregorovius's  account  of  Pius  ii.'s  reign  in  his  History  of  Eomey 
English  translation,  pp.  171-172.  ^  ^ed^,  loc.  cit,  p.  3. 


AS  BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOE      181 

Pope  is  ashamed  of  his  errors,  he  repents  ®f  the  evil 
that  he  has  said  and  written ;  yea,  passionate  is  his 
contrition ;  yet  he  has  done  more  harm  by  his  writings 
than  by  his  deeds.  But  what  shall  be  done  ?  The 
word,  once  written,  takes  wing ;  it  cannot  be  called 
back.  Oh,  that  what  has  been  published  could  be 
blotted  out.  .  .  .  We  were  ensnared  by  our  own 
writings,  as  is  the  weakness  of  poets,  who  love  their 
works  as  if  they  were  their  children.'  The  epistle 
to  the  Rector  is  a  manly  confession  of  a  mistake. 
It  may  be  allowed  that  it  was  eloquently  written, 
for  ^neas  would  not  have  anything  flow  from  his 
pen  that  did  not  conform  to  the  requirements  of  style. 
The  Bull,  surely,  is  sufficiently  remorseful  to  gratify 
the  most  exacting  of  precisians ;  only,  unfortunately, 
Pius  was  too  well  acquainted  with  the  secrets  of 
the  human  heart  not  to  be  aware  that  much  may 
always  be  pleaded  in  palliation,  if  not  in  excuse,  of 
his  own  and  other  folk's  transgressions.  Perhaps, 
had  he  omitted  the  excuse,  the  deep  contrition 
he  assuredly  felt  would  have  been  more  generally 
appreciated. 

The  princes  of  Germany  perceived  that  if  they 
could  stand  well  with  the  Pope,  they  might  squeeze 
concessions  both  from  him  and  Frederick,  so,  at  an 
assembly  held  at  Vienna  (February,  1448),  they 
signed  a  concordat,  wherein  not  one  word  was  said 
about  those  conciliar  decrees  that  the  Papacy  had 
accepted  but  ignored.  All  the  princes  had  contrived, 
in  one  way  or  another,  to  secure  something  for  them- 
selves, and  Frederick  was  obliged  to  put  up  with  just 
what  concessions  the  Papacy  was  willing  to  grant 
him;  for  without  Papal  support  he  could  not  hope 


182 


^NEAS   SILYIUS 


to  hold  the  electors  in  check.  Everybody  was 
offered  and  took  some  kind  of  bribe  to  keep  quiet. 

But,  if  the  storm  had  abated,  an  after- swell  still 
troubled  the  waters.  At  a  congress  held  at  Bourges 
(June  1447),  the  King  of  France  secured  for  himself 
no  small  measure  of  ecclesiastical  control  that  had 
hitherto  belonged  to  the  Papacy.  Burgundy,  Castile, 
England,  and  Scotland  were  preparing  to  follow  his 
example.  In  November  1448  ^neas  wrote  to  the 
Pope  :  '  A  time  of  peril  is  before  us ;  on  every  side 
bad  weather  is  threatening,  and  the  storms  that  are 
coming  will  put  the  skill  of  the  mariners  to  the  proof. 
The  waves  from  Basel  have  not  yet  gone  down ;  the 
winds  are  still  struggling  below  the  waters  and 
hurrying  along  secret  channels.  That  consummate 
actor,  the  devil,  sometimes  assumes  the  part  of  an 
angel  of  light.  I  know  not  what  attempts  will  be 
made  in  France,  but  the  Council  still  has  adherents. 
We  have  a  truce,  not  peace.  Our  opponents  say  that 
we  have  yielded  to  force,  not  conviction,  and  that 
what  we  have  once  taken  into  our  heads  we  keep 
firmly  fixed  there.  So  we  must  expect  another  battle- 
field and  a  fresh  struggle  for  supremacy.' 

If  iEneas  acted  as  an  ecclesiastical  agent  for  the 
Papacy,  he  was  also  busily  employed  by  Frederick 
on  purely  political  business.  Filippo  Maria  Visconti, 
Duke  of  Milan,  died  on  August  13,  1447,  and  the 
city  soon  established  a  republican  form  of  government. 
Milan,  while  owing  fealty  to  the  Empire,  had  once 
been  a  self-governing  commune,  and  Barbarossa  and 
his  illustrious  grandson  Frederick,  Stupor  Mundi, 
had  tried,  repeatedly  but  vainly,  to  suppress  its 
liberties.      But   local  nobles    had   succeeded  where 


AS  BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOR       183 

Emperors  failed.  The  antagonism  of  classes,  the 
need  of  strong  government  within  the  walls  and  of  an 
effective  and  continuous  policy  in  regard  to  subject- 
communes  and  foreign  powers,  had  enabled,  aforetime, 
first  the  Torriani,  and  then  the  Visconti,  to  seize  the 
helm  of  state.  The  title  of  duke  had  been  granted 
to  the  Yisconti  by  Imperial  decree,  and  that  family 
had  intermarried  with  royal  houses  of  Europe ;  but 
they  were  regarded  by  their  subjects  as  First  Magis- 
trates only,  raised  to  power  by  election  or  tacit  assent. 
An  illegitimate  daughter,  Bianca  Maria,  was  the  sole 
issue  of  the  late  duke,  and  she  had  become  the  bride 
of  Francesco  Sforza,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  whose  ser- 
vices her  father  was  compelled,  though  very  unwil- 
lingly, to  reward  by  the  gift  of  her  hand.  The 
republic  was  hardly  constituted  when  it  became  split 
into  factions  by  economic  and  social  forces,  and  the 
freedom  of  the  city  was  threatened  by  Sforza,  by  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  who  claimed  the  throne  in  virtue 
of  his  descent  from  the  Visconti  through  the  female 
line,  by  Alfonso  of  Naples,  who  asserted  that  the  late 
duke  had  named  him  as  successor,  and  by  Caesar 
himself,  on  the  ground  that  the  fief  had  lapsed. 
iEneas  Silvius  had  been  sent,  soon  after  the  duke's 
death,  to  bring  the  divided  city  back  to  its  allegiance. 
He  found  that  the  turbulent  citizens  were  willing  to 
do  homage  to  Frederick  what  time  he  might  come  to 
claim  the  Lombard  crown,  but  were  by  no  means  dis- 
posed to  concede  any  further  privileges.  And  now, 
again,  in  1449,  when  the  city  was  closely  invested  by 
Sforza,  he  was  sent  to  proffer  the  king's  help.  He 
addressed  a  great  gathering  of  the  townsfolk  and 
promised  that  the  king  should  advance  immediately 


184 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


to  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  city,  if  the  government 
gave  Frederick  the  full  rights  that  an  overlord  might 
claim  from  a  lapsed  fief.  The  government  had  no 
small  difficulty  in  calming  the  excited  people :  they 
had  to  promise  to  appoint  a  committee  and  give  the 
proposal  a  favourable  consideration.  Then,  as  he  had 
done  on  the  previous  visit,  ^neas  visited  Sforza  in 
his  camp,  with  the  hope  of  coming  to  some  under- 
standing with  him,  but  received  the  curt  reply,  '  Let 
the  king  do  what  he  likes ;  when  I  have  taken  Milan 
I  will  be  faithful  to  him  as  my  overlord.'  ^neas 
perceived  that  Sforza  was  a  man  of  great  determina- 
tion and  force  of  character,  and  mutual  respect  seems 
to  have  grown  up  between  the  two.  Early  in  the 
following  year  the  condottiere  entered  Milan,  and  was 
welcomed  as  a  deliverer  by  the  people  whom  he  had 
starved  into  submission,  for  he  brought  abundant 
provisions  with  him.  He  assumed  rule  and  exercised 
impartial  justice;  and  ^neas  tried,  though  vainly,  to 
get  Frederick  to  recognise  him  as  legitimate  ruler. 
Later  on  our  bishop  sought  for  some  recognition  of 
his  services  from  the  usurper ;  for  we  still  frequently 
find  iEneas  resembling  the  pushing  professional  man, 
who  does  his  duty  but  expects  his  reward,  is  keen  to 
perceive  when  his  own  personal  interests  coincide 
with  larger  duties,  and  makes  his  way,  in  no  small 
degree,  by  being  useful  and  agreeable  to  all  those 
with  whom  he  has  to  deal. 

Schlick  died  in  1449,  and,  after  his  death.  Piccolo- 
mini,  Bishop  of  Trieste,  was  even  more  busily  employed 
by  the  king  and  had  more  of  his  confidence  than 
-^neas  the  secretary.  Frederick  was  now  thirty-five 
years  old,  and  he  thought  it  high  time  to  provide  an 


AS   BISHOP  AND   AMBASSADOR      185 

heir  for  his  throne.  He  sent  his  envoys  in  every 
direction  to  seek  for  a  suitable  bride,  and  he  selected 
Leonora,  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Portugal,  and 
niece  of  the  King  of  Naples,  for  the  honour.  She  was 
a  girl  only  just  entering  womanhood,  but  she  already 
had  other  princely  suitors.  Frederick  was  preferred, 
however,  for,  as  ^Eneas  tells  us,  *  the  title  of  Caesar 
was  held  in  more  veneration  abroad  than  at  home.'  ^ 
He  was  despatched  to  Naples  to  arrange  the  marriage, 
and,  on  the  way,  he  received  the  welcome  tidings  that 
the  Pope  had  made  him  Bishop  of  Siena.  *The 
journey,'  he  tells  us,  *  was  by  no  means  without  its 
perils.'  The  river,  *  which  rises  in  the  Volscian  moun- 
tains, is  a  deep  stream,  overshadowed  by  woods,  and 
many  of  the  trees  bend  in  low  arches  over  the  water, 
like  so  many  natural  bridges.  The  boats  that  bore 
iEneas  and  his  company  were  very  small  indeed ;  the 
boatmen,  whom  we  compelled  to  row  by  night,  turned 
ill-tempered,  and  often  their  oars  struck  against  these 
trunks ;  once,  in  the  deepest  darkness,  w^e  had  to  cling 
on  for  dear  life  to  a  trunk,  and  were  in  danger  for  two 
hours.  A  little  while  afterwards,  a  boat  sank  here, 
and  eleven  men  were  drowned.  But,  not  far  from 
Cumae,  where  we  had  to  cross  another  river  near  its 
mouth,  and  less  labour  was  required  to  propel  the 
boat,  it  capsized,  and  men  by  clinging,  and  horses  by 
swimming,  had  to  struggle  for  their  lives.'  ^ 

From  Naples,  after  a  successful  mission,  he  rode 
back  to  Bome.  It  was  Jubilee  year,  and  he  asserts 
that  forty  thousand  pilgrims  arrived  every  day,  an 
incredible  statement,  though  Cristoforo  da  Soldo  writes 

^  JEn.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred,  in  KoUar,  ii.  p.  16. 
^  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  1. 


186 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


that  *  a  greater  crowd  of  Christians  was  never  known 
to  hasten  to  any  Jubilee :  kings,  dukes,  marquesses, 
counts,  knights,  and  people  of  every  rank  came  there 
daily  in  such  multitudes  that  there  were  millions  in 
the  city.  And  this  lasted  the  whole  year,  except  in 
summer,  when  the  plague  carried  off  a  countless 
number.  But  hardly  had  it  abated  and  the  cold 
season  come  round,  when  the  crush  began  again/ 
^neas  arrived  in  winter.  He  found  a  French  embassy 
there,  urging  the  fulfilment  of  the  Papal  promise  to 
summon  a  fresh  council,  and  demanding  that  it  should 
be  held  in  France.  When  he  announced  the  approach- 
ing marriage  of  Frederick  and  the  monarch's  intention 
of  coming  to  Rome  for  coronation  to  the  Pope  and 
Curia,  he  cleverly  introduced  a  request  that  the  council 
should  be  held  in  Germany.^  This  demand  coming 
from  the  Imperial  Ambassador  enabled  Nicholas  and 
the  Curia  to  postpone  the  threatened  danger.  In  a 
later  speech,  delivered  at  Vienna,  the  bishop  said : 
*  It  pleases  neither  the  King  of  Aragon,  nor  him  of 
England,  nor  him  of  Portugal,  that  it  should  be  held 
in  France.  I,  by  the  sanction  of  Caesar,  said  so  in 
public  consistory  at  Home,  in  the  Jubilee  year,  and 
dissuaded  them  from  it,  not  without  good  reason,'  ^ 
and,  in  his  Commentaries,  he  tells  us  that  it  was  he 
who  put  off  the  attempt.^  Since  all  the  Christian 
princes  were  not  agreed  as  to  the  place  of  meeting, 
there  was  a  fair  seeming  of  excuse  for  postponing  the 
meeting  itself 

Taking    advantage    of   the    canonisation    of   St. 


1  Pii  II.  Orationes,  apud  Mansi,  i.  p.  140. 

'  Ihid.  loc.  cit.  ;    Or  alio  adversus  Australes^  i.  p.  234. 

3  Pii  II.  Comment,  y  L  1. 


AS   BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOK      187 

Bernardino,  which  had  just  taken  place,  Piccolomini 
advised  that  Fra  Giovanni  Capistrano,  on  whom 
Bernardino's  mantle  had  fallen,  should  be  sent  to 
preach  the  word  through  Germany ;  perhaps  he 
would  win  back  Bohemia  to  the  faith.  Such  was  the 
power  of  this  remarkable  preacher  that,  though  his 
Latin  exhortations  had  to  be  interpreted  to  the 
Germans,  his  mission  to  that  country  was  a  great 
success.  He  was  revered  as  if  he  had  been  one  of 
the  Apostles  come  back  from  the  dead;  thousands 
crowded  to  hear  his  sermons,  and  the  sick  were 
brought  in  numbers  to  touch  the  hem  of  his  garment 
and  be  healed.  But  the  penetrating  eye  of  ^neas 
perceived  some  swelling  vanity  and  arrogant  self- 
sufficiency  hiding  beneath  the  friar's  frock ;  rightly 
or  wrongly  he  judged  that,  at  bottom,  the  ardent 
enthusiast  had  a  shallow  character,  and  when  he 
became  Pope  he  resolutely  set  his  face  against  canon- 
ising Capistrano.^  From  Germany  Capistrano  went 
on  to  Bohemia,  but  his  emotional  methods  had  less 
effect  with  the  Calixtines.  Cusa  was  there,  trying 
to  win  over  heretical  scholars  by  argument,  and 
^neas  was  sent  to  try  his  diplomacy ;  for  Frederick 
hesitated  to  proceed  to  Bome  for  his  coronation  until 
Bohemia  should  be  less  unquiet.  A  Bohemian  party 
favoured  him,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  nation 
wished  him  to  give  Ladislas,  the  youthful  heir  to 
their  throne,  into  their  hands,  and  the  object  of 
-.'Eneas's  mission  was  to  exercise  his  persuasive 
oratory  at  the  Bohemian  Diet.  Though  the  miser- 
able Caesar  dared  not  face  the  Electors  at  a  diet, 
though  he  feared  that  his  dominions  would  be  attacked 

^  JEn.  Sil.,  Hist.  Bohem.^  c.  65  ;  Pii  II.  Comment,^  1.  xii. 


188 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


during  his  absence,  he  yet  hoped  to  increase  hit 
prestige  by  assuming  the  Imperial  insignia ;  he  was 
almost  penniless,  too,  and  hoped  to  fill  his  purse  by 
the  sale  of  privileges  in  Italy ;  further,  he  was 
pledged  to  meet  his  bride  in  that  country.  So  ^neas 
was  despatched  to  do  what  he  could  towards  the^ 
pacification  of  Bohemia. 

He  passed  through  Tabor,  the  headquarters  of  the 
Bohemian  extremists,  and  he  tells  us  of  symbols,  hung 
over  the  city-gate,  which  set  forth  their  separation 
from  the  Catholic  Church.  They  were  a  shield,  bear- 
ing a  cup-holding  angel  for  its  device,  and  the  effigies 
of  blind  old  Ziska,  the  heroic  genius  who  had  or- 
ganised the  defence  of  Bohemia  and  led  her  peasantry 
to  hurl  back,  so  many  times,  the  united  chivalry  of 
Europe.  He  found  the  Taborites  quite  well-to-do 
people,  for  the  spoliation  of  the  Church  and  booty 
acquired  by  war  had  enriched  them.  Their  system 
of  education  was  good,  though  the  extremists  despised 
classical  scholarship  since,  in  a  measure,  it  was  the 
distinction  of  a  class.  Yet  many  were  instructed  in 
Latin,  and  ^neas  says  that  their  love  of  literature 
was  the  one  good  point  about  the  people.  The  Bible 
was  much  studied  by  them,  ^neas  wrote  a  letter 
to  Carvajal  giving  an  account  of  the  heretics.^  '  The 
Italian  priests,'  he  says,  *  should  be  ashamed,  for  it 
is  certain  that  not  one  of  them  has  once  read  the 
Bible.'  .  .  .  '  They  are  not  all  of  one  faith,  for  every 
one  in  Tabor  may  believe  what  pleases  him.  Nico- 
laitans,  Arians,  Manichseans,  Arminians,  Nestorians, 
Berengarians,  and  Poor  of  Lyons  are  all  to  be  found 
there.      The  highest  in  consideration,  however,  are 

^  -^n.  Silv.  Piccolomini,  Opera  Omnia.  Basil.,  Ep.  cxxx. 


AS   BISHOP  AND   AMBASSADOE      189 

those  arch-enemies  of  the  Roman  see — the  Wal- 
densians/ 

From  Tabor  he  proceeded  to  Beneschau,  where  the 
diet  was  held,  for  Prague  was  plague-stricken  at 
this  moment.  He  pointed  out  that  young  Ladislas 
was  too  young  to  reign,  and  promised  that  matters 
should  be  arranged,  if  Bohemia  would  wait  peacefully 
for  Frederick's  return  from  Rome ;  but  he  was  heard 
with  very  little  attention.  He  was  more  successful 
with  George  Podiebrad,  a  man  who  was  rapidly 
advancing  to  the  position  of  Dictator  in  Bohemia, 
and  ^neas  promised  him  that  he  should  receive  the 
recognition  of  Frederick  as  governor  of  that  country. 
He  thought  Podiebrad  an  ambitious  man,  yet  harm- 
less and  easy  to  manage  :  he  lived  to  discover  his 
mistake. 

On  his  return  journey  he  revisited  Tabor,  and  a 
disputation  was  arranged  to  take  place  between  the 
scholarly  ambassador  and  a  crowd  of  heretical  priests. 
Good  humour  prevailed  throughout  the  discussion ; 
but  it  was  evident  that  it  could  lead  to  no  good 
result,  and  -^neas  withdrew  with  a  witty  argu- 
mentum  ad  Jwminem.  'The  Pope  and  his  cardinals 
are  given  over  to  avarice  and  gluttony,'  urged  a 
round,  fat  ecclesiastic ;  *  their  belly  is  their  god,  and 
their  heaven  lies  in  their  money-bags.'  ^Eneas  laid 
his  hand  gently  on  his  adversary's  comfortable  paunch, 
and,  amid  good-humoured  laughter,  asked  if  that 
came  of  fasting  and  self-denial. 

When  the  Austrian  nobles  learned  that  Frederick 
intended  to  take  the  young  Ladislas  with  him  to 
Rome,  they  threw  off  their  allegiance ;  but,  being 
too  weak  to  employ  force   against  them,  the   king 


190 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


started  on  his  journey,  taking  ^neas  with  him^ 
By  the  end  of  December  1451  he  reached  Italy,  and 
was  soon  disillusioned  as  to  the  power  of  the  Imperial 
name  in  that  country.  Caesar  was  still  surrounded 
by  a  halo  of  prestige,  but  Italy  was  no  longer  a  mere 
truss  of  communes  :  the  leading  cities  had  subdued 
the  territories  surrounding  them  and  become  the 
capitals  of  wealthy  and  powerful  states.  The  Italian, 
too,  is  a  keen  critic,  and  Frederick  was  not  the  most 
dignified  of  emperors.  Yet  a  nervous  thrill  went 
through  Italy  when  Caesar  crossed  the  Alps,  for  the 
various  states  feared  that  the  delicate  balance  of 
power,  maintained  by  their  antagonisms,  would  be 
disturbed;  but  this  fear  soon  passed  away.  Still, 
the  republic  of  Siena  and  the  Pope  remained  appre- 
hensive. Siena  feared  that  her  bishop,  belonging,  as 
he  did,  to  the  aristocratic  order  of  her  citizens,  would 
use  his  great  influence  with  Frederick  to  destroy 
her  liberty,  and  Nicholas  dreaded  that  Frederick 
would  use  his  projected  alliance  with  the  Pope's 
feudatory  (the  King  of  Naples,  uncle  of  Frederick's 
prospective  bride)  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  Holy 
See.  -^neas  had  no  small  difficulty  in  persuading 
Nicholas  that  his  fears  were  groundless.^  Even  so, 
the  Papal  legates  compelled  Frederick  to  take  an 
oath  that  he  would  neither  issue  edicts  nor  administer 
in  any  way  during  his  stay  in  Rome.  But  the  royal 
progress  through  Italy  proved  to  be  a  mere  harmless, 
antiquated  parade.  Poggio  spoke  of  Caesar  as  *  the 
Imperial  puppet.'  Frederick  swallowed  all  affronts 
to  his  authority,  and  gave  himself  up  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  pageants  provided  for  his  amusement. 

1  JEn.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred,  apud  Kollar,  ii.  187. 


AS   BISHOP  AND  AMBASSADOR      191 

He  avoided  Milan,  where  the  usurper,  Sforza,  reigned, 
and  passed  through  Venetia,  Ferrara,  and  Siena. 
When  he  arrived  at  Rome,  he  excited  the  derision 
of  the  citizens  by  exhibiting  an  unkingly  interest  in 
the  wrecks  of  time,  and,  on  his  return  journey 
through  Venice,  he  achieved  contempt  by  going 
about  the  city  in  disguise,  to  haggle  with  the  shop- 
keepers and  purchase  fancy- wares  at  prices  that  were 
not  Imperial. 

j^Eneas  was  sent  on  to  Leghorn  to  await  the  arrival 
of  the  Princess  Leonora.  He  had  to  wait  a  wearisome 
while,  for  the  Portuguese  fleet  took  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  four  days  to  reach  Leghorn.  At  last 
it  arrived  with  the  bride-elect  (February  2,  1452) — 
a  strong  force  of  galleys  with  two  thousand  soldiers 
aboard;  for  corsairs  rendered  the  Mediterranean 
unsafe.  Now,  the  Portuguese  ambassador  stood  on 
punctilio,  and  refused  to  entrust  his  charge  to  any 
one  of  less  rank  than  the  Imperial  bridegroom.  He 
and  iEneas  argued  the  question  for  more  than  a  fort- 
night, and  at  last  the  matter  was  referred  to  the 
princess  herself,  who  sensibly  refused  to  be  the 
victim  of  ceremony,  and  replied  that  she  accepted 
the  arrangement  made  by  her  future  husband.  On 
February  24,  JEneas  escorted  Leonora  to  Siena,  where 
the  citizens  had  been  amusing  themselves  and  the 
Emperor  with  splendid  entertainments,  though  they 
almost  disregarded  the  claims  of  his  well-nigh 
exhausted  purse,  and  gave  him  but  a  small  donation. 
One  is  surprised  to  learn  that,  when  the  phlegmatic 
Caesar  saw  his  bride  in  the  distance,  he  turned  pale, 
for  she  seemed  such  a  little  doll,  but  a  nearer  view 
convinced  him  that  she  was  of  average  height,  really 


192  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

lovely,  and  that  her  bearing  was  sufficiently  regal ; 
and  then  his  colour  came  back,  and  his  stolid  face 
beamed,  for  he  knew  that  his  envoys  had  not  deceived 
him.  We  are  told  that  '  her  beauty  paled  before  her 
mental  endowments,'  but  we  must  remember  this  is 
said  of  a  princess.  The  maiden  was  sixteen  years 
old,  with  an  open  brow,  black,  sparkling  eyes,  a  very 
white  neck,  and  she  blushed  in  a  delicate,  becoming 
way. 

The  comely  ladies  of  Siena  (and  where  is  woman- 
hood more  gracious?)  ascended  platforms,  indulged 
in  stately  dances,  and  recited  poetical  compliments 
to  the  princess,  and  other  compositions  in  praise  of 
love  and  beauty ;  but  the  Portuguese  courtiers  con- 
ducted themselves  so  as  to  outrage  their  proud  sense 
of  the  proprieties,  and  they  retired  from  the  scene 
with  due  dignity,  ^neas  showed  himself  at  his 
best  in  witty  jest  and  sprightly  conversation. 

From  Siena  the  cavalcade  proceeded  to  Viterbo, 
where,  according  to  antique  usage,  the  mob  claimed 
their  perquisites  and  tried  to  snatch  the  rich  panoply 
that  was  held  over  the  Emperor.  He  seized  a  lance 
and  fought  his  way  to  the  hostelry,  not  without 
receiving  some  blows. 

At  last  they  reached  Monte  Mario.  Frederick  was 
usually  impassive,  but  he  looked  down  from  the  brow 
of  the  hill  on  the  classic  ruins  and  Christian  basilicas 
of  Rome  with  emotion.  Can  we  wonder  ?  For  Rome 
garners  the  ages  as  they  pass  and  folds  them  peace- 
fully in  her  bosom ;  she  has  seen  eras  depart  as  so 
many  morning  mists ;  change  may  wound,  but  cannot 
dissolve  her,  for  she  is  undying ;  time  is  the  record 
of  her  fiats,  and  these  have  moulded  the  world.    Even 


FEEDEEICK   AT  EOME  193 

the  rude  German  knights  exclaimed  that  the  sight 
of  the  ancient  city  repaid  the  journey.  Turning  to 
^neas,  the  king  asked  him  many  questions,  and 
then,  '  Methinks  the  time  will  come  when  you  will 
be  a  cardinal,'  said  he,  'nor  will  your  good  fortune 
cease  with  that ;  you  will  rise  still  higher ;  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter  awaits  you.  Have  care  that  men  do  not 
deride  you  when  you  reach  it.'  ^  Alas  !  the  Emperor- 
elect  had  proved  how  vain  is  human  dignity  when 
divested  of  power. 

As  they  approached  the  city  the  cardinals  came 
forth  to  meet  them,  and  Frederick  was  told  that  this 
was  an  unprecedented  honour,  but  ^neas  '  thought 
of  the  time  when  the  Pope  himself  used  to  advance 
and  give  welcome ;  still  all  earthly  power  is  subject 
to  vicissitude.'^  According  to  custom,  the  king 
spent  the  night  outside  the  walls  at  the  house  of 
a  Florentine  banker,  while  ^neas  visited  Nicholas 
to  dispel  his  fears.  '  It  is  wiser  to  fall  into  the  error 
of  unjustified  suspicion  than  into  that  of  over-con- 
fidence,' replied  the  Pontiff. 

Next  day  Caesar  and  his  bride-elect  entered  the 
city.  Already  we  note  the  vulgar  side  of  the  Eenais- 
sance  in  its  love  of  personal  display.  Leonora's  horse 
had  trappings  of  cloth-of-gold,  she  wore  a  mantle  of 
the  same  costly  material,  and  a  great  gold  necklace 
encircled  her  white  neck.  Frederick's  raiment,  with 
its  jewels,  was  valued  at  two  hundred  thousand 
ducats.  The  clergy  and  nobility  awaited  them  at 
the  gates,  with  the  Prefect  of  Eome,  who  bore  a 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.,  1.  1. 

2  The  greater  part  of  this  account  and  of  what  follows  concerning  the 
coronation  is  taken  from  j^neas  Silvius's  History  of  Frederick  III. 

N 


194 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


naked  sword.     Three  thousand  Papal  horse  and  two 
hundred  Papal  foot,  under  the  guise  of  a  guard  of 
honour,  followed  the  German  knights  and  soldiery, 
prepared  for  any  sudden  attack  or  emergency.    When 
the  King  arrived  at  St.  Peter's  he  dismounted,  and 
was  conducted  by  the  cardinals  to  the  Pope,  whose 
foot  he  kissed  and  to  whom  he  rendered  a  lump  of 
gold.     The  Pope  presented  him  first  with  his  hand, 
and  then  with  his  cheek,  to  kiss,  as  Eugenius  had 
done  to  iEneas.     Then  the  Mediaeval  Caesar  knelt, 
and  the  descendant  of  the  Fisherman  blessed  him 
and  made  him  sit  by  his  side.^     ^neas  says  that 
never  before  had  an  Emperor  received  such  a  friendly 
greeting    from    a    Pope.     On   March    16,    Frederick 
received  the  historic  Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy,  which 
contains  a  piece  of  the  true  Cross  ;  for  he  would  not 
take  it  in  the  dukedom,  since  Sforza  was  a  usurper 
there.     ^Eneas  laughed  to  himself  at  the  title,  *  King 
of  the  Romans,'  for  that  *  became  extinct  with  Tarquin, 
until  the  Germans  revived  and  applied  it  to  their 
own    German   king.'     During   the   next   three   days 
Frederick  was  busy  seeing  the  sights  of  Rome  and 
holding  diplomatic  interviews  with  Nicholas  concern- 
ing what  service  they  could  render  one  another ;  but 
the  Pope  set  his  face  dead  against  a  council.     On 
the  19th,  the  Imperial  Coronation  took  place.     Two 
platforms  were  erected  outside   the  old   basilica   of 
St.  Peter's,  one  being  for  the  Emperor  and  the  other 
for  his  bride.      Here  Frederick  took  his  oath,   and 
was  then  admitted  to  the  College  of  Canons,  and  he 
donned  the  Imperial  robe,  which  ^neas  thought  looked 

^  Enekel,  quoted  by  Pastor,  History  of  the  Papacy^  English  trans., 
ii.  15. 


THE  IMPERIAL  CORONATION        195 

rather  old  and  shabby.  Then  both  he  and  Leonora 
were  anointed  on  the  shoulder  and  right  arm.  The 
crowning  and  marriage  took  place  in  the  church, 
and  the  newly- wedded  pair  returned  to  their  respec- 
tive platforms  to  hear  Mass.  iEneas  remarks  that 
the  crown  on  Frederick's  head  was  supposed  to  be 
that  of  Charlemagne,  but  he  knew  better,  for  he 
noticed  that  it  bore  the  Bohemian  lion,  and  was 
therefore  not  older  than  Charles  iv.'s  time.  Then 
the  Pope  and  Emperor  walked,  hand-in-hand,  a  little 
way,  and  the  Pope  mounted  his  horse,  and  Frederick 
held  the  reins  for  a  short  while.  A  procession  then 
formed  and  traversed  the  city,  the  Pope  giving  Caesar 
the  Golden  Rose^  on  the  way.  On  the  road  back 
to  the  Vatican,  at  the  bridge  in  front  of  the  tomb 
of  Hadrian,  Frederick  dubbed  three  hundred  knights, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  iEneas,  for  they  were  ill 
qualified  to  be  Imperial  riders,  and  Italy  was  not  a 
land  where  the  institutions  of  chivalry  flourished. 

On  March  24,  the  bridal  pair  set  out  for  Naples, 
where  the  bride's  uncle,  Alfonso,  had  prepared  great 
festivities  ;  but  ^neas  was  left  in  charge  of  the  lad 
Ladislas,  Frederick's  ward.  In  the  dead  of  night  he 
was  summoned  to  attend  the  Pope,  who  informed  him 
that  a  plot  to  carry  off  his  charge  had  been  discovered. 
Precautions  were  taken  at  once  to  keep  him  secure, 
the  very  cardinals  being  forbidden  to  take  the  young 

^  The  Rose,  of  wrought  gold,  set  with  gems  and  blessed  by  the  Pope  on 
the  Fourth  Sunday  in  Lent  with  certain  ceremonies  of  ancient  date  but 
obscure  meaning,  is  mentioned  in  the  eleventh  century.  Its  first  recipient 
was  the  licentious  Joanna  of  Naples  (1366),  and  since  then  it  has  been 
sent  to  many  royal  and  dubious  personages,  including  Isabella  of  Spain 
and  Louis  Napoleon  in  the  last  generation.  But  the  custom  of  sending  a 
few  shavings  from  St.  Peter's  chair,  set  in  gold,  is  as  old  as  Gregory  the 
Great  (see  S.  Greg.,  ed.  1705,  lib.  ii.  648,  796,  and  1031). 


196 


.^NEAS   SILVTUS 


prince  out  hunting  with  them,  and,  on  hearing  the 
news,  the  King  hurried  back  from  Naples. 

When  Frederick  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  Rome, 
^neas,  on  his  behalf,  thanked  the  Pope  and  cardinals 
for  their  hospitality  at  an  open  consistory,  and  added 
that  another  emperor  would  have  insisted  on  a  coun- 
cil, but  Frederick  was  convinced  that  the  Pope  and 
his  Curia  were  the  best  council.  The  truth  was  that 
Frederick  was  compelled  to  be  the  obedient  servant 
of  the  Pope,  for  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Moravia  were 
in  open  rebellion  against  him,  and  they  and  Milan 
were  intriguing  with  France.  But  the  submission 
was  by  no  means  unacceptable  to  iEneas  in  his 
change  of  view  as  to  Papal  claims.  He,  almost  alone 
of  any  European  statesmen,  saw  the  peril  to  Europe 
that  arose  from  the  dissensions  of  Christians  while 
the  Turk  pursued  his  career  almost  unchecked,  and 
how  great  was  the  need  of  complete  union  if  he  were 
to  be  hurled  out  of  Europe.  On  April  26,  the  Emperor 
and  Empress  rode  forth  from  Rome,  and  jiEneas 
accompanied  them,  bearing  with  him  a  commission  to 
act  as  Papal  Nuncio  in  Bohemia. 

iEneas  tells  us  that,  though  Leonora  of  Portugal 
was  wedded  to  Frederick,  she  had  not  become  his 
wife;  he  wished  the  consummation  of  marriage  to 
take  place  in  Germany,  for  he  was  a  formal  man  and 
insisted  on  the  punctilious  observance  of  ceremony.^ 
The  maiden  was  unhappy,  for  she  thought  her  husband 
indifferent  to  her,  and  she  expressed  her  view  with  the 
customary  frankness  of  ladies  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

1  More  than  a  century  later,  in  1579,  Giiglielnio  ii.,  Duke  of  Mantua, 
requested  that  the  consummation  of  marriage  between  Alfonso  ii.,  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  and  his  daughter  Margherita  should  be  postponed  until  she  entered 
Ferrara.     See  the  author's  Tasso  and  His  Times^  pp.  240,  241. 


THE  IMPERIAL  MARRIAGE  197 

For  some  time  her  uncle,  Alfonso,  prayed  in  vain  that 
the  consummation  might  take  place,  but  at  last  he 
induced  Frederick  to  give  way.  According  to  German 
custom,  the  Emperor  ordered  the  marriage-bed  to  be 
prepared,  and,  in  the  presence  of  the  King  of  Naples, 
the  courtiers,  and  the  bride's  maids- of-honour,  both 
he  and  Leonora  being  fully  attired,  the  Empress 
mounted  the  bridal  couch  and  the  Emperor  lay  by 
her  side  and  solemnly  kissed  her.  Leonora's  ladies, 
who  had  no  knowledge  of  German  customs,  became 
very  much  alarmed,  thinking  they  would  be  put  to 
shame,  and  protested  vigorously,  while  Alfonso  did 
not  disguise  his  amusement.  '  Such,'  says  JEneas, 
*  was  the  custom  of  German  princes.'  ^  At  the  desire 
of  the  Portuguese  ladies,  the  bridal  bed  had  been  con- 
secrated with  holy  water ;  but  the  following  night, 
when  the  marriage  was  to  be  consummated,  Frederick, 
who  thought  the  couch  might  have  been  poisoned  or 
placed  under  some  necromantic  spell,  ordered  it  to  be 
changed  for  another. 

^  The  ceremony  was  a  publication  of  the  marriage  whereby  it  became 
indisputable,  and  was  even  employed  in  marriage  by  proxy. 


198 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    X 

uENEAS   AS   PAPAL   AND   IMPERIAL   AGENT — THE 
EASTERN   PERIL 


Frederick  returned  to  Germany  to  find  it  in  full 
revolt.      His  ally,   the  Pope,  threatened  the  rebels 
with  excommunication,  and  the  menace  was  treated 
with  contempt.    Germans,  Austrians,  and  Hungarians 
were   ready  to   unite   with   French   and    demand   a 
Council ;    Frederick   was   powerless   to   resist.      The 
Papacy  became  seriously  alarmed,  for  it  depended  on 
Germany  for  a  large  part  of  its  revenues,  which  now 
came  sparingly  from  other  countries.      If  Germany 
were   to  follow  the  lead  of  France  and  establish  a 
national    church,    the    Pope    and   Curia    would    be 
reduced  to  penury.     A  General  Council  might  limit 
authority,  but  a  German  *  Pragmatic  Sanction,'  similar 
to  that  of  Bourges,  would  be  followed  by  the  decay 
of  Catholic  organisation;   if  supplies   were  cut   off, 
Catholicism  could  not  continue   to   exist.      For,  as 
with  any  other  state,  the  entire  ecclesiastic  system  of 
the  Papacy,  its  hierarchical  ordinances,  and  all  the 
principles  on  which  its  universal  government  is  con- 
ducted,  cannot  endure  if  they   be  deprived  of  the 
resources  by  which  they  are  fed.      Heresies  without 
end  will  flourish,  and  all  shadow  of  obedience  will 
disappear  in  general  religious  anarchy. 


PAPAL  AND  IMPEEIAL  AGENT       199 

iEneas  pointed  out  to  Frederick  that  he  could  not 
keep  his  ward,  Ladislas,  for  ever,  and  it  is  probable 
that  he  advised  him  to  bend  before  the  storm.    The 
young  king  was  released,  and  ^neas  was  despatched, 
with  two  other   envoys,  to  a  diet  held   at  Vienna 
during    the   winter   of  1452-3.       It   was   a    stormy 
assembly.     One  day,  when  the  Emperor  was  taking 
private  counsel  of  ^neas,  Cusa  and  the  Bishop  of 
Eichstadt,  Albert  of  Brandenburg  rushed   into   the 
chamber  and  loudly  abused  everybody  present,  declar- 
ing that  he  cared  not  a  jot  for  Emperor  or  Pope.     '  It 
is  the  common  fault  of  princes,'  remarks  ^neas,  '  that, 
being  brought  up  among  inferiors  in  rank,  who  are 
ready  to  applaud  everything   they  say,  when  they 
come  to  mingle  with  their  equals,  they  will  brook  no 
reproof,  but  fly  into  a  rage  and  lose  all  self-control.'  ^ 
Later  on,  when  the  Emperor  had  asked  one  of  his 
counsellors   to  obtain  an  opinion   from  the  princes, 
Albert  took  the  envoy  by  the  shoulders  and  thrust 
him  out  of  the  room,  exclaiming,  *  Are  you  a  prince 
then,  that  you  come   in   among   princes  ? '      ^neas 
found  his  old  enemy,  Heimburg,  at   the  diet,  who 
bitterly   opposed    him,    but   he   concocted   a   crucial 
dispute,  and  triumphed  so  far  as  to  get  the  princes 
to  postpone  its  discussion  to  another  diet. 

It  was  now  that  ^neas  made  one  of  his  ablest  and 
most  powerful  speeches.  *  The  Austrians,'  said  he, 
'  have  taken  up  the  same  position  as  the  Waldensian 
heretics ;  nay,  they  are  no  better  than  the  Saracens. 
For,  in  their  pride,  they  say,  *' What  is  the  Pope  to 
us  ?  Let  him  say  his  Masses  ;  we  rely  on  our  swords." 
They  demand  a  Council.     Is  the  Pope,  then,  guilty 

1  ^n.  Silvius,  Hist.  Fred.  III.,  apud  KoUar,  ii.  417. 


200 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


of  heresy  or  schism,  or  has  he  altered  the  government 

of  the  Church  ?     Councils !     Why,  I  saw  cooks  and 

stablemen  sitting  with  bishops  at  Basel,  and  giving 

laws  to  the  Church.     And,  in  your  wisdom,  you  will 

appeal  from  an  ignorant  to  an  instructed  Pope.     That 

is  to  say,  you  divide  the  Pope  into  two  parts,  and 

appeal   from   one  half  of  him  to  the  other.     It  is  a 

device  worthy   of   Plato's  Republic,  but  not  to  be 

found  in  practical  life.     And  I  fear  you  will  not  get  a 

Council  either,  for  it  depends  on  the  Pope  whether  it 

shall  be  summoned,  and  it  will  be  a  score  of  years,  or 

perhaps  a  century,  before  he  does  so;  for  he  must 

judge  when  it  is  expedient  and  desirable.     You  talk 

of  Councils  every  ten  years.     Why,  the  last  sat  for 

twenty !     I   wish   that   the   times   were   ripe   for   a 

Council,  and  this  is  the  Pope's  desire  also ;  then  the 

dreams  of  these  men  would  soon  be  dispelled.     They 

appeal  to  a  universal  Church,  that  is  to  say  to  men 

of  every  station,  to  women  and  children,  as  well  as 

men ;  to  the  laity  no  less  than  the  clergy.     In  early 

times,  when  the  body  of  believers  was  very  small, 

such  a  thing  was  possible.     But  now,  how  can  they 

all   meet   together,    and   how   are   they  to    appoint 

arbiters  to  resolve  difficulties'?     An   appeal   to    the 

Last  Judgement  would  show  just  as  much  practical 

sense.' ^ 

The  oration  produced  no  effect ;  the  progressive 
abasement  of  Frederick  remained  unchecked.  But 
the  princes  were  vastly  more  eager  to  aggrandise  them- 
selves than  to  reform  the  Church.  Frederick,  probably 
advised  by  iEneas,  requested  the  Pope  to  withdraw 
his  threats,  and  Nicholas  consented  to  do  so.^ 


*  Pit  II.  Orat,  apud  Mansi,  i.  184  et  seq. 


Voigt,  loc.  cit.y  ii.  88. 


PAPAL  AND  IMPERIAL  AGENT      201 

For  many  years  the  prescient  eye  of  Piccolomini 
had  perceived  the  danger  of  Christian  dissension  while 
the  Moslem  was  steadily  advancing  his  rule.  As 
early  as  1444,  a  letter  to  Campisio  shows  his  eager 
interest  in  the  Eastern  campaign.  At  the  Corona- 
tion of  Frederick,  he  burst  forth  into  a  passionate 
exhortation  to  resistance.  He  saw  how  Hungary 
remained  the  sole  barrier  of  Christianity  against  the 
infidels,  weakened  as  Central  Europe  was  by  inter- 
necine struggles.^  On  May  29,  1453,  the  Crescent 
supplanted  the  Cross  at  St.  Sophia.  The  news  soon 
spread  far  and  wide,  and  Europe  learned  with  dismay 
that  the  last  vestige  of  the  Empire  of  Constantine 
had  disappeared,  and  that  the  Turk  had  gained  the 
firmest  foothold  in  all  Europe  for  further  advance. 
Frederick  professed,  and  doubtless  felt,  anxiety,  but 
he  'sat  at  home  doing  nothing;  he  amused  himself 
by  catching  birds  and  attending  to  his  garden.'  ^ 

But  the  grave  danger  stung  JEneas  the  statesman 
into  activity ;  it  aroused  ^neas  the  scholar  to  the 
peril  in  which  the  priceless  libraries  of  Greece  stood. 
'  Now  is  the  river  of  all  culture  choked,'  he  wrote ; 
*  now  has  the  fountain  of  the  Muses  ceased ;  now 
are  poetry  and  philosophy  buried.  Who  cannot  but 
mourn  such  an  overthrow  of  letters?  Homer  and 
Pindar  and  Menander  and  all  the  illustrious  poets 
have  died  a  second  time.  And  great  as  this  disaster 
is,  one  yet  more  terrible  threatens  the  Christian  faith, 
and  a  yoke  may  yet  be  put  on  Christian  peoples.'  ^ 
He  wrote  to  the  Pope,  serving  up  excuses  for  Papal 

^  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Campisium^  May  5,  1444.     Voigt,  Collect. 
S.  390. 
^  Mathias  Dbring,  quoted  by  Creigliton. 
3  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Card.  S.  Petri  ad  Vincul,  July  21,  1453. 


202 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


supineness  that  were  only  a  veil  for  reproof  and  exhor- 
tation.    *  Historians  of  the  Papacy,'  said  he,  *  when 
they    reach    your    time,    will   record    this    of   you : 
"Nicholas,  a  Tuscan,  was  Pope  for  so  many  years. 
He  recovered  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter  from  usurp- 
ing tyrants ;  he  united  a  divided  Church ;  he  built 
the  Vatican  and  splendidly  restored  St.  Peter's ;  he 
canonised  St.  Bernardino  of  Siena ;  he  celebrated  a 
Jubilee,  and  crowned  Frederick  iii.     But  in  his  time 
Constantinople  was  taken  by  the  Turk  and  plundered  " 
(or,  it  may  have  to  be  written,  "  burned  and  razed  to 
the  ground  I  ").     For  though  you  strove  with  all  your 
might  to  give  aid  to  the  wretched  city,  you  were 
unable  to  unite  the  Princes  of  Christendom  in  the 
defence  of  the  Faith.     The  danger  was  over-stated, 
they  replied ;   the  greedy  Greeks  exaggerated  their 
peril  to  get  money  sent  over.     Your   Holiness  did 
your  best :  no  blame  can  be  laid  at  your  door.     Yet 
the  ignorance  of  posterity  will  not  fail  to  put  the 
shame  on  you,  when  it  shall  be  told  that  Constantinople 
was  taken  during  your  reign.'     Then  ^neas  goes  on 
to  urge  him  to  summon  a  congress  of  princes.^     He 
also  writes  to  the  cardinals  :   within  a  month  Cap- 
ranica,  Scarampo,  Cusa,  and  Carvajal  received  stirring 
appeals  from  him ;  ^  nor,  this  done,  did  he  desist  from 
repeated  efforts  to  arouse  them  from  their  indiflference 
and  awaken  them  to  the  magnitude  and  imminence 
of  the  danger.     Isidor  of  Russia,  too,  warned  Nicholas 
that  the  Turk  would  be  in  Italy  in  eighteen  months, 
unless  the  peace  of  Christendom  could  be  secured. 


1  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Stmct.  Dom.  Nick.,  July  12,  1453. 

2  See  the  letters  addressed  to  the  Cardinals,  of  Fermo,  July  11 ;  Aquileia, 
July  12  ;  S.  Pietro,  July  21  ;  S.  Angelo,  August  10. 


PAPAL  AND   IMPERIAL  AGENT      203 

But  -^neas  had  at  heart  a  larger  policy  than  the 
repulse  of  the  Moslem  even.  He  desired  Christian 
union ;  he  perceived  that  the  present  was  an  unparal- 
leled opportunity  for  the  Pope  to  regain  his  prestige 
and  to  attempt  the  establishment  of  a  new  Pax  Homana 
under  the  guidance  of  the  theocracy.  Nicholas  pro- 
claimed a  universal  peace,  equipped  a  small  fleet,  and 
promised  remission  of  sins  to  Crusaders ;  ^  perhaps  this 
was  all  he  felt  he  could  do  in  the  face  of  so  many 
difficulties  that  beset  him  at  home  and  abroad.  More- 
over, the  most  eager  of  his  desires  was  to  embody  the 
sublime  truth  of  Christianity  in  the  dazzling  splendour 
of  its  chief  see.^ 

However,  an  Augustinian  friar,  sent  by  Venice  to 
her  foe  Sforza,  the  ruler  of  Milan,  arranged  a  treaty 
at  Lodi,  and  the  Italian  states,  exhausted  by  war, 
agreed   to   a   twenty-five   years'   truce.      Meanwhile 
iEneas  was  urging  the  Emperor  to  convoke  an  Euro- 
pean Congress.     '  I  have  spoken  much  with  Caesar 
about  this  disaster  to  the  world,'  he  writes ;  *  I  find 
him  well  disposed,  but  wanting  in  power.'  ^     He  got 
Frederick's  permission  to  appeal  urgently  to  the  Pope 
in  his  name.    He  entreated  Nicholas  as  *  representative 
on  earth  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  from  whom  this 
movement  proceeds,  to  write  to  kings,  send  legates, 
and  warn  and  exhort  all  princes  and  states  everywhere, 
to  come  in  person  or  send  delegates.     Now,  when  the 
evil  has  only  just  happened,  is  the  time  for  us  to  hasten 
and  call  a  congi^ess.    Command  all  foes  to  make  peace 
with  each  other,  or,  at  least,  to  agree  to  a  truce,  while 

*  Raynaldus,  Ad  ann.  1453. 

-  See  Manetti  apud  Muratori,  R.  I.  S.,  iii.  2.  p.  945. 

3  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Sand.  Bom.  Nich.,  August  11,  1463. 


204 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


they  turn  their  arms  against  the  foes  of  the  Cross. 
If  your  Holiness  were  to  throw  heart  and  soul  into 
the  matter,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  many  kings 
and  princes  would  obey  your  call;  for  zeal  for  God 
and  the  Faith  is  not  dead.'^  But,  *the  matter  did 
not  please  the  Apostolic  Chair,'  ^neas  tells  us.  *  Most 
likely  Nicholas  dreaded  that  such  a  meeting  would 
give  an  opportunity  for  complaint;  for  nothing  is 
secure  in  that  high  vocation.  The  stir  of  a  great 
assembly  brings  forth  much  :  the  supreme  authority 
is  unfriendly  to  innovation ;  for  discontent  is  encour- 
aged when  there  is  hope  of  change.'  ^ 

Though  ^neas  wrote  to  Carvajal,  '  Never  have  I, 
in  my  ten  years'  service,  spoken  to  Caesar  so  much  as 
about  this  matter  or  found  him  listen  so  seriously,'  ^ 
Frederick  feared  to  face  the  Electors  at  a  congress, 
and  he  refused  to  go,  saying  that  he  '  could  not  afford 
to  sacrifice  his  own  to  general  interests,  nor  did  he 
find  any  one  who  was  more  eager  for  the  good  of  others 
than  for  his  own  benefit.'  *  However,  he  invited  the 
princes  of  Europe  to  assemble  or  send  delegates,  and 
he  nominated  certain  German  princes  to  attend  the 
congress,  and  sent  iEneas  to  act  as  one  of  his  deputies. 
The  congress  was  brought  about  by  the  exertions  of 
^neas,  and  to  him,  therefore,  is  due  the  honour  of 
founding  the  first  assemblage  of  European  statesmen 
for  a  common  object  and  the  common  good.     But  his 

^  JEn.  Silvius,  Ep.  ad  Sand.  Dom.  Nich.y  August  10,  1453.  See  also 
Weiss,  A.,  JEn.  S.  Piccol.  als  Papst  Pius  11. ,  sein  Leben  und  Einjluss  auf 
die  literarische  GultiLr  Deutschl.     Graz,  1897,  p.  34  et  seq. 

^  See  ^n.  Silvius,  De  Ratesponeiisi  Dieta,  in  appendix  to  Mansi,  and  his 
letter  to  Leonardo  de'  Bentivogli,  the  Sienese  ambassador  at  Venice,  July 
5,  1454. 

3  .^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Card.  S.  Angel.^  September  3,  1453. 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Orat.)  apud  Mansi,  iii.  9.     Lucae,  1755-59. 


PAPAL  AND   IMPERIAL  AGENT      205 

energies  broke  themselves  against  a  barrier  of  indiffer- 
ence and  inertia.     He  carried  an  Imperial  letter  to 
Louis  of  Bavaria,  and  found  him  just  ready  to  set  out 
hunting.     The  Prince  read  the  missive,  and  said  he 
very  much  appreciated  such  a  compliment,  but  he  was 
young  and  inexperienced,  and  would  not,  therefore, 
accept  the  Emperors  invitation,  but  he  would  send 
representatives.     Would  ^neas  join  the  hunt  with 
him  ?    The  dogs  were  barking  meanwhile,  and  every- 
body was  cursing  the  envoys  for  hindering  their  sport. 
iEneas  and  his  friends  declined  the  invitation,  where- 
upon the  huntsmen  wound  their  horns  and  the  Prince 
and  his  friends  galloped  away.^     Cardinal  Cusa,  when 
he  drew  near  to  Kegensburg,  where  the  Congress  was 
to  be  held,  asked  whether  he  should  go  on,  and  who 
would  pay  his  expenses.     The  state  of  Mantua  never 
received  an  invitation  ;  that  of  Siena  got  one  too  late  ; 
Ferrara  and  Lucca  sent  excuses ;  the  other  Italian 
states,  England  and  Scotland  did  not  reply.     Charles 
of  France  was  jealous  of  Burgundy,  and  he  wrote  to 
Nicholas  that  he  would  take  up  arms  if  Germany  did  ; 
Christian  of  Denmark  regretted  that  the  notice  was 
too  short,  also,  he  was  occupied  with  a  war  against 
Norway,  but  when  the  moment  came  for  action  he 
would  be  found  ready  ;  Poland  sent  envoys,  but  only 
to  protest  against  the  Teutonic  knights ;  the  King  of 
Portugal  was  ready,  but  his  people  murmured.     The 
truth  was  that  the  feudal  system  was  breaking  down  ; 
many  lands  were  exhausted  by  war,  and  most  rulers 
were  busy  consolidating  their  own  possessions  and 
establishing  a  firmer  rule.     Venice  feared  Sforza,  the 

^  -^n.  Sil.,  De  Ratesponensi  Dieta,  in  Appendix  to  Orationes  Pii  11.^ 
ed.  Mansi,  part  iii.  pp.  5-13. 


206 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


formidable  occupant  of  the  adjoining  state,  and  was 
anxious  to  preserve  her  commerce  with  the  East ;  so 
she  made  a  treaty  with  Mahommed ;  and  Genoa, 
weakened  by  faction,  gave  her  Eastern  possessions 
into  the  keeping  of  the  Bank  of  St.  George.  Only 
Philip  of  Burgundy  was  enthusiastic  for  a  crusade, 
and  he  was  a  hot-headed  windbag.  He  prepared  for 
the  Holy  War  by  an  allegorical  pageant,  a  banquet, 
and  a  dance,  and,  laying  his  hand  on  an  emblematical 
live  peacock,  vowed  to  the  All  Seer  that  he  would 
turn  the  Turk  out  of  Europe.  The  peacock,  led  by 
two  charming  maidens,  had  for  its  companions  an 
elephant,  a  Paynim  giant,  and  one  Oliver  de  la 
Marche  (who  tells  the  tale)  playing  the  part  of 
the  Captive  Church.  Oliver  wept  and  groaned  and 
prayed  for  succour,  with  interludes  of  the  famous 
music  of  Flanders.  Philip  promised  to  send  sixty 
thousand  men ;  and,  so  eager  did  he  seem,  that  he  was 
asked  to  allow  the  Congress  to  assemble  at  his  castle. 
But  iEneas  tells  us  that  his  way  of  life  was  not  to 
rise  until  noon,  then  to  attend  to  some  few  affairs  of 
state  before  dinner,  dine,  take  an  afternoon  nap,  do 
a  few  gymnastic  exercises,  go  to  supper  and  eat  on 
until  very  late ;  then  listen  to  music  and  entertain 
himself  with  dancing  :  more  serious  business  would 
have  quite  put  him  out.  Yet  he  came  to  the  Diet. 
iEneas  made  a  stirring  speech,  but,  as  it  was  in  Latin, 
most  of  the  hearers  did  not  understand  it.  The 
Bishop  of  Gurck  translated  the  oration,  but  it  pro- 
duced very  little  effect.  The  Congress  passed  brave 
resolutions  which  were  committed  to  parchment,  and 
iEneas  thanked  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  for  his 
enthusiasm  in  a   cause  in  which  his   ancestors   had 


THE  EASTEEN  PERIL  207 

distinguished  themselves.    Then  the  assembly  broke 
up  (May  1454). 

He  was  bitterly  disappointed.  A  week  later  he 
wrote  to  a  friend  :  *  My  desire  is  greater  than  my 
hope.  For  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  any  good 
result  will  follow.  You  will  ask,  why  ?  My  reply 
must  be,  What  ground  do  you  find  for  hope  ? 
Christendom  has  no  head  that  all  men  will  obey. 
Neither  Pope  nor  Emperor  receives  what  is  due  to 
him ;  for  reverence  and  obedience  are  nowhere  to 
be  found.  Pope  and  Emperor  have  become  mere 
dignified  but  empty  titles ;  they  are  no  more  effective 
than  two  impotent  pictures  in  a  frame.  Each  state 
has  its  own  ruler ;  each  ruler  is  dominated  by  his 
own  particular  interest.  What  eloquence  could 
draw  such  dissentient,  antagonistic  powers  together, 
and  induce  them  to  take  up  arms  under  a  single 
standard  ?  And,  if  they  could  be  gathered  together 
in  battle-array,  who  would  have  such  temerity  as  to 
take  the  chief  command?  What  common  plan  of 
action  could  be  devised  ?  What  discipline  could  be 
enforced  ?  There  are  so  very  many  different  nations, 
and  who  could  shepherd  such  a  mixed  flock?  Who 
has  command  of  the  multitude  of  tongues  they  speak, 
or  is  able  to  deal  with  men  of  such  widely  different 
manners  and  character?  Where  is  the  mortal  man 
that  could  bring  England  into  accord  with  France, 
or  Genoa  with  Aragon,  or  conciliate  Germans, 
Hungarians,  and  Bohemians  in  their  disputes  ?  Let 
a  small  army  embark  in  the  sacred  cause  and  it  will 
be  annihilated  by  the  Paynim ;  let  a  great  host  set 
forth  and  its  internal  enmities  will  destroy  its 
organisation,  and  its  end  will  be  general  ruin.     Look 


208  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 


I 


where  you  will  there  are  diflSculties.  Behold  a  true 
picture  of  Christendom  as  it  stands.'  ^  Piccolomini 
had  hoped  for  such  another  gathering  as  Clermont 
witnessed  in  the  days  of  Peter  the  Hermit.  But  the 
rulers  of  Europe  no  longer  aspired  to  become  kings 
in  Asia  ;  they  were  entirely  occupied  in  making  their 
rule  effective  at  home.  Enthusiasm  for  religion, 
too,  chiefly  animated  the  poorer  classes,  who  had  no 
great  earthly  expectations. 

The  Imperial  cause  had  become  hopeless  ;  only  com- 
paratively unimportant  services  occupied  Piccolomini's 
powers,  and  he  knew  his  talents  to  be  such  that  they 
could  be  employed  more  effectively  and  in  a  wider 
field.  Moreover,  though  economical,  he  remained 
necessitous.  He  had  been  compelled  to  pay  heavy 
fees  to  the  Papacy  on  accepting  his  bishopric ;  Siena 
was  not  a  wealthy  see,  and  he  had  to  hire  a  sub- 
stitute ;  and  he  tells  us  that  although  Caesar  was 
gracious  in  all  other  matters,  he  did  not  make  him 
a  sufficient  allowance.^  *  Eectitude  in  conduct  is 
excellent,'  he  had  written  many  years  before,  *  yet  it 
must  be  confessed  that  it  makes  considerable  differ- 
ence whether  it  is  observed  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances or  in  penury.'^  Hitherto,  in  spite  of  the 
homesickness  that  never  left  him,  he  had  thought  it 
well,  for  Frederick's  sake  and  his  own,  that  he  should 
remain  in  Germany,  and  he  loved  power  and  position. 
The  preceding  year  he  had  written  to  a  relative  who 
urged  him  to  return  to  Italy  :  '  While  I  am  with  the 
Emperor,  the  Pope  and  cardinals  yield  me  some  little 

*  Letter  to  Leonardo  de'  Bentivoglio,  July  5,  1454. 

2  ^n.  Sil,  Ep.  ad  Henricum  Senfstleberi,  January  22,  1454. 

3  ^n,  Sii,^  Hist.  Condi.  Basil.,  1.  ii. 


THE  EASTERN  PERIL  209 

honour ;  were  I  at  Siena  they  would  forget  all  about 
me.  I  know  in  how  little  esteem  prelates  are  held 
by  the  Curia.  Believe  me,  I  made  no  mistake.  I 
really  cannot  compliment  you  on  your  penetration  in 
supposing  that  I  should  be  more  highly  thought  of  if 
I  dwelt  nearer  the  Pope.  The  Roman  Curia  regards 
position,  not  the  man.  My  place  impresses  them 
more  than  my  personality.  As  an  Italian  prelate, 
beloved  by  Caesar,  I  occupy  a  unique  position. 
Solely  for  that  reason  do  I  count  for  a  little.  If  I 
once  left  the  Imperial  Court  I  should  be  unheeded ; 
and  there 's  an  end.'  ^  But  it  was  clear  now  that  the 
alliance  between  Emperor  and  Pope  had  achieved  no 
great  success ;  that  ^neas  could  do  little  more  for 
his  master,  who  was  getting  more  discredited  by  the 
princes  every  day  and  was  flouted  by  them  on 
every  occasion.  He  asked  Frederick  to  dismiss  him, 
but  the  Emperor  found  his  services  much  too  valuable, 
and  refused  the  request.  Frederick  dared  not  go  to 
the  approaching  diet,  and  he  wished  ^neas  and  the 
Bishop  of  Giirk  to  represent  him  there. 

When  the  next  Diet  was  opened  (October  1454)  the 
Hungarian  envoys  declared  that  they  would  accept 
terms  from  the  Turk  if  Christendom  sent  them  no 
aid.  Piccolomini  rose,  and  addressed  the  Diet  in 
words  of  burning  eloquence.^  Capistrano  tells  us 
that  the  speech  was  wonderful ;  the  subject  was  as 
exhaustively  and  prudently  treated  as  it  could  be.^ 
It  took  two  hours  to  deliver.  But  the  Diet  was 
imperturbable  on  such  a  point.     It  had  assembled  in 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  G.  Lollium,  July  1,  1453. 

*  The  speech  is  given  in  Mansi,  i.  p.  263.     See  Platina,  Vita  Pii  II. 
^  See  Capistrano  apud  Wadding,  Annal.  Minor. ^  vi.  p.  105.     Komae. 


210 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


a  hostile  spirit,  and  only  concerned  itself  with  the 
local  quarrels  of  Germany.  With  difficulty,  iEneas 
extracted  a  promise  from  the  princes  of  granting 
some  small  help  towards  a  crusade.  They  said  they 
could  do  nothing  until  peace  was  restored,  however ; 
and  since  all  were  self-seekers,  there  was  no  hope 
of  peace.  They  ranged  themselves  into  two  parties. 
The  Pfalzgraf,  egged  on  by  Jacob,  Bishop  of  Trier, 
led  the  one ;  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  the  other.  The 
Pfalzgraf  won  over  Albert  of  Austria,  by  proposing 
to  depose  Frederick  in  his  favour ;  that  done,  a  new 
Council  should  be  summoned  and  ecclesiastical  reform 
would  follow.  It  was  agreed  that  a  new  Diet  should 
meet  at  Neustadt,  in  February  1455,  ostensibly  to 
discuss  the  projected  crusade,  but  really  to  break 
up  the  alliance  between  the  Pope  and  Emperor.  It 
is  strange  to  see  how  tradition  still  rendered  such  a 
combination  alarming  to  the  princes,  ^neas  wrote 
to  Capistrano  a  letter  that  is  filled  with  bitter  irony. 
'Bring  your  oratorical  arms  to  bear  on  the  princes 
at  Neustadt,'  he  says.  *  There  will  be  an  amphitheatre 
put  up  where  there  shall  be  Circensian  games,  sur- 
passing those  of  Caesar  and  Pompey.  I  do  not 
know  whether  all  the  beasts  will  be  those  native  to 
Germany,  or  whether  ferae  naturae  will  be  brought 
from  other  countries;  but  this  land  is  well  stocked 
with  many  different  kinds  of  wild  animals,  and, 
perchance,  Bohemia  will  provide  the  Beast  of  the 
Apocalypse.  You  can  employ  the  Sword  of  your 
Mouth.  On  the  most  moderate  forecast  you  will 
make  a  full  bag,  and  every  kind  of  animal  will  be 
in  it.  And,  should  you  come  triumphant  out  of  the 
fray,  having  succeeded   in  vanquishing   our  vermin 


THE  EASTERN   PERIL  211 

at  home,  we  shall  be  at  liberty  to  attack  those 
abroad.'  ^  ^Eneas  did  not  like  the  emotional  methods 
of  Capistrano,  but  the  letter  shows  the  friar  to  have 
been  famiUar  with  affairs  and  capable  of  appreciating 
witty  satire. 

The  Diet  met.  Everybody  professed  to  be  en- 
thusiastic for  a  crusade ;  everybody  would  be  quite 
ready  when  everybody  else  was,  but  no  one  was 
willing  to  begin.  The  Archbishop  of  Trier  then  drew 
up  a  scheme  designed  to  frighten  Frederick  into 
submission  to  the  Electors.  The  Pope  had  promised 
a  Council,  and  he  had  failed  to  keep  his  word ;  a 
new  Council  must  be  insisted  on ;  Frederick  must 
summon  it,  as  the  Pope  would  not.^  The  Emperor 
found  himself  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma.  If  he  were 
to  accede,  he  would  yield  the  last  vestige  of  his 
authority  to  the  Electors ;  if  he  were  to  refuse,  they 
would  withdraw  their  sanction  to  a  crusade,  and  his 
impotence  would  be  manifest  to  all  Europe.  But, 
in  March  1455,  Nicholas  died,  and  the  Emperor  was 
provided  with  a  plausible  excuse  for  delaying  his 
reply.  The  Archbishop  of  Trier,  too,  saw,  in  the 
election  of  a  new  Pope,  the  possibility  of  vindicating 
the  liberties  of  the  ecclesiastical  Electors,  of  attain- 
ing his  own  ends,  and,  possibly,  of  reforming  the 
Church.     Therefore,  there  was  temporary  truce. 

^  -^n.  Silvius,  Opera  Omnia.    Ed.  Basil.     JEp.  403.     See  also  Wadding, 
loc.  city  pp.  137-8. 

2  Creighton,  M.,  History  of  the  Papacy^  iii.  153,  ed.  1897. 


212 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


n 


CHAPTER    XI 

^NEAS   AT   ROME  :    ^NEAS   AS   MAN   OF   LETTERS 

The  new  Pope,  Alfonso  de  Borja  (Italianised  into 
Borgia),  who  took  the  title  of  Calixtus  in.,  was  an 
old  man  of  seventy-seven  years.  A  Catalan,  he  came 
of  a  haughty,  full-blooded,  vigorous  stock.  He  was 
grown  feeble  now,  but  he  bore  in  his  breast  an 
hereditary  hatred  of  the  Mahommedans ;  and  the 
cardinals  who  elected  him  were  little  aware  of  how 
fiery  and  impetuous  the  aged  can  become  who  have 
only  a  few  days  left  to  fulfil  their  purposes.  He 
registered,  with  his  own  hand,  a  solemn  oath  to 
pursue  the  Turk  to  his  destruction,  and  he  hung  it 
in  his  bedchamber,  that  sleeping  or  waking,  it  might 
be  with  him.  He  tore  the  gold  and  silver  from  the 
altars  of  Rome,  and  melted  them  down  to  raise  funds 
for  a  crusade.  It  may  be  judged  that  such  an 
enthusiast  did  not  spare  his  own  possessions.  The 
last  silver  salt-cellar  went :  '  Away  with  it,'  said  he, 
*  take  it  for  the  crusade  ;  earthenware  will  do  for  me.' 
Such  enthusiasm  for  a  cause  that  was  very  close  to 
his  own  heart  had  no  little  attraction  for  ^neas. 

Jacob  of  Trier  called  on  Frederick  to  obtain  the 
removal  of  all  the  grievances  of  the  German  Church 
before  he  rendered  obedience  to  the  new  Pope. 
iEneas  took  occasion  to  tell   his  master   Frederick 


AS  MAN   OF  LETTERS  213 

that  it  was  idle  for  any  prince  to  truckle  in  an 
attempt  to  please  his  people,  for  it  is  fickle  and 
must  not  be  allowed  to  take  the  reins.  He  and 
John  Hinderbach,  an  eager  reformer,  were  nominated 
as  Imperial  Ambassadors  to  Rome.  They  were 
detained  at  Venice,  and  reached  the  Apostolic  city 
four  months  after  the  papal  election.  Voigt,  with 
his  usual  venom,  accuses  Piccolomini  of  having  sacri- 
ficed the  interests  of  Germany  to  his  own  personal 
ambition.  Undoubtedly  he  did  not  consider  that 
the  true  interests  of  Germany  lay  in  the  success  of 
the  Electors;  he  wished  for  its  unity,  and  believed 
in  a  central  authority,  both  for  secular  and  ecclesi- 
astical polity.  But  Calixtus  refused  to  consider  any 
requests  until  Frederick  had  yielded  his  obedience. 
iEneas  gives  a  perfectly  straightforward  account  of 
what  happened  in  a  letter  which  he  and  Hinderbach 
sent,  in  their  conjoint  names,  to  the  Emperor.  *  We 
found  ourselves,'  he  says,  '  placed  in  some  perplexity 
by  the  Pope's  reply.  To  depart  without  giving  our 
obedience  would  set  up  a  grievous  scandal  in  Christen- 
dom ;  so  we  decided  to  yield  our  obedience  and 
then  proceed  in  doing  what  otherwise  were  im- 
possible, that  is,  to  present  your  petition.'  ^ 

At  a  public  consistory,  ^neas  earnestly  urged  a 
crusade  against  the  Turk,  but  he  wisely  said  nothing 
about  the  requirements  of  Germany.  The  reason  of 
the  omission  was  that  he  and  Hinderbach  were  nego- 
tiating privately  with  the  Pope;  they  found  their 
pleadings  unavailing,  however,  and  probably  iEneas's 
were  only  half-hearted.    The  Emperor  was  discredited 

*  Enea  Silvio  and  J.  Hinderbach  to  Frederick  in.,  September  8, 1455,  in 
Ougnoni,  u^.  S.  Ficcolomini  Opera  i»«di<a,  121  $g.  1883. 


214 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


and  no  longer  of  much  service  to  Calixtus,  and,  more- 
over, he  was  too  closely  bound  to  the  Papacy  to 
withdraw  from  the  alliance. 

Hinderbach  returned  to  Germany,  but  iEneas 
remained  at  Rome.  Frederick  knew  that  ^Eneas  could 
do  him  more  service  there  than  in  Germany,  especially 
as  the  Caesar  could  get  him  raised  to  the  cardinalate. 
The  Bed  Hat  was  now  the  object  of  iEneas's  ambition. 
The  Emperor  plied  the  Pope  with  requests  for  his 
promotion,  but  Calixtus  was  bent  on  advancing  his 
own  nephews  to  the  Curia. 


To  Piccolomini,  more  than  to  any  one,  is  due  the 
honour  of  having  carried  the  torch  of  Humanism  to 
Germany.^  He  found  the  scholars  of  that  country 
pursuing  dull  scholastic  learning  and  dreary  subtleties 
of  civil  and  canon  law.  They  were  dead  to  all  really 
liberal  influences.  *  I  have  to  forsake  the  muse  and 
stick  to  my  desk  and  the  cofiers  of  the  king,'  he 
wrote,  *for  kings  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  muse, 
and  the  barbarian  has  nought  to  do  with  the  turning 
of  a  line.  All  that  is  buried,  whatever  else  is  pur- 
sued here,  and  there  is  no  pursuit  of  the  humanities 
outside  Italy.  Do  you  know  how  they  think  of 
culture  ?  They  class  our  speeches  and  poems,  which 
really  have  some  Latinity,  with  all  kinds  of  stuff.' ^ 
But  his  sympathetic  nature  and  the  breadth  of  his 
understanding  enabled  him  to  take  a  real  interest  in 
the  rude  physical  exercises  of  the  north,  and  he  wrote 
a  treatise  on  The  Nature  and  Care  of  Horses,  which 

^  See  Weiss,  A.,  JEneas  S.  Piccolomini  als  Papst  Pius  II.,  sein  Leben 
und  Einjiuss  auf  die  literarische  Cultur  Deutschlands.     Graz,  1897, 
2  Mn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Comitem  Galeatium  d^Archo.     November  15,  1443. 


AS   MAN   OF  LETTERS  215 

he  sent  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  Wilhelm  von  Stein 
(July  4,  1444).  He  encouraged  the  young  nobles  to 
try  their  hand  at  letters,  and  even  after  his  arrival  in 
Rome  he  did  not  forget  them.  *  You  write  very  well/ 
he  told  Ludwig,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  '  and  that  is  praise- 
worthy in  a  prince  of  your  rank.'^  In  spite  of  the 
illiteracy,  the  ungainly  manners,  and  semi- barbarous 
bearing  of  the  Teuton,  he  perceived  his  high  capacity 
for  culture.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Vienna,  he 
wrote  to  a  German  friend :  '  I  have  hope  for  the 
future  of  Germany.  Formerly  she  bore  learned  sons, 
and,  even  now,  there  are  many  skilled  teachers  of  the 
newer  learning,  who  are  raising  the  seed.'^  He  told 
Heimburg  that,  '  even  as  Italy  raised  herself  after  the 
incursion  of  the  barbarians,  so  Germany  may  achieve 
art  and  learning.'  ^  Germany  was  a  singularly  rich 
country,  as  we  learn  from  a  work  that  -^neas  wrote 
at  a  later  date."*  The  material  conditions  were  there- 
fore favourable  to  her  development.  He  carried  on  a 
large  correspondence  with  many  Germans,  and  this 
did  much  to  arouse  an  enthusiasm  for  letters;  but, 
although  there  is  a  freshness,  a  vast  amount  of 
observation,  much  penetrative  insight,  and  a  wealth 
of  broad  human  sympathy  displayed  in  -^neas's  writ- 
ings,— characteristics  very  unusual  with  the  humanists 
of  his  period — his  education  had  been  defective,  and 
his  prolonged  residence  in  a  country  where  pure  litera- 
ture was  so  little  pursued  and  elegant  Latin  so  little 
cultivated  did  much  to  corrupt  his  style.     Such,  at 

1  Ep.  dated  July  15,  1457. 

2  ^n.  Sil.,  Ejp.  ad  Gug.  de  Stein,  June  1,  1444. 

2  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Oreg.  Heimburg,  January  13,  1449. 
*  JEn.  Sil.,  De  ritu,  situ  et  conditione  theutonie  descriptio.    Lyptzick, 
1496. 


21(5 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


least,  was  the  judgment  of  a  friend  and  contem- 
porary/ It  fails,  indeed,  to  be  as  faithfully  Ciceronian 
as  iEneas  desired  it  to  be,  but  it  usually  secures  the 
interest  of  the  reader,  and  often  it  is  as  full  of  life 
and  directness  as  the  most  brilliant  and  animated 
conversation  ;  it  is  marked  by  breadth  of  thought  and 
ripeness  of  judgement,  and  dominated  by  the  per- 
sonality of  the  man. 

In  1449,  soon  after  the  death  of  Schlick,  he  had  a 
dream  so  vivid  that  he  wrote  to  Carvajal  giving  him 
an  account  of  it.^  The  dead  Chancellor  appeared  to 
him,  and,  conducting  him  to  heaven  (where  he  saw 
Eugenius,  the  Emperor  Albert,  and  many  of  the 
illustrious  dead),  expatiated  on  the  vanity  of  earthly 
life.  The  impression  of  this  dream  was  so  deep  and 
lasting,  that,  in  1453,  it  suggested  a  work  full  of 
poetic  fancy  and  reminiscences  of  Dante  and  Petrarch. 
It  is  called  The  Dialogue.^  He  is  conducted  by  St. 
Bernardino  of  Siena  to  the  kingdom  of  the  dead,  and 
Piero  de  Noceto  joins  the  twain.  They  meet  St.  John 
the  Evangelist  and  the  prophet  Elijah,  Constantino 
the  Great,  Vegio  the  poet.  Valla  the  humanist,  and 
the  Almighty  Himself  appears.  Dreams  and  the 
Chase,  Free  Will  and  Predestination,  Heaven  and 
History  are  among  the  subjects  discussed.  In  fact  a 
series  of  short  essays  are  strung  together  in  a  poetic 
form.  He  also  wrote  a  work  *  In  Praise  of  Homer '  (of 
whom  his  learned  contemporaries  knew  but  little  and 
iEneas  still  less).  His  interest  in  northern  nations 
induced  him  to  epitomise  Jordanes's  History  of  the 

^  Campanus,  Vita  Pii  11. ,  apud  Muratori,  iii.  part.  ii. 

2  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Card.  Carvajal,  November  13,  1449. 

3  Enee  Silvii  Piccolominei  qui  et  Pius  Secundus  fuit :  Dialog.    Rome, 
1475. 


I 

AS  MAN  OF  LETTEES  217 

Goths,  which  he  had  come  across  in  a  German  monas- 
tery,^ and  later,  when  he  became  Pope,  he  recast  the 
Decades  of  Flavio  Biondo  for  popular  use.^  It  is  a 
work  that  deals  with  Roman  antiquities,  in  which  he 
was  deeply  interested.  Busily  employed  as  he  was 
by  Frederick,  numerous  as  were  the  toilsome  lega- 
tions on  which  he  was  sent,  he  found  time  to  write  a 
history  of  the  reign  of  that  monarch,  which  he  began 
in  1452,  and  continued  to  work  at  for  three  years. ^ 
From  time  to  time  he  added  a  new  study  to  his 
Biographies  of  Illustrious  Men,  a  remarkable  series  of 
character-sketches  of  the  foremost  people  of  his  time.* 
A  letter  to  the  Chancellor  of  Hungary  gives  an 
account  of  the  Diet  of  Ratisbon,  written  three  months 
after  its  close.  ^  And  he  wrote  a  second  account  of 
the  Council  of  Basel  from  his  changed  position  in 
relation  to  it  in  1446.^  All  these  works  exhibit  such 
encyclopaedic  interest  and  such  diversity  of  talent  as 
almost  to  justify  the  eulogium  of  his  friend  Campano, 
who  exclaims  that  '  Nature  gathered  up  the  distinc- 
tions of  very  many  different  men  in  this  one  per- 
sonality.' ^  No  man  of  his  time  was  more  brilliant  as 
an  orator;  he  prepared  his  speeches  carefully,  held 
his  audience  spell-bound,  and  however  earnest  in  his 
exhortations,  never  failed  to  appreciate  the  effect  he 
produced ;  he  repeatedly  records  the  delight  he  ex- 

^  ^n,  Silvius,  Historia  Oothorumj  apud  Duellium,  Biga  Uhrorum  rari- 
orum.     1730. 

2  Pii  II.  Opera  Omnia.     Basel,  1551.    P.  144,  et  seq.     The  work  was 
written  after  Biondo's  death,  which  took  place  in  1463. 

3  Die  Geschichte  Kaiser  Friedrichs  III.  von  ^neas  Silvius  :  Uehersetzt 
von  T.  Ilgen,  1889-90. 

*  ^n.  Silvius,  De  Viris  uEtate  sua  Claris  Opusculum^  in  Literarischer 
Verein-Bihliotek,  etc.,  Bd.  1.     Stuttgart,  1843,  etc. 
^  Mansi,  loc.  cit.,  p.  l,^ei  seq.  '^  Campano,  Up.  1.  1. 


218 


^NEAS   STLVIUS 


perienced  at  his  later  successes  in  a  work — The  Com- 
mentaries—  that  he  intended  to  be  a  record  for 
posterity  of  his  pontificate.  Certainly  no  man  of  his 
age  made  so  many  speeches  on  such  important  sub- 
jects before  such  distinguished  audiences,  and,  surely, 
no  man  was  ever  so  chatty,  so  friendly,  and  so  singu- 
larly incautious  a  correspondent ;  no  man  could  count 
so  many  intimate  friends ;  certainly  no  wise  man  ever 
confided  in  them  so  completely.  Many  of  them  were 
Germans,  and  he  never  lost  his  interest  in  the  pro- 
gress of  German  letters.  As  Pope  he  had  much  to  do 
with  the  foundation  of  the  Universities  of  Basel  and 
Ingoldstadt,  as  well  as  with  those  of  Nantes  and 
Rome. 

A  year  after  his  arrival  in  Rome,  ^neas  went,  for 
the  second  time,  on  an  embassy  to  the  Court  of 
Naples.  There  was  comparative  peace  in  Italy,  for 
the  more  important  states  had  found  out  the  ad- 
vantages of  balance  of  power.  Siena,  Florence,  and 
Milan  were  in  alliance,  and  Jacopo  Piccinino,  the 
son  of  that  Niccol6  Piccinino,  to  whom  ^neas  had 
been  sent  by  the  Bishop  of  Novara,  twenty-one  years 
before,  found  himself  and  his  mercenary  band  unem- 
ployed. Piccinino  led  his  condottieri  into  Sienese 
territory  and  occupied  Ortobello.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  he  contemplated  reducing  the  whole 
state  and  constituting  himself  its  ruler.  It  was 
further  suspected,  not  without  good  reason,  that  he 
was  supported  by  Alfonso,  King  of  Naples.  Italian 
history  yielded  many  examples  of  mercenary  captains 
who  had  thus  overthrown  the  liberty  of  wealthy  but 
unwarlike  states,  and  the  government  of  Siena,  a 
body  of  traders,  by   no   means  peaceful,  but  quite 


AS   MAN   OF   LETTERS  219 

unskilled  in  scientific  warfare,  sent  to  their  bishop, 
asking  him  to  plead  with  Alfonso  for  the  withdrawal 
of  Piccinino. 

The    bishop   and   other   ambassadors   set   out   for 
Naples  early  in  1456,  where  the  king  detained  them 
four  months,  during  which  ^neas  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  visit  Baiae  and  Cumae,  Salerno  and  Amalfi, 
the  reputed  tomb  of  Virgil,  and  all  the  places  in  the 
neighbourhood  that  bear  classic  memories  or  preserve 
actual  relics  of  antiquity.     When  not  so  occupied  or 
when  not  in  what  seemed  a  hopeless  attendance  at 
the  Court,  he  was  busy  writing  his  commentaries  on 
Antonio  Panormita,  a  collection  of  apophthegms  and 
anecdotes,  many  of  which  he  attributed  to  Alfonso/ 
It  is  a  piece  of  delicate  court-flattery,  but  if  it  was 
intended  to  get  that  royal  favour  which  Panormita 
(Beccadelli)  had  enjoyed,  or  to  incline  the  royal  ear 
favourably  to  the  prayer  of  Siena,  it  failed,     ^neas 
was   handicapped   in   that   from   the   beginning,  for 
Calixtus  was  unwilling  to  let   him   go  at  all.^     At 
last  Alfonso  consented  to  recall  Piccinino  and  employ 
him  in  the  Turkish  war,  but  only  on  the  payment 
by  the   Republic  of  forty   thousand   ducats,   to   be 
divided   between    himself   and   the    Pope.      Alfonso 
was  an   extremely   sagacious    ruler,    and    quite   the 
equal    of    iEneas   in   diplomacy;    if   not    a    scholar 
himself,  he  was  a  dilettante  in  scholarship  and  a  great 
patron  of  men  of  letters.     Both  men  showed  their 
best  sides  to  one  another  and  interchanged  agreeable 
compliments.     The  intercourse  resulted,  not  merely 
in  the  commentaries  on  Beccadelli,  but  in  a  remark- 

1  Commentarii  in  Libros  Antonii  Panormitae  poetae  de  dictis  et  factis 
Alfonsi  regis.  ^  Pii  II.  Comment. ^  1.  1,  p.  26. 


220 


.ENEAS  SILVIUS 


able  History  of  Bohemia,  which  .Eneas  wrote  for 
Alfonso,  a  work  giving  an  animated  and  even  exciting 
account  of  the  onslaught  of  the  troops  of  united 
Europe  on  the  Bohemian  heretics  and  the  heroic 
resistance  they  encountered.  It  was  first  printed 
at  Rome  in  1475,  and  since  then  there  have  been 
repeated  editions.  Here,  as  in  the  History  of 
Frederick,  .Eneas  Silvius  differs  from  the  chroniclers 
of  his  time  by  his  keen  perception  of  historical  causes, 
thus  forestalling,  in  some  measure,  the  scientific 
methods  of  Machiavelli  and  Guicciardini. 

All  the  works  mentioned  are  rich  in  those  pregnant 
phrases  in  the  making  of  which  JEneas  was  hardly 
less  happy  than  Bacon.  The  following  are  from  the 
commentaries  on  Beccadelli : — 


*  Nothing  is  ever  so  well  said  that  it  could  not  be 
still  better  put/  ^ 

'  It  is  a  trifle  more  difficult  for  kings  to  become 
philosophers  than  for  those  in  a  private  station/  ^ 

'The  wise,  if  they  get  ever  so  small  a  reward, 
withdraw  from  the  perils  of  the  court  and  are  content. 
For  courtiers  are  like  sows  that  are  fattened  to  pro- 
vide a  feast  for  their  master  ...  he  who,  having 
become  rich,  remains,  does  not  do  so  out  of  gratitude; 
either  he  cannot  leave  or  he  is  still  greedy.'  ^ 

*  An  unlettered  king  is  a  crowned  ass/  ^ 

*  It  is  all-important  that  a  war  should  begin  well, 
for  the  end  of  a  war  often  lies  in  its  beginning.'  ^ 

*  He  is  a  poor  ruler  who  cannot  dissimulate.'  ^ 

[A  remark  very  characteristic  of  the  fifteenth 
century]. 

^  iEneas  Silvius,  Comment,  in  Fanorm.,  1.  1. 


AS  MAN   OF  LETTERS  221 

*A  miracle  should  always  be  regarded  with  mis- 
trust.'^ 

'Men,  who  deem  themselves  reasonable  beings, 
will  often  bow  down  before  princes  that  are  stupider 
than  beasts/^ 

*  Princes  slay  their  foes  when  they  spare  them : 
give  them  a  post  and  they  are  converted  into  friends/  ^ 

*  Life  is  a  play,  with  death  for  the  last  act/  ^ 

*  The  elected  ruler  has  no  worthy  successor.'  ^ 

'  Kingcraft  and  self-indulgence  cannot  occupy  the 
same  throne.'^ 

The  apophthegms  spread  through  his  voluminous 
writings  are  often  remarkable  and  very  profuse. 
The  following  are  a  few,  taken  at  random  : — 

'  Act  so  that  God  may  approve  or  that  you  could 
repeat  what  you  do  in  the  sight  of  men.' 

*  No  boldness  is  ever  quite  safe,  and  no  injury  lasts 
for  ever.' 

'  Laws  are  not  everlasting.' 

*  Nothing  more  wobbling  than  a  lie.' 

'  As  you  go  on  living,  so  will  you  die.' 

*  The  mob  always  prefers  utility  to  honour  :  honour 
requires  a  pecuniary  prop.' 

'Not  the  morning  nor  the  evening  star  is  more 
beautiful  than  the  wisdom  one  can  garner  from 
books.' 

'  Patience  is  the  best  remedy.' 

'Fortune  blunders  along  with  blinded  eyes;  she 
gives  most  of  her  gifts  to  the  least  worthy.' 

*  Time  rectifies  and  judges  all  things.' 

*  ^neas  Silvius,  Comment,  in  Fanorm.,  1.  2.  *  Loc.  cit.j  I.  3. 

^  Loc.  cit.,  1.  4. 


222 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


*  You  cannot  plunder  virtue.' 
'  When  the  guilty  man  is  condemned  without  trial,_ 

the  innocent  man  is  not  safe/ 

'  The  king  is  given  to  the  nation,  not  the  nation  to 
the  king.' 

*  Men  complain  of  the  burden  of  power,  but  do  not 
relinquish  it.' 

'  Judgement  in  belief  follows  desire.' 

*The  Majesty  of  God  does  nothing  at  random, 
nothing  in  haste.  We  are  stumblers  in  the  dark  ;  our 
discernment  is  infinitely  small.' 

'In  the  direction  of  men,  the  transformation  of 
states,  the  jurisdiction  of  empire,  how  feeble  is 
human  effort,  how  overwhelming  the  divine  appoint- 
ment.' 

*  God  himself  cannot  escape  censure.* 
'Every  age  is  blind  if  it  is  without  literature.' 

'  No  book  is  so  stupid  that  one  cannot  draw  some- 
thing out  it.' 

'  That  is  no  state  wherein  there  is  civil  discord.' 
'  Rarely  do  pious  men  have  pious  heirs.' 

*  Human  affairs  have  small  beginnings,  but,  once 
afoot,  they  run.' 

'  Woman  is  an  indomitable  creature ;  no  reins  will 
hold  her  back.' 

'  Every  delight  is  dull  without  wine.' 

*It  is  not  wise  to  scribble  about  those  that  can 
proscribe.' 

*  You  must  not  go  to  courts  for  holiness.' 

'We  must  deal  with  men  according  to  their 
natures.' 

'Truth  may  go  under  with  men,  but  not  with 
God.' 


AS   MAN   OF  LETTERS  223 

*  You  cannot  tell  the  whole  truth  either  to  a  tyrant 
or  the  people.' 

*  Man  is  so  desirous  of  fame  that  he  would  sooner 
part  with  riches  or  a  kingdom.' 

[Another  characteristic  fifteenth- century- 
sen  timent.] 
'  Men  and  their  laws  are  on  the  side  of  the  suc- 
cessful.' 

'  Oftimes,  in  aiding  another,  one  contrives  one's 
own  ruin.' 

'  A  gentleman  {generosus  spiritus)  cannot  do  a  mean 
action.' 

*  It  is  human  to  sin,  angelic  to  reform,  and  devilish 
to  persist.' 

In  conversation,  also,  ^neas  exhibited  similar 
sparkling  wit  and  shrewdness :  Platina  gives  a  long 
list  of  more  or  less  original  proverbs  with  which  he 
was  wont  to  point  his  remarks.^ 

^  Creighton  has  translated  these  in  his  History  of  the  Papacy,  vol.  iii. 
p.  338,  ed.  of  1897.  The  originals,  as  well  as  a  collection  of  Gnomologiae, 
will  be  found  in  the  Basel  edition  of  Pius's  works  (1551).  See  Enee  Siluii 
Senensis  Poete  Prouerbia :  Koln,  1475,  part  of  which  is  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum. 


224  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER   XII 

^NEAS   AS   CARDINAL 

The  Emperor  and  King  Ladislas  of  Hungary  had 
petitioned  that  iEneas  should  be  raised  to  the  purple. 
Fame  was  his,  but  he  remained  necessitous,  and  power 
belonged  to  rank.  Men  of  powerful  intelligence  who 
are  also  good-natured  and  good-tempered  are  rare, 
and  Piccolomini  possessed  all  these  qualities.  He 
skilfully  steered  clear  of  party,  took  care  to  offend  no 
one,  and  spared  no  pains  to  make  himself  agreeable 
— a  task  which,  to  him,  was  not  difficult.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances,  admission  to  the  Sacred 
College  would  soon  have  been  granted  to  so  able  a 
diplomatist  and  one  likely  to  prove  so  agreeable  a 
colleague.  And  Calixtus  was  inclined  to  favour  the 
man  so  eager  for  a  crusade.  But  nepotism  was  the 
Pope's  besetting  weakness,  and,  instead  of  more 
worthy  candidates,  he  raised  two  of  his  nephews  to 
the  purple,  to  the  indignation  of  the  Sacred  College. 
They  organised  a  stubborn  resistance  to  all  the  Pope's 
projects;  but,  at  last,  December  18,  1456,  Piccolo- 
mini's  name  was  among  those  of  six  new  cardinals. 
The  list  also  contained  the  name  of  Castiglione.  iEneas 
took  the  title  of  Cardinal-Presbyter  of  S.  Sabina. 
*  Never  have  you  been  in  such  a  conflict  and  issued 
victor  from  it,'  he  wrote  to  Carvajal.     *The  hinges 


hi 

--'•■%'-^^ 

tEneas  Silvius  is  creatp:d  a  Cardinal  by  Callextus  III. 

Fiiiticricchio.  Siena. 


AS   CARDINAL  225 

(cardines)  were  so  rusted  that  they  would  not  turn, 
and  Calixtus  had  to  use  battering  rams  and  every 
sort  of  mihtary  engine  to  force  the  portal/  ^  He  also 
wrote  a  letter  of  thanks  to  the  Emperor  for  his 
services.  *  I  will  show  all  men/  he  said,  '  that  I  am 
a  Cardinal  of  Germany  rather  than  Italy.  I  shall 
work  for  you  as  before,  with  no  abatement  of  zeal. 
For  I  shall  spare  no  effort,  no  pains,  on  behalf  of  your 
Majesty,  the  Sacred  Imperial  rule,  the  distinguished 
House  of  Hapsburg,  and  all  that  lies  nearest  your 
heart.  So  far  as  my  efforts  may  serve  you,  your 
interests  will  never  be  overlooked.'  ^  For  ^neas  the 
true  interest  of  Germany  was  the  support  of  the  power 
of  its  king.  The  Church  in  Germany  needed  reform, 
but  it  clamoured  for  more  than  he  conceived  to  be 
justly  due  to  it ;  he  knew  how  personal  and  wholly 
secular  were  the  ambitions  that  its  demands  dis- 
guised, and  he  did  not  believe  that  practical  and 
desirable  reforms  could  be  effected  by  ways  that 
would  derogate  from  the  authority,  as  yet  incompletely 
established,  of  the  Roman  See. 

Soon  after  his  election  secret  information  reached 
the  Curia  that  the  German  princes  were  preparing 
to  follow  the  example  of  France  and  establish  a 
national  church.  Jacob  of  Trier  had  died  in  May 
1456,  and  the  Pfalzgraf,  in  league  with  the  Arch- 
bishop-Electors of  Mainz  and  Koln,  strove  to  put  one 
of  their  partisans  in  the  vacant  chair.  A  great 
victory,  gained  over  the  Turk  at  Belgrade,  had 
released  Germany  from  immediate  danger,  and  the 
demand  of  Calixtus  for  tenths  to  finance  a  crusade 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Johan.  Card.  Pav ;  Ep.  195,  ed.  Basil,  1551. 

*  ^n.  Sil.,  Ep.,  December  22,  1457. 

P 


226  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

was  resisted,  and  enabled  the  princes  to  pursue 
their  personal  interests  under  the  rallying  cries  of 
Papal  extortion  and  Church  reform.  The  defence 
of  the  Church  was  entrusted  to  iEneas. 

He  knew  German  politics  thoroughly  well,  and 
that  disunion  among  the  princes  was  only  a  question 
of  time.  The  one  thing  necessary  in  Papal  and 
Imperial  interests  was  delay. 

Before  long,  he  received  two  letters  from  a  personal 
friend,  one  Martin  Mayr,  who  was  Chancellor  of  the 
Archbishopric   of  Mainz.      One   of  these,  unhappily 
lost,  held  a  private  offer  of  Mayr  to  serve  ^neas  and 
procure  certain  sums  for  him,  which  he  drew  from 
the  diocese.^    The  other  was  an  official  letter,  inspired 
by  the  Archbishop.     It  congratulated  Piccolomini  on 
his  accession   to  the  cardinalate,  but   proceeded   to 
indict    the    Papacy    for    bad    faith.      Tenths   were 
arbitrarily  demanded;    the   decrees  of  the  Councils 
were  ignored.     The  Pope  had  treated  Germany  as  a 
slave ;   he  had  laid  capitular  elections  aside ;   there 
were  extortions  at  Home,  and  benefices  were  reserved 
for  the  cardinals  and  secretaries  of  the  Curia.     *  You 
yourself,*  added  Mayr,  '  hold  a  general  reservation  in 
the  dioceses  of  Koln,  Mainz,  and  Trier,  amounting 
to  two  thousand  ducats  a  year^ — a  monstrous  and 
wholly  unprecedented  grant.'     ^Eneas  furnished  his 
answer  to  this  charge  in  a  letter  that  he  sent  to  the 
Dean  of  Worms.  ^     *We  served  more  than  twenty- 
four  years  in  Germany,  and  never  ceased  to  strive 
with  all  our  might  to  uphold  the  honour  of  that 

1  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Mat.  Mayr,  August  8  (?),  1457. 

a  Ep.  of  August  21  (?),  1457. 

»  Mn.  Sil.,  Ep.,  dated  July  22,  1457. 


AS   CAEDINAL  227 

nation  ;  and  now  that  we,  though  unworthy,  are  called 
to  the  Sacred  College,  we  still  strive  for  the  honour, 
and  in  the  service  of  that  country.  Therefore  we 
opine  that  we  do  not  deserve  the  hatred  of  the 
German  nation  if  we  take  two  thousand  ducats  as 
an  annual  acknowledgement/ 

Cardinal  Piccolomini  knew  Germany  well  enough 
to  perceive  that  Mayr's  letter  covered  some  private 
scheme  of  the  Archbishop.  Mayr  had  made  a  dex- 
terous party  attack  and  ^neas  met  it  with  an  equally 
skilful  parry,^  which  he  afterwards  expanded  into 
a  work,  De  ritu,  situ,  conditione  et  morihus  Ger- 
maniae}  The  general  purport  of  these  two  retorts 
was  as  follows :  Let  those  that  have  grievances 
submit  them  to  the  Pope.  The  Pontiff  was  blamed 
for  doing  what  the  princes  had  requested  him  to  do, 
in  order  that  he  might  raise  funds  for  the  Turkish 
war.  He  had  interfered  with  capitular  elections 
when  rapacious  and  ambitious  men  were  chosen,  and, 
in  fact,  every  election  brought  before  the  Curia 
during  the  past  two  years  had  been  annulled.  True, 
the  Pope  received  money  for  indulgences,  but  it  was 
for  the  Turkish  war  and  was  of  the  nature  of  a  free 
gift.  Germany  had  grown  rich  through  its  con- 
nection with  the  Papacy  and  complained  of  having 
to  pay  its  dues :  let  Germans  remember  that  the 
Bohemians  made  the  same  complaint  against  the 
complainers.  In  fact  it  is  a  weakness  of  human 
nature  that  everybody  objects  when  he  is  called 
upon  to  pay,  and  the  grievance  is  as  ancient  as  it  is 

1  Mn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Mayr,  August  8  (?),  1457. 

2  Dated  February  1,  1458,     It  is  given  in  Archiv.  fur  Kunde  (Ester- 
reich.  Geschichtsquellen,  xvi.  420  et  seq. 


228 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


universal.  Corruption  exists  among  the  officials  of 
the  Curia  as  well  as  elsewhere ;  but  if  they  took 
money  they  did  so  without  the  Papal  sanction,  and 
those  whose  ambition  led  them  to  give  it  were  no 
less  to  blame. 

iEneas's  penetration  into  motives  had  not  failed 
him.  In  September  1457,  the  Archbishop  sent  an 
envoy  to  him  to  say  that  he  was  prepared  to  forsake 
the  Electors  if  he  were  granted  the  right  of  confirm- 
ing bishoprics  throughout  Germany.  The  CardinaFs 
reply  was  courteous  but  sarcastic.  He  was  delighted 
to  find  that  the  Archbishop  had  come  over  to  the 
Pope's  point  of  view.  But  he  was  asking  for  quite 
a  new  privilege.  The  subjects  of  Christ's  Vicar 
should  obey,  not  haggle.  He  was  sure,  however, 
there  must  be  some  misunderstanding :  the  Arch- 
bishop was  too  modest  a  man  to  have  made  such  a 
request.  Anyhow,  he  could  not  lay  it  before  so  wise, 
upright,  and  incorruptible  a  Pontifi*  as  Calixtus.^ 

Danger  was  imminent.  Piccolomini  exerted  his 
utmost  powers  to  divert  it.  He  wrote  a  conciliatory 
letter  to  Mayr,  promising  that  the  Pope  would  grant 
all  smaller  requests,  and  that  he,  iEneas,  would  do 
him  all  the  service  in  his  power.  He  wrote  to 
Frederick,  to  Ladislas,  to  the  German  archbishops, 
to  Cusa  and  Carvajal,  who  were  in  Germany,  and 
to  all  his  friends  there.  He  pointed  out  to  the 
princes  that  capitular  elections  rarely  gave  a  benefice 
to  the  scions  of  great  houses,  and  to  the  bishops, 
that  striking  at  the  Head  of  the  Church  was  the 
way  to  undermine  their  own  authority.  He  procured 
delay,  and  delay  was  as  fatal   to  princely  intrigue 

1  JEa.  Sil.,  Ep.  338,  ed.  Basil.  1551. 


AS  CARDINAL  229 

as  to  the  hope  of  the  German  reformers.  Ladislas 
died  soon  afterwards,  and  the  dominions  of  Austria, 
Hungary,  and  Bohemia,  were  thrown  into  dispute ; 
everybody's  attention  was  directed,  now,  to  the 
question  of  succession  and  to  what  advantages  he 
could  secure  for  himself. 

The  Italy  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  a  seething, 
struggling  mass  of  warring  states,  factions,  and 
families,  where  personal  force  and  personal  craft  alone 
obtained  that  power  without  which  there  was  no 
security.  As  Burckhardt  has  so  fully  demonstrated, 
these  were  the  conditions  that  allowed  Man  as  an 
Individual  to  emerge.  The  long  residence  of  the 
Papacy  at  Avignon,  the  growing  worldliness  of  the 
Church,  repeated  schisms,  and  the  decay  of  Papal 
authority,  carrying  that  of  the  clergy  with  it,  had 
left  little  restraining  force  in  religion.  There  were 
many  men  and  women  that  were  devout ;  there  were 
not  a  few  that  led  saintly  lives ;  there  was  much 
revivalism  at  work,  that  moved  the  masses  in  spasms 
of  emotion ;  but  to  most  men  the  Catholic  Faith 
had  become  little  more  than  an  unquestioned  tradi- 
tion, a  mere  polity.  Religious  observance  was  carried 
out  with  ceremonious  exactitude,  but  it  rarely 
stimulated  any  natural  turn  for  virtue,  and  it  re- 
strained no  natural  predilection  for  vice.  All  '  armies 
of  angels  that  soar,  legions  of  devils  that  lurk*  in 
the  human  soul  were  set  loose.  There  was  no  social 
synthesis,  no  general  bond  of  common  obligation. 
The  rulers  of  states  were  insecure,  especially  the  petty 
despots  of  small  communities,  and  they  threw  off  all 
ethical  restraint  in  order  to  exist.      Their  example 


230  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

spread  throughout  society.  Men's  consciences  were 
enfranchised ;  every  man  tried  to  satisfy  the  require- 
ments of  his  own  nature  in  his  own  way.  Never  was 
there  a  time  when  the  will  of  the  individual  was  so 
emancipated,  when  the  ability  of  the  individual  was 
so  little  circumscribed  by  convention. 

Such  was  the  environment  in  which  iEneas  found 
himself  during  the  impressionable  years  of  youth,  nor 
had  he  found  the  moral  atmosphere  of  Germany  a  great 
improvement  on  that  of  his  native  land;  he  only 
breathed  a  cruder  air  there.  He  returned  to  Italy 
and  was  now  a  Cardinal  of  the  Catholic  Church.  But 
the  occupant  of  the  Apostolic  Chair  was  also  the  ruler 
of  an  Italian  state,  and  Rome  was  the  centre  of  the 
tangled  web  of  Italian  politics  and  intrigue.  The 
Papacy  was  on  its  way  to  secularisation  ;  the  Pope  and 
his  Curia,  as  secular  princes,  had  to  exercise  the  same 
kind  of  wily  device  and  cunning  stratagem  as  other 
temporal  princes ;  they  had  to  plot  or  disappear ;  the 
Church  reflected  the  world  around  her ;  there  was 
much  intrigue  and  personal  ambition  among  her  ser- 
vants, and  no  one  thought  the  worse  of  an  ecclesiastic 
who  schemed  for  his  own  personal  success.  The  guile- 
less days  had  not  then  arrived  when  Church  and 
Senate  became  unaffected  by  '  self-regarding  virtues/ 
We  must  judge  all  ^neas's  motives  and  actions 
by  comparison  with  the  other  ecclesiastics  and  lay- 
men of  his  time ;  we  must  take  an  imperfect  moral 
ideal  as  the  standard  by  which  we  may  condone  or 
condemn. 

He  was  the  poorest  of  the  cardinals  and  found  it 
difficult  to  maintain  his  position  among  them.  When 
he  wrote  to  thank  the  Emperor  for  recommending 


AS  CARDINAL  231 

him  to  Calixtus,  he  added,  *  But  I  am  poor  and  on  the 
verge  of  real  destitution.  Your  Highness  can  provide 
for  my  neediness  without  any  scruple,  should  you 
have  any  vacant  benefice  in  your  dominion  to  spare.'  ^ 
He  wrote  to  Sforza,  now  become  Duke  of  Milan,  giving 
him  a  similar  hint.  He  may  have  manoeuvred  to 
obtain  the  Bishopric  of  Ermland,  that  lay  on  the 
dreary  shores  of  the  Baltic  ;  ^  he  may  have  interwoven 
personal  aims  with  his  schemes  for  the  complete 
restoration  of  Papal  authority  in  Germany.  He  took 
the  world  as  he  found  it. 

It  had  been  the  practice  of  Popes  to  strengthen 
their  position  by  advancing  their  family  to  important 
posts  in  the  Church  and  Papal  States.  Calixtus 
carried  this  principle  to  its  extremest  limits.  Cardinal 
Roderigo  Borgia,  one  of  his  nephews,  was  a  young 
man  of  great  energy  and  ability,  and  he  had  not  yet 
exhibited  to  the  world  the  unconquerable  sensuality 
of  his  character.  He  asked  Cardinal  Piccolomini  to 
attend  to  his  interests  while  he  was  away.  iEneas 
does  not  appear  to  have  disapproved  of  the  Papal 
policy  ;  a  Pope  must  strengthen  himself  against  oppo- 
sition in  his  own  Curia  and  State;  especially  when 
there  is  the  grave  task  of  a  Turkish  war  before  him, 
and  the  majority  of  the  Cardinals  were  bitterly  opposed 
to  Calixtus.  The  great  strength  of  ^Eneas's  affection 
for  his  own  family,  too,  would  render  him  exceptionally 
indulgent.^  He  replied  to  Borgia,  *  I  will  keep  a  sharp 
look-out  as  regards  benefices,  both  for  you  and  for 
myself     But  much  news  that  we  get  turns  out  to  be 

1  JEn.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Caesarem,  March  8,  1457. 
*  Voigt,  loc.  cit.j  vol.  ii.  p.  223  et  seq. 

2  See  Nozz6  Adcumi-Forteguerri.    Siena,  1901. 


232 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


false.  We  heard  of  the  demise  of  a  certam  person  at' 
Nurnberg,  but  he  was  here  the  other  day  and  dined 
with  me.  They  said  that  the  Bishop  of  Toul  expired 
at  Neustadt,  but  he  is  back  in  Burgundy  again,  hale 
and  hearty.  I  will,  however,  keep  my  eyes  open  ;  but 
the  best  watcher  for  your  interests  will  be  the  Pope 
himself.' 

But  diplomacy  and  place-hunting  did  not  occupy 
all  Piccolomini's  time  and  energy.  In  the  spring  of 
1458,  when  he  was  laid  up  with  gout,  a  German  book- 
seller, who  had  settled  in  Rome,  waited  on  the  literary 
Cardinal  and  suggested  that  he  should  write  a  book 
for  him.  JEneas  had  many  intellectual  interests,  but 
his  natural  bent,  says  Campano,^  was  towards  poetry ; 
yet  in  middle  life  he  was  more  attracted  by  geography 
and  history.  The  suggestion  of  the  bookseller  led  to 
the  commencement  of  a  description  of  the  whole  world 
as  known  to  us  in  space  and  time,  and  he  began  the 
part  of  it  called  'Europa.'  He  continued,  too,  his 
voluminous  correspondence  with  private  friends.  It 
should  be  noted  that,  though  he  attempted  to  make 
his  letters  correspond  with  the  dignity  of  his  new 
station,  this  was  unsuccessful  with  his  familiar  friends. 
He  has  not  written  many  lines  before  he  resumes  the 
old,  chatty  tone :  he  is  as  frank  and  unreserved  and 
natural  as  ever.^  He  was,  however,  feeling  the  effects 
of  an  exceptionally  arduous  life  and  of  almost  incessant 
travel  in  days  when  travel  was  an  undertaking  of  no 
little  difficulty,  labour,  and  peril ;  he  had  aged  pre- 
maturely, and  he  suffered  from  repeated  severe  attacks 
of  gout  with  its  concomitants   gravel  and  asthma. 

*  Campanus,  Vita  Pii  II.  apnd  Muratori,  R.  I.  S.,  vol.  iii.  part  ii.  p.  967. 

*  -^n.  Sil.,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxetum,  November  7,  1456. 


AS  CARDINAL  233 

He  had  been  almost  bald,  with  a  little  fringe  of  grey 
hair  at  forty. ^  He  was  seeking  relief  from  pain  at  the 
baths  of  Viterbo  and  prosecuting  his  literary  relaxa- 
tions there  when  news  reached  him  of  the  death  of 
Calixtus  III.  His  old  master,  Cardinal  Capranica, 
whom  men  expected  to  become  the  next  Pope,  had 
died  two  days  before  Calixtus.^  Although  Piccolomini 
was  frail  and  diseased  in  body,  he  was  still  young  in 
mind  and  heart.  Training  had  converted  him  into  an 
able  diplomatist ;  he  had  dwelt  for  years  in  the  very 
centre  of  European  politics  ;  no  one  in  the  Curia  had 
a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  affairs ;  no  one  had 
such  close  personal  acquaintance  with  the  enemies  of 
the  Papacy,  such  insight  into  their  designs,  such 
experience  of  their  methods ;  no  one  was  so  familiar 
with  all  sorts  of  men  and  all  kinds  of  nations  and 
their  requirements ;  Germany  was  the  chief  source  of 
Papal  wealth,  and,  therefore,  the  chief  sustainer  of 
Papal  power,  and  who  knew  so  well  how  to  deal  with 
the  menacing  attitude  of  the  princes  as  he  ?  He  was  a 
moving  speaker,  a  scholar,  and  a  forcible  and  elegant 
writer.  But  he  was  much  more — he  had  graduated 
in  the  school  of  life ;  he  had  atoned  for  his  former 
opposition  to  the  Papacy  by  becoming  its  ablest  de- 
fender ;  he  was  the  only  man  likely  to  take  up  the 
Crusade  with  any  warmth,  for  his  was  almost  the  only 
eye  that  perceived  the  real  magnitude  and  nearness  of 
the  danger ;  there  were  but  very  few  men  that  he  had 
offended,  and  he  was  more  than  acceptable  to  most. 
Ambition,  duty,  a  sense  of  personal  fitness,  called  him 
to  candidature  for  the  Tiara.     The  news  of  Calixtus's 

1  ^n.  Sil,  Ep.  ad  Petrum  de  Noxetum,  November  7,  1456. 

2  Capranica  died  on  August  4,  1458,  and  Calixtus  on  August  6. 


234 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


death  was  brought  to  Piccolomini  in  the  dead  of  night. 
He  left  the  baths  in  the  morning,  and  took  horse  for 
Rome.  Calandrini,  a  popular  cardinal,  who  was  also 
in  men's  minds  as  having  some  chance  of  succeeding 
to  Calixtus,  had  also  been  taking  the  baths,  and 
accompanied  him. 


THE  ELECTION  TO  THE  PAPACY    235 


CHAPTEE    XIII 

THE   ELECTION   TO   THE   PAPACY — THE   CORONATION 
OF   PIUS   II. 

Rarely  did  an  election  to  the  Papacy  present  more 
perplexing  problems  or  had  been  attended  with  greater 
anxiety.  The  political  situation  was  unsatisfactory. 
Alfonso  of  Naples  died  in  the  June  of  this  year, 
leaving  an  illegitimate  son,  Ferrante,  to  succeed  to 
the  throne,  but  considerable  doubt  existed  as  to 
whether  Ferrante  was  Alfonso's  son  at  all.  Calixtus 
claimed  the  kingdom  as  a  lapsed  fief.  Jean  of  Anjou 
revived  the  pretensions  of  his  house,  and  urged  the 
discontented  among  the  nobles  of  the  kingdom  to 
rebel.  The  French  party  in  the  Sacred  College, 
headed  by  Cardinal  D'Estouteville,  Archbishop  of 
Rouen,  was  strong,  and  the  Cardinal  stood  a  chance 
of  being  elected  to  the  Tiara.  Sforza  of  Milan  and 
some  of  the  Italian  powers  dreaded,  with  reason,  the 
preponderance  of  France  in  Italy,  and  the  more  far- 
sighted  among  the  cardinals  feared  lest  the  election 
of  a  French  cardinal  to  the  Papacy  should  lead  to 
its  transference  to  Avignon,  a  city  which  belonged  to 
it,  or,  at  the  very  least,  to  French  predominance  in 
the  Church.  If  a  French  cardinal  became  Pope, 
it  might  well  happen  that  the  Papacy  would  be  under 
the  heel  of  the  French  king.     Again,  Piccinino,  the 


236 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


condottiere,  acting  ostensibly  for  Ferrante,  ha( 
advanced  into  the  Papal  States.  Assisi,  Gualdo,  and 
Nocera  were  in  his  power,  and  he  was  credited  with 
the  design  of  carving  a  state  for  himself  out  of  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  And,  although  the  monarchs 
of  the  West  despised  the  Turkish  danger,  beUeving 
that  the  Moslem  had  entirely  overcome  degenerate 
peoples  only,  and  that  more  vigorous  races  would 
prove  their  ability  to  withstand  him,  his  advance 
was  rapid.  Isle  after  isle  in  the  Levantine  Archi- 
pelago, kingdom  after  kingdom  of  Eastern  Europe, 
that  had  once  owned  allegiance  to  Rome,  had,  within 
a  few  years,  been  compelled  to  accept  the  Crescent 
for  their  standard.  In  June  Athens  had  fallen,  now 
it  was  the  turn  of  Corinth  to  succumb,  and  the  Moslem 
had  obtained  a  foothold  in  Servia.  Everywhere  the 
Pontifical  authority  was  lowered ;  national  churches 
had  been  proclaimed,  and  these  diverted  all  revenues 
to  themselves  ;  wealthy  Germany  was  ready  to  revolt. 
The  Roman  mob,  anxious  and  armed,  narrowly 
watched  the  conclave,  for  Piccinino  and  his  army 
were  very  near  at  hand. 

The  envoys  at  Rome  of  the  Italian  States  strove 
to  influence  the  various  cardinals.  Sforza  was 
especially  anxious  about  the  forthcoming  election, 
for  if  Calixtus's  policy  in  favour  of  the  House  of 
Anjou  were  continued  by  the  new  Pope,  and  a  French- 
man reigned  in  South  Italy,  the  French  claim  to 
Milan  would  probably  be  revived  and  the  duchy  laid 
open  to  attack  on  two  sides.  But  Venice  was  for 
the  French,  since  she  wished  her  powerful  neighbour, 
Sforza,  to  be  weakened,  and  Florence  had  always 
held   close   relations  with   the  Angevin   dynasty  in 


THE  ELECTION  TO  THE  PAPACY    237 

Naples  and  derived  too  much  commercial  profit  from 
France  to  change  sides. 

Cardinal  Piccolomini,  with  his  usual  good  nature, 
had  done  his  best  to  get  Frederick  to  acknowledge 
the  Milanese  usurper/  who  established  a  strong  and 
just  government.  Sforza's  ambassador  at  Rome  wrote 
to  his  master :  '  I  am  not  without  hope  for  Cardinal 
Colonna,  but  it  would  be  easier  to  carry  the  Cardinal 
of  Siena,  for  all  parties  like  him  and  he  stands  well 
with  the  envoys  sent  by  the  King  of  Naples/^  And 
the  Neapolitan  ambassador  wrote  to  his  master  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  bringing  about  peace  between 
the  houses  of  Colonna  and  Orsini  (houses  that  headed 
the  two  rival  factions  in  Rome  and  were  almost 
always  in  active  warfare  with  one  another),  and  that 
he  was  trying  to  get  votes  for  Piccolomini ;  '  thank 
God,  Cardinal  Orsini  has  consented ' ;  he  continues, 
Cardinals  Torquemada  (a  Spaniard),  Barbo,  and 
Calandrini  were  aspirants  as  well  as  Piccolomini. 
But  the  most  formidable  candidate  was  Guillaume 
d'Estouteville,  the  Frenchman. 

Eight  Italians,  five  Spaniards,  two  Frenchmen, 
one  Portuguese,  and  two  Greeks — eighteen  in  all, 
assembled  in  conclave.  Each  slept  in  a  separate 
chamber  leading  out  of  a  large  hall  in  the  Vatican. 
They  dined  together  in  the  hall,  but  their  delibera- 
tions and  the  voting  took  place  in  a  smaller  room.^ 

The  proceedings  were  opened  by  Domenico  de' 
Domenichi,  Bishop  of  Torcello,  who  preached  a  sermon 
that  is  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Vatican, 

1  Voigt,  Fius  IL,  iii.  65. 

*  Otto  da  Caretto,  given  by  Pastor,  History  of  the  Papacy,  English 
trans.,  iii.  378.  ^  p^^  jj  Comment.^  1.  1. 


238  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

He  did  not  mince  his  words.  After  pointing  out  th< 
magnitude  and  imminence  of  the  Turkish  peril,  the 
disturbed  state  of  Europe,  the  sad  condition  of 
the  Church,  and  the  exceptional  gravity  of  the 
decision  they  were  called  upon  to  make,  he  continued : 
*  The  Christian  princes  are  at  variance,  and  those  who 
should  war  against  the  infidel  rend  one  another,  and 
no  one  can  persuade  them  to  peace.  The  clergy  are 
morally  corrupt ;  they  cause  the  laity  to  blaspheme 
and  bring  them  to  eternal  perdition  ;  all  ecclesiastical 
discipline  has  disappeared.  Day  after  day  the 
authority  of  the  Church  becomes  more  despised ; 
nay,  the  force  of  her  censure  has  almost  ceased  to 
be  felt.  Who  shall  restore  it  ?  All  these  matters 
require  the  wisest  and  ablest  of  Heads  to  the  Church. 
The  Roman  Curia  is  degenerate.  Who  shall  reform 
it?'^ 

Before  proceeding  to  the  election,  every  cardinal 
was  called  upon  to  sign  a  declaration,  that  if  choice 
fell  on  him,  he  would  observe  the  rights  of  the 
College.  We  learn  many  details  concerning  the 
election  from  ^Eneas,  for  he  gives  the  fullest  descrip- 
tion we  possess  of  any  such  event. ^  It  would  appear 
that  a  golden  chalice,  the  receptacle  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  was  placed  on  the  altar,  and  three  guar- 
dians were  appointed  from  among  the  cardinals  to 
watch  it.  Each  cardinal,  having  written  down  the 
name  of  his  candidate,  and  sealed  his  voting  paper 
with  his  signet-ring,  advanced  in  an  order  determined 
by  rank,  and  placed  it  in  the  chalice.  When  all  had 
voted  the  three  guardians  read  out  the  votes. 

The  first  scrutiny  took  place   on  the  third   day, 

1  Codex  Vatic.  3675.  *  gee  Pii  II.  Comment.^  1.  1. 


THE  ELECTION  TO  THE  PAPACY    239 

and,  as  was  usually  the  case,   it   yielded  no  result. 
But  it  gave  a  basis  for  discussion.     Calandrini  and 
Piccolomini   headed   the   list   with   five   votes   each. 
An  interchange  of  views  then  took  place  in  a  series 
of  private  conversations.     D'Estouteville,  Cardinal  of 
Rouen,  was  related  on  his  mother's  side  to  the  royal 
house  of    France ;    he    was    one   of    those    princely, 
magnificent  prelates  that  commanded  so  much  power 
and  had  so  much  to  bestow.     He  let  it  be  understood 
that  his  adherents  would  be  well  rewarded.     '  Can 
you  be  going  to  choose  -^neas  ? '  he  asked.     '  He  is 
too  poor  to  succour  the  impoverished  Church  ;   too 
gouty  and  infirm  to  undertake  the  healing  of  her 
infirmities.    He  has  but  recently  come  from  Germany; 
we   do   not  know  him  sufiiciently,  and  it  is   quite 
probable  that  he  will  transfer  the  Sacred  College  to 
the  country  he  has  such  an  afiection  for.     And,  again, 
shall  we  put  a  poet  into  the  chair  of  the  Apostle  ? 
Shall  we  raise  a  man  who  worships  the  heathen  muses, 
and  have  the  Church  governed  on  Pagan  lines  ?     As 
for  Calandrini,  he  cannot  even  govern  himself     Now, 
I  am  senior  in  the  Sacred  College  to  both  these  men. 
I  am  of  the  royal  blood  of  France.     I  am  wealthy 
and  have  many  friends.     When  I  am   elected   the 
many  benefices  I  now  hold  will  be  for  you.' 

Such  is  ^neas's  account  of  what  the  Cardinal  of 
Rouen  said  to  those  who  might  be  induced  to  support 
him.  It  would  be  interesting  could  we  read  an 
account  of  what  occurred  from  D'Estouteville's  pen 
as  well  as  iEneas  s.  However,  we  shall  see,  a  little 
later  on,  D'Estouteville  oflfered  definite  bribes,  and 
probably  iEneas's  account  gives  what  any  intelligent 
man  might  read  between  the  lines  of  the  Cardinal's 


240  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

actual  words.  But  very  worthy  men  were,  neverthe- 
less, on  his  side.  Of  such  was  Bessarion,  the  Greek, 
who  remained  in  Italy  after  the  Congress  at  Florence. 
Probably  Bessarion,  who  was  a  dull  but  conscien- 
tious man,  burning  with  zeal  against  the  Turk,  was 
attracted  to  D'Estouteville  by  the  hope  that  the 
French  throne  would  renew  its  ancient  traditions  and 
lead  a  crusade.  Perhaps,  too,  he  felt  the  repulsion 
that  a  man  of  slow  intelligence  so  often  experiences 
from  one  of  witty,  ready  mind. 

The  French  party,  eleven  in  number,  met  together 
in  the  dead  of  night,  and  six  of  them  bound  them- 
selves by  oath  to  vote  for  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen. 
Calandrini  got  to  know  of  this  secret  meeting,  and 
went  at  once  to  Piccolomini^s  chamber  and  aroused 
him.  *  iEneas,  what  are  you  doing  ?  *  he  exclaimed. 
'  Do  you  not  know  that  D'Estouteville  is  as  good  as 
chosen  ?  His  adherents  are  closeted  together  and 
only  await  to-morrow.  Go  and  give  him  your  vote, 
for  I  know,  from  my  experience  with  Calixtus,  that  it 
is  impolitic  to  have  a  Pope  against  you.*  Calandrini 
wanted  to  get  iEneas's  vote  for  himself. 

iEneas  replied  that  it  would  go  against  his  con- 
science to  do  as  Calandrini  suggested ;  but  he  passed 
a  restless  night.  Early  next  morning  he  went  to 
Borgia,  and  asked  him  straight  out  what  D'Estoute- 
ville had  promised  him.  The  Spaniard  answered  that 
it  was  the  Vice- Chancellorship.  'Will  you  trust  a 
Frenchman,  the  enemy  of  Spain  ? '  asked  u^Eneas ; 
*  D'Estouteville  has  already  promised  that  appoint- 
ment to  the  Cardinal  of  Aragon.  To  which  of  you 
will  he  give  it  ? '  Then  he  went  to  Castiglione,  and 
discovered  that  he  also  had  promised  his  vote  to  the 


THE  ELECTION  TO  THE  PAPACY    241 

Cardinal  of  Eouen  for  a  similar  reason  to  the  one 
Calandrini  had  urged,  ^neas  took  higher  ground  with 
Castiglione,  and  pointed  out  the  grave  danger  that 
a  French  Papacy  might  be  to  the  Church  and  Italy. 
Next,  he  went  on  to  Barbo,  and  discovered  that  he 
had  given  up  all  hope  of  his  own  election,  and  was 
ready  to  throw  all  his  energy  into  the  Italian  cause. 
Barbo  got  six  of  the  Italian  cardinals  to  meet,  and 
urged  that  they  should  put  public  duty  above  private 
considerations,  and  vote  for  ^neas.  Colonna  was 
not  present  at  this  meeting ;  he  was  a  scholar,  a 
skilled  diplomatist  and  a  man  of  penetrating  intellect, 
but  Barbo  had  favoured  the  Orsini,  the  enemies  of  his 
house,  in  the  internal  quarrels  of  Rome,  and  -^neas 
himself  had  rather  inclined  to  them.  All  that  were 
at  the  meeting  agreed  with  Barbo.  -^neas  told  them 
that  he  felt  himself  to  be  unworthy  of  the  great  office. 
It  is  what  any  man  might  be  expected  to  say  on  such 
an  occasion,  but  a  sincere  sense  of  personal  imperfec- 
tion and  frailty  could  hardly  have  failed  to  mingle 
with  many  other  thoughts  and  feelings  in  a  mind  of 
such  subtle  complexity  as  Piccolomini's. 

By  this  time  day  was  advancing.  Mass  was  said, 
and  then  proceedings  began.  D'Estouteville  was 
appointed  to  be  one  of  the  guardians  of  the  chalice, 
and  he  stood  by  it,  white  and  trembling;  when 
u.'Eneas  went  up  to  deposit  his  vote  he  whispered  in 
his  ear,  'I  commend  myself  to  you,  ^neas.'  *Do 
you  rely  on  such  a  poor  worm  as  I  am  ? '  replied 
Piccolomini.  When  all  had  recorded  their  votes  the 
chalice  was  emptied,  and  D'Estouteville  announced 
that  he  had  six  votes  and  ^Eneas  eight.  'Count 
again,'  said  iEneas,  and  D'Estouteville  confessed  that 

Q 


242  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

he   had   made  a  mistake  :    there   were   nine.      But 
three   votes  were  wanting   to   the  two-thirds   clear   ■ 
majority  required  for  the  election  of  a  Pope.     One   I 
method  had  failed ;  that  of  accessus  remained  to  be 
tried.  M 

*A11  sat  in  their  places,  pale  and  silent/  wrote 
iEneas,  *as  if  they  were  rapt  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken  by  any  one ;  no  one  moved 
his  lips,  no  one  stirred  a  limb — only  eyes  shifting 
around;  ever  this  prolonged  silence.  There  was  no 
change ;  not  a  sound,  not  a  movement. '  ^ 

Gregorovius,  commenting  on  this  passage,  remarks 
that  if  envy  and  ambition  be  the  marks  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  these  were  there.  Pastor  has  shown  us,  from 
the  reports  of  ambassadors,  how  much  influenced  by 
worldly  motives  many  of  the  cardinals  were.  But 
Gregorovius's  sneer  would  seem  to  cast  a  doubt  on  the 
sincerity  of  ^neas  in  penning  the  passage.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  never,  for  one  moment,  did  he 
question  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  that  it 
is  guided  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  tells  us,  with  the 
utmost  candour,  about  the  intrigues  that  preceded 
the  election.  We  have  seen  how  the  Bishop  of 
Torcello  charged  the  assembled  cardinals,  to  their 
faces,  with  corruption.  We  shall  presently  learn 
what  iEneas's  own  emotions  were  when  he  was  chosen 
Pope.  But  grave  questions  hung  on  the  decision,  and 
these  may  well  have  weighed  most  in  the  minds  of  the 
Curia  at  this  supreme  moment.  For,  if  some  of  the 
Sacred  College  were  self-seekers,  and  others  owed 
their  presence  there  to  favouritism,  some  had  been  f 
raised  to  the  purple  for  their  statesmanlike  ability, 

^  Fii  II.  Comment^  1.  1. 


THE  ELECTION  TO  THE  PAPACY    243 

and  many  for  their  sincere  and  unaffected  piety. 
Even  D'Estouteville  counted  holy  men  among  his 
supporters ;  and  there  were  those  who  were  quite 
single-minded  in  their  desire  to  secure  the  powerful 
support  of  France  for  the  Church  and  the  Turkish 
war,  or  to  preserve  the  freedom  of  Italy  and  that 
of  the  Church. 

At  last  the  silence  was  broken  by  Roderigo  Borgia. 
*  I  vote  for  the  Cardinal  of  Siena,'  he  said.  There 
was  a  second  and  still  longer  silence.  Then  an 
attempt  was  made  to  adjourn  the  election ;  Isidore  of 
Russia  and  Torquemada  left  the  chamber,  but  soon 
returned.  Then  Cardinal  Tebaldo  rose  from  his  seat, 
and  said,  *  I,  also,  accede  to  the  Cardinal  of  Siena.' 
At  last  Colonna  rose :  his  sense  of  a  higher  duty  had 
overcome  his  loyalty  to  a  party.  D'Estouteville  and 
Bessarion  seized  him  and  tried  to  lead  him  out  of 
the  room.  But,  as  they  dragged  him,  he  declared  his 
vote  in  a  loud  voice,  *  I  also  accede  to  the  Cardinal 
of  Siena,  and  I  make  him  Pope.' 

He  had  uttered  the  final,  irrevocable  word.  All 
rose  from  their  seats  to  kneel  to  ^neas  and  con- 
gratulate him.  Then,  *  the  burden  of  the  future  fell 
on  the  Pope's  soul,'  he  tells  us,  'he  comprehended 
the  height  of  his  calling.'  He  had  achieved  his 
ambition,  but  there  was  no  exultation  in  his  heart. 
Any  element  of  joy  at  success  was  merged  in  the 
realisation  of  his  responsibility.  The  heaviest  of 
tasks  lay  before  him :  to  heal  the  discords  of 
Christendom,  to  reunite  the  divided  nations  under 
his  paternal  care,  to  check  the  fierce  onslaught  of  the 
Moslem,  confident  in  the  strength  of  an  irresistible 
soldiery,  exultant  with   victory,  and   burning   with 


244  iENEAS  STLVIUS 

religious  zeal,  ^neas  burst  into  tears,  and  it  was 
some  time  before  he  could  regain  self-command.  And 
then  he  exhibited  the  deep  moral  feeling  that  such 
an  occasion  might  indeed  bring  forth.  *  You,'  said  he 
to  those  who  congratulated  him,  *  You  see  only  the 
honour  and  dignity  to  which  I  am  raised :  I  perceive 
the  toil  and  danger.  For  what  I  have  demanded  of 
others  has  fallen  to  me  to  perform.'  ^  Henceforward 
he  was,  in  many  respects,  a  very  different  being  from 
the  necessitous  man  of  aforetime,  struggling  for 
position  and  means;  he  was  sufficiently,  if  not 
abundantly,  supplied  with  funds  to  maintain  his 
high  position ;  he  was  called  to  the  most  responsible 
office  in  Christendom.  No  one  ever  enjoyed  more 
thoroughly  the  dignity  that  attaches  to  the  Apostolic 
Throne ;  but  few  called  to  the  Papacy  have  ever  been 
filled  with  a  wider,  completer  sense  of  all  the  duties 
that  are  demanded  of  the  Father  of  Christian  peoples. 
His  accession  brought  out  all  the  noblest  elements  in 
his  character. 

Bessarion  advanced  to  the  newly  elected  Pope,  and, 
as  representative  of  what  had  been  the  opposition, 
spoke.  He  said  :  *  We  accept  your  election,  and  do 
not  doubt  that  it  is  the  work  of  God.  We  believe 
you  to  be  worthy  of  your  high  office,  nor  have  we 
ever  doubted  it.  But  we  were  afraid  of  your  bodily 
infirmities.  Your  feet  are  crippled  by  gout,  and 
bodily  activity  may  be  needed  for  the  Moslem  peril. 
Hence  we  preferred  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen.  Had 
you  been  strong  of  body,  we  had  willingly  accepted 
you.  But  God  has  ordered,  and  we  obey.  He  will 
not  allow  your  infirmity  to  interfere,  nor  impute  our 

1  Campanus,  apud  Muratori,  B.  I.  5.,  iii.  ii.  947. 


THE  CORONATION    OF  PIUS   II.      245 

reluctance  to  us.  Now  that  you  are  Pope,  we  will 
proffer  you  true  service  and  obedience.' 

'You  think  better  of  Us,'  the  Pope  replied,  *  than 
We  do  of  Ourselves.  You  speak  only  of  Our  feet : 
We  know  fuU  well  that  other  failings  might  have 
kept  Us  from  the  Pontificate.  We  know  of  no  service 
that  renders  Us  worthy.  On  the  contrary,  We 
should  judge  Ourselves  to  be  wholly  unworthy,  but 
that  two-thirds  of  the  Sacred  College  have  chosen 
Us,  and  so  the  Holy  Spirit  has  declared  His  Will. 
Therefore,  We  obey  the  summons  of  God.  And  you, 
that  held  Us  to  be  unworthy,  did  as  you  thought 
right,  and  will  be  dear  to  Us.  For  We  ascribe  Our 
election,  not  to  this  one  or  that  one,  but  to  the 
Sacred  College  as  a  whole,  and  to  God,  whence  cometh 
every  good  and  perfect  gift.* 

When  the  Pope  had  been  invested  with  the  white 
mantle,  he  was  asked  what  name  he  would  take.  His 
friends,  remembering  Virgil's  Hexameter, 

Sum  Pius  -^neas,  fama  super  aethera  notus,i 

had  been  wont  to  call  him  Pius  -^neas  in  joke.^  Pic- 
colomini  said  that  he  would  take  the  title  of  Pius  ii. 
He  probably  desired  a  standing  reminder  of  the  great 
duty  to  which  he  was  called.  Later,  he  earnestly 
entreated  that  iEneas  might  be  forgotten  ;  Pius  alone 
remembered — '  Follow  what  We  say  now ;  listen  to 
the  old  man,  not  the  youth.  A  Gentile  name  was 
given  Us  by  our  parents ;  We  assumed  a  new  name 
on  Our  accession.  Cast  iEneas  from  you ;  accept 
Pius.'* 


*  See  Voigt,  Die  Brief  e  des  ^neus  Silviics.    Ep.  of  CampisiOf  May  8, 
1445,  S.  361.  3  fea,  loc.  city  p.  3. 


246  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

At  the  request  of  the  Sacred  College,  he  renewed 
the  oath  that  related  to  its  rights,  but  he  added 
the  proviso,  *  as  far  as  God  enables  me,  and  as  may 
agree  with  the  honour  and  rights  of  the  Apostolic 
Chair; ' 

Pius  had  not  to  wait  long  before  he  received  evi- 
dence of  the  unruly  character  of  his  subjects  in 
Rome.  To  seize  on  the  personal  possessions  of  a  new 
Pope  was  a  custom.  The  very  cell  he  occupied  was 
sacked.  The  mob  rushed  to  his  house  and  tore  even 
the  marble  from  its  walls ;  they  pretended  to  mistake 
the  cry  of  '  II  Sanese '  for  *  II  Genovese,'  and  pillaged 
the  palace  of  the  Cardinal  of  Genoa,  one  of  the  richest 
members  of  the  Sacred  College.  Campano  gives  us  a 
vivid  description  of  the  state  of  the  city.  He  says 
that  any  merit,  there,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  priest- 
hood only ;  '  the  inhabitants  are  more  like  savages 
than  Romans,  repulsive  people,  ignorant  boors,  speak- 
ing several  dialects.  And  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  for  men  are  herded  together  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  like  slaves.  Few  citizens  have  retained  any 
vestige  of  ancient  nobleness.  The  glory  of  arms,  the 
greatness  of  empire,  simplicity  and  uprightness  of 
life  lie  far  away  in  the  past,  and  are  alien  to  them. 
They  are  luxurious,  effeminate,  poor,  proud,  and 
sensual.  .  .  .  Such  are  the  men  you  see  in  the 
Capitol.' ' 

The  fear  of  a  translation  of  the  Papacy  to  Avignon 
was  over.  The  Romans  threw  down  their  arms, 
lighted    bonfires,    illuminated    the    city,    and    blew 

'  Rajmaldus,  Ad  ann.  1458. 

2  Graf,  A.,  Roma  nella  memoria.     Letttr  of  Campano  to  Matteo  Ubaldi^ 
i.  54. 


/EXEAS    SiLVIUS,    CROWNED   AS    PlUS    II,    BESTOWS    HIS    BLESSING 
Pintiiricchio,  Siena. 


THE  COEONATION   OF  PIUS  II.      247 

trumpets  and  horns  to  their  heart's  content.     Next 
day,  a  great  procession  of  the  nobles  and  chief  men 
of  the  city  came  on  horseback  to  do  honour  to  their 
new  sovereign.     Congratulations  poured  in  from  all 
sides.     But  Pius  was  depressed,  and  neither  saluta- 
tions nor  festivities  removed  his  depression.     For  he 
knew  that  France  would  resent  the  rejection  of  her 
candidate,  and   that   it   would   be   necessary  to  do 
what  would  increase  her  hostility.      Piccinino,  em- 
ployed by  Ferrante,  occupied  a  part  of  the  States 
of  the  Church ;  Catalan  governors  ruled  certain  Papal 
towns.     It  was  desirable  to  reverse  Calixtus's  policy 
and  recognise  Ferrante.     The  question  of  his  right  to 
the  throne  might  be  left  undetermined,  but  his  actual 
sovereignty  must  be  acknowledged,  at  the  expense  of 
alienating  France.     The  German  princes,  too,  would 
assuredly  give   trouble,  and   the  commencement   of 
the  Turkish  war  was  likely  to  be  postponed  through 
these  dissensions. 

Pius  was  crowned  on  September  3,  1458,  at  the 
Lateran.  He  rode  through  the  streets  in  a  magnifi- 
cent and  solemn  procession,  but,  according  to  ancient 
privilege,  the  Roman  mob  claimed  his  horse,  and 
they  seized  it  before  he  had  dismounted.  A  fray 
ensued,  during  which  Pius  was  in  grave  danger,  for 
swords  were  drawn,  and  he  was  too  crippled  to  move 
quickly.  In  the  evening  he  gave  a  banquet  to  all 
the  great  people  in  Eome,^ 

The  astrologers,  guided  perhaps  as  much  by  the 
grey,  worn  face  and  crippled  body  of  the  Pope,  as 
by  the  stars,  prophesied  a  sickly  and  short  Pontificate 
for  him. 

1  Pii  II.  Comment.,  1.  1. 


248  iENEAS   SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE   JOURNEY  TO  MANTUA 

On  October  7th  Antonino,  Bishop  of  Florence,  and 
other  Florentine  envoys  arrived  at  Rome,  to  con- 
gratulate the  new  Pope.  Antonino  was  one  of  the 
few  truly  saintly  men  of  his  time.  His  memory  is 
still  held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  Florentines, 
and  many  charities  that  he  founded  still  maintain 
their  noble  service.  St.  Antoninus  (for  he  was 
canonised  a  little  later)  was  now  very  old,  and  he 
nearly  fainted  at  the  audience,  but,  by  a  strong  effort 
of  will,  he  recovered  himself  and  spoke  for  an  hour, 
dwelling  on  the  project  of  a  crusade.  *  Why  do  you 
ask  nothing  for  your  archbishop  1 '  Pius  demanded 
of  the  envoys.  '  Because  he  himself  is  his  own  best 
recommendation,'  was  their  reply.  Milan  also  sent 
an  embassy  and  professed  to  be  eager  for  a  crusade. 

Pius  summoned  the  Sacred  College  and  proposed 
that  a  congress  of  the  rulers  of  Europe  should  be 
called  together  to  consider  the  Turkish  war.  The 
majority  of  the  cardinals  opposed  the  proposition. 
Rulers,  they  urged,  could  hardly  come  so  far  as 
Rome,  especially  as  the  succession  to  the  kingdom 
of  Naples  remained  unsettled.  There  was  disorder, 
too,  in  the  Papal  States.  And,  if  the  Congress  were 
held  across  the  Alps,  the  princes  would  turn  it  into 


THE  JOUENEY  TO  MANTUA         249 

a  second  Council  of  Basel.  Pius  replied  that  these 
objections  could  be  met.  Let  some  place  in  Italy 
be  chosen ;  the  state  of  his  health  would  furnish  an 
excuse  for  his  not  crossing  the  Alps,  while  the  effort 
of  crossing  the  Apennines,  especially  as  he  was  aged 
in  body,  if  not  in  years,  and  sickly,  would  demon- 
strate his  zeal.  Such  a  place  as  Udine,  or  Mantua, 
would  be  convenient  for  the  majority.  On  October  12, 
he  called  the  cardinals,  the  envoys,  and  the  prelates 
in  Rome  into  his  presence,  and  unfolded  his  project : 
crippled  as  he  was,  he  was  willing  to  undertake 
the  journey  to  defend  Christendom  from  the  ruin 
that  hung  over  it.  The  proposal  was  listened  to 
with  attention,  but  everybody  remained  silent.  Then 
Bessarion  added  his  own  entreaties,  and  the  envoys 
replied,  one  after  another.  All  applauded  the  project 
and  praised  Pius  for  his  zeal,  except  the  ambassadors 
of  Venice  and  Florence,  who  confined  themselves  to 
answers  that  avoided  committal  to  the  undertaking.-^ 
Next  day,  in  public  Consistory,  a  bull  was  read 
inviting  the  princes  of  Christendom  to  a  congress 
to  be  held  at  Mantua. 

The  bull,  worded  by  Pius  himself,  occasionally 
seems  a  little  grotesque  to  the  modern  mind.  An 
invitation  to  the  princes  of  Europe  to  war  against 
*  the  hosts  of  that  false  prophet  and  venomous  dragon 
Mahomet,'  is  quite  in  the  approved  mediaeval  style. 
Pius  proceeds  to  say  that  *  God  has  sent  this  punish- 
ment on  Christian  peoples,  but  none  the  less  has 
afforded  them  the  diflScult,  but  not  insuperable,  task 
of  delivering  the  world  from  its  peril.'  Then  he  rises 
to  a  noble  strain  :  *  The  ship  of  the  Church  is  rocked 

*  Cribellus  apud  Muratori,  B.  I.  3.,  xxiii. ;  Pii  II.  Comment.^  L  1. 


250  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

to  and  fro ;  but  it  remains  unsunken ;  it  is  buffeted 
about,  but  it  is  not  broken ;  it  is  attacked,  but  it 
is  not  overwhelmed.  God  ordains  that  His  own  shall 
be  tried  indeed,  but  they  shall  not  be  overcome.*^ 
The  bull  was  followed  by  letters  of  personal  entreaty, 
sent  to  the  various  princes.^ 

But  grave  obstacles,  caused  by  political  difficulties, 
called  for  removal  before  the  Congress  should  assemble. 
The  French  party  in  the  Sacred  College  bitterly 
opposed  any  recognition  of  Ferrante.  The  envoys 
of  France  tried  to  frighten  Pius  by  pointing  out 
how  serious  it  would  be  to  his  hopes  if  he  were  to 
offend  their  powerful  master.  But  Pius  silenced 
them  with  a  practical  question,  which  he  put  to 
them  suddenly  and  to  which  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  find  an  answer.  *Is  Anjou  prepared  to 
drive  Piccinino  from  his  strongholds  in  the  States 
of  the  Church  ? '  he  demanded.  '  We  must  have  a 
king  in  Naples  who  is  able  to  hold  his  own  and 
defend  us.'  Meanwhile  Ferrante  was  trying  to 
bargain  and  get  all  he  could  for  himself,  but  Pius 
sent  him  word  that  he  should  remember  he  was 
dealing  with  no  merchant  accustomed  to  haggling.^ 
However,  by  October  17,  everything  was  arranged. 
Pius  issued  a  bull  that  removed  all  the  censures 
Calixtus  had  imposed  on  Ferrante,  and  granted 
him  the  crown  'without  prejudice  to  the  right  of 
another,'  and,  soon  after,  Cardinal  Orsini,  being  sent 
to  Naples  as  Papal  legate,  crowned  him  there. 
On  his  side  the  monarch  de  facto  promised  to  pay 
an   annual   tribute,    to    recall   Piccinino   (who    only 

1  Bull  Vocabit  nos  Pitis^  October  13,  1458. 

*  Cribellus,  loc.  cit ;  Pius,  loc.  cit.  ^  Pii  11.  Comment.,  1.  1. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  MANTUA    251 

retired  on  the  receipt  of  thirty  thousand  ducats),  to 
restore  Benevento  at  once,  and  evacuate  Terracina 
(a  fortified  city  that  guarded  the  natural  frontier 
of  the  Papal  States)  at  the  expiration  of  ten  years. 

Pius  had  next  to  deal  with  the  reluctance  of  the 
Romans  to  let  him  leave  the  city.  Rome,  having  no 
commerce,  existed  on  its  visitors  and  pilgrims,  and 
the  departure  of  the  Pope  and  his  Court  involved 
considerable  pecuniary  loss  to  the  citizens.  Reports 
were  set  afloat  that  Pius  intended  to  transfer  his 
court  to  Siena,  and  even  to  Germany.  Strong  repre- 
sentations were  made  of  the  disorders  that  would 
arise  in  Rome  and  the  Papal  States  if  the  Pope  were 
to  leave.  The  States  were  surrounded  by  *  ravening 
wolves,'  but  Pius  replied  that  the  Papal  possessions 
had  been  lost  before  and  won  back  again,  but  that 
Mahomet  menacing  the  Christian  Church  was  a  far 
greater  danger.^  Fortunately  the  Colonna  and  Orsini 
happened  to  be  at  peace,  and  Pius  appointed  one  of 
the  Colonna,  who  represented  the  more  powerful  of 
the  two  families,  to  the  Prefecture  of  Rome.  He 
confirmed  certain  Papal  towns  in  their  privileges, 
remitted  a  part  of  the  taxes  for  three  years,  made  the 
Barons  take  oath  to  preserve  peace  during  his  absence, 
and  appointed  Cardinal  Nicolas  von  Cues,  a  German 
and  therefore  unaffected  by  local  prejudice  or  feud,  to 
be  his  Vicar- General.  Certain  of  the  cardinals  were 
to  remain  in  Rome,  and,  if  Pius  died  away  from  the 
city,  the  next  election  was  to  be  held  there. 

The  Teutonic  Knights  of  St.  Mary  in  Jerusalem, 
crusading  Germans  of  noble  birth,  a  body  that  dated 
from    the   twelfth   century,   applied    their   energies, 

^  Fit  II.  Comment  y  1.  1. 


252  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

defeated  in  the  East,  to  establish  Christianity  and 
dominate  the  lands  of  the  barbarian  nearer  home. 
They  occupied  and  ruled  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  and 
were  at  present  at  war  with  their  own  converted 
subjects  and  the  kingdom  of  Poland.  Pius  proposed 
peace ;  he  desired  to  restore  them  to  their  original 
purpose  and  send  them  as  warriors  against  the  Turk. 
He  also  tried  to  found  a  military  order  of  Our  Lady 
of  Bethlehem,  but  both  of  these  projects  failed. 

News  came  to  Rome  that  the  Crescent  had  tri- 
umphed in  Servia.  Pius  had  been  ill,  but  he  was 
*  better,'  wrote  the  Mantuan  envoy,  *  and  full  of  the 
greatest  zeal  for  the  Turkish  exploit.'^  He  prepared 
to  leave  Rome  at  once,  and  arranged  to  take  six 
cardinals  with  him. 

The  cares  of  state  bore  heavily  on  him,  and  gave 
him  no  small  anxiety,  but  we  shall  see,  more  than 
once,  that  he  had  the  happy  faculty  of  being  able  to 
cast  off  worry.  He  thoroughly  enjoyed  his  journey, 
and  he  tells  us,  with  simple  and  not  unpleasing  vanity, 
how  gratified  he  was  with  the  honour  his  subjects 
showed  him.  They  built  a  wooden  bridge  across  the 
Tiber  for  him,  and  he  found  it  '  adorned  with  ivy  and 
green  boughs.'  Wherever  he  went  an  enthusiastic 
people  welcomed  him :  priests  bearing  sacred  things 
prayed  that  he  might  have  a  fortunate  life ;  lads  and 
maidens,  crowned  with  laurel  and  bearing  olive 
branches,  came  to  greet  him  and  wish  him  health  and 
happiness,  and  they  deemed  themselves  lucky  if  they 
could  but  touch  the  fringe  of  his  robe.  The  ways 
were  crowded  with  people  and  strewn  with  green ; 
the  streets  of  cities  and  towns  were  hung  with  costly 

1  Pastor,  loc.cit.,  iii.  45,  46. 


THE  JOUKNEY  TO  MANTUA         253 

cloth,  and  the  houses  of  the  cities  and  the  churches 
were  decorated.^  Very  few,  outside  Rome,  had  ever 
seen  a  Pope,  and  the  farther  he  went  the  greater  the 
novelty  was  a  Pontifical  progress  to  the  people.  But, 
at  Narni,  the  crowd  rushed  to  tear  away  the  baldacchino 
held  over  him,  and  swords  had  to  be  drawn.  Pius 
remembered  the  adventure  of  Frederick  and  his  own 
recent  experience  in  Rome.  Henceforward  he  ceased 
to  ride,  and  had  himself  borne  about  in  a  litter;  it 
was  of  purple  trimmed  with  gold,  as  he  is  careful  to 
tell  us,  and  he  entered  cities  in  full  pontifical  attire 
and  wearing  a  mitre.  His  record  of  these  splendours 
tells  us  how  near  we  are  to  the  Renaissance  in  fullest 
flood. 

His  sister,  Caterina,  was  dwelling  at  Spoleto,  and 
he  stayed  four  days  with  her.  He  put  up  also  at 
Assisi,  a  place  that  impressed  him  deeply,  as  it  does 
every  reverent  or  artistic  spirit.  *  The  holy  Francis,' 
he  says,  '  the  begetter  of  the  order  of  Minors,  a  man 
who  found  himself  rich  in  being  poor,  gave  sanctity 
to  this  city.  Here,  in  a  noble  church,  lie  his  bones. 
The  church  is  of  two  stories,  whereof  the  upper  one  is 
adorned  by  the  paintings  of  Giotto,  the  Florentine, 
who  was  esteemed  in  his  day  as  the  chief  of  all 
painters.  The  adjoining  monastery  is  the  head-one 
of  the  order  founded  by  the  blessed  saint,  nor,  in  the 
whole  world,  may  one  find  anything  more  noble 
belonging  to  that  fraternity.'  ^  Pius  was  anxious  for 
the  protection  of  the  place,  and  ordered  its  fortifica- 
tions to  be  strengthened.  No  Pope  had  visited 
Perugia  for  three  generations ;  he  remained  there 
three  weeks,  and  gives  us  a  vast  amount  of  historical 

1  Fii  11.  Comment.,  1.  2.  *  Ibid.  L  2. 


254  r^NEAS  STLVIUS 

digression  concerning  that  most  beautiful,  yet  most 
tragic,  of  hill-towns.  He  did  his  best  to  compose  the 
embittered  factions  of  the  blood-stained  city.  Thence 
he  came  to  Lago  Trasimeno,  and  visited  an  island 
where  certain  Franciscans  had  built  themselves  a 
monastery.  The  cardinals  that  accompanied  him  were 
often  highly  disgusted  at  the  wretched  monasteries 
which  he  chose  to  dine  and  sleep  in.  Pius  had  been 
too  great  a  traveller  to  care  much  for  dainty  fare  or 
even  for  comfortable  shelter.  Here,  he  thought  of  all 
that  had  happened  on  the  memorable  eastern  shore 
of  the  lake.  There  came  a  fierce  tempest,  but,  when  it 
had  abated  a  little,  he  crossed  the  lake,  and  found 
that  he  had  undertaken  a  somewhat  perilous  enter- 
prise, but  he  was  pleased  to  discover  that  those  who 
dwelt  around  and  knew  what  manner  of  waters 
these  were,  held  it  for  a  bold  adventure  and  admired 
his  courage.^ 

He  was  '  Pius  ^neas ' ;  a  man  full  of  devotion  in 
the  Virgilian  sense.  Both  his  parents  were  dead; 
his  mother  had  survived  his  father,  but  she  had  been 
dead  four  years,  yet  he  felt  he  would  like  to  look 
once  again  on  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood  and  revive 
the  memories  of  family  life.  He  turned  aside  to 
Corsignano,  and  the  First  Prince  in  the  Christian 
world  visited  the  lowly  house  where  he  had  been 
born.  He  tells  us  his  birthplace  is  '  built  on  a  hill 
that  rises  from  the  valley  watered  by  the  Urcio. 
It  occupies  the  summit,  which  is  level,  about  one 
thousand  paces  in  length,  but  not  nearly  so  broad. 
There  lies  this  insignificant  town,  but  it  enjoys  a  fine 
air  and  produces  the  best  of  wine  and  eatables.  .  .  . 

^  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  2. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  MANTUA         255 

Once  the  greater  part  of  it  beloned  to  the  Piccolomini ; 
and  Silvio,  the  father  of  Pius,  had  a  property  here. 
Here,  indeed,  was  Pius  born ;  here  he  learned  the 
rudiments.  With  how  much  pleasure  did  he  look 
forward  to  the  delight  it  would  be  to  him  to  behold 
the  familiar  scenes  of  his  birthplace  once  again.  But, 
alas !  he  found  that  the  greater  number  of  those 
whom  he  remembered  had  departed  this  life,  and 
those  that  were  left  of  the  companions  of  his  youth 
were  mostly  confined  to  their  homes  by  infirmity, 
while  such  as  came  forth  to  greet  him  he  could 
scarcely  recognise,  so  sorely  were  they  changed. 
Their  strength  was  spent,  their  bodies  were  bent, 
those  whom  he  had  left  as  boys  had  become  grey- 
headed old  men.'  ^  One  of  them  came  forward  and 
knelt  at  his  feet.  He  was  that  Father  Peter,  a  young 
man  then,  who  had  taught  him  his  letters. 

The  little  town  f(§ted  its  illustrious  citizen,  and 
he  said  Mass  in  the  humble  church  on  Sunday.  He 
ordered  a  cathedral  to  be  built,  as  well  as  palaces 
for  the  Piccolomini,  to  serve  as  lasting  memorials 
that  Corsignano  was  his  birthplace,  and  he  renamed 
it  Pienza,  after  himself  He  tells  us  that  he  gave  the 
architect,  one  Bernardo  (probably  Bernardo  Rossellino 
of  Florence)  and  the  workpeople  liberal  wages,  and 
promised  plenary  indulgence  to  such  as  should  visit 
his  cathedral  on  the  festival  of  the  Finding  of  the 
Cross. 

Pienza  is  a  scene  of  decay,  but  it  must  be  even 
more  beautiful  now  in  adversity  than  it  was  in  its 
pride.  The  palaces,  the  cathedral  are  mouldering ; 
the  loose  soil  of  their  foundations  is  crumbling  away ; 

*  Pii  11.  Comment.^  1.  2. 


256 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


Nature  is  quietly  reclaiming  her  own.  There  is, 
indeed,  but  little  sense  of  transition  as  one  passes 
from  a  palace  to  the  colonnades  of  its  garden  and 
looks  forth  on  the  landscape  beyond.  And  the  silence 
of  four  centuries  dwells  within  the  little  square.  Time 
and  man,  the  only  foes  of  what  is  beautiful,  have 
dealt  very  gently  with  this  masterpiece  of  archi- 
tecture. The  vestments  of  the  Pope,  faded  indeed, 
but  still  beautiful,  and  many  lovely  things  that  were 
his  are  there  :  they  bear  evidence  to  his  perfect  taste  ; 
they  seem  to  bring  him  very  near  to  us.  Pienza  is 
a  gem  of  the  Early  Renaissance,  of  that  graceful 
architecture  that  includes  the  ideality  of  Gothic  art 
and  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  Greek.  The  genius 
of  Rossellino  blends  with  that  of  Pius,  for  the  Pope 
introduced  much  that  he  had  admired  in  northern 
countries  into  the  design. 

On  February  24,  Pius  reached  Siena,  and  here  he 
abode  two  months.  Embassies  came  hither  to  offer 
him  congratulations  from  Bohemia,  Castile,  Germany, 
Hungary,  and  Portugal.  The  envoys  of  Frederick 
declined  to  appear,  and  remained  in  Florence  for  a 
time,  for  Matthias  Corvinus  had  been  raised  to  the 
throne  of  Hungary,  and  the  Emperor  claimed  it. 
At  last  they  were  induced  to  come  and  offer  obedi- 
ence. They  were  men  of  inferior  rank,  led  by 
Hinderbach,  the  German  jurist.  Frederick  had 
sent  a  humanist  to  a  humanist :  how  could  Pius 
complain  ?  The  Pope  would  only  be  amused  at  the 
slight  so  far  as  it  was  personal ;  so  far  as  his  office 
was  concerned  he  swallowed  his  resentment,  and  was 
at  pains  to  point  out  that  he  only  followed  precedent 
in  recognising  a  king  de  facto,  without  prejudice  to 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  MANTUA    257 

the  question  of  right ;  he  also  thought  it  wise  to  confirm 
the  secret  agreement  with  the  Papacy  which  he  him- 
self had  negotiated  when  he  was  in  Frederick's  service. 
The  presence  of  the  Bohemian  envoys  presented 
him  with  a  perplexing  problem.  Podiebrad,  of  whom 
he  once  thought  so  lightly,  had  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
shrewdest  statesmen  of  his  age.  He  had  commended 
himself  to  the  moderate  party  in  Bohemia,  overthrown 
the  extremists,  restored  order,  rendered  Bohemia  a 
very  powerful  state,  and  been  rewarded  with  its  crown. 
He  had  acquired  the  support  of  his  Bohemian  sub- 
jects and  had  entered  into  a  secret  compact  with  the 
late  Pope,  promising  him  to  root  out  heresy  and 
re-establish  Catholicism  in  Bohemia.  But  he  evaded 
his  obligations,  which  he  had  taken  care  should  be 
couched  in  general  terms.  Pius  required  his  aid, 
for  Podiebrad  had  promised  Calixtus  to  war  against 
the  Turk,  and  contrived  that  Frederick  should  rely 
on  him  as  his  chief  supporter.  But  Breslau  still  held 
out  against  Podiebrad,  and  sent  her  own  envoys  to 
Siena.  Pius,  then,  found  himself  in  much  perplexity. 
He  was  compelled  to  compromise.  He  received  the 
obedience  of  Podiebrad,  but  denied  him  the  title  of 
king  until  such  time  as  might  see  his  promises  fulfilled. 
The  wily,  diplomatic  Pope  sent  the  new  ruler  a 
summons  to  attend  the  Congress  through  the  Emperor, 
his  overlord,  and  then  awaited  events,  for  he  hoped  to 
induce  the  Congress  to  force  Podiebrad  into  complete 
submission.  And  he  promised  the  envoys  from 
Breslau  that  they  might  rely  on  him  to  find  a  way 
to  put  an  end  to  their  grievances.  Both  Pius  and 
Podiebrad  were  content,  especially  the  king,  for  time 
was  gained :   it  might  not   fulfil   Pius's   hopes,  but 


258  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

it  would  assuredly  enable  himself  to  strengthen  his 
position  in  Bohemia  and  Germany. 

Pius  was  far  from  being  happy  at  Siena.  The 
populace  had  driven  their  nobles  into  exile,  and  the 
middle  class  governed.  They  had  restored  the  Piccolo- 
mini,  indeed,  for  without  this  concession  the  Pope 
refused  to  visit  the  city.  He  regarded  the  communes 
of  Italy  with  distrust.  They  were  unrestful,  and  there 
was  perpetual,  bloody  warfare,  waged  as  for  '  liberty,' 
between  the  various  parties  that  struggled  for  power. 
He  favoured  strong,  just  government.  Before  he  be- 
came Pope  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Mariano  de'  Sozzini 
of  Siena :  '  I  had  rather  Italy  attained  peace  under 
Alfonso's  rule  than  that  of  the  free  cities,  for  kingly 
generosity  rewards  every  kind  of  excellence.'  But 
now,  when  certain  nobles  urged  him  to  employ  force, 
he  refused,  saying  he  'would  do  no  violence  to  his 
native  city ;  at  the  worst  he  would  only  withhold 
benefits  which  it  had  been  his  intention  to  confer.' 
He  waited  a  while,  and  then  presented  the  chief 
prior  of  Siena  with  the  Golden  Pose.  Then  he  asked 
for  the  readmission  of  the  nobles,  for  he  had  little 
confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  capacity  for  government 
of  the  party  in  power,  since  it  adopted  the  short- 
sighted policy  of  considering  its  own  petty  trading 
interests  only.  After  much  discussion,  consent  was 
given  to  the  nobles  to  occupy  a  quarter  of  some  of 
the  offices  of  state  and  an  eighth  of  the  remainder.^ 
Pius  was  far  from  being  satisfied,  and  said  he  hoped, 
later  on,  the  city  would  agree  to  grant  him  aU  that 
he  had  requested. 

1  Paoli,  C,  article  '  Siena,'  Enc.  Brit.^  1887  ;  Malvolti,  0.,  Historia  d^ 
fatti  e  guerre  dei  Senesiy  Venezia,  1599. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  MANTUA         259 

On  April  23  the  Pope  left  the  city,  accompanied  by 
Galeazzo  Sforza,  the  youthful  heir  of  Sforza  of  Milan, 
then  a  bright,  intelligent,  and  well-instructed  lad,  but 
who,  ascending  the  ducal  throne  too  early  in  life, 
played  the  tyrant,  indulged  in  reckless  dissipation, 
and  came  to  an  untimely  tragic  end.  On  reaching  the 
Certosa  near  Florence,  Pius  was  received  by  notable 
men  of  the  city,  and  they  and  the  cardinals  bore  his 
litter,  '  none  too  willingly,'  -^  to  the  monastery  of 
Santa  Maria  Novella.  There  he  stayed  a  week,  but 
Cosimo  de'  Medici,  the  uncrowned  merchant-king 
of  the  city,  avoided  political  discussion  by  pretending 
to  be  too  ill  to  leave  his  bed. 

Pius  cannot  mention  any  family  without  telling 
us  all  about  their  forebears ;  he  cannot  mention  any 
place  without  all  kinds  of  digression.  He  seizes  this 
visit  to  Florence  as  an  excuse  for  literary  criticism. 
He  speaks  of  Dante,  *  who  truly  is  the  greatest  of 
them  all,  and  makes  Heaven,  Purgatory,  and  Hell 
almost  as  vivid  as  reality  can  be.'  Is  there  a  sly 
hit  when  he  adds,  '  and  he  gives  us  minute  doctrine 
enough  to  be  a  complete  guide  to  life '  ?  *  Francesco 
Petrarca  stands  next,  who  has  scarcely  an  equal, 
for  in  the  use  of  Latin  and  Tuscan  he  is  unapproach- 
able. The  third  place  I  may,  without  injustice,  give 
to  Giovanni  Boccaccio,  although  he  is  often  lascivious 
in  matter  and  diffuse  in  style. '^  Then  he  goes  on 
to  give  us  a  long  list  of  Florentine  authors.  More 
than  once  he  mentions  Giotto  in  his  writings,  and 
shows  that  he  was  aware  of  the  relation  of  artistic 
to  literary  development.  The  Florentines,  however, 
seem  to  have  been  of  opinion  that  a  living  dog  is 

1  Fii  II.  Comment^  1.  2.  2  jj^^. 


260  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

worth  more  than  a  dead  lion.  Among  the  spectacular 
displays  with  which  they  regaled  the  Pope,  both  on 
his  journey  to  Mantua  and  on  his  return,  was  a  real 
menagerie  :  they  turned  all  kinds  of  wild  beasts  into 
the  Piazza  de'  Signoria — bulls,  lions,  boars,  dogs, 
and  a  giraffe.  Pius  notes  that  the  lions  lay  down 
and  nothing  would  make  them  budge.  Nothing  was 
trivial  in  the  Renaissance. 

It  was  clear  that,  though  he  was  warmly  welcomed 
at  Florence,  his  visit  was,  politically,  a  failure.  So  he 
went  on  to  Bologna,  a  city  that  nominally  belonged  to 
the  Papacy,  and  at  this  time  lodged  a  Papal  Legate ; 
but  Pius  tells  us  that  'while  the  city  accepted  a 
legate  that  dignitary  might  with  more  truth  be  called 
ligatus'  ^  Sixteen  city-fathers  of  Bologna  professed 
to  govern  the  state  and  uphold  its  freedom,  but 
they  were  not  free  themselves,  for  the  Bentivogli, 
representing  wealth  that  came  of  trade,  were  the  real 
directors  of  policy.  The  Bentivogli  and  their  party 
disliked  the  visit  of  the  Pope,  for  they  dreaded  lest 
the  masses,  always  opposed  to  their  masters  in 
Italian  cities,  might  seize  the  occasion  to  rebel.  But 
if  they  were  to  refuse  Pius  admission  the  exiles  might 
be  encouraged  to  attack  the  city,  and  these  were 
numerous ;  for  in  Bologna,  as  in  every  Italian  state, 
the  dominant  political  party  proscribed  its  opponents. 
When  Pius  entered  the  city,  he  found  the  streets 
lined  with  mercenary  troops,  and  the  orator  who 
welcomed  him  took  occasion  to  give  vent  to  popular 
grievances.  The  government  exiled  this  too  fluent 
person,  but  the  Pope  succeeded  in  getting  the  ban 
rescinded.^      He   was   glad   to   leave  the  suspicious 

^  Fii  II.  Comment. f\.  2.    ^  Campanus  apud  Muratori,  jB.  I.  /S'.,  iii.  ii.  976. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  MANTUA         261 

city,  and  on  the  16th  May  he  set  out  for  Ferrara. 
He  tells  that  Borso  of  Este,  a  bastard  himself,  accom- 
panied by  six  other  bastard-princes  of  his  house,  rode 
forth  to  meet  him.  But  the  Pope  is  mistaken  :  one 
of  the  six  was  of  legitimate  birth. 

*  Borso,'  he  says,  *  was  a  man  of  remarkable  build, 
though  only  somewhat  above  middle  height.  He  had 
a  magnificent  head  of  hair  and  a  taking  face.  He 
was  a  pleasing  speaker,  sumptuous  in  his  way  of  living, 
and  liberal.  He  entertained  Frederick  right  royally 
when  the  Emperor  returned  from  his  coronation, 
hoping  to  be  rewarded  with  the  title  of  duke.  He 
never  married,  and  it  is  said  that  his  reason  was 
excellent  and  truly  Christian,  for  there  were  boys  that 
were  legitimate  heirs  to  the  sovereignty,  and  he 
wished  them  to  succeed  to  it.  He  was  sagacious  and 
a  lover  of  peace,  and  he  executed  justice  with 
severity.  They  erected  a  statue  to  him  in  the  public 
square,  where  he  is  to  be  seen  seated,  declaring  the 
law.  The  inscription  stated  him  to  be  heroic  and 
illustrious,  but  the  virtue  of  economy  was  not  mentioned, 
nor  is  it  often  found  in  such  an  association.  He 
cared  more  for  a  few  valuable  things  than  for  a 
quantity  of  goods.  He  always  appeared  in  public  set 
off  by  gems,  and  his  palace  was  filled  with  precious 
things,  while,  even  in  the  country,  he  used  vessels  of 
silver  and  gold.'^  Pius  deals  justly  with  Borso's 
character,  though  the  Marquis  had  become  his  enemy, 
for  reasons  which  he  tells  us.  The  Bastard's  mother 
was  a  Sienese  lady  of  the  house  of  the  Tolomei,  and 
akin  to  the  Piccolomini,  and  her  son  tried  every  means 
to  induce  him  to  grant  the  title  of  duke  and  remit  the 

^  Fii  II.  Comment.^  1.  2. 


262 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


tribute  due  to  the  Papacy.  Borso  even  offered  a 
bribe  of  300,000  ducats,  *to  outshine  the  rest,'  says 
the  Pope.  Pius  was  willing  to  grant  the  former 
but  by  no  means  the  latter  of  the  two  requests,  and 
at  this  Borso  took  great  umbrage.  From  Ferrara 
the  Pope  proceeded  by  boat  to  Mantua,  where  he 
arrived  (June  1)  three  days  before  the  appointed 
time. 

He  describes  all  the  pomp  and  pageantry  that 
attended  his  entry  into  the  city  of  Virgil,  even  to  the 
banners  that  were  borne ;  flags  that  would  be  price- 
less now,  for  they  were,  doubtless,  painted  by  great 
artists,  paid  a  w^orkman's  usual  wage  ;  he  describes  the 
golden  box  that  contained  the  Host  and  how  a  white 
horse  bore  It  on  its  back ;  he  counts  the  number  of 
white  horses  with  gilded  saddles  and  reins ;  he 
rejoices  in  his  own  vestments  and  the  splendid  jewels 
that  enriched  them,  and  he  is  proud  of  nobles  bearing 
him  in  his  litter ;  there  was  a  golden  crucifix,  too,  in 
the  procession,  and  the  keys  of  the  church,  and  the 
arms  of  the  Piccolomini  borne  aloft,  and  carpets  were 
spread  along  the  roadway  that  could  hardly  be  seen 
for  flowers,  and  the  streets  resounded  with  *  evvivas ' 
from  the  people.  He  luxuriated  in  all  this  outward 
splendour,  for  he  was  a  true  son  of  the  Renaissance. 
Life  was  far  more  uncertain  then  than  now,  and  men 
were  more  eager  to  get  all  the  enjoyment  they  could 
out  of  their  little  hour. 

Next  day  Hippolyta,  daughter  of  Sforza  of  Milan, 
half- child,  half- woman,  who  had  arrived  at  Mantua, 
with  her  mother,  made  an  elegant  little  speech  in 
Latin  to  the  Pope,  which  he  answered  in  his  usual 
flowing    style.       Both    speeches    are    preserved    in 


THE  JOUENEY  TO  MANTUA         263 

Mansi's  orations  of  Pius  ii.^  The  Pope  tells  us  that 
the  little  lady  commanded  admiration,  and  adds,  in  a 
sly  parenthesis,  that  she  was  remarkably  pretty  and 
had  a  pleasing  address.^  Hippolyta  became  one  of 
the  learned  ladies  to  whom  Masaccio  and  Pulci  and 
other  literati  dedicated  works  that  are  remarkable  for 
their  indelicacy.  Masaccio's  tales,  all  of  which  are 
dedicated  to  Hippolyta,  are  novels  with  a  purpose : 
they  are  intended  to  exhibit  the  cunning  and  false- 
ness of  women,  but  he  tells  Hippolyta  he  hopes  she 
will  be  pleased,  because  she  is  such  an  illustrious 
exception  to  her  sex.  Besides  Bianca,  the  mother  of 
Hippolyta,  there  were  the  ladies  of  the  house  of 
Gonzaga  to  add  their  grace  and  beauty  to  the  Pope's 
court.  ^ 

1  Mansi,  ii.  192.  ^  p^i  jj  Comment,  1.  2. 

^  See  Masaccio,  especially  his  dedication. 


264 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER    XV 


THE   CONGRESS   OF   MANTUA 


On  the  appointed  day  (June  1,  1459)  the  Congress 
was  opened  at  the  Duomo,  and  the  Pope  delivered  an 
address.  But  no  envoys  were  present,  for  none  had 
arrived.  '  I  will  stay  on  and  wait,'  said  Pius  ;  *  if  no 
one  comes,  I  must  accept  the  will  of  God.'  Week 
after  week  passed,  but  no  one  came.  The  cardinals 
got  weary  and  restless;  most  of  them  protested 
against  remaining  on,  but  Pius  gave  no  heed  to  their 
murmurs.  They  complained  that  Mantua  was  un- 
healthy ;  that  many  of  the  retinue  were  sick  and 
some  had  died ;  that  the  food  and  wine  were  poor ;  the 
dullness  of  life  there  was  broken  only  by  the  croaking 
of  frogs  in  the  marshes ;  the  Pope  had  done  enough 
and  could  retire  with  honour.  Cardinal  Scarampo 
went  away,  and  poured  scorn  and  derision  on  the 
unsuccessful  project.  Time  continued  to  drag  on 
slowly,  and  still  nobody  came.  It  was  evident  that 
the  European  powers  aimed  at  tiring  out  the  Pope. 
But  his  resolve  remained  unshaken,  and  he  had  the 
support  of  two  cardinals,  Torquemada,  the  Spaniard, 
and  Bessarion,  the  Greek. 

Then  embassies  came,  indeed,  but  it  was  to  implore 
aid,  not  to  proffer  it.  Albania,  Epirus,  Illyria,  the 
larger  of  the  islands  of  the  Levant,  sent  begging  for 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  MANTUA        265 

succour.  Palseologus,  despot  of  the  Morea,  also  sent 
envoys.  There  were  sixteen  Turkish  captives  with 
them,  to  show  what  he  could  do,  if  only  he  had  more 
men ;  give  him  but  a  handful,  he  said,  and  he  would 
expel  the  Turk.  Pius  let  him  have  three  hundred 
troops,  who  added  to  the  woes  of  the  Morea  by  plun- 
dering it. 

At  last,  after  three  weary  months,  the  Duke  of 
Cleves  and  the  Lord  of  Croye  arrived  from  Burgundy. 
The  Pope  asked  his  cardinals  to  ride  forth  and  wel- 
come them.  They  declined.  Cardinals,  they  said, 
were  the  equals  of  kings ;  they  would  do  nothing 
to  diminish  their  dignity ;  but,  at  last.  Cardinals 
Colonna  and  Orsini  offered  to  go.  The  envoys  told 
Pius  that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  found  himself  too 
old  to  undertake  the  journey.  It  was  clear  that  his 
fit  of  hot  zeal  had  passed  away.  The  Duke  of  Cleves 
lost  no  time  in  bringing  forward  a  personal  grievance. 
The  town  of  Soest  had  rebelled  against  the  Archbishop 
of  Koln,  and  the  Pope  had  ordered  it  to  return  to  its 
allegiance ;  it  had  placed  itself  under  the  protection  of 
the  Duke  of  Cleves,  who  now  requested  Pius  to  rescind 
his  command.  The  Pope  saw  that  all  possibility  of 
holding  a  congress  would  be  lost  if  he  began  by 
quarrelling  with  the  Duke.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
could  not  afford  to  offend  the  Archbishop.  It  was 
one  of  those  dilemmas  in  which  Popes  as  well  as  tem- 
poral rulers  find  themselves  from  time  to  time.  Pius 
extricated  himself  by  complying  with  Cleves's  request, 
and  writing  to  the  Archbishop  to  the  effect  that  he 
had  only  withdrawn  his  support  until  he  should  be 
able  to  renew  it. 

Such  dissimulation  was  an  every-day  proceeding 


266 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


in  the  diplomacy  of  the  age.  Similar  tricks  had  been 
practised  by  the  Papacy  before  on  many  occasions 
*  States  are  not  governed  by  Paternosters '  was  a 
favourite  saying  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici's.  No  authority, 
spiritual  or  temporal,  could  be  maintained  without 
guile,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  Papacy  will  be  found 
to  have  acted  far  more  honourably  than  any  other 
contemporary  government.  Pius  relates  the  circum- 
stances with  the  utmost  candour,  and  we  must  remem- 
ber that  he  wrote  his  memoirs  for  posterity  to  judge. 
He  disguises  nothing,  but  we  can  see  that  he  was 
troubled  by  scruple.  He  tells  us  how  he  reconciled 
his  action  with  his  conscience  :  '  If  justice  cannot  be 
done  without  entailing  results  that  would  be  shameful 
and  injurious,  it  has  been  the  rule  with  the  Holy  See 
to  cloak  its  intention  until  a  fit  season  arrives  for 
declaring  it.  And  this  principle  is  admitted  by  those 
that  lay  down  laws  for  conduct,  on  the  ground  that 
one  ought  to  chose  the  smaller  of  two  evils.'  ^  It  is 
a  confession  freely  given,  and  reminds  one  of  a  similar 
excuse  that  he  had  thought  it  necessary  to  provide 
Schlick  with,  in  the  affair  of  the  Bishoprick  of  Freising. 

When  this  matter  was  settled  the  Pope  was 
informed  that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  thought  Europe 
in  too  unsettled  a  condition  for  anything  to  be  done. 
Pius  replied  that  there  would  be  unending  delay  if 
everybody  waited  for  pacification,  and  meanwhile 
Hungary  would  go  under.  If  each  state  sent  a 
contingent  the  relative  strength  of  the  Powers  would 
be  unafiected.  The  Burgundian  ambassadors  then 
promised  a  contingent,  but  refused  to  stay. 

Summons  after  summons  had  been  sent  to  Sforza, 


^  Fii  II.  Comment.  J  1.  2. 


THE  CONGEESS   OF  MANTUA        267 

and  at  last,  in  September,  he  came.  Filelfo  spoke 
for  him  and  flattered  his  former  pupil,  hoping  for 
reward,  and  Pius  replied  in  a  similar  strain.  Sforza's 
presence  was  not  due  to  any  Christian  zeal,  but  to  a 
hope  that  he  might  strengthen  the  Pope  in  his  decision 
to  support  Ferrante.  For,  if  Rene  of  Anjou  were  at 
home,  trifling  with  the  Muse,  his  son,  Jean,  was  on 
his  way  to  attack  Naples ;  and  the  barons  of  that 
ill-ruled  land,  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  rebelling 
for  generations  past,  were  ready  to  take  up  arms 
in  his  name.  By  no  means  did  loyal  feeling  towards 
the  house  of  Anjou  actuate  them,  but  they  saw  an 
opportunity  of  aggrandising  themselves  under  the 
French  banner.  The  success  of  the  Angevin  party 
would  mean  the  renewal  of  the  French  claim  to  Milan. 
And  since  Sforza  had  received  no  investiture  from 
the  Emperor,  he  wished,  not  merely  to  keep  the  Pope 
on  Ferrante's  side,  but  also  to  secure  the  good  offices 
of  Pius  II.  with  his  old  master,  Frederick.  So  he 
threw  himself  into  the  scheme  of  a  crusade.  He  told 
his  wife  he  was  kept  very  busy ;  he  had  no  time  to 
eat  his  meals. -^  The  Pope  says  that  he  was  now  sixty 
years  of  age,  but  he  was  really  fifty-eight.  Pius  gives 
a  vivid  portrait  of  this  condottiere  who  became  a 
prince.  '  On  horseback,'  he  says,  '  he  gave  one  the 
impression  of  being  still  quite  a  young  man.  He  was 
tall  and  of  commanding  bearing ;  his  expression  was 
grave,  and  he  was  quiet  and  courteous  in  conversa- 
tion. He  was  quite  the  prince.  In  bodily  and 
mental  power  no  one,  in  our  day,  was  his  equal ;  in 
battle  he  was  invincible.  Such  was  the  man  that 
rose  from  a  humble  position  to  sovereign  power.     His 

^  Pastor,  English  trans.,  iii.  86. 


268 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


wife  was  beautiful  and  virtuous,  his  children  like 
angels.  He  was  scarcely  ever  ill,  and  whatever 
he  strove  for  he  achieved.  And  yet  he  was  not 
without  his  troubles.  Troilo  and  Brunoro,  his  old 
friends  and  fellow- campaigners,  forsook  him  to  serve 
King  Alfonso.  He  was  obliged  to  hang  another, 
Ciarpolline,  for  treason ;  he  had  the  vexation  of 
seeing  his  own  brother,  Alessandro,  setting  the 
French  against  him ;  one  of  his  sons  also  conspired 
against  him  and  had  to  be  put  into  confinement ; 
he  conquered  the  Marches  of  Ancona  with  his  sword 
only  to  lose  them.  Who  is  there  among  mortals 
that  enjoys  only  the  smiles  of  Fortune  and  never  sees 
her  frown?  We  may  count  that  man  happy  who 
has  only  a  few  sorrows.'  ^  Such  is  the  final  judge- 
ment on  life  of  the  man  who  had  achieved  the  highest 
dignity  the  world  could  offer,  and  had  enjoyed  a  fuller 
and  more  varied  experience  than  any  one  of  his  age. 

The  conferences  of  Sforza  with  the  Pope  induced 
the  jealous  Italian  States  to  send  envoys,  and  the 
King  of  Poland  also  sent  delegates.  Venice  was  the 
last  Italian  state  to  despatch  her  representatives. 
Pius  had  already  told  the  Ten  that  they  were  only 
thinking  of  their  trade.  The  Venetian  ambassadors 
said  that  when  Christianity  was  at  one  their  state 
would  not  be  found  wanting.^  The  Pope  replied  that 
there  would  be  no  end  to  that  excuse;  Venice  lay 
very  near  to  Mantua,  yet  the  Venetian  envoys  had 
been  longest  on  the  way.^ 

Four  months  had  passed,  and  at  last  there  were 
enough    ambassadors  assembled    to    begin   business. 

1  Pii  11.  Comment,  1.  3.       ^  Malpiero,  Ann.  Venet,  Arch.  Stor.  It,  vii.  i.  7. 
3  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  3 


THE  CONGEESS   OF  MANTUA        269 

On  September  26,  Mass  was  said  in  the  Cathedral 
and  Pius  held  his  hearers  for  three  hours.     He  was 
suffering  from  a  gouty  cough,  but  the   excitement 
removed  every  trace  of  his  ailment,  nor  did  it  once 
interrupt  him.^     He  began  with  a  prayer,  and  then 
drew  a  vivid  picture  of  the  desecration  of  the  land 
that   had  witnessed   the   birth,  life,  sufferings,   and 
sacrifice    of   the    Redeemer.     And   now,   while    the 
nations  that  professed  His  name  were  sunk  in  sloth 
or  turning  their  arms  against  each  other,  the  Infidel 
had  taken  the  royal  city  that  Constantino  founded, 
defiled  the  great  Church  of  Justinian,  and  were  press- 
ing  on  into  the  heart  of  Europe.     They  had  torn 
down  the  sacred  images,  had  given  the  bones  of  the 
holy  saints  to  swine  to  eat,  had  ravished  wives  and 
deflowered  virgins,  even  the  maidens  vowed  to  Christ, 
The  Sultan  had  given  a  banquet  whereto  the  Holy 
Image  of  the  Redeemer  was  brought  and  spat  upon 
while  the  guests  shouted  in  derision.     The  beating  of 
a  slave  is  sufficient  to  arouse  kings  to  warfare,  but 
they  remain  unmoved  when  God  is  blasphemed.     Are 
you  so  simple  as  to  think  that  the  Moslem  will  lay 
down  his  arms  ?     His  character  is  such  that  he  must 
either  be  wholly  victor  or  wholly  vanquished.     Piece 
by  piece,   you   are   allowing   Europe  to   become   his 
prey,  and  it  will  be  no  long  time  before  the  False 
Prophet  rules  the  world. 

The  Pope  then  passed  on  to  show  that  the  danger 
could  be  overcome.  Hitherto,  the  Turk  had  triumphed 
over  degenerate  peoples  only.  The  troops  led  by 
Hunyadi  and  Scanderbeg  had  shown  what  vigorous 
races  could  do.     And  one  has  not  to  rely  solely  on 

^  Fii  II.  Comment,  1.  3. 


270  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

human  strength,  for  ours  is  God's  side.  After 
demonstrating  Christ's  divinity,  Pius  proceeded  to 
point  out  what  worldly  advantages  would  accrue. 
There  were  states  and  wealth  to  be  won.  (It  shows 
his  historical  insight  and  his  knowledge  of  men,  that 
he  knew  how  largely  hunger  for  land  and  wealth  had 
excited  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Crusaders.)  Yet,  after 
all,  they  might  not  acquire  much  earthly  profit,  but 
there  was  an  eternal  prize  awaiting  them,  the  reward 
of  those  heavenly  joys  which  made  the  blessed  martyrs 
accept  death  with  gladness  in  their  hearts.  Then  the 
Pope  rose  to  the  highest  strain  of  passionate  eloquence. 
'  Oh,  that  Godfrey  were  here,'  he  exclaimed,  '  and  the 
heroes  that  rescued  Jerusalem  in  the  days  that  are 
gone !  There  were  souls  that  had  not  required  such 
a  torrent  of  words  to  inspire  them !  Could  they  listen 
they  would  rise  as  one  man  and  shout  with  one  voice, 
"  God  wills  it,  God  wills  it !  " 

'  You  are  silent.  We  fail  to  move  you.  You  wait 
for  the  conclusion  of  what  We  have  to  say.  Very 
likely  some  of  you  are  thinking,  **  The  Pope  is  a  priest : 
priests  are  ready  enough  in  laying  burdens  on  others 
which  they  will  not  stretch  forth  their  own  finger  to 
raise.  It  is  well  for  them  to  call  us  to  draw  the 
sword."  If  you  think  so,  you  are  mistaken.  Neither 
in  your  time,  nor  in  that  of  your  fathers,  has  there 
been  one  readier  than  We.  We  are  weak,  yet  We 
have  come  hither  at  the  risk  of  Our  life  and  to  the 
emptying  of  an  impoverished  purse;  We  have  left 
Our  states  naked  to  danger,  for  we  deemed  the  defence 
of  the  faith  of  higher  importance.  Do  not  think  that 
We  take  credit  to  Ourselves  for  doing  so.  Alas  !  it  is 
all  We  can  do.     Had  we  the  necessary  vigour  left,  no 


Pius  II  presides  at  the  Concjress  of  Mantua. 

Pinturjcchio,  Siena. 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  MANTUA   271 

battle,  no  peril,  should  affiright  Us.  We  would  assume 
the  Cross,  We  would  hurl  Ourself  on  the  Infidel,  bear- 
ing the  banner  of  the  Lord ;  We  would  accept  death 
for  the  sake  of  the  Faith  and  account  Ourselves 
blessed.  And,  even  now,  though  Our  body  is  feeble 
and  Our  soul  weary.  We  are  ready  to  vow  Ourselves 
to  the  holy  enterprise.  If  you  agree.  We  will  go 
forth  with  a  high,  light  heart.  We  can  be  borne  in 
Our  litter  to  the  camp,  ay,  into  the  very  thick  of 
battle.  Take  counsel  together  as  to  what  is  wise. 
Our  heart,  at  least,  does  not  quail,  nor  do  We  cover 
up  fear  with  big  words.  Lay  on  us  what  burden  you 
choose.  We  shall  not  shrink  from  whatever  task  you 
may  appoint.'  -^ 

Bessarion  followed  the  Pope.  He  made  a  long,  dull 
speech;  but  he  became  eloquent  when  he  described 
what  his  own  eyes  had  seen,  and  he  awoke  the  keen 
interest  of  his  audience  when  he  declared  that  the 
Turks  were  incapable  of  bringing  more  than  70,000 
men  into  the  field.  ^  Sforza  followed :  he  spoke  in 
Italian  with  the  directness  and  practicality  of  the 
soldier.  Then  the  Hungarian  envoys  complained 
that  the  Emperor  had  increased  their  peril,  at  a 
time  when  they  were  engaged  in  a  mortal  struggle 
with  the  Turk,  by  claiming  the  crown  of  their  country. 
Pius  told  them  that  the  Congress  had  met  to  discuss 
a  crusade,  not  European  politics ;  he  knew  the  ex- 
cellent qualities  of  both  the  Emperor  and  their  King, 
and  had  sent  a  legate  to  compose  their  quarrel. 

The  Congress  affected  an  agreement.  But  practical 
ways   of  carrying   out   its   decision  remained  to  be 

1  Mansi,  Pii  II.  OrationeSy  ii.  9,  et  seq. 

2  Contarini,  Anecdota  Veneta,  276-83. 


272  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

discussed,  and  this  gave  the  envoys  abundant  oppor- 
tunities for  obstruction.  Sforza  suggested  that  those 
nations  that  were  neighbours  to  the  Turk  should  be 
subsidised,  for  they  had  experience  of  his  tactics  and 
were,  therefore,  best  qualified  to  fight  him.  Sigis- 
mondo  Malatesta,  lord  of  Rimini,  a  vassal  of  the  Pope, 
then  put  in  a  word  for  himself  This  extraordinary 
being  was  one  of  the  most  notable  products  of  a  remark- 
able age.  He  was  at  once  a  mercenary  captain,  a  sensu- 
alist, a  scholar,  and  an  enthusiast  for  art :  one  equally 
ready  for  the  vilest  crime  or  the  most  magnanimous 
deed ;  one  full  of  high  conceptions  and  lusts  that  would 
degrade  a  beast.  Malatesta  saw,  in  the  crusade,  the 
possibility  of  getting  big  pay  as  a  condottiere.  He 
suggested  the  employment  of  Italian  troops.  But 
Italian  troops  were  all  mercenaries ;  they  chose  their 
battle-field  with  care,  and  levelled  it  before  they 
ventured  their  heavily  armed  persons  and  steeds 
upon  it;  almost  always,  the  worst  that  befel  them 
was  to  have  to  yield  and  pay  ransom ;  they  made 
battle  a  game  of  tactical  skill,  and  well-nigh  as  blood- 
less as  chess.  Pius  saw  through  Malatesta's  design 
at  once.  He  adroitly  complimented  Italian  troops  on 
their  well-known  courage,  and  then  cut  the  ground 
from  under  the  condottiere's  feet,  not  without  in- 
dulging in  some  covert  sarcasm  :  '  I  also  should  be  in 
favour  of  Italian  troops,'  he  said,  '  for  what  soldiery  is 
more  brave  ?  but  what  other  nation  than  Italy  could 
furnish  them  with  their  pay  1  Let,  therefore,  other 
nations  provide  the  army  and  fleet,  so  that  one  back 
may  not  have  to  bear  all  the  burden.  And  it  would 
be  no  easy  matter  to  induce  our  generals  to  take 
service  abroad.    For,  in   Italy,  the  trade  of  war 


THE  CONGEESS  OF  MANTUA   273 

pursued  with  no  great  loss  of  blood  and  with  much 
replenishing  of  the  purse.  But,  yonder,  deadly  work 
awaits  us,  and  the  main  reward  is  not  of  an  earthly 
nature.  We  advise  the  imposition  of  a  wair-tax 
for  three  years.  Let  the  clergy  pay  a  tenth,  the 
laity  a  thirtieth,  and  the  Jews  a  twentieth  of  their 
income.'  ^ 

The  Florentine  envoys  gave  distinct  evidence  of 
how  opposed  their  state  was  to  the  project ;  for 
Florentine  merchants  did  not  wish  to  hazard  their 
lucrative  Eastern  trade.  Venice,  so  said  her  repre- 
sentatives, would  be  ready  if  sixty  galleys,  instead  of 
the  thirty  proposed,  were  sent,  if  she  were  paid  for 
her  services,  and  were  put  into  possession  of  all  con- 
quests that  might  be  made.  This  aroused  the  wrath 
of  the  Pope.  He  told  them  they  were  a  degenerate 
people.  Their  ancestors  made  no  difficulty  about 
providing  a  fleet ;  they  were  ready  enough  to  fight 
with  all  their  might  against  their  rivals,  Genoa  and 
Pisa ;  but  the  present  race  of  Venetians  would  not 
use  arms  even  if  they  were  given  them.  They  were 
employing  every  stratagem  they  could  think  of  to 
stop  the  Holy  War.  They  forgot  that  they  would 
be  the  first  to  fall  before  the  Turkish  advance.  But 
his  words  fell  on  deaf  ears. 

In  the  middle  of  October  envoys  arrived  from  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  and  a  little  later,  from  Albert  of 
Austria.  Gregory  Heimburg,  the  old  foe  of  the 
Pope,  was  the  chief  spokesman  of  the  German 
embassy,  and  he  also  represented  the  Duke  of 
Saxony  and  Sigismund,  Duke  of  the  Tyrol.  Heim- 
burg was  one  of  those   honest   sincere   people  who 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.^  1.  2. 
S 


274  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

indulge  in  rude  behaviour  in  order  to  emphasise  the 
integrity.  He  kept  his  hat  on  in  the  Pope's  presence, 
and  took  small  pains  to  veil  his  contempt  for  him. 
Sigismund,  who  also  came,  was  not  on  good  terms 
with  the  Papacy,  for  Nicholas  of  Cusa  had  been  A 
appointed  Bishop  of  Brixen  by  the  late  Pope,  in  " 
violation  of  the  compact  made  with  Frederick.  This 
would  have  mattered  little,  but  Cusa  was  bent  on 
reforming  the  monastic  houses,  and  he  proceeded  to 
do  so  with  a  high  hand.  He  was  a  man  who  had 
risen  from  a  low  rank  of  life  by  acquiring  a  just 
reputation  for  vast  learning.  He  was  zealous  and 
intolerant ;  well-meaning  but  destitute  of  discre- 
tion. Meticulous  legal  considerations  and  scholastic 
pedantry  are  a  poor  equipment  for  dealing  with 
men,  and  Cusa  assumed  the  manners  of  a  drill- 
sergeant,  when  tact  and  suavity  were  required.  The 
difficulties  that  he  encountered  were  due  to  the 
intricate  involution  of  ecclesiastical  with  territorial 
rights,  and  all  the  ingenuity  of  Pius  himself  might 
have  failed  to  reconcile  them.  A  breach  soon  oc- 
curred between  the  Tyrolese  and  Sigismund,  their 
duke,  and  Cusa.  Nicholas  had  supported  Cusa,  and 
Pius  had  accepted  his  policy.  Hence  Sigismund 
bore  the  Pope  anything  but  good- will,  and  Heimburg 
was  emboldened  to  take  his  revenge.  The  reader 
has  been  told  how  he  reminded  Pius  of  the  erotic 
writings  he  had  sent,  so  many  years  ago,  to  Sigis- 
mund ;  his  taunts  covered  a  sneer  at  the  Pope's 
sincerity.^  Pius  retained  a  dignified  silence,  but  in- 
wardly he  was  smarting  with  shame.     He  records 

^  This  speech  is  preserved  in  the  Munich  Archives.    See  Voigt,  Fius 
vol.  iii.  pp.  99-101,  and  note,  p.  100. 


THE  CONGEESS  OF  MANTUA        275 

the  incident^  for  posterity  to  read;  he  tell  us  that 
the  charge  was  true ;  indeed,  he  did  so ;  but  he 
wishes  us  to  know  that  it  was  before  he  took  orders, 
and  he  adds  another  excuse  which  enfolds  a  quiet 
sarcasm  on  the  culture  of  German  princes,  *  perhaps 
Sigismund  did  not  really  read  what  he  had  written.'^ 
It  was  in  Latin. 

The  King  of  France  also  sent  ambassadors  to 
Mantua,  but  only  to  raise  the  Neapolitan  question. 
They  began  by  praising  their  country  and  their  king, 
speaking  of  him  as  *  an  obedient  son,'  so  as  to  exclude 
any  notion  of  Papal  overlordship.^  They  requested 
the  Pope  to  rescind  his  recognition  of  Ferrante  and 
acknowledge  the  Angevin  claim.  Pius  commenced 
his  reply  by  echoing  the  praise  of  France  and  her 
monarch ;  then,  turning  to  the  ambassador's  demand, 
he  said  that,  in  recognising  Ferrante,  he  had  acted  after 
consultation  with  the  Sacred  College,  and  must  con- 
sult with  it  again  before  giving  his  answer.  Immedi- 
ately after  this  audience  he  was  taken  very  ill  with 
cholic,  and  the  French  declared  that  he  pretended  to 
be  sick  to  avoid  giving  them  a  definite  reply.  They 
busied  themselves  in  reducing  their  demands  to 
writing.  Word  of  this  was  borne  to  Pius.  '  If  I  die 
in  the  effort,  they  shall  have  their  answer,'  said  he. 
He  rose  and  summoned  them  into  his  presence.  He 
was  very  pale  and  trembled  in  every  limb ;  but,  as 
had  happened  in  the  Mantuan  Duomo,  he  became 
himself  directly  he  began  to  speak,  and  he  continued 
to  harangue  the  ambassadors  for  three  hours.  He 
refused  to  give  his  decision  straight  away.    Let  the 

1  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  2. 

2  Pii  11.  Comment,  1.  3.  •''  Ibid. 


276  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

Monarch,  called,  by  universal  consent,  the  Most 
Christian  King,  submit  suitable  propositions.  Mean- 
while Charles  of  France  was  imperilling  the  souls  of 
his  subjects  by  defending  and  enforcing  that  Prag- 
matic Sanction  which  placed  the  Church  in  the 
hands  of  the  laity  to  deal  with  as  they  listed.  All 
its  powers  existed  on  sufferance  in  France.  If  this 
were  allowed  to  continue,  the  Church  would  be  trans- 
formed into  a  nameless,  many-headed  beast.  But  his 
Most  Christian  Majesty  is  blind  to  this,  and  he  must  be 
cured  of  his  blindness  that  he  may  amend  his  ways. 

The  envoys  replied  that  they  must  repel  all  reflec- 
tions on  the  honour  of  their  sovereign.  Pius  answered 
that  he  would  receive  them  when,  and  as  often  as 
they  desired,  and,  so,  dismissed  them.  Then  the 
Cardinals  crowded  round  the  Pope  and  expressed 
their  delight  that  he  had  maintained  the  rights  of 
Rome  so  stoutly. 

Next  day  the  ambassadors  told  the  Pope  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  their  master  to  take  any  part 
in  a  crusade  while  there  was  war  between  him  and 
England.  The  Pope  replied  that,  if  both  countries 
sent  an  equal  number  of  soldiers,  their  relative 
strength  would  remain  unimpaired.  To  this  the 
ambassadors  replied  that  they  had  no  power  to 
accept  such  a  proposition,  but  they  were  willing  to 
agree  to  a  conferr  e  for  peace.  Probably  this  was 
a  hint  at  a  CouljiI,  for,  with  a  little  intrigue,  such  a 
conference  might  be  turned  into  one. 

The  kings  of  Europe  could  not  get  on  without  the 
Papal  system,  so  we  find  ambassadors  arriving  from 
King  Ren6  and  bringing  his  obedience.  They  found 
Pius  not  too  suave,  for  he  was  indignant  that  a  fleet, 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  MANTUA        ^117 

prepared  for  a  crusade  by  the  energy  of  ecclesiastics 
in  Provence,  had  been  captured  by  Jean  of  Anjou  to 
transport  him  to  Naples.  He  met  the  envoys  with 
a  frown,  and  listened  to  them  with  impatience. 
Menaces  were  interchanged.  The  embassy  threatened 
to  publish  a  manifesto  against  the  Pope  for  his  recog- 
nition of  Ferrante,  and  he  replied  that,  in  that  case, 
he  would  deal  with  them  as  heretics.  Ambassadors 
also  came  from  England,  but  more  to  seek  some 
remedy  for  the  wretched  condition  of  their  land,  torn 
by  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  than  to  do  anything  for 
the  Christian  Commonwealth.^  Pius  complains  that 
*  the  credentials  they  bore  were  irregular  and  un- 
witnessed ;  the  King  had  merely  written  ''  I,  Henry, 
have  witnessed  this  myself,"  and  appended  his  seal. 
The  Pontiff  scorned  such  a  contemptible  embassy.'^ 
It  is  true  that  only  two  priests  came,  though  the  Earl 
of  Worcester  had  been  appointed  as  chief  ambassador, 
but  Pius  was  unaware  that  the  credentials  were  in 
the  wonted  English  form.^ 

Heimburg  was  active  in  exciting  his  countrymen 
against  the  Pope,  and,  when  the  crusade  was  agreed 
to,  they  relegated  all  details  affecting  Germany  to 
the  decision  of  a  Diet.  Pius  knew  only  too  well  how 
incapable  and  ineffective  German  Diets  were.  He 
nominated  the  Emperor  Frederick  to  be  Commander, 
and  the  Caesar  delegated  his  office  to  another  prince, 
Albert  of  Brandenburg,  who  took  advantage  of  it  to 
curtail  the  power  of  bishops,  and  establish  his  own 
position  in  Germany.* 

1  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  3.  2  jj^^, 

3  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy,  ed.  of  1897,  vol.  iii.  pp.  232,  233. 

*  Voigt,  Pius  II.,  iii.  105  ;  Pastor,  Eng.  trans.,  voL  iii.  p.  97. 


I 


278  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

By  November  Pius  had  come  to  perceive  that  the 
Congress  was  a  failure.  He  wrote  to  Carvajal : 
*  There  is,  to  be  frank,  nothing  of  the  zeal  that  We 
had  expected.  Very  few  have  come  out  of  regard 
for  the  public  welfare ;  all  seek  what  they  can  get  for 
themselves.  But  We  have  given  the  lie  to  the 
slander  cast  against  the  Apostolic  See ;  We  have 
shown  that  those  who  blame  Us  are  alone  blame- 
worthy. At  least,  however,  the  Italian  powers  have 
committed  themselves,  by  signature,  to  this  service 
of  God.  Yet  We  hear  that  Genoa  is  sending  a  fleet 
to  carry  the  French  to  Naples,  and  we  fear  that  this 
will  not  merely  mean  the  loss  of  all  help,  but  drag 
everybody  away  into  the  contest.  If  God  do  not 
help,  all  will  be  lost  in  the  miseries  that  will  befall  ^ 
Christian  peoples.'^  B 

However,  on  January  14,  1460,  the  Pope  declared 
war  against  the  Turk.  On  the  19th,  he  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  said  :  '  All  has  not  been  done  that 
we  hoped  for,  yet  not  every  thing  has  been  ignored. 
The  Christian  Princes  have  neither  promised  all  that 
they  might  have  done,  nor  utterly  repudiated  the 
subject.'^  The  ambassadors  knelt  before  him  and 
repeated  their  promises,  and  then  the  Pope  knelt 
before  the  altar  and  offered  up  a  prayer.  Pius  had 
spent  more  than  half  a  year  in  Mantua. 

Little  had  he  to  hope  from  the  forthcoming  Diet ; 
war  had  broken  out  between  Anjou  and  Ferrante, 
and  it  threatened  to  spread  elsewhere ;  he  could 
neither  expect  to  win  Podiebrad,  nor  quiet  Sigismund, 
nor  triumph  over  France.    His  enemies  were  threaten- 

^  Raynaldus,  Ad  ann.  1459. 

2  Mansi,  Orationes  Fii  IL,  ii.  79. 


I 


THE  CONGEESS   OF  MANTUA        279 

ing  to  summon  a  council.  He  met  the  threat  by  a 
master-stroke  of  policy.  Before  he  left  Mantua,  he 
called  the  Cardinals  together,  and  with  the  pre- 
science of  the  true  statesman,  issued  the  famous  Bull 
'  Execrabilis.'  All  appeal  to  a  future  Council  the 
Bull  declares  to  be  useless,  illegal,  and  wholly  detest- 
able, nothing  but  a  screen  for  mischief.  For  a 
Council  is  non-existent,  and,  indeed,  may  never  come 
into  being.  Let  him  that  makes  such  an  appeal,  or 
even  consents  to  it,  be,  in  the  very  fact  of  so  doing, 
excommunicate. 

Princes  disobeyed ;  they  still  threatened  to  summon 
a  Council,  but  never  did  so.  As  Creighton  says,  the 
Bull  '  worked  itself  into  the  ecclesiastical  system, 
and  became  one  of  the  pillars  on  which  the  Papal 
authority  rests.'  ^  Pius  quitted  Mantua  with  many 
forebodings.  Yet  he  had  not  wholly  failed.  He  had 
taken  what  he  deemed  to  be  his  rightful  position 
as  the  Head  of  Italian  powers  and  the  Princes  of 
Europe. 

Pius  retained  throughout  his  life  the  wonderful 
power  of  detaching  himself  from  all  the  excitement 
and  anxieties  and  responsibilities  attached  to  his 
office :  he  could  enjoy  leisure  hours  in  the  beauty  of 
sunshine  and  the  society  of  friends.  He  lived  to 
gather  around  him  a  few  men  that  he  found  entirely 
congenial,  though  they  were  neither  of  rank  nor  of 
very  remarkable  mental  power.  He  chose,  above  all, 
associates  before  whom  he  could  lay  aside  all  assump- 
tion of  dignity  and  position,  those  with  whom  he 
could  unbend  and  be  companionable  and  relapse  into 
the  iEneas  Silvius  of  yore.     There  were  two  that  he 

1  Creighton,  History  of  the  Papacy,  ed.  1897,  vol.  iii.  p.  397. 


280  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

especially  loved.  One  of  these  true  friends  was 
Jacopo  Ammanati,  a  Tuscan  of  lowly  birth,  whose 
scholarship  recommended  him  to  the  notice  of 
Nicholas  v.  Ammanati  became  secretary  to  Calixtus 
and  retained  the  office  under  the  new  Pope.  So 
little  of  aristocratic  pride  was  there  in  Pius,  that  he 
adopted  Ammanati  into  his  own  ancient  family.  He 
made  him,  first  Bishop  of  Pavia,  and  then  a  cardinal ; 
but,  at  this  time,  he  was  only  a  secretary.  Ammanati 
never  abused  the  Pope's  friendship  or  sought  riches 
for  himself.  He  took  Pius  for  his  model,  and,  indeed 
in  many  respects,  the  smaller  man's  nature  resembled 
that  of  the  greater  man.  Both  were  humanists ; 
both  were  a  little  vain ;  both  were  sympathetic  of 
heart  and  had  winning  manners;  both  had  a  weak- 
ness for  belles  lettres ;  both  delighted  in  life ;  but 
Ammanati  was  especially  given  to  the  pleasures  of 
hunting. 

Another  companion  was  Gianantonio  Campano, 
who  took  his  name  from  the  Roman  Campagna  where 
he  had  been  a  shepherd  boy.  Campano  became  an 
orphan  at  a  very  early  age,  but  a  good  priest  took 
him  into  his  domestic  service,  and,  being  struck  by  the 
child's  brightness,  taught  him  what  he  himself  knew. 
Indeed,  he  was  so  well  instructed  that,  as  a  mere  lad, 
he  became  tutor  to  a  family  in  Naples,  attended  the 
courses  of  Lorenzo  Yalla  in  that  city,  and,  at  the  age 
of  twenty,  lectured  at  Perugia.  Like  Pius,  he  had 
written  love -poems,  and  he  was  at  the  service  of 
others  to  write  what  they  wanted.  He  was  sent 
with  the  Perugian  embassy  to  congratulate  the  Pope 
on  his  accession,  took  the  fancy  of  Ammanati,  and, 
through  him,  acquired  the   Pontiff's  favour.     Ulti- 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  MANTUA        281 

mately  Pius  made  him  Bishop  of  Croton.  He  still 
preserved  the  marks  of  his  peasant  origin,  and  could 
play  the  buffoon  on  occasion.  He  gives  us  a  portrait 
of  himself  '  What  is  Campano  like  ? '  he  asks. 
'  Well,  he  snores  all  the  night  through,  a-bed  and 
naked,  he  is  a  more  appalling  sight  than  any  wild 
beast  of  the  forest.  His  feet  are  like  hooks,  his  hands 
are  gnarled  and  hairy,  his  nose  is  flat,  v^ith  great 
gaping  nostrils,  his  brow  overhangs  his  eyes,  his  belly 
is  swollen  with  food  and  wind,  he  is  short  of  limb, 
fat  and  round  as  a  ball.'  ^  If,  sometimes,  he  became  a 
little  coarse,  he  could  write  clearly,  speak  cleverly,  and 
sometimes  bitingly  ;  like  Pius,  while  he  was  a  master 
of  epigram,  his  disposition  was  truly  amiable,  and  he 
loved  the  Pope  not  less  than  Ammanati.  It  charmed 
the  author  one  day  when  he  was  engaged  at  the 
Vatican  in  examining  dull,  dreary  letters  to  bishops 
and  other  people  of  importance  concerning  ecclesiastical 
affairs  to  come  across  an  evidence  of  the  affectionate 
sympathy  that  existed  between  the  two  men  of  letters 
— Pope  and  Court  Poet.  It  was  a  dictated  letter  of 
Pius,  of  little  consequence,  indeed,  but  addressed  to 
*  our  dearest  son,  Campano,  the  well-beloved  child  of 
Propertius.' 

One  day,  at  Mantua,  the  trio  of  friends  took  boat 
and  were  rowed  down  the  river  to  a  monastery. 
Ammanati  began  to  read  a  number  of  congratulatory 
poems  that  needy  bards  had  sent  the  Pope  on  his 
accession,  with  requests,  or  at  least  hints,  that  they 
should  be  rewarded  for  their  flattery.  The  verses 
stimulated  the  three  men  of  letters  to  amuse  them- 
selves  and  exercise  their  wit.     Campano  reeled  off 

^  Campani,  Ep.  iii.  47. 


282  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

some  impromptu  lines  to  the  effect  that  those  should 
be  rewarded  who  had  not  asked ;  therefore,  since  he 
had  not  asked,  he  deserved  a  reward.  The  Pope 
replied : — 

If  gifts,  Campano,  should  not  then  be  sought, 
You  pray  the  deaf :  your  gain  will  be  but  nought.'  ^ 

Presently  he  said,  '  Here  is  something  for  your 
poets ' : — 

If  poets  wish  but  verse  for  verse  to  gain, 

Learn  that  we  '11  mend,  but  will  not  buy  their  strain. 

Ammanati  took  the  epigram  up  and  altered  it : — 

Rhymesters  who  reel  oflf  their  numbers  for  gold 
In  dealing  with  Pius  will  find  themselves  sold. 

But  Pius  was  too  good-natured  and  too  fond  of 
letters  to  allow  this  to  stand  :  he  varied  his  own  and 
Ammanati's  lines  once  more  : — 

Learn,  rhymesters,  who  offer  your  verses  for  gold, 
From  Pius  great  gifts  you  may  hope  to  behold. 

Unfortunately  the  impromptu  containing  the  state- 
ment '  We  '11  mend  but  will  not  buy  their  strain,'  got 
repeated  in  literary  circles.  Great  was  the  dudgeon 
of    scholarly    sycophants,    and    many    epigrammatic 

1  The  mcident  is  given  by  Ammanati.    See  Card.  Jac.  Ficolom.  Ep.  49. 
In  the  original  the  epigrams  run  thus  : — 

(1)  Munera,  Campane,  si  non  sunt  danda  petenti, 

Jure  tuas  surda  currimus  aure  preces. 

(2)  Discite  pro  numeris  numeros  sperare,  poetae  ! 

Mutare  est  animus  carmina,  non  emere. 

(3)  Discite  pro  numeris  nummos  tractare,  poetae  ! 

Expectata  dabit  munera  nulla  Pius. 

(4)  Discite  pro  numeris  nummos  sperare,  poetae  ! 

Expectata  dabit  munera  magna  Pius. 


THE  CONGRESS   OF  MANTUA        283 

replies  were   circulated,   none   of  them   too   compli- 
mentary.    The  most  biting  was, 

If  verse  for  verse  were  fortune's  fee,  I  trow 
No  such  a  diadem  had  decked  thy  brow.^ 

The  scholars  at  Rome  became  the  Pope's  bitter 
enemies.  The  worst  of  these  foes  was  his  old  master 
Filelfo.  Filelfo  said  the  Pope  did  nothing  for  him, 
but  this  was  a  lie :  Pius  gave  him  a  pension  of  two 
hundred  ducats  a  year.  Filelfo  rewarded  his  bene- 
factor by  anonymous  libels,  and  attributed  all  the 
most  shameful  vices  of  antiquity  to  him.  When  Pius 
died  he  composed  a  poem  of  jubilation,  and  did  every- 
thing he  could  to  cast  obloquy  on  his  memory.^ 
Filelfo  was  a  specimen  of  his  class,  and  one  cannot 
wonder  that  Pius  was  sparing  in  the  encouragement 
he  gave  to  literary  sycophants.  It  is  always  danger- 
ous to  lend  one's  ear  to  eulogy  or  detraction  written 
by  scholars  of  the  Renaissance.  Such  writings  were, 
for  the  most  part,  the  productions  of  hungry  or 
greedy  men  who  bespattered  their  patrons  with 
fulsome  praise  when  they  got  what  they  wanted,  and 
tried  to  befoul  their  names  when  they  were  dis- 
appointed ;  they  were  a  jealous  tribe  too,  and  dealt 
each  other  low  insults  and  petty  vengeances  that 
recall  a  cage  of  enraged  apes  rather  than  the  serene 
behaviour  which  one  expects  on  Parnassus.  Pius  knew 
them  well.  He  liked  to  get  at  the  truth  of  every- 
thing, even  of  himself,  and  he  had  little  liking  for  the 
affectations  of  the  voluble  style  that  became  fashion- 

1    '  Si  tibi  pro  numeris  fortuna  dedisset, 
Non  esset  capiti  tanta  corona  tuo. 

See  Voigt,  Pius  11.^  vol.  iii.  p.  628  as  to  the  authorship  of  this. 
2  See  Voigt,  vol.  iii.  p.  635,  et  seq. 


284  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

able  in  his  later  years.  He  was  wont  to  say  to 
Campano  that  a  poet,  to  be  worth  anything,  must  be 
original.  And  there  was  another  reason,  also,  for  his 
neglect  of  the  humanists.  He  repented  of  his  own 
erotic  writings ;  he  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  recall 
them,  but  they  were  more  widely  circulated  than 
ever,  now  that  he  had  become  Pope.  He  was  always 
possessed  by  a  strong  sense  of  duty,  and  it  would  be 
inconsistent  with  his  sacred  office  to  encourage  literary 
aspirants  who  lived  depraved  lives  and  put  great 
abilities  to  base  uses.  His  own  library  was  chiefly 
composed  of  Christian  authors.^ 

In  the  intervals  of  grave  and  anxious  business  at 
Mantua,  then,  we  see  the  Pope  delighting  in  pleasant 
companionship  and  a  country  life.  He  made  many 
little  excursions  from  the  city,  and  his  interest  in 
archaeology  led  him  to  visit  the  so-called  villa  of 
Virgil. 

^  Muntz,  La  Bihliotheque  du  Vatican  au  xv.  Siecle,  p.  132. 


I 

< 

I 


THE  KETUEN   FEOM  MANTUA       285 


CHAPTEE   XVI 

THE   RETURN    FROM   MANTUA — TROUBLES   AT   ROME 

While  the  Pope  was  at  Mantua  he  was  entreated  by 
Sigismondo  Malatesta  to  mediate  between  him  and 
two  foes  who  were  in  league  against  him,  Federigo  da 
Montefeltro,  Duke  of  Urbino,  and  Piccinino.  There 
was  perpetual  war  among  the  petty  rulers  of  Eomagna, 
and  Pius  spoke  very  sharply  on  the  subject.  He 
made  Malatesta  promise  to  pay  60,000  ducats  which 
he  owed  Ferrante,  in  order  to  supply  the  King  with 
those  sinews  of  war  he  so  sorely  lacked,  and  he  took 
Fano  and  Sinigaglia,  places  under  the  rule  of  Mala- 
testa, in  pledge.  Piccinino,  angered  at  being  balked 
a  second  time  by  the  Pope,  and  obliged  to  withdraw 
from  the  States  of  the  Church,  prepared  to  march 
towards  Naples  to  fight  for  the  Angevins,  and,  though 
the  Duke  of  Urbino  was  on  the  watch  and  hoped  to 
intercept  his  band,  he  succeeded  in  evading  that 
famous  condottiere  and  reached  the  kingdom.  The 
most  formidable  among  the  Neapolitan  lords,  ever  on 
the  watch  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  Crown,  declared 
for  the  French  side  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  cause  of 
Ferrante  would  be  lost.  When  Pius  reached  Ferrara 
on  his  return  journey  from  Mantua,  Borso  of  Este, 
with  the  crafty  duplicity  so  characteristic  of  the 
diplomacy  of  the  age,  offered  to  deal  with  Piccinino 


286  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

on  the  Pope's  behalf;  but  Pius  perceived  that  the 
Marquis  meditated  treachery  and  gave  him  a  refusal. 
When  the  Pope  arrived  at  Florence  he  saw  Cosimo  de' 
Medici,  the  man  who,  though  a  simple  merchant  in 
his  mode  of  life,  really  controlled  the  destiny  of  the 
state.  Pius  tried  to  induce  Cosimo  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  Ferrante,  as  did  Cosimo's  friend  Sforza,  but 
the  Florentines  always  held  the  commerce  of  the 
kingdom  in  their  hands  when  it  was  under  the 
Angevins,  and  Medici  refused.  But  the  city,  like 
every  city  he  visited,  did  due  honour  to  the  Head  of 
Christendom.  Everywhere,  in  honour  of  his  coming, 
spectacular  displays  were  prepared  which  combined 
the  fine  taste  of  the  Renaissance  with  a  child- 
like and  even  vulgar  ostentation.  And  Pius,  like 
everybody  else,  without  exception,  enjoyed  whatever 
was  presented  with  a  most  catholic  and  healthy 
gusto. 

Instead  of  leading  a  crusade,  Pius  now  found  him- 
self and  his  Milanese  allies. at  war  with  the  Angevin 
party  ;  and  he  was  laid  up  for  a  time  with  a  depressing 
attack  of  the  gout.  On  January  31,  1460,  he  was 
sufficiently  recovered  to  enter  Siena,  and  '  was  re- 
ceived after  the  fashion  of  a  triumph  .  .  .  especially 
by  the  women,  whose  nature  it  is  to  be  more  religious 
than  men,  and  who  bear  kindlier  feelings  towards 
the  priesthood.'  ^  In  July  news  came  that  the  troops 
of  Ferrante  were  thoroughly  routed,  and  that  the 
King  himself  had  escaped  from  the  battle-field  with 
great  difficulty.  The  only  hope  left  lay  with  Naples 
itself,  for  that  city  maintained  unshaken  loyalty  to 
Ferrante.      Rene  of  Provence   tried   to   detach   the 

1  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  4. 


THE  RETUEN  FROM  MANTUA       287 

Pope  by  exciting  an  insurrection  in  Avignon,  but  his 
design  failed.  Then  he  threatened  to  appeal  to  a 
General  Council.  The  French  party  in  the  Curia 
insulted  the  Pope  directly  they  heard  the  news. 
They  lit  bonfires  in  the  public  places  of  Siena,  and 
behaved  rudely  to  his  servants.  Pius,  like  most 
gouty  men,  was  subject  to  fits  of  depression.  For  a 
time  he  fell  into  doubt  as  to  whether,  for  the  good  of 
the  Church,  and  the  forwarding  of  the  Crusade,  it 
might  not  be  well  to  abandon  Ferrante,  whose  cause 
seemed  so  hopeless.  Simonetta  says  he  became 
thoroughly  frightened.^  He  certainly  wrote  to  the 
Duke  of  Urbino,  entreating  him  not  to  risk  a  battle, 
'  for,'  said  he,  '  if  you  should  sufier  defeat  Our  states 
would  be  thrown  open  to  the  enemy.' ^  But  the 
Pope  and  Sforza  were  in  constant  communication,  and 
gave  one  another  heart,  for  they  knew  that  there 
were  dissensions  in  the  hostile  camp ;  moreover,  in 
the  wars  of  Italy,  conducted,  as  they  were,  by  mer- 
cenaries, victory  ultimately  fell  to  the  longest  purse. 
Pius  spoke  boldly  and  firmly  to  the  envoys  sent  by 
Rene,  and  takes  credit  to  himself  for  having  pre- 
served an  unshaken  mind.  No  doubt  he  took  care 
to  appear  unmoved. 

He  strengthened  the  States  of  the  Church  by 
getting  Ferrante  to  cede  Castiglione  della  Pescia  in 
Tuscany,  and  the  island  of  Guglio,  which  he  placed 
under  the  government  of  his  nephew  Andrea,  and 
also  Terracina,  a  strong  position  at  the  natural 
boundary  of  the  Kingdom  and  the  Papal  States, 
which  he  put  in  the  hands  of  Antonio  Piccolomini. 

1  Simonetta,  in  Muratori,  B.  I.  S.^  xxi.  713. 

2  Raynaldus,  Ad.  ann.  1460,  1463. 


288  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

A  party  in  Terracina  had  petitioned  the  Pope  to  take 
their  town  over,  and  he  was  careful  to  confirm  the 
commune  in  its  rights  of  municipal  self-government. 
The  presence  of  Jews  in  a  city  was  so  advantageous 
that  the  citizens  further  asked  Pius  to  allow  them  to 
settle  there.  He  granted  their  request,  and  had  such 
unusual  consideration  for  natural  family  rights,  that 
he  forbade  any  Jew  to  be  admitted  to  baptism  under 
the  age  of  twelve. 

In  order  to  strengthen  his  authority  in  Siena, 
establish  his  own  political  views  there,  and  do  honour 
to  the  land  of  his  forefathers  and  the  place  so  full  to 
him  of  youthful  memories,  he  advanced  the  city  to 
the  dignity  of  an  archbishopric,  and  appointed  his 
nephew,  Francesco  de  Todeschini,  a  young  man  of 
twenty- three,  to  the  see.  His  enemies  charged  him 
with  nepotism  and  too  much  devotion  to  the  Sienese, 
but  nepotism  was  necessary  to  a  Pope  surrounded  by 
foes  in  his  own  curia,  and,  while  it  gratified  Pius  to 
advance  his  relatives  and  fellow-countrymen,  he 
never  did  so  at  the  expense  of  the  States  of  the 
Church.  Francesco  was  a  talented  man  who  attained 
the  Papacy  himself  forty  years  later.  Pius  further 
strengthened  his  position  by  nominating  six  cardinals 
(March  1460).  He  tells  us  it  was  arranged  that 
only  one  of  these  should  be  a  nephew,  and  that  he 
refused  to  permit  even  this  unless  the  Cardinals 
should  supplicate  him  earnestly  to  do  so.^  No  doubt 
he  afiected  reluctance,  knowing  very  well  that  he  was 
liked  by  every  one,  that  he  had  increased  his  popu- 
larity by  his  zeal  for  the  Faith,  and  that  he  would 
get  his  own  way.     He  nominated  the  new  Archbishop 

^  Fii  II.  Comment.,  1.  4. 


Cardinal  Piccolomini,  nephew  of  Pius  II,  is  crowned  Pope 

AS  Pius  III. 

The  famous  frescoes  were  painted  at  his  command. 

Piiitjiricchio,  Siena. 


THE  RETUEN  FROM  MANTUA       289 

of  Siena,  and  also  Niccolo  de'  Forteguerra,  a  relative 
on  his  mother's  side,  a  man  experienced  in  warfare, 
and  therefore  able  to  give  sound  military  advice. 
Now,  he  thought  it  desirable  to  assert  his  authority, 
and,  when  the  Bishops  of  Reati  and  Spoleto,  excel- 
lent statesmen,  and  Burchard,  Provost  of  Salzburg, 
were  agreed  to,  he  insisted  on  choosing  a  sixth  with- 
out submitting  his  name.  He  was  a  man,  said  Pius, 
that  they  would  all  welcome.  The  Sacred  College 
murmured,  but  gave  way,  and  the  Pope  named  Ales- 
sandro  Oliva,  an  Augustinian,  famous  for  his  piety 
and  learning.  Five  of  the  new  Cardinals  were 
Italians,  but,  to  prevent  the  jealousy  of  other  nations, 
and  in  conformity  with  precedent,  the  announcement 
of  the  German  nomination  was  deferred  until  a  new 
batch  of  Cardinals  should  be  created. 

Pius  hung  about  his  beloved  Tuscan  land,  reviving 
youthful  memories,  and,  when  his  gout  compelled 
him  to  take  the  baths  at  Macerata  and  Petrioli,  he 
revelled  in  the  delights  of  the  countryside.  '  It  was 
the  joyous  spring-time,  when  the  valleys  smile  in 
their  garment  of  green  leafage  and  flowers,  and  the 
fields  are  luxuriant  with  young  growing  crops.  .  .  . 
The  Pope  passed  through  the  country  with  happiness 
in  his  heart,  and  found  the  baths  no  less  dehghtful. 
The  river  Mersa  refreshes  the  land,  a  stream  full  of 
eels,  small  indeed,  but  they  are  delicious  eating. 
You  enter  the  valley  through  cultivated  fields,  and 
pass  many  castles  and  villas.  As  one  approaches  the 
baths  the  scenery  becomes  wilder  and  is  shut  in  by  a 
massive  bridge  of  stone  and  by  clifis  and  woods.  To 
the  right  the  steeps  are  clothed  with  evergreen  ilex  ; 
to  the  left  are  forests  of  oak  and  ash,  and  round  the 

T 


290  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

baths  are  little  lodging-houses.  Here  the  Pope 
stayed  a  month,  bathing  twice  a  day.  He  never 
neglected  his  duties,  however,  but,  two  hours  before 
sunset,  he  was  wont  to  go  down  to  the  meads  by 
the  river  and  choose  the  most  vernal  spot  for  receiv- 
ing embassies  and  petitions.  Thither  peasant-women 
would  come  with  flowers  to  strew  along  his  pathway 
to  the  bath,  looking  for  the  reward  of  kissing  his 
foot,  which  filled  them  with  joy.'  ^  M 

While  he  was  taking  these  simple  pleasures,  Cardinal 
Eoderigo  Borgia,  afterwards  Pope  Alexander  vi.,  was  at 
Siena,  also  enjoying  himself,  but  in  quite  another  way. 
Word  came  that  he  had  been  dancing,  none  too 
decently,  with  certain  fair  ladies  of  the  city ;  indeed, 
*no  incitements  of  passion  were  wanting.'^  The 
Pope  wrote  him  a  severe  but  forbearing  letter,  tem- 
pering his  censure  by  a  reference  to  Borgia's  youth, 
though  he  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  *  Beloved 
son,'  said  the  Pope,  *We  have  learned  that  your 
Worthiness,  forgetful  of  the  high  place  wherein  you 
are  installed,  was  present,  four  days  ago,  from  the 
sixteenth  to  the  twenty-second  hour,  in  the  gardens 
of  Giovanni  de'  Bichi,  with  several  women-triflers  of 
Siena.  You  had  with  you  one  of  your  colleagues, 
whom  years,  if  not  the  dignity  of  his  office,  might  have 
reminded  of  his  duty.  We  are  informed  that  there 
was  dissolute  dancing,  wanting  in  none  of  the  entice- 
ments of  sense,  and  that  you  conducted  yourself  in  a 
wholly  worldly  vein.  Shame  forbids  the  recounting 
of  all  that  took  place,  for  the  very  names  given  to 
these  things  are  unworthy  of  your  position.  In  order 
that   you   might   have   greater   licence,  the   fathers, 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.,  1.  4.  '^  Raynaldus,  Ad  arm.  1460,  N.  31. 


I 


THE  EETUEN  FROM  MANTUA        291 

brothers,  and  kinsmen  of  these  young  women  and 
girls  were  not  invited.  You  and  a  few  servants 
organised  and  led  the  orgy.  It  is  said  that  all  the 
talk  of  Siena  is  about  your  folly,  which  makes  you 
a  general  laughing-stock.  Here,  at  the  baths,  where 
there  are  many  churchmen  as  well  as  laymen,  be 
sure  you  are  sufficiently  talked  about.  No  words 
can  express  Our  displeasure,  for  you  have  brought 
disgrace  on  the  holy  state  and  office.  Folk  will  be 
ready  to  say  that  they  make  us  rich  and  important 
to  live  blameless  lives,  but  that  we  occupy  ourselves 
in  the  gratification  of  our  lusts.  This  is  the  reason 
why  princes  and  rulers  hold  us  in  contempt  and  the 
peoples  gibe  at  us.  Scorn  falls  on  the  Vicar  of  Christ, 
for  he  would  seem  to  permit  such  things.  Remember, 
beloved  son,  that  you  are  responsible  as  Bishop  of 
Valencia,  the  most  important  see  in  Spain ;  you  are 
Chancellor  of  the  Church ;  nay,  more,  and  this  makes 
your  conduct  still  worse,  you  are  a  cardinal,  sitting 
with  the  Pope  as  one  of  his  counsellors.  We  will 
leave  it  to  your  own  judgement  whether  it  befits  your 
dignity  to  play  the  lover  to  girls  and  send  fruit  and 
wine  to  your  mistresses  and  think  of  nothing  but 
the  flesh  throughout  the  livelong  day.  Folk  blame 
Us  and  the  blessed  memory  of  your  uncle,  Calixtus, 
and  there  are  many  who  charge  him  with  wrong- 
doing in  having  advanced  you.  If  you  excuse  your- 
self on  the  ground  of  youth.  We  reply  that  you  are  no 
longer  so  young  as  to  be  ignorant  of  the  duties  your 
office  imposes  on  you.  A  cardinal  should  be  above 
reproach  and  an  example  to  all.  If  that  were  so,  we 
could  be  justly  indignant  when  princes  revile  us, 
claim  what  is  ours,  and  force  us  to  do  their  will. 


292  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

But  we  cause  our  own  sufferings,  for,  by  such  conduct 
as  yours,  we  lower  the  authority  of  the  Church  day 
by  day.  Our  punishment  is  dishonour  in  this  life 
and  will  be  deserved  anguish  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  Therefore,  let  your  good  sense  prevail  over 
frivolity;  never  again  allow  yourself  to  forget  your 
dignity ;  never  let  people  speak  of  you  again  as  a 
frivolous  gallant.  If  you  repeat  the  offence,  We  shall 
be  compelled  to  show  that  you  have  disregarded 
warning,  that  We  have  been  much  distressed,  and  We 
shall  censure  you  in  such  a  way  that  you  will  blush. 
We  have  always  loved  you  and  thought  you  deserved 
Our  defence  as  an  earnest,  modest  man.  Therefore, 
conduct  yourself  from  now  so  as  to  keep  Our  good 
opinion  of  you  and  Our  thought  of  your  life  as  well- 
ordered.  We  admonish  you  as  a  father,  because  your 
years  still  admit  of  reform.  Petrioli,  June  11,  1460.'  ^ 
Borgia  was  a  man  with  blinking  eyes,^  but  of  good 
manners,  considerable  ability,  and  irresistible  attrac- 
tion for  women.  The  admonition  of  the  Pope  had  no 
effect.  In  this  very  year  all  men  knew  Vanozza  de 
Cataneis  to  be  his  mistress,  and  he  did  not  take 
priest's  orders  during  Pius's  lifetime.^ 

But  the  scandal  caused  by  Borgia  was  a  com- 
paratively small  vexation.  The  Pope  was  troubled 
by  serious  news  from  Eome.  He  had  left  Nicholas 
of  Cusa  in  charge  there,  and  Cusa  had  appointed  a 
Vicar-General  who  was  a  weak  man.  Rome,  like  other 
Italian  cities,  was  full  of  factions,  and  the  Republican 
party  was  powerful  and  energetic.  Another  party 
held    treasonable    correspondence    with    Anjou    and 

^  Eaynaldus,  Ad  ann.  1460,  N.  31.  ^  Sigismondo  de'  Conti,  ii.  270. 

3  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  v.  p.  363. 


THE  EETURN   FROM  MANTUA       293 

Piccinino.  Two  bands  of  lawless  youths  murdered, 
robbed,  and  raped  at  will,  and  the  authorities  did 
nothing,  hoping  the  disorders  would  force  the  Pope 
to  return ;  for  the  Papal  presence  made  a  great 
difference  to  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  Pius  sent  a 
military  force  to  support  the  magistrates,  and  told 
them  it  was  their  duty  to  preserve  order ;  obedience 
would  bring  him  back,  but  not  turbulence ;  if  they 
thought  to  force  him  they  were  vastly  mistaken.^ 
The  disorders  did  not  diminish.  One  band  of  aristo- 
cratic ruJEans  carried  off  a  girl  on  her  way  to  be 
married.  Another  band  fortified  themselves  in  the 
Pantheon;  others  took  and  occupied  Capranica's 
palace,  and  only  left  the  city  at  the  humble  request 
of  the  authorities  that  it  might  please  them  to  do  so. 
They  were  accompanied  to  the  gates  by  a  guard  of 
honour.  Others  sacked  convents  and  violated  the 
nuns.^  At  last  Pius  felt  obliged  to  return  to  Rome, 
and  his  journey  was  hastened  by  news  that  Piccinino 
had  invaded  the  Papal  States  and,  aided  by  some  of 
the  barons  of  the  Campagna,  was  marching  on  the 
city  itself.  Further,  a  conspiracy  to  take  the  life  of 
the  Pope's  nephew,  Antonio,  and  capture  the  city 
was  discovered. 

Pius  was  ill ;  nothing  was  ready  for  the  journey, 
but  he  started  at  once,  though  Piccinino  was  threaten- 
ing Rome  and  many  cardinals  were  against  taking  the 
risk.  At  Viterbo,  a  Roman  deputation  met  him  and 
entreated  him  to  pardon  the  turbulent  youth  of  the 
city.  *  What  town  is  so  free  as  yours  ? '  he  replied. 
'  You  pay  no  taxes ;  you  bear  no  burdens ;  you  occupy 

^  Pastor,  History  of  the  PopeSy  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  107. 
2  Fii  II.  Comment^  1.  4. 


294  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

the  most  honourable  communal  positions ;  you  fix 
your  own  prices ;  you  get  good  rents.  And  who  is 
your  ruler  ?  Is  he  a  count,  a  marquis,  a  duke,  a  king, 
an  emperor  ?  Nay,  but  the  greatest  among  them  all, 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  one 
whose  very  feet  all  men  desire  to  kiss.  You  show 
but  wisdom  when  you  do  reverence  to  such  a  ruler ; 
your  prosperity  comes  through  him,  for  he  attracts 
wealth  from  the  whole  world  to  your  city.  You 
supply  the  Eoman  Curia,  too,  and  it  brings  you  wealth 
from  every  country.'  ^  An  escort  of  five  hundred  horse, 
sent  by  Sforza,  came  to  guard  the  Pope.  Outside 
Rome,  a  deputation,  followed  by  many  of  the  revolu- 
tionaries, met  him.  They  wanted  to  carry  his  litter, 
and  discovered  him  eating  a  humble  meal,  procured 
with  some  difficulty ;  he  was  seated  by  a  well,  enjoy- 
ing it  with  quiet  content.  Cardinals  and  attendants 
prayed  him  to  act  with  caution.  '  I  will  walk  on  the 
asp  and  basilisk,'  he  replied,  'and  trample  on  the 
lion  and  basilisk.'  He  meant  what  he  said ;  he  also 
loved  to  produce  an  effect. 

Hardly  had  he  entered  Rome  when  fresh  con- 
spiracies were  hatched.  Some  of  the  conspirators 
were  captured.  One  Tiburzio,  the  nephew  of  Porcaro, 
the  republican  conspirator  of  a  previous  generation, 
believed  his  brother  to  be  among  the  prisoners,  and, 
accompanied  by  a  small  band,  rushed  into  the  city  to 
release  him.  He  shouted  to  the  mob  to  arm  them- 
selves, but  was  seized,  and,  with  some  other  offenders, 
executed.     Pius  refused  to  allow  them  to  be  tortured. 

But  Piccinino  still  threatened  Rome,  aided  by  some 
of  the  barons,  and   Sforza  and  Ferrante  were  luke- 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.^  1.  4. 


TEOUBLES  AT  ROME  295 

warm  friends  to  the  Pope,  for  both  were  annoyed 
with  him  for  strengthening  the  Papal  States  by  the 
acquisition  of  Terracina.  The  Italian  States  had 
discovered  how  the  principle  of  a  balance  of  powers 
can  maintain  comparative  peace,  and  each  was  anxious 
not  to  let  any  neighbour  grow  too  strong.  Sigis- 
mondo  Malatesta,  too,  was  giving  trouble,  and  Pius 
could  not  raise  troops,  for  he  was  little  more  than 
nominal  overlord  of  the  Papal  States,  and  the  best 
troops  came  from  his  unsettled  fiefs  that  were  held 
by  Malatesta  and  other  petty  despots  of  Romagna. 
But,  as  usual,  the  real  protection  of  the  Papacy  lay 
in  the  dissensions  that  existed  among  its  foes.  At 
last  Piccinino  went  into  winter  quarters. 

By  the  beginning  of  next  year  (1461)  things  looked 
more  hopeful.  Rome  was  quiet  and  many  of  the 
Neapolitan  barons  were  going  over  to  Ferrante,  while 
the  Genoese,  aided  by  Sforza,  drove  the  French  out  of 
their  city.  The  Pope's  nephew,  Antonio,  commanded 
the  Papal  forces,  but  he  did  not  prove  a  very  com- 
petent general.  This  is  shown  by  the  Pope's  letters, 
though  they  are  filled  with  love  and  solicitude.^ 
Pius  arranged  a  marriage  between  Antonio  and 
Maria,  the  illegitimate  daughter  of  Ferrante,  who  was 
to  bring  the  Duchy  of  Amalfi  as  a  dowry.  He  en- 
trusted the  arrangement  to  a  legate.^  When  this  was 
brought  against  him  by  the  French  as  an  objection- 
able and  crafty  policy,  he  defended  the  scheme  by  the 
curious  remark  that  Antonio  liked  the  maid  and  he 
had  left  the  pair  perfectly  free.     Such  an   apology 

1  See  Katti,  Studi  e  documenti  della  Society  Storica  Lomhardia,  1903, 
Ey.  15,  16,  20,  41. 

2  Ratti,  loc.  cit.,  letter  20  (May  17,  1461). 


296 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


was  far  from  common  in  an  age  when  marriages 
among  folk  of  importance  were  determined  by  any 
motive  but  that  of  mutual  affection.  Here,  again,  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  Pope  were  not  quite  at  ease  with 
his  own  conscience.  Such  meticulous  scruples  strike 
a  very  modern  note ;  but  it  can  hardly  be  questioned 
that  Pius  at  least  mentioned  mutual  willingness  as 
a  condition  of  the  bargain. 

The  latest  Roman  peace  did  not  last  long.  The 
palaces  of  the  cardinals  had  to  be  fortified  and  filled 
with  troops.^  In  July,  the  Savelli  came  into  Rome. 
They  had  taken  the  Angevin  side,  but  peace  was 
granted  to  them  on  the  terms  they  chose  to  ask,  for 
they  were  connected  with  the  most  powerful  clan  in 
Rome — the  Colonna.^  Pius  ordered  strong  fortifica- 
tions to  be  built  at  once,  to  command  the  city  and 
repel  the  foe.  The  Milanese  ambassador  wrote  :  *  The 
Sicilian  vespers  will  be  repeated  here,'  and  Pius  said 
to  Caretto  that  '  the  mere  theft  of  an  ox  set  all  the 
people  in  an  uproar.'  ^  The  Pope  was  ill,  and  Rome 
was  by  no  means  a  very  safe  place ;  so,  in  June  1462, 
when  the  summer  heats  had  begun,  he  moved  on  to 
Tivoli,  while  the  work  of  fortification  was  being 
pushed  on  with. 

1  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  trans.,  toI.  iii.  p.  114. 

2  Pii  II.  Comment.,  1.  5 ;  Cugnoni,  J.,  Pii  II.  op.  ined.,  Romae,  1883, 
p.  209  et  seq. 

3  Pastor,  loc.  cit.,  vol.  iii.  p.  115. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOEEIGN  POWEES    297 


CHAPTEE    XVII 

THE   PAPACY   AND   FOREIGN   POWERS 

The  Neapolitan  struggle,  and  the  attitude  taken  by 
France  and  Germany  towards  the  Papacy  meant  the 
postponing,  perhaps  the  abandoning,  of  a  crusade. 

We  have  seen  that  at  Bourges,  in  1438,  a  *  Prag- 
matic Sanction '  was  declared,  which  Pius  defines  as 
'a  rescript  of  the  ruler,  a  supreme  sanction  of  affairs/ 
A  'pragmatic  rescript,'  according  to  St.  Augustine, 
overrides  an  imperial  mandate.  This  French  Prag- 
matic Sanction  was  entirely  hateful  to  the  Papacy, 
for  it  acknowledged  the  Council  of  Basel  and  de- 
manded that  a  General  Council  should  assemble 
every  ten  years ;  it  denied  the  Pope  annates  and 
firstfruits ;  neither  he  nor  the  Curia  was  to  enjoy 
reservations  and  expectancies,  and  thus  the  revenues 
of  Eome  were  seriously  curtailed.  Though  the  Sanc- 
tion attempted  very  moderate  reform  in  the  French 
Church,  such  as  punishing  a  priest  who  kept  a 
concubine  with  three  months'  suspension,  it  was 
entirely  hateful  to  Eome,  not  only  on  account  of  its 
recognition  of  the  conciliar  principle,  but  also  be- 
cause it  founded  a  national  Church,  an  imperium  in 
imjperio,  in  opposition  to  the  theory  of  the  universal 
Church,  and  placed  French  ecclesiastics  under  lay 
jurisdiction.     In  practice  it  transferred  power  from 


298 


J5NEAS  SILVIUS 


the  Roman  Ecclesiastical  Government  to  the  king 
and  his  nobles,  for  they  filled  up  benefices,  or,  oftener, 
kept  them  vacant  to  enjoy  the  revenues ;  they 
lowered  the  standard  of  qualification  required  for 
priesthood,  subjected  churchmen  to  the  civil  magis- 
tracy, referred  questions  of  faith  to  the  judgement 
of  the  French  Parliament,  and  practically  annulled 
all  Papal  authority/  But  most  Frenchmen  supported 
their  national  Church,  since  the  University  of  Paris 
held  the  gift  of  one-third  of  the  benefices.  Moreover, 
the  Sanction  flattered  the  growing  national  feeling. 
A  third  and  very  important  reason  why  Frenchmen 
supported  it  was  that  gold  no  longer  flowed  out  of 
the  country  to  Rome.  But  many  French  clergy  were 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  Pragmatic  Sanction. 

The  Sanction  had  the  strong  support  of  King 
Charles  vii.  But  he  died,  July  22,  1461,  and  the 
dauphin,  Louis,  who  succeeded  him,  had  been  on 
very  bad  terms  with  his  father.  Louis  xi.  was  a 
refugee  in  Burgundy  when  news  was  brought  him  of 
the  death  of  Charles,  and  he  resolved  to  be  friendly 
with  the  Papacy,  since  he  dreaded  that  his  accession 
to  the  crown  might  be  contested. 

When  he  found  himself  firmly  established,  his  first 
care  was  to  curtail  the  power  of  the  nobles  and  in- 
crease his  own  importance  and  authority.  But  he 
was  also  anxious  to  support  the  Angevin  claim  to 
Naples.  The  personal  government  of  France  by  the 
Crown  was  his  ideal,  and  the  way  to  it  was  smoothed 
by  the  weakening  of  the  French  nobility  owing  to  the 
Anglo-French  wars.  He  knew  that  he  would  have 
the  support  of  the  masses  that  groaned  under  the 

1  Pii  II.  Comment  J 1.  6. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOREIGN  POWEES    299 

oppressions  of  feudalism,  but  he  determined  to  stop 
the  evolution  of  anything  like  a  constitution.  He 
refused  requests  made  in  favour  of  the  Parliament 
and  University.  '  By  the  pain  of  God/  he  said, 
^  I  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  You  are  evil  folk, 
and  live  scandalous  lives,  and  you  breed  scoffers. 
Away  with  you,  you  are  not  such  as  I  would  mix 
with.^^ 

We  have  seen  that  Pius  believed  in  government 
by  a  strong,  central  power,  and  he  was  ready  to 
support  Louis's  designs  against  his  nobility.  He 
negotiated  with  him  through  Jean  Jouffroy,  Bishop 
of  Arras,  '  a  man  of  eloquent  discourse  and  great  pro- 
jects; a  schemer,  but  not  tenacious;  very  lustful  of 
gain,  one  who  never  took  up  anything  out  of  which 
he  could  not  gain  something  for  himself  ^  Pius  had 
afterwards  to  suffer  for  trusting  this  clerical  diplo- 
matist. The  Pope  also  wrote  an  autograph  letter  to 
Louis,  in  which  he  said,  'if  your  prelates  or  the 
University  want  anything  from  Us,  let  them  ask  it 
through  you,  for  We,  of  all  Popes,  will  be  first  in 
honouring  and  loving  your  race  and  nation,  nor  will 
We  oppose  your  requests  if  they  are  consistent  with 
honour.'  ^  This  was  consummate  diplomacy.  Pius's 
object  was  to  purchase  the  annulment  of  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction  by  seconding  Louis's  attempts  to 
exalt  the  throne.  If  the  King  made  the  Church  sub- 
servient to  himself,  little  harm  could  ensue  so  long 
as  he  remained  subservient  to  the  Pope.  But 
directly  he  failed  to  do  so,  or  his  rule  over  the  clergy 

1  Chastellain,   (Euvres  Chroniques^  ed.    Kervyn  de  Lettenhove,   1864, 
iv.  200. 

2  Du  Clercq,  quoted  by  Pastor,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  157. 

3  Pius  II.,  Ep.  ad  Ludov.  Reg.  Fr.,  Oct.  26,  1461. 


300 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


became  obnoxious,  the  Papacy  could  annul  its  sanc- 
tion, and  the  Church  in  France,  helpless,  since  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  would  be  annulled,  would  find  its 
deliverer  in  the  Pope. 

On  his  side  Louis  wanted  two  things — a  voice  in 
the  Curia,  and  the  withdrawal  of  Papal  support  from 
Ferrante.  In  November  he  rescinded  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction.  Pius  was  unable  to  keep  back  tears  of 
joy.  He  was  proud  of  his  diplomacy,  too,  and  wrote 
to  Gregorio  Lolli,  his  secretary  at  Siena,  saying  it 
was  *  long  since  a  Sienese  had  won  such  a  victory.' 
And,  not  without  much  opposition  from  his  cardinals, 
he  conferred  cardinals'  hats  on  the  Bishop  of  Arras 
and  Prince  Louis  D'Albret,  to  please  the  French  King. 
For  political  reasons,  Don  Jayme  de  Cardona,  a  rela- 
tive of  the  King  of  Aragon,  and  Francesco  Gonzaga,  a 
lad  of  seventeen,  belonging  to  the  house  ruling  at 
Mantua,  also  received  the  purple,  as  did  Bartolomeo 
Rovarella,  Bishop  of  Ravenna,  as  the  reward  of  much 
official  work  for  the  Curia,  and  Jacopo  Ammanati, 
the  Pope's  dear  friend.  Louis  said  he  was  really 
pleased,  '  for  he  had  obtained  two  cardinals  from  one 
litter.' 

The  mind  of  the  Pope  was  bent  on  the  help  that 
the  French  King  could  give  in  a  crusade,  and  he 
sent  him  a  consecrated  sword  on  which  were  engraved 
Latin  verses  of  his  own  composition  to  this  effect : 
*  Draw  me  forth,  Louis,  with  your  right  hand  against 
the  furious  Turk.  I  will  avenge  the  blood  of  the 
Greeks.  The  empire  of  Mohammed  will  fall,  and  the 
far-famed  valour  of  the  French  will  rise  to  the  stars 
when  you  shall  lead.' 

But  Pius  did  not  know  King  Louis.     The  monarch 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOREIGN  POWERS    301 

was  playing  for  the  recognition  of  the  Angevins ;  his 
revocation  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  was  nothing  but 
a  trick  ;  he  was  by  no  means  anxious  for  a  crusade. 
When  he  found  that  Pius  would  not  acknowledge  the 
House  of  Anjou  he  turned  against  him.  Jouffroy,  too, 
had  got  what  he  wanted,  and,  directly  he  took  his 
seat  among  the  Cardinals,  he  informed  the  Pope  that 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction  was  only  repealed  in  name  : 
all  would  be  in  abeyance  until  the  King's  wish  in 
regard  to  Naples  was  complied  with.^ 

Pius  was  greatly  troubled.  Above  all  things  he 
desired  peace  in  Europe,  for  without  it  a  crusade  were 
impossible.  Ferrante  had  no  money,  the  Pope  but 
little,  and  they  depended  on  mercenary  troops. 
Florence  and  Venice  wished  to  see  the  Pope  weak- 
ened, as  did  his  ally,  Sforza.  Savoy,  Montferrat  and 
Modena  were  against  Sforza,  because  he  was  their 
neighbour.  Sigismondo  Malatesta  of  Rimini  was  in 
revolt,  and  other  rulers  in  the  Papal  States  were 
ready  to  cast  off  their  allegiance.  And  Sforza  lay  ill 
in  Milan,  and  the  city  was  disaffected.  The  German 
Princes  and  Bohemia  were  hostile  to  the  Papacy. 
Burgundy  and  Spain  followed  the  leadership  of 
France,  and  a  council  was  threatened  on  all  sides. 
The  Pope  doubted  whether  it  would  not  be  wise  to 
declare  neutrality  in  the  Neapolitan  question,  and  he 
consulted  Caretto,  Sforza's  envoy  in  Rome.^  Caretto 
told  him  that  his  master  would  not  abandon  Ferrante, 
and  advised  the  Pope  to  gain  time  by  saying  smooth 
things  to  the  French  envoys  ;  for  Venice  would  never 
consent  to  French  predominance  if  it  became  imminent, 

^  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  7. 

2  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  142,  143. 


302 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


and  Louis  would  never  undertake  a  long,  perilous 
expedition.  But,  if  the  Pope  gave  way,  the  French 
would  dominate  all  Italy,  and  the  next  Pope  would  be 
a  Frenchman.  The  French  cardinals  were  only  eager 
for  their  own  personal  reasons,  yet  the  situation  was 
too  grave  for  any  zeal  for  a  crusade  to  be  allowed  to 
interfere.  Jouflfroy,  on  the  other  side,  also  tried  to 
influence  the  Pope  and  Curia.  Pius  was  in  a  state  of 
absolute  fear,  but  he  resolved  to  stand  by  Ferrante, 
and  put  on  a  bold  face,  though  Louis  promised  to  send 
40,000  horse  and  30,000  men  for  a  crusade  if  the  Pope 
would  come  over  to  him,  '  speaking,'  says  Pius,  *  with 
great  swelHng  words  and  patent  guile. '^  Riverio,  a 
Milanese  envoy,  says  that  '  his  Holiness  replied  with 
so  much  gentle  dignity,  so  sonorously,  and  with  such 
persuasive  words,  that  the  entire  public  consistory 
remained  dumb.  He  was,  indeed,  so  eloquent  that 
there  was  perfect  silence  as  if  nobody  at  all  was  in  the 
hall.'  ^  Pius  pretended  that  he  could  not  believe  the 
King  could  possibly  change  his  mind  and  forgo  his 
pledged  word. 

Private  negotiations  followed.  France  sent  menaces, 
but  Pius  remained  firm.  Louis  replied  angrily  and 
sent  ignorant,  blustering  envoys  that  knew  no  lan- 
guage but  their  own.  He  called  on  the  Pope  to  con- 
firm a  favourite  of  his  in  a  benefice,  and  told  him  he 
had  better  do  so,  as  if  he  refused,  he,  Louis,  would  see 
that  his  man  kept  it.  The  Pope  refused,  and  asked 
Louis  if  he  would  suffer  an  address  after  this  style  : 
'  Give  me  this  castle  of  your  own  free-will ;  if  you  deny 

^  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  7. 

'  Report  of  Riverius ;  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Papacy ,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii. 
p.  150,  note  1. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOREIGN  POWERS    303 

me  I  will  take  it.'  ^  He  was  emboldened  to  make  a 
firm  stand  because  he  had  private  information  that 
Louis  was  not  prepared  to  follow  up  his  bluster  with 
deeds.  The  craft  of  the  French  King  was  measureless, 
but  he  was  timid  at  heart,  like  Filippo  Maria  Visconti 
of  Milan.  He  allowed  the  working  of  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction  to  continue  so  far  as  it  strengthened  his  own 
hand  and  enabled  him  to  replace  the  anarchical 
government  of  territorial  lords  by  the  autocracy  of  the 
crown.  But  he  had  received  a  check  through  the 
quiet  persistency  of  the  Papacy  that  awaited  events 
to  choose  its  own  time  and  give  effect  to  its  theocratic 
demands. 

The  Neapolitan  war  and  the  attempts  of  Piccinino 
to  seize  Papal  territory  for  himself  gave  the  insub- 
ordinate, unruly  feudatories  of  the  Pope  an  opportunity 
to  take  up  arms  against  him.  The  people  of  Romagna 
were  a  turbulent  breed  of  men ;  very  small  states 
were  controlled  by  despots,  who  exercised  cruel  and 
vindictive  authority,  because  they  were  weak  and 
insecure.  Among  the  worst  of  these  tyrants  was 
Sigismondo  Malatesta.  He  now  reoccupied  places  of 
which  he  had  been  deprived  at  the  Mantuan  Congress, 
and  entered  into  a  league  with  Piccinino.  In  December 
1460,  Pius  was  obliged  to  excommunicate  him  and 
declare  that  he  had  forfeited  his  fee ;  whereupon 
Malatesta  was  anxious  to  know  whether  excommuni- 
cation deprived  wine  of  its  flavour  or  interfered  with 
the  pleasures  of  the  table.  He  scoffed  at  the  Pope 
and  filled  up  the  holy-water  basins  with  ink.     Pius 

^  Cugnoni,  J.,  ^neae  Sylvii  Piccolomini  Senensis^  Fii  Il.y  opera  inedita, 
Romae,  1883,  pp.  144,  146. 


304  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

ordered  that  his  portrait  should  be  painted  and  copies 
hung  up  throughout  the  states  of  the  Church  ^  (pro- 
bably upside  down,  for  that  was  the  custom  of  the 
times),  with  an  inscription :  '  This  is  Sigismondo 
Malatesta,  the  enemy  of  God  and  man,  condemned  to 
fire  by  the  Sacred  College/  After  exhibition  the 
portraits  were  solemnly  burned.  ^  '  He  was  of  a  noble 
family,'  says  the  Pope,  *born  out  of  wedlock.  He 
was  robust  both  of  body  and  mind,  eloquent,  with  a 
knowledge  of  artistic  matters  as  well  as  of  warfare, 
and  not  a  little  learned  in  history  and  philosophy. 
In  whatever  he  took  up  his  great  natural  gifts  were 
manifest ;  but  he  delighted  in  doing  evil ;  he  oppres- 
sed the  poor  and  robbed  the  rich,  and  did  not  even 
spare  widows  and  orphans.  No  one  lived  safely  under 
his  rule.  .  .  .  He  hated  priests,  and  believed  that  the 
mind  perishes  with  the  body.  Yet  he  built  a  noble 
church  at  Rimini  in  honour  of  St.  Francis,  but  it  is  go 
filled  with  art  of  a  pagan  character  as  to  seem  less 
fitted  for  Christian  worship  than  for  the  adoration  of 
the  heathen  gods.'  This  is  precisely  the  judgement  of 
our  own  age  on  the  beautiful  yet  anything  but 
Christian  dream  of  Leon  Battista  Alberti ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  to  find  Pius  making  a  remark  so  in 
accordance  with  modern  feeling  in  the  century  when 
a  vital  classical  revival  dwelt  side  by  side  with 
Catholicism  without  clash  or  arousing  the  slightest 
sense  of  incongruity.  '  There,'  continues  the  Pope,  *  he 
built  a  tomb  for  himself  and  his  concubine,  beautiful 
alike  in  execution  and  the  quality  of  the  marble ;  and, 
after  the  heathen   fashion,   he   dedicated   it  to  the 

1  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iv.  p.  115. 

2  Pii  II.  Comment.,  1.  7. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOEEIGN  POWEES    305 

divine  Isotta.'  The  fiercer  side  of  this  typical  tyrant 
of  the  Eenaissance  is  well  exhibited  by  his  answer  to 
one  of  his  subject  who  prayed  for  peace,  and  pointed 
out  to  Malatesta  that  he  was  destroying  what  was  his 
own  country  by  rapine.  The  despot  replied  with  a 
cheery  air,  as  if  he  were  giving  pleasure  to  others  as 
well  as  to  himself, '  Never  shall  you  have  peace  so  long 
as  I  am  alive/  It  would  seem  that  Pius,  the  born 
writer,  who  was  never  so  happy  as  when  employing 
his  fluent  pen,  wrote  epigrams  on  Malatesta  ;  for  the 
despot  sent  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Milan  :  *  I  am 
informed  that  His  Holiness  has  composed  certain 
verses  casting  ignominy  on  me,  and  has  sent  them  to 
Florence  to  be  circulated.  Therefore  I  have  resolved 
to  act  according  to  the  maxim,  "  Do  honour  to  thine 
enemy."  It  is  my  pleasure  to  inform  His  Illustrious 
Holiness,  as  my  overlord,  that  he  may  rest  assured  I 
will  not  brook  such  things,  albeit  His  Holiness  is  my 
lord  and  I  his  vicar  and  servant.  When  such  things 
are  spread  abroad  I  will  answer,  so  far  as  I  can  put 
out  my  full  powers.  If  the  pen  offends  me,  I  shall  re- 
taliate by  the  pen  :  let  the  sword  be  drawn  and  I  will 
defend  myself  to  the  death,  for,  however  insignificant 
a  person  I  may  be,  trust  me,  I  shall  remember  what 
has  been  said,  "A  brave  death  ennobles  a  whole  life."  '  ^ 
Malatesta  fought  like  '  a  furious  bear,'  says  Pius,  but 
the  Pope  persisted  in  his  efforts  to  subjugate  him, 
though  Sforza  desired  all  available  forces  to  be 
directed  against  the  Angevins.^  So  determined  was 
Pius  to  bring  his  own  states  under  discipline  that 
when,  in  1463,  a  French  embassy  proposed  a  truce  in 

1  Pastor,  Hist  of  the  Popes^  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  Appendix,  No.  56. 

2  Ibid.f  vol.  iii.  p.  119. 

U 


306 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


Naples,  it  fell  through  because  he  would  not  include 
Malatesta  in  it.  The  despot  invaded  the  lands  of  the 
Pope's  nephew,  Antonio,  but,  at  last  his  power  was 
broken,  at  Senigaglia,  by  his  neighbour  and  rival, 
the  Condottiere-ruler,  Federigo  of  Urbino.  Florence, 
Milan,  and  Venice,  unwilling  to  see  the  Papacy  too 
strong,  intervened  on  his  behalf,  and  Pius  pardoned 
him.  He  had  to  humble  himself  before  the  Pope,  but 
remained  ready  to  rebel  if  Papal  promises  were  not 
kept.  Pius  allowed  him  and  his  brother  to  retain  a 
much-reduced  territory,  and  insisted  on  an  annual 
tribute  (1463). 

It  was  a  relief  to  Pius  to  forget  all  about  these 
troubles  beneath  the  shade  of  a  tree  or  in  the  presence 
of  a  landscape  viewed  from  'a  merciful  height,'  or 
listening  to  the  murmur  of  a  brook  and  that  soft 
music  of  the  woods  to  which  silence  itself  seems 
unpeaceful,  or  watching  the  deft  pen  of  his  secretaries 
as  he  dictated  to  them  and  indulged  in  what  was  the 
least  repressible  of  all  his  impulses — his  passion  for 
authorship.  And,  on  August  18,  1463,  an  event 
happened  which  relieved  him  of  much  anxiety  and 
set  him  free  for  the  execution  of  his  great  pro- 
ject. Ferrante  of  Naples  won  a  decisive  victory  over 
Piccinino  at  Troja;  and,  as  Genoa  had  ejected  the 
French  from  their  city,  many  Neapolitan  barons  that 
had  fought  for  the  Angevins  forsook  their  colours  and 
made  terms  for  themselves,  though  they  remained 
ready  to  give  Ferrante  trouble  on  every  occasion  and 
prevent  him  from  acquiring  too  much  power.  The  Pope 
in  the  course  of  his  description  of  these  events  throws 
a  valuable  light  on  the  character  of  warfare  and  Italy 
and  the  mercenary  captains  in  the  fifteenth  century. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOEEIGN  POWERS    307 

After  Troja,  Alessandro  Sforza,  a  condottiere,  oflPered 
battle  to  Piccinino,  but  the  latter  declined  to  fight. 
Piccinino,  however,  visited  Sforza  in  his  camp  and 
asked  his  brother  condottiere  what  he  could  possibly 
gain  by  conquering  him.  By  breaking  the  peace  of 
Italy  he,  Piccinino,  had  done  Sforza  a  great  service, 
for  he  had  given  him  occupation  and  the  spoils  that 
come  of  warfare  ;  no  one  is  anxious  for  peace,  except 
priests  and  traders ;  did  he,  or  any  other  soldier, 
want  to  lose  his  importance  and  go  back  to  the 
plough  ?  What  is  a  soldier  out  of  employment  to  do  ? 
Now,  if  war  goes  on  there  is  a  chance  of  winning  duke- 
doms, like  Francesco  Sforza ;  therefore  it  would  be  to 
their  mutual  interest  to  keep  the  war  going  as  long 
as  possible.  Sforza  told  him  that  his  fear  about  war 
coming  to  an  end  was  quite  uncalled  for — that  would 
never  happen  until  Italy  should  be  under  one  rule,  and 
that  event  was  far  enough  off.  Piccinino  replied  that 
he  had  fought  for  the  French  for  pay,  he  had  changed 
sides  for  pay,  and  he  was  ready  to  change  sides  again 
if  it  were  made  worth  his  while.  ^ 

Germany  gave  the  Pope  much  concern  throughout 
his  Pontificate.  All  the  Teutonic  powers — cities  and 
princes  alike — were  at  war  with  each  other.  Pius 
tried  to  mediate,  but  met  with  little  success.  In  the 
depth  of  winter  1459  he  sent  Cardinal  Bessarion  to 
see  what  he  could  do,  though  that  worthy  Greek  was 
sixty-five  years  of  age.  Pius  tells  that  though 
Bessarion  repeated  the  commands  of  Christ,  and 
pointed  out  how  the  Turk  was  profiting  by  the 
weakness  of  their  land,  his  exhortations  were  listened 

^  Pii  II.  Comment. f  1.  10. 


308 


iENEAS  SILYIUS 


to  as  if  they  had  been  idle  tales.  ^  Bessarion  asked 
repeatedly  to  be  recalled,  but  Pius  refused,  first  urging 
him  to  bear  all  things  with  brotherly  love,  and  then 
— this  was  Pius's  favourite  maxim — if  two  courses, 
both  evil,  were  before  him,  to  choose  the  one  that  he 
deemed  likely  to  do  least  harm.^  Pius's  large  experi- 
ence of  life  had  taught  him  that  doing  what  is  right 
almost  invariably  carries  a  wrong  with  it,  and  that 
the  path  of  duty  is  not  always  plain.  Bessarion  still 
entreated  to  be  allowed  to  return,  and  Pius  rebuked 
him  somewhat  more  sternly.  He  wrote:  'If  others 
leave  the  plough,  it  is  not  fitting  for  us  to  do  so. 
Evil  men  are  often  turned  from  their  course  by  those 
who  persevere  in  doing  what  is  right :  sometimes  bad 
hearts  are  changed.  ...  If  you  left  you  would  give 
the  advantage  to  our  foes.  .  .  .  We  should  appear  to 
be  feeble  and  vacillating,  for  We  have  often  declared 
We  would  surrender  the  work  of  the  Diet  with  Our 
life  only.'  ^  The  Diet  referred  to  was  one  held  at 
Niirnberg  after  the  Congress  of  Mantua.  At  last 
Bessarion  proved  that  his  mission  was  hopeless,  and 
he  returned,  to  his  relief,  from  'a  barbarous  land 
where  no  one  cared  for  Latin  and  Greek.' 

One  reason  why  the  Germans  would  not  listen  to 
Bessarion  was  that  he  was  perpetually  advocating  a 
Turkish  war,  and  the  Chronicle  of  Spires  tells  us 
'  they  had  too  many  quarrels  among  themselves  to 
want  another  with  the  Turk. '  * 

It  was  customary  in  Germany  to  fill  important  sees 
with  warHke  ecclesiastics.     These  were  chosen  from 

1  Pii  II.  GommenL,  1.  5. 

2  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  168,  note  3. 

3  Maildth,  Geschichte  der  Magyaren,  3.  Band,  App.  143  et  seq. 
*  Quoted  by  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Fopes^  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  168. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOREIGN  POWEES    309 

powerful  families  that,  none  the  less,  only  preserved 
their  position  by  the  exhibition  of  military  qualities. 
Such  a  man  of  the  sword  was  Diether,  elected  to  the 
Archbishopric  of  Mainz.  The  new  prelate  was  a  strong 
partisan,  but  he  was  uneducated,  and  Pius  ordered 
him  to  appear  personally  before  him  for  confirmation. 
Diether  refused,  and  appealed  to  a  future  council. 
Pius  excommunicated  him ;  but  he  defied  the  Pope 
and  continued  to  fulfil  his  oflSce.  Heimburg  at  once 
gave  him  trenchant  support,  and  a  long  war  of  words 
was  waged,  until,  ultimately,  Adolf  of  Nassau,  for 
personal  reasons,  took  up  the  Pope's  cause,  captured 
the  city  of  Mainz,  and  set  it  on  fire.  George  Podiebrad, 
who  was  intriguing  to  depose  Frederick  the  Emperor 
and  take  his  place,  aided  by  some  German  princes, 
supported  Diether,  but  there  were  many  Teutonic 
rulers  who  stood  by  Pope  and  Emperor.  Belonging 
to  the  league  against  the  Two  Swords  was  Duke 
Sigismund  of  the  Tyrol,  for  he  was  incensed  against 
the  Papacy  owing  to  his  quarrel  with  Cusa  the  Papal 
legate.  Sigismund  had  tried  violent  means  against 
Cusa,  and,  in  consequence,  was  excommunicated.  The 
excommunication,  however,  was  not  effective,  for 
the  Duke  was  supported  by  his  subjects.  It  was 
evident  that  Papal  authority  was  no  longer  respected 
among  the  peoples  beyond  the  Alps,  as  of  yore : 
schisms  and  councils  and  the  rising  national  senti- 
ment of  the  northern  peoples  had  undermined  ancient 
theories  concerning  the  unity,  under  Pope  and  Em- 
peror, of  all  Catholic  peoples.  But  Pius,  with  the 
traditional  persistency  of  the  Papacy  in  never  abating 
one  jot  of  its  high  claim,  summoned  Sigismund  to 
appear  before  him  in   person.     The  Duke  appealed 


310 


^NEAS  SILVIUS 


to  his  father-in-law,  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  other 
rulers,  and  was  ably  backed  by  Heimburg,  the  most 
incisive  debater  and  most  powerful  pamphleteer  of  his 
time.  Heimburg  drew  up  an  appeal  to  a  future  Pope 
and  council,  and  care  was  taken  that  copies  should 
be  sent  to  Italy  and  nailed  up  to  the  church  doors. 
Cusa  had  chosen  to  attack  Sigismund's  character,  and 
Heimburg  retaliated  by  recalling  the  Pope's  sayings 
and  doings  at  Basel.  Pius  was  restrained  by  his 
dignity  from  replying  directly,  though  it  must  have 
galled  so  ready  a  writer  to  withhold  his  pen,  but  he  so 
far  surrendered  his  judgement  to  his  temper  as  to 
issue  a  futile  order  to  the  magistrates  of  Germany. 
He  directed  them  to  seize  Heimburg  and  his  goods, 
and  couched  the  bull  in  the  vigorous  language  so  freely 
used  by  the  mediaeval  Papacy ;  among  other  oppro- 
brious epithets  he  called  Heimburg  that  '  child  of  the 
devil.'  The  only  eflPect  was  to  give  his  enemy  another 
and  better  excuse  for  virulent  personal  attack.  After 
defining  the  principle  of  an  appeal  to  a  council  not  yet 
in  existence,  and  showing  that  an  appeal  quite  ana- 
logous to  such  an  one  is  quite  lawful  to  a  Pope,  not 
yet  elected,  during  a  vacancy  in  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter, 
Heimburg  proceeded  to  charge  the  Pope,  falsely,  with 
getting  money  under  the  specious  pretence  that  it 
was  for  the  Turkish  war,  and  sending  it  to  Ferrante. 
Pius  shudders,  he  proceeds,  at  a  perfectly  legitimate 
congress  as  if  it  were  of  bastard  birth,  yet  the  Pope 
is  a  favourer  of  bastards  and  is  fond  of  them  (Ferrante 
was  a  bastard).  This  Pope  is  a  greater  chatterer  than 
a  magpie.  He  is  an  ignoramus  about  law,  for  he  has 
never  smelt  at  it,  whether  of  the  civil  or  canon  kind, 
whereas  he,   Heimburg,   knows  what  he  is  talking 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOEEIGN  POWEHS    311 

about,  for  he,  at  least,  has  not  neglected  his  legal 
studies,  nor  can  he  be  persuaded  into  the  Pope's 
delusion  that  everything  can  be  glossed  over  by 
rhetorical  artifice/ 

Teodoro  de'  LoUi,  one  of  the  Papal  secretaries, 
replied  to  Heimburg  in  a  letter  which  is  not  less 
remarkable  for  coarse  vituperation  than  was  Heim- 
burg's  reply  to  it.  The  sturdy  German  speaks  of 
the  secretary  as  the  Pope's  stalking-horse,  content  to 
receive  blows  if  he  can  get  a  cardinal's  hat  in  pay- 
ment ;  the  Pope  and  Curia  are  so  many  leeches.  All 
the  Pope  cares  for  is  leisured  ease,  and  to  spend 
money  on  his  buildings  at  Corsignano.  All  allegiance 
to  the  Pope  should  be  thrown  off. 

It  is  evident  that  Heimburg  took  the  same  un- 
sympathetic view  of  Pius's  character  that  the  pains- 
taking biographer.  Professor  George  Voigt,  has  done ; 
he  could  see  nothing  in  him  but  a  '  wily  Italian '  and 
a  '  shifty  adventurer.'  Pius  could  afford  to  ignore  the 
personal  attack,  but  the  challenge  to  Papal  authority 
must  be  met.  He  pronounced  the  greater  excom- 
munication against  Sigismund  and  Heimburg,  and 
classed  them  with  pirates,  Saracens,  and  Wicklyfites. 
Thereupon  the  Princes  summoned  a  Diet  to  meet  at 
Frankfort,  and  Frederick  wrote  to  Pius,  '  See  how 
defiant  the  factions  have  become ;  they  presume  to 
dictate  to  us.  It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that 
we  should  unite  to  oppose  their  designs.'^  The 
Emperor  forbade  the  Diet,  and  the  citizens  of  Frank- 
fort shut  their  gates  on  the  Princes  when  they  rode 
up.     Meanwhile,  in  perfect  secrecy,  envoys  were  set 

*  See  Voigt,  Georg,  Enea  Silvio,  iii.  pp.  303-421. 
2  Birk,  Archiv.  fur  Oesterr.  Gesch.,  xi.  158-160. 


312 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


to  work  to  detach  this  and  that  prince  from  the 
League — no  difficult  matter,  for,  as  Nicholas  of  Cusa 
said,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  was  suffering  from 
mortal  disease.  Ultimately,  in  the  Emperor's  hour 
of  direst  need,  when  he  was  at  the  point  of  surrender- 
ing to  his  brother,  Albert  of  Austria,  he  was  ex- 
tricated from  the  toils  set  by  his  enemies.  George 
Podiebrad,  King  of  Bohemia,  found  it  convenient  to 
take  Frederick's  side.  He  marched  his  army  to  release 
his  liege  lord  from  the  forces  that  invested  Vienna. 
Diether,  at  a  sacrifice  of  territory  to  his  opponents, 
got  his  numerous  debts  paid  and  came  to  seek  Papal 
absolution  on  his  knees,  and,  through  the  Emperor's 
intercession,  Sigismund  was  absolved.  But  Heimburg 
remained  under  the  ban. 

The  turbulent  rulers  of  Europe  resembled  the  base 
mob  of  Rome  in  this  respect :  they  could  neither 
endure  the  Papal  yoke  nor  do  without  it.  The 
divinely  appointed  Pope  legitimated  the  European 
princes  by  acknowledging  them,  and  gave  them  no 
little  support  against  the  pretensions  of  rivals.  More- 
over, strange  mutterings  of  new  doctrines  were  heard. 
For,  even  in  the  fifteenth  century,  there  were  remark- 
able theories  afloat,  and  discontent  gave  birth  to 
marvellous  inventions. 


The  Bohemian  question  remained,  and  gave  grave 
anxiety  to  the  Papacy.  George  Podiebrad,  by  uniting 
the  moderates,  had  rendered  Bohemia  the  strongest 
power  in  transalpine  Europe.  He  had  got  out  of 
coming  to  Mantua  by  urging  the  unsettled  state 
of  his  kingdom.  But,  directly  he  had  succeeded  in 
inducing  Pius  to  quell  the   murmurs  of  rebellious 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOREIGN  POWERS    313 

Breslau,  he  solemnly  accepted  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bohemian  Church,  in  order  to  bind  the  Calixtines, 
who  were  in  a  majority,  to  him,  though,  by  so  doing, 
he  could  not  fail  to  alienate  his  Catholic  and  German 
subjects  and  incur  the  opposition  of  both  Emperor 
and  Pope.  Pius  retorted  by  threatening  both  to 
annul  the  truce  he  had  secured  from  Breslau  and  to 
effect  a  coalition  against  Bohemia.-^  George  became 
alarmed,  and  sent  envoys  to  Rome  (March  1462) 
offering  his  obedience.  Pius  replied  that  he  required 
that  of  the  kingdom  as  well  as  that  of  the  King. 
Thereupon  Wenzel  Korada,  the  type  of  the  blustering, 
militant  dissenter  of  the  fifteenth  century,  demanded 
a  recognition  of  the  compacts.  Pius  replied  in  a 
brilliant  speech  that  took  him  two  hours  to  deliver. 
He  endeavoured  to  prove  that  heresy  in  Bohemia 
had  destroyed  its  prosperity,  that  the  compacts  had 
never  been  formally  recognised,  and  that  they  were 
inconsistent  with  genuine  Catholic  reunion.  Yet,  he 
would  consult  with  his  Curia  out  of  respect  for  the 
King.  No  one  knew  the  difficulties  of  rule  in 
Bohemia  so  well  as  Pius,  and  he  must  have  been  fully 
aware  of  the  enormous  obstacles  Podiebrad  had  sur- 
mounted, as  well  as  the  delicate  statesmanship  that 
still  lay  before  him.  But  the  claims  of  Rome  must 
be  maintained,  in  the  interests  of  the  Papacy,  for  the 
sake  of  the  undivided  Church,  to  the  realisation  of 
the  great  vision  of  a  Commonwealth  of  Christian 
peoples,  and  for  a  theological  reason  which  he  gave  in 
a  few  days  when  he  again  received  the  Bohemian 
envoys.  At  this  audience,  he  finally  refused  their 
request.     There  was  danger,  he  said,  of  spilling  the 

1  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes^  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  223,  224. 


314 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


precious  Blood  of  Our  Lord  if  the  cup  were  entrusted 
to  the  laity,  and  they  might  rest  satisfied  that  the 
entire  Body  of  the  Saviour  was  in  every  part  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.'^  After  this  announcement,  he 
invited  the  envoys  to  a  private  audience  in  the 
garden  of  the  Vatican.  They  asked  him  to  send  an 
envoy  to  Bohemia,  and  he  acceded,  naming  one 
Fantino  de  Valle,  a  Catholic  indeed,  but  Podiebrad's 
proctor  at  Eome. 

Podiebrad's  sole  object  in  dallying  with  the  Papacy 
was  to  gain  time.  He  had  listened  to  a  certain 
Antoine  Marini,  a  Frenchman,  who  was  going  about 
Europe  proposing  a  coalition  between  Bohemia,  Bur- 
gundy, France,  Hungary,  Poland,  and  Venice  to  start 
the  Turkish  war  and  strike  at  Papal  prestige  and 
authority  by  keeping  Pius  from  sharing  in  the 
exploit.  These  powers  could  call  a  General  Council 
to  depose  Pius  and  settle  the  disputes  of  Europe.^ 
Louis  of  France  also  inclined  his  ear  to  the  proposal, 
but  only  to  frighten  Pius  into  doing  his  bidding. 

It  happened  that  Podiebrad  had  not  been  pleased 
with  Fantino's  conduct  as  his  proctor  at  Rome. 
When  Fantino  came  into  the  King's  presence  he 
found  him  livid  with  rage ;  he  was  glared  at,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  King  would  like  to  strike  him 
down.  When  the  envoy  spoke,  Podiebrad  interrupted 
him  again  and  again.  But  Fantino  was  a  courageous 
Dalmatian,  one  not  easily  daunted  by  regal  displeasure. 
He  first  renounced  his  proctorship,  and  then,  as  the 
Pope's  envoy,  suspended  all  supporters  of  the  com- 


1  Mansi,  Pii  II.  Orationes,  ii.  93-100. 

2  Markgraf,  Hist.  Zeitschr.,  xii.  245  et  seq.;  Voigt,  loc.  cit,  iii.  487 
et  seq. 


THE  PAPACY  AND  FOEEIGN  POWEHS    315 

pacts  and  warned  the  King  that  he  was  incurring 
grave  peril.  George  retained  self-command  with 
diflSculty.  Turning  to  the  Bohemian  nobles,  'My 
Lords/  said  he,  'you  have  elected  me  of  your  own 
free-will,  and  you  must  stand  by  me.'  He  left  the 
Council  Chamber  inveighing  against  the  Papacy  and 
saying  that  the  union  of  Christian  people  was  the 
true  Church,  and  not  the  Boman  hierarchy.^  He 
ordered  Fantino  to  be  cast  into  prison,  but,  finding 
that  his  Catholic  subjects  refused  their  support,  he 
set  him  free,  though  he  was  ungenerous  enough  to 
refuse  the  envoy  his  horse  or  allow  his  servants  to  ac- 
company him.^  Then,  perceiving  that  his  conduct  was 
causing  grave  opposition  among  his  Catholic  subjects, 
Podiebrad  wrote  to  the  Pope  as  his  *  obedient  son.' 
He  tried  all  the  wiles  of  that  statecraft  of  which  he 
was  past-master  to  get  the  compacts  recognised. 
This  Pius  was  resolutely  determined  not  to  do.  He 
tried  to  force  Podiebrad's  hand  by  releasing  Breslau 
from  the  truce ;  but  Frederick,  whom  the  Bohemian 
King  had  just  released  from  his  perilous  position  at 
Vienna,  entreated  Pius  to  deal  gently  with  his  pre- 
server. The  Pope  was  too  consummate  a  statesman 
not  to  perceive  the  unwisdom  of  trying  for  a  pre- 
mature triumph  when  he  knew^  it  must  come  in  time, 
and  he  acceded  to  Frederick's  request.  'It  was  an 
ancient  and  abiding  principle  with  Bome,'  says  Pastor, 
the  Catholic  historian,  '  to  neglect  nothing  but  to 
hurry  nothing.'  And,  on  June  6,  1464,  directly  Pius 
had  got  his  crusading  project  accepted  by  the  Powers, 

1  Urhundliche  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  Bohmens  :  '  Fontes  rerum  Austria- 
carum.'    Abtheil.  xx.  272  et  seq. 
*  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Eng.  trans.,  voL  iii.  p.  236. 


316 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


he  cited  the  Bohemian  King  to  appear  personally 
before  him,  within  a  reasonable  but  fixed  time,  at 
Rome. 

So  strong  was  the  opposition  against  the  Papacy 
in  Northern  Europe,  that,  in  1463,  when  there  was 
a  quarrel  between  the  burghers  of  Lidge  and  their 
bishop,  and  the  Pope  supported  the  latter,  the 
University  of  Koln  issued  an  appeal  to  a  better 
instructed  Pope.  Pius  enlarged  the  retractation, 
written  when  he  was  Bishop  of  Trieste,  into  the  Bull 
In  minorihus  agentihus.  He  conceals  the  fact,  of 
which,  perhaps,  he  was  barely  conscious,  that,  at 
least  in  some  measure,  he  had  acted  at  Basel  and 
Vienna  as  a  professional  writer  working  up  a  case 
for  his  employers,  and  that  his  own  advancement  in 
life  was  no  small  spur  to  these  exhibitions  of  zeal. 
He  certainly  believed  that  his  convictions  were  real, 
though  we  can  see  that  they  were  not  very  profound 
nor  uninfluenced  by  self-interest.  He  pleads  his  own 
cause  and  puts  it  as  persuasively  as  is  consistent  with 
facts.  Yet  both  the  Epistle  and  the  Bull  strike  a 
note  of  earnest  sincerity.  Speaking  of  the  order 
given  to  the  Church,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  suc- 
cessors of  St.  Peter,  Pius  says  :  '  If  you  find  anything 
contrary  to  Our  doctrine  in  Our  earlier  writings 
(for  We  wrote  a  good  deal),  cast  it  away  with  scorn. 
Follow  what  We  teach  now,  believe  in  the  old  man, 
not  in  the  young.    Accept  Pius  ;  cast  away  ^neas.'  ^ 

It  is  curious  that  he  ascribes  his  conversion  to 
Thomas  of  Sarzana,  who  became  Nicholas  v.,  though 
we  know  from  his  other  writings  that  Carvajal  and 
Cesarini  had  much  more  to  do  with  it. 

1  Fea,  Pius  IL,  a  column,  vindic. :  Bulla  Retract. 


THE  PEIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  POPE    317 


CHAPTEE   XVIII 

THE   PRIVATE  LIFE   OF   THE  POPE 

Pius  was  always  glad  to  escape  from  his  Roman 
Court.  Taking  a  cardinal  or  two  and  his  friends 
with  him,  he  would  seek  for  health  in  those  quiet 
country  scenes  he  loved  so  well.  But  he  had  to 
carry  the  heavy  burden  of  his  Pontificate  with  him ; 
and  he  never  neglected  his  duties  for  a  single  day, 
except  on  those  occasions,  by  no  means  infrequent, 
when  he  lay  on  a  bed  of  torture.  He  had,  however, 
some  compensation  for  his  sufferings  in  the  rare  gift 
of  being  able  to  discharge  all  care  from  his  mind,  and 
enjoy  some  brief  hour  of  peace. 

In  the  summer  of  1461  he  set  out  for  Tivoli,  for 
Rome  was  fairly  quiet  again,  and  Piccinino  had 
retreated;  but  it  was  considered  necessary  that 
Federigo  of  Urbino,  the  Pope's  condottiere,  and  ten 
squadrons  of  horse  should  escort  him.  He  tells  us 
how  he  *  enjoyed  the  martial  splendour  of  the  men 
and  their  steeds ;  for  shield  and  breastplate  and 
nodding  crest  and  a  forest  of  spears  flashed  in  the 
sunlight.  The  young  men  galloped  hither  and 
thither,  and  wheeled  their  horses  round;  they 
brandished  their  swords,  lowered  their  spears,  and 
engaged  in  mimic  fight.  Federigo  was  pretty  well 
read,  and  he  asked  the  Pope  if  the  great  heroes  of 


318 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


antiquity  bore  the  same  kinds  of  armour  as  we.  The 
Pope  replied  that  all  the  arms  now  in  use  are  men- 
tioned by  Homer  and  Virgil,  as  well  as  many  that 
have  been  abandoned.  Then  their  talk  drifted  on  to 
the  Trojan  war,  which  Federigo  wished  to  belittle, 
but  the  Pope  argued  that  if  the  contest  had  been 
unimportant  it  would  hardly  have  left  such  an  im- 
perishable record.  Then  this  topic  brought  up  Asia 
Minor,  and  they  differed  as  to  its  boundaries.  So  the 
Pope,  having  a  little  leisure  at  Tivoli,  occupied  it  by 
compiling  a  book  to  describe  that  region,  drawing 
from  Ptolemy,  Strabo,  Pliny,  the  two  Curtii,  Solinus, 
Pomponius,  and  other  ancient  authors.' 

Pius  thought  it  needful  to  defend  himself  for 
occupying  leisure  moments  in  historical  work.  In 
the  introduction  to  his  Asia,  the  work  suggested  by 
this  conversation  with  the  Duke,  he  says  :  '  There 
will  be  ill-conditioned  folk  who  will  charge  Us  with 
defrauding  Christendom  of  Our  time,  and  misusing  it 
by  devoting  Ourselves  to  frivolous  things.  But  Our 
reply  is,  read  Our  works  before  you  blame  them,  and 
then  do  as  you  will.  Perhaps,  if  elegant  style  does 
not  please  them,  they  will  be  glad  of  information. 
We  have  not  cut  Our  duties  short,  but  We  have,  in- 
deed, robbed  Our  old  age  of  rest  to  hand  down  note- 
worthy things  to  posterity,  and  have  given  to  writing 
hours  that  have  been  stolen  from  sleep.  But  there 
will  be  those  who  will  say  We  might  have  used  Our 
wakefulness  to  better  purpose.  We  grant  that  some 
of  Our  predecessors  have  done  so ;  yet  Our  labours 
cannot  be  unproductive,  for  out  of  knowledge  comes 
practical  wisdom,  and  that  is  the  guide  of  life.' 

In  truth  Pius  is  the  born  writer.     He  cannot  keep 


THE  PEIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  POPE    319 

his  pen  from  recording  all  that  he  sees,  and  thinks 
and  imagines,  and  he  takes  the  same  delight  in  words 
and  their  manipulation  as  a  musician  does  in  the  har- 
monies that  he  creates.  He  added  the  force  of  graceful 
oratory  to  consummate  statesmanship,  and  drew,  from 
his  wide  personal  experience,  all  kinds  of  material 
for  wise  reflection  or  artistic  treatment.  There  are 
always  those  who  affect  to  belittle  the  combination 
of  gifts  of  such  diverse  nature  in  one  personality. 
And,  indeed,  it  is  rare  that  the  adaptability  of  the 
artistic  temperament  is  found  united  with  steadfast 
purpose  and  unbending  will  in  the  conduct  of  public 
affairs.  As  a  statesman  Pius  was  inflexible  in  his 
aims,  but  wise  to  bend  before  forces  that  it  would 
have  been  impolitic  at  the  moment  to  oppose. 

It  was  the  Pope's  habit  to  dictate  the  doings  of 
his  Pontificate  to  his  secretaries  at  short  intervals. 
He  desired  that  his  memoirs  should  be  his  monument 
for  posterity.  The  first  book  of  these  Commentaries 
covers  his  life  from  his  birth  to  his  accession,  and  it 
is  in  terse  and  polished  Latin.  Then  follow  eleven 
books,  more  desultory  in  treatment  and  of  less 
finished  style.  He  directed  Campano  to  polish 
them,^  for  he  seldom  spared  more  than  two  hours 
at  a  time  in  the  composition  of  what  is  only  the  first 
draught  of  a  species  of  diary.  But  Campano  thought 
it  needed  no  improvement,  and  we  are  the  happier 
for  his  judgement.  All  he  did  was  to  divide  the  work 
into  twelve  books,  but  he  mentions  the  commence- 
ment of  a  thirteenth,  which  has  been  published  by 
Voigt  in  his  biography  of  Pius  ii.  This  fragment 
brings  the  history  of  the  Pontificate  up  to  the  April 

1  Campanus,  Opera,  Ep.  i.     Romae,  1495. 


320 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


of  the  year  in  which  Pius  died.  Twelve  books  were 
published  by  Francesco  Bandini  de'  Piccolomini, 
Archbishop  of  Siena,  in  the  next  century.  He,  since 
they  are  written  in  the  third  person,  and  were  tran- 
scribed by  a  German  cleric,  one  Johannes  Gobellinus 
(who,  according  to  wont,  subscribed  his  name),  attri- 
buted them  to  that  person.  But  internal  and  ex- 
ternal evidence  leave  no  doubt  that  they  are  by  Pius 
himself. 

He  crowds  things  great  and  small  together,  and 
the  Commentaries  are  as  full  of  digressions  as  the 
History  of  Herodotus.  The  Pope  is  so  full  of  informa- 
tion, and  so  eager  to  impart  it,  that  he  no  sooner  has 
occasion  to  mention  the  name  of  a  person  or  a  place, 
than  all  that  he  knows  about  that  person  and  his 
family,  or  that  place  and  its  environs,  flows  from 
his  pen.  He  describes  scenery  with  the  power  of 
painting  in  words  and  the  sentiment  of  the  modern 
writer.  Nothing  is  without  interest  for  him ;  when 
at  Chiusi,  he  sets  out  searching  for  the  labyrinth  of 
Clusium  mentioned  by  Pliny;  when  at  Hadrian's 
villa,  he  investigates  the  ruins  with  a  view  to  a 
mental  reconstruction  of  the  apartments,  and  the 
uses  to  which  they  were  put.  He  shows  himself  the 
practised  writer  on  every  page.  If  he  turns  his  own 
portrait  to  the  most  favourable  light,  so  that  posterity 
may  see  him  at  his  best,  he  is  careful  to  record  his 
defects,  and  not  Augustine  or  Eousseau  has  been 
more  frank  than  iEneas  Silvius  in  his  letters,  and 
certainly  not  so  devoid  of  self-consciousness.  Even 
his  little  attempts  to  gloss,  reveal  far  more  than  they 
conceal.  The  Pope  delights  in  recalling  the  pleasure 
he  felt  at  the  reverence  that  was  paid  to  him,  and 


THE  PEIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  POPE    321 

and  the  splendid  pomp  with  which  he  was  everywhere 
received.  His  work  is  full  of  a  simple,  childlike 
vanity  that  is  delightful,  and  his  foibles  are  of  the 
kind  that  are  often  more  endearing  than  great 
virtues.  In  reading  the  Commentaries,  we  often 
experience  a  similar  charm  to  that  which  holds  us 
when  we  sit  by  a  cheerful  fireside  and  listen  to  the 
outpourings  of  some  gifted,  sympathetic  friend  who 
unfolds  himself  without  reserve  or  arriere-pensee. 
He  will  not  allow  his  sufferings  to  interfere  with  his 
cheerfulness,  he  will  not  convey  any  shadow  of  his 
own  pain  to  his  friends.  We  almost  forget  that  we 
are  with  a  Pope ;  we  are  barely  conscious  that  we 
are  listening  to  a  scholar,  a  graduate  of  Siena,  but 
we  are  aware  that  a  man  compels  our  attention  who 
has  a  rich  nature  matured  by  a  large  experience  of 
life.  We  listen  to  a  trained  observer  with  sharp  ears 
and  eyes,  whom  little  escapes. 

There  is  nothing  of  the  zealot,  nothing  of  the  saint 
about  Pius,  but  he  is  devout.  He  is  sensitive  to  the 
heroic  side  of  character  without  losing  sympathy  with 
all  that  humanity  thinks  and  feels  and  does.  The 
warm  heart  and  kindly  disposition,  the  absence  of 
prejudice,  the  natural  refinement  that  characterise 
iEneas  Silvius  are  to  be  found  in  Pius  too.  He 
remains  a  man  open  to  all  that  may  act  on  humanity, 
but  he  has  become  mellowed  by  age  ;  he  deems  it  only 
consonant  with  his  priestly  office  to  use  the  language 
of  the  pulpit  very  freely,  but  it  is  not  a  garb  to  be  put 
on  and  off ;  it  is  a  serious  obligation.  He  no  longer 
has  to  make  his  way  or  subdue  himself  to  other 
circumstances  than  those  associated  with  his  high 
office  ;  he  has  achieved  and  attained ;  he  has  become 

X 


322 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


earnest  and  takes  a  profounder  view  of  life  and  its 
responsibilities  than  of  yore,  and  his  evening  on  earth 
is  not  without  serenity. 

He  has  not  lost  his  passion  for  travel,  or  his  eye,  as 
of  a  painter,  for  all  that  is  beautiful  in  nature,  while 
he  has  a  more  catholic  taste  than  is  usual  with  the 
professional  artist.  Old  ruins  and  all  that  recalls  the 
past  excite  both  his  imagination  and  his  powers  of 
investigation,  and  he  views  current  events  as  a 
thoughtful  man  must,  who  stands  in  the  very  centre 
of  world-politics,  and  has  been  in  the  inmost  counsels 
of  those  who  have  made  world-history.  His  estimate 
of  character  is  profound  and  unerring ;  he  gets  at  the 
core  of  a  man  at  once.  He  is  almost  with  Bacon  in 
*  taking  all  knowledge  to  be  his  province ' — except 
law,  and  to  this  may  be  added  the  occult  arts.  He 
pursues  etymological  inquiries,  he  sees  the  importance 
of  monuments  to  historical  reconstruction,  and  in  all 
that  he  tells  us  there  is  art,  for  he  always  endows  the 
tale  with  grace  and  vivacity.  But  he  becomes  a  little 
garrulous,  a  trifle  vainer  as  Pope,  and  spares  us  not  a 
single  speech  that  he  can  get  into  his  Commentaries^ 
though,  when  he  has  to  reprimand  the  cardinals  we 
only  know  that  he  did  so  from  Mansi's  collection  of 
his  orations — he  is  careful  to  leave  that  part  of  the 
speech  out.  Besides  the  Commentaries  and  the  Asia 
he  wrote  several  Latin  hymns  after  he  became  Pope. 
He  wrote  almost  up  to  the  end  of  his  days.  The  last 
line  of  his  Commentaries  was  dictated  on  the  last  day 
of  the  year  before  he  died. 

Pope  Pius  II.  remained  what  iEneas  Silvius  had 
been — a  firm  friend.  *  I  do  not  make  friends  lightly,' 
he  had  said.     *  There  must  be  some  excellent  quality 


THE  PRIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE   POPE    323 

to  serve  as  a  basis  for  friendship.  I  am  somewhat 
proud  and  nice.  A  man  must  be  my  superior  to 
count  me  among  his  friends.  I  do  not  now  dislike  a 
single  soul  to  whom  I  have  once  given  my  love.'  ^ 
But  his  friendship  was  more  easily  won  than  he 
thought,  and  of  his  genial,  approachable  nature  there 
is  ample  evidence.  Pulci  wrote  a  novella  about  him, 
which  he  dedicated  to  Madonna  Ippolita,  daughter  of 
the  Duke  of  Milan,  when  she  was  Duchess  of  Calabria 
— she  who,  as  a  young  girl,  had  harangued  Pius  in 
Latin  at  Mantua.  '  He  was  indeed  a  most  worthy  and 
lofty  minded  Pope,'  says  Pulci,  '  nor  unworthy  of  the 
famous  Trojan  race.'  Pulci's  tale  may  not  be  strictly 
a  true  one,  but  if  it  is  founded  on  no  actual  fact,  even, 
it  is  good  evidence  to  the  Pope's  approachableness 
and  good  humour.  Pulci  tells  us  of  a  certain  man  who, 
in  his  youth,  had  been  a  favourite  servant  of  ^neas. 
The  Pope,  being  at  Corsignano,  this  domestic  desired 
to  visit  him,  but  was  perplexed  as  to  what  present  he 
should  take.  He  thought  of  a  tortoise,  of  which  he 
had  many.  But  a  Messer  Goro,  an  officer  of  the  Pope, 
coming  to  Siena,  he  went  to  consult  him.  '  And  how 
goes  it  with  that  little  image  of  a  saint,  Messer  Enea  ? ' 
he  asked.  *  Has  he  indeed  become  Pope  ?  We  have 
drunk  a  hundred  wine  cups  together.  I  want  to  go 
and  see  him  and  remind  him  of  the  cuff  that  I  dealt 
him  at  Fontegaia  when  I  knocked  his  cap  off  He 
stood  it  as  if  he  was  the  sweetest  sugar  in  the  world.' 
Master  Goro  was  invited  to  supper  and  a  grave 
discussion  took  place  as  to  whether  peacocks  with 
feathers  on  should  be  presented — a  customary  oifering 
in  Florence  and  Rome.    But,  not  finding  any  peacocks, 

*  Fix  II.  Opera  Omnia^  Basel  ed.,  1554,  Ep.  xxii.,  p.  53. 


324 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


wild  geese  were  selected  as  the  nearest  thing,  and 
their  beaks  cut  off.  Then  the  whilom  domestic 
obtained  a  green  woodpecker,  under  the  impression  it 
was  a  parrot,  put  it  in  a  cage,  which  he  got  beautifully 
painted  with  the  Papal  arms,  and  left  it  at  the  artist  s 
shop  for  two  or  three  days  so  that  everybody  might 
admire  it.  And  though  there  was  a  little  doubt  ex- 
pressed, most  Sienese  believed  it  to  be  really  a  parrot. 
The  bird  was  sent  to  Corsignano,  where  the  Pope  and 
his  court  were  much  amused  at  the  donor's  simplicity. 
After  a  few  days  the  man  came  himself,  and  the  Pope 
saw  him  very  willingly  and  kept  him  by  his  side  for 
some  little  time,  much  to  the  guest's  delight.  And  he 
recalled  the  memory  of  so  many  wine  cups  and  so 
many  buffetings  and  said  such  stupid  things  that 
there  were  repeated  roars  of  laughter  at  the  Papal 
Court,  and  the  worthy  man  retired  very  happy  and 
with  the  Papal  benediction. 

Pius  would  have  visited  Siena  oftener  had  he  been 
on  better  terms  with  its  government.  He  loved 
Southern  Tuscany  beyond  any  part  of  Italy,  for  the 
sake  of  youthful  memories,  but  he  enjoyed  the  romance 
that  clings  to  beautiful  Tivoli.  When  he  visited 
the  villa  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  he  heaved  a  senti- 
mental sigh  there  as  he  thought  of  what  it  had  once 
been.  He  tried  Ho  interpret  the  fragments  of  the 
walls  and,  in  imagination,  to  restore  what  they  were.' 
*  Time  has  here  defaced  everything.  The  walls  which 
were  once  adorned  by  tapestries  of  bright  colours  and 
gold  and  by  embroidered  hangings  are  now  covered 
with  ivy.  Thorns  and  briars  flourish  where  Tribunes 
were  wont  to  sit  in  their  purple  robes,  and  snakes  now 
inhabit  what  was  once  the  bower  of  a  queen.     So 


THE  PRIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  POPE    325 

passes  the  glory  of  all  the  things  of  time.'  ^  From 
Tivoli,  he  went  to  Subiaco,  following  the  romantic 
course  of  the  Anio,  enjoying  its  gleeful  leapings,  and 
taking  a  simple  wayside  meal  by  some  fresh  spring, 
while  the  peasants  would  fish  the  river  and  shout 
aloud  to  let  the  Pope  know  they  had  secured  a  gift 
for  him.  He  visited  the  first  house  of  the  mighty 
order  founded  by  St.  Benedict  at  Subiaco  and  the 
convents  around  it  that  nestle  in  the  picturesque  chasm 
of  the  mountain,  and  then  he  went  on  to  Palestrina, 
returning  to  Rome  in  the  autumn. 

Next  June  (1462)  the  Pope  visited  his  birthplace 
to  see  what  progress  his  buildings  had  made  and  then 
went  to  the  monastery  of  Santo  Salvadore,  situated 
half  way  up  the  lofty  Monte  Amiata.  He  speaks  with 
enthusiasm  of  '  the  splendid  chestnuts,  and,  higher 
up,  the  oaks  that  clothe  the  mountain  up  to  the  edge 
of  the  precipice,'  of  the  wide  prospect  spread  out 
below,  of  fields  and  woods  and  meadows  and  the  proud 
works  of  man  ;  he  tells  us  how  the  library  of  the  con- 
vent delighted  him,  and  of  a  precious  illuminated  New 
Testament  that  he  found  there.  *  Often  he  received 
missions  and  transacted  Papal  business  and  gave 
audience  to  ambassadors  beneath  some  grand  old 
chestnut  or  in  the  shadow  of  an  olive  or  on  the  green 
sward  by  some  murmuring  brooklet.'  ^ 

Equally  charming  is  his  description  of  a  visit  to 
Monte  Oliveto  Maggiore,  a  Benedictine  convent,  not 
then  adorned  with  its  famous  frescoes,  but  rendered,  by 
the  industry  of  the  monks,  a  smiling  oasis  in  a  bare  and 
horrid  land.  Happy,  says  he,  are  the  monks  who 
dwell  in  such  a  pleasant  place,  *  though  happier  are 

1  Pii  II.  Cortment.,  1.  5.  2  m^,^  1.  3. 


326 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


they  who,  having  seen  it,  are  free  to  go  away/  Here 
he  took  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  searching  for  the 
tombs  of  his  ancestors,  many  of  whom,  he  found,  lay 
buried  there. 

Scattered  throughout  the  Commentaries  are  records 
of  what  the  man  may  see  who  has  a  quick  eye  for 
natural  effect,  and  who  delights  in  the  human  form 
and  its  graceful  movements.  Pius  watches  all 
manifestations  of  life ;  his  heart  beats  as  he  watches 
the  struggle  of  oarsmen  in  the  water-race ;  his  ear  is 
taken  by  '  the  song  of  thrushes  that  fill  the  evergreen 
oaks  with  life.' 

In  May  1463  he  became  the  guest  of  his  former 
rival  for  the  Pontificate,  Cardinal  D'Estouteville,  who 
had  a  small  palazzo  at  Ostia.  He  rambled  about  the 
remains  of  that  ancient  Koman  port  and  was  not 
insensitive  to  the  desolate  beauty  of  the  landscape. 
But  a  terrible  storm  came  on  and  the  wind  carried 
away  the  tents  of  his  attendants,  and  even  in  the 
palace  they  trembled,  fearing  the  roof  would  be  blown 
in.  So  Pius  was  wrapped  up  in  a  blanket,  but  just 
as  they  were  going  to  carry  him  into  the  open  for 
safety  the  wind  abated,  '  as  if  it  were  unwilling  to  put 
the  Pope  to  inconvenience,'  he  remarks  in  that  spirit 
of  dry,  sly,  insidious  humour  to  which  we  have  grown 
so  accustomed.  Not  very  long  afterwards  he  made 
an  excursion  to  Albano  and  Castel  Gandolfo,  the  clear 
waters  of  Nemi,  '  mirror  of  Diana,'  and  the  summit 
that  looks  down  on  the  broad  Campagna  and  across 
it,  on  one  side,  to  immortal  Rome  and  the  mountains, 
and,  westwards,  to  an  immemorial  sea.  Returning  to 
Rome  along  the  Appian  Way  he  noticed  the  destruc- 
tion  of  the   monuments   of  antiquity   for    building 


THE  PEIVATE  LIFE   OF  THE  POPE    327 

purposes,  and  at  once  issued  a  Bull  to  protect  them. 
In  May  1462  he  was  at  Viterbo,  taking  the  baths, 
and,  being  too  crippled  by  gout  to  walk,  he  was  carried 
into  the  pastures  *  to  enjoy  the  breeze  and  admire  the 
growing  green,  and  the  flax-flowers  that  are  like 
heaven  for  blueness  and  fill  the  beholders'  hearts 
with  joy/ 

But  if  he  delighted  in  the  records  that  time  has 
spared  us,  and  the  beauty  of  wood  and  meadow  and 
stream  that  is  for  ever  transforming  itself  into  some 
fresh  joy,  like  a  true  child  of  the  Benaissance  he 
rejoiced  in  all  kinds  of  spectacular  display.  There  is, 
to  us,  something  a  little  childish,  something  a  little 
vulgar,  something  a  little  pathetic  about  this  side  of 
the  life  of  the  age.  On  Corpus  Christi  Day  the  Pope 
passed  from  a  splendid  tent  that  had  been  erected  for 
him  in  one  of  the  open  spaces  of  Viterbo,  a  city  of 
*  beautiful  fountains  and  lovely  women.'  He  bore  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  in  his  hands  and  proceeded  to  the 
old  Bomanesque  basilica  of  S.  Lorenzo.  At  diflerent 
points  along  the  route  various  cardinals  had  prepared 
a  surprise.  One  of  these  was  a  dramatic  represen- 
tation of  the  Last  Supper.  A  little  farther  on  a 
dragon,  accompanied  by  a  herd  of  devils,  came  forth 
to  attack  the  Pope,  but  St.  Michael  descended 
from  the  heavens  and  cut  ofl*  the  dragon's  head,  and 
the  demons  fell  down  powerless,  except  that  they 
barked.  A  little  farther  on,  again,  two  angels 
advanced  and  knelt  before  the  Pope,  singing,  '  Lift  up 
your  heads,  0  ye  gates,  that  King  Pius,  lord  of  the 
world,  may  come  in.'  Five  kings  with  their  warriors 
tried  to  block  the  way,  asking  who  this  King  Pius 
might  be ;  whereupon,  '  the  lord  strong  and  mighty,' 


328 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


choired  the  angels,  and  they  and  all  fell  before  the 
Pope,  singing  hymns  in  his  honour  to  a  sweet  accom- 
paniment of  instrumental  music.    Next  a  savage  led 
a  lion  and  wrestled  with  him ;  this  was  intended  to 
symbolise  the  force  of  Papal  authority.     Then  the 
Pope  came  to  an  array  of  columns  whereon   stood 
angels  singing,  and  there  before  him  was  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  guarded  by  sleeping  soldiers.     An  angel 
descended,  a  gun  was  fired,  the  soldiers  awoke  and 
rubbed   their   eyes,   and   one   that   represented    the 
Eedeemer  arose  to  heaven  reciting  Italian  verse  and 
telling  the  crowd  that  their  salvation  was  achieved. 
Next  came  a  representation  of  heaven  with  all  its 
stars  and  angels  and  the  Almighty  Himself     And 
after  Mass  was  said  at  S.  Francesco,  and  the  Pope  had 
given  his  benediction,  when  the  procession  came  out 
of  the   Cathedral,   a   tomb   opened    and    Our  Lady 
ascended  to  heaven,  dropping  Her  girdle  on  the  way, 
and  the  Son,  who  is  also  the  Father,  advanced  to 
receive  Her  and  kissed  Her  brow  and  led  Her  to  Her 
throne.     '  Those  who  beheld  these  marvels,'  says  the 
Pope,  '  thought  they  had  entered  the  glorious  world 
above,  and  that,  being  still  in  the  flesh,  they  saw  their 
heavenly  home.'^ 

Such  was  the  life  of  Pius  ii.,  when,  for  a  short  time, 
he  found  himself  unencumbered  by  the  cares  of  the 
Church  and  his  States.  In  the  performance  of  the 
duties  of  a  sovereign  he  was  often  long  in  coming  to 
a  decision,  but,  his  mind  once  made  up,  he  rarely 
vacillated ;  and,  if  there  were  occasions  when  he  was 
afraid,  he  did  not  easily  betray  himself.  He  was  not 
elated  by  power  and  dignity,  though  he  enjoyed  both. 

1  Fii  II.  Comment.f  1.  8. 


THE  PRIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  POPE    329 

Often  he  was  in  agony  from  gout  and  renal  colic,  but 
he  suppressed  all  controllable  evidence  of  suffering,  so 
that  only  the  pallor  of  his  face  betrayed  him.     He 
still  rose  with  the  sun,  and,  after  divine  service,  trans- 
acted the  public  business  of  the  day.     Then  he  was 
carried  into  the  garden,  and  ate  a  scanty  breakfast. 
After   this   he   would    talk   for   an    hour   with    his 
attendants,  and  then  be  carried  back  to  his  room,  and 
rest  and  pray  for  a  while.    Then  he  would  resume 
business,  and  use  what  leisure  remained  before  dinner 
in  reading  and  writing.     Except   in  winter  or  wet 
weather  he  always  took  his  dinner  out  of  doors,  and 
then  read  or  dictated,  and  this  he  often  did  in  the 
night,  for  he  never  slept  more  than  five  or  six  hours. 
Want  of  exercise  caused  him  to  grow  a  little  fleshy  in 
his  later  years,  but,  in  spite  of  almost  constant  illness, 
he  made  light  of  toil  or  thirst  or  hunger  or  physical 
discomfort.     It  was  easy  to  gain  access  to  him,  and  he 
was  unwilling  to  refuse  requests.     Campano  tells  us 
that  when  a  servant  tried  to  stop  the  garrulity  of  an 
old  man  the  Pope  rebuked  him,  saying,  'You  forget 
that  I  am  Pope  and  have  to  live  for  others,  not  for 
myself ;    then  turning  gently  to  the  old   man,  he 
asked  him  to  go  on.     He  desired  that  people  should 
be  allowed  to  say  what  they  liked  concerning  him. 
He  hated  luxury  and  was  wont  to  say  that  books 
were   his  jewels.      He   confessed   and   received   the 
Blessed   Sacrament   frequently.      He   was   prone  to 
anger,  and  his  eyes  would  flash  with  wrath  when  the 
Church  was  treated   disrespectfully,   but  he  never 
resented  personal  affronts.^     He  had  the  broad  judge- 

^  Cainpanus,    Vita  Pii  II. ;    Platina,   Vita  Fii  II.   apud  Muratori, 
R.  I.  S.J  xxiii.  pars.  ii. 


330  ^NEAS   SILVIUS 

ment  and  took  the  impersonal  view  that  usually 
characterises  the  man  of  many  interests  and  high 
mental  cultivation.  *  He  was  true,  upright,  and  fl 
candid/  says  Platina ;  'there  was  no  deceit  or  dis- 
simulation about  him.'  His  household  expenses, 
according  to  Gregorovius,  were  ridiculously  small — 
smaller  than  those  of  any  other  Pope^ — yet,  owing 
to  the  costliness  of  war,  he  was  frequently  in  debt. 
And,  although  he  was  economical  in  small  things,  he 
would  sometimes  indulge  in  great  expenses,  and 
money  seemed  to  go  as  it  came. 

He  built  palaces  for  the  Piccolomini  in  Siena  as  well 
as  at  Corsignano,  and  adorned  Rome  with  a  few  lovely 
works  that  bear  the  impress  of  his  refined  taste  and 
still  remain  to  give  us  pure  delight.  One  day  the 
author  was  taking  a  short  cut  through  the  labyrin- 
thine Vatican  to  the  Archives.  His  way  lay  through 
an  arch  bearing  the  name  of  Pius  ii.  and  adorned 
with  beautiful  putti.  A  palaeographist  who  was  with 
him  took  off  his  hat,  and,  with  the  unaffected  sim- 
plicity of  the  true  scholar,  observed,  *  I  pass  through 
that  gate  every  day  of  my  life,  yet  I  cannot  forbear 
raising  my  hat  each  time  I  do  so  :  it  is  so  beautiful  a 
thing.'  Authors,  architects,  painters,  goldsmiths  were 
employed  by  Pius,  though  far  more  sparingly  than  byi 
Nicholas ;  for  his  taste  was  very  nice ;  he  cared  for 
quality  more  than  quantity,  and  his  mind  was  chiefly 
bent  on  the  restoration  of  Papal  authority  and  on  a, 
crusade.  Love  of  his  family  and  the  need  of  partisans  | 
led  him  to  give  office  and  extend  friendship  to 
relatives  and  Sienese,  much  to  the  disgust  of  other] 

^  Gregorovius,  SybeVs   Hist.    Zeitschr.^    'Das   Romische   Staatsarchiv,'] 
vol.  xxxvi.  pp.  168-180. 


THE  PEIVATE  LIFE   OF  THE  POPE    331 

disappointed  people.  His  special  friends,  besides 
Ammanati  and  Campano,  were  Francesco  Piccolomini, 
a  nephew ;  Eroli,  Bishop  of  Spoleto,  an  erudite,  up- 
right and  even  austere  man  ;  Gregorio  Lolli ;  Niccol5 
Forteguerra  of  Pistoja,  and  Giacomo  di  Luca. 


832  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTEE   XIX 

THE   CARDINALS — RELIGIOUS   CEREMONIES   AND 
GOVERNMENT 

Plus  had  much  trouble  with  his  cardinals.  Not 
merely  were  many  of  them  opposed  to  a  crusade,  not 
merely  did  Scarampo  throw  contempt  on  the  idea, 
but  there  were  those  of  the  Sacred  College  who  were 
sunk  in  worldliness  and  lived  heedless,  scandalous 
lives.  The  Papacy  was  on  the  way  to  secularisation, 
the  Pope  was,  almost  above  all  things,  a  temporal 
prince,  with  an  insubordinate,  badly  organised  state 
to  control  and  with  many  ill-wishers  for  neighbours, 
and  the  Curia  began  to  exhibit  the  vices  and  frivolity 
of  other  worldly  courts.  Pius  could  do  nothing  to- 
wards the  furthering  of  his  projects  without  the  good- 
will of  the  Curia,  and  though  his  letter  to  Borgia 
shows  his  feeling  on  the  matter,  he  was  practically 
powerless  to  effect  any  real  reform. 

Several  remarkable  events  took  place  during  his 
Pontificate.  Thomas  Palseologus,  despot  of  the  Morea, 
a  prince  of  handsome  features  and  grave  deportment, 
had  broken  a  treaty  with  the  Sultan,  and  was  driven 
out  of  Greece  by  the  enraged  Mussulman.  He  sought 
an  asylum  in  Italy,  and  brought  the  head  of  St. 
Andrew  with  him.  The  relic  was  at  least  no  recent 
fraud,  its  authenticity  was  supported   by  tradition. 


RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIES  333 

Pius,  sceptical  as  he  was,  had  no  doubt  of  its  being 
genuine.  Here  lay  at  his  hand  an  opportunity  of 
arousing  enthusiasm  for  his  Eastern  project.  A  gen- 
uine rehc  of  the  first  class  had  been  saved  by  the  piety 
of  Palseologus  from  the  impious  Turk.  He  deter- 
mined that  Rome  should  have  the  glory  of  possessing 
the  relic,  and  he  proclaimed  an  indulgence  to  all 
that  should  visit  Rome  at  its  reception.  But,  when 
Palaeologus  arrived  in  Italy  in  May  1461,  the  sons 
of  the  she-wolf  were  riotous,  and  the  Pope  had  to 
wait  until  their  turbulence  wore  itself  out.  By  1462 
things  were  fairly  quiet,  and  he  was  able  to  organise 
a  magnificent  procession  to  receive  the  head  of  the 
Saint.  The  night  before  Palm  Sunday — the  appointed 
day — it  rained  heavily,  and  Pius  tells  us  that  he 
made  the  impromptu  : — 

'  Nocte  pluit  tota,  redeunt  spectacula  mane. 
Divisum  imperium  cum  Jove  Caesar  habet.' 

•  It  rains  all  night,  the  spectacles  recommence  to-morrow.    Caesar 
holds  divided  rule  with  Jove.' 

But  Campano  thought  the  lines  might  be  improved  if 
they  were  given  a  more  Christian  turn,  and  he  altered 
them  to 

'  Nocte  pluit  tota,  redierunt  tempora  nostra. 
Nox  fuit  acta  hostis,  lux  erit  ista  Deus.' 

*  It  rains  all  night  but  our  favourable  season  has  returned.    The 
night  was  hostile ;  the  light  will  be  sent  of  God.'^ 

Pius's  impromptu  is  one  of  the  innumerable  instances 
we  possess  of  how  pagan  forms  and  Christian  belief 
lay  side  by  side  in  men's  minds,  during  the  Renais- 
sance, with  scarcely  any  conflict.    Thus  die!  a  Pope, 

1  Fit  II.  Comment.y  1.  8. 


334  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

with  almost  childlike  vanity,  record  the  not  very 
brilliant  lines  he  had  made,  and  with  frank  simplicity 
accept  and  tell  us  of  his  friend's  reproof 

Next  day,  as  is  so  often  the  case  in  the  changeable 
Italian  spring,  was  brilliantly  fine.     The  sacred  head 
was  received  at  the  Ponte  MoUe  by  the   Pope  and 
all  the  clergy  of  Rome,  who  filled  a  huge  platform. 
Cardinal   Bessarion,  the  aged  Greek  exile,  took  the 
relic  in  his  hands,  and  the  tears  ran  down  his  face 
and  dropped  on  his  long,  white  beard  as  he  handed  it 
reverently  to  Pius,  who  advanced  to  meet  it  with 
his  clergy,  bearing  palms.     The  Pope  was  pallid  and 
overcome  by  emotion  at  receiving   such  a  precious 
relic.     He  recalled  the  occasion  of  its  coming  to  Rome. 
His  voice  trembled  as  he  prayed  ;  he  placed  it  on  the 
altar,  and  then  exposed  it  to  the  gaze  of  the  populace. 
Then  a  hymn  in  sapphics  was  sung,  and  the  procession 
moved  along  the  historic  Flaminian  Way.     The  road 
was  crowded  with  Italians  and  foreigners  from  beyond 
the  Alps  as  far  as  Santa  Maria  del  Popolo,  where 
the  relic  was  deposited.     There  the  Pope  passed  the 
night.      Next  day  it  was  carried  to  the  basilica  of 
St.  Peter's.     Certain  portly  cardinals  wanted  to  ride 
on  horseback,  but  Pius  commanded  them  to  walk. 
There   is   a   dry,  subacid  humour  in  his  account  of 
'  many  men  brought  up  in  luxury,  who  could  scarcely 
endure  riding  a  horse  above  a  hundred  paces,  walking 
a  couple  of  miles  through  the  mire  quite  easily,  and 
carrying  the  weight  of  their  vestments  too.     Devotion 
enabled  them  to  carry  their  burden ;  it  was  love  that 
did  it ;  a  transport  of  enthusiasm  will  overcome  all 
diiS&culties.'  ^     On  Easter  Sunday  the  Pope  exhibited 

*  Pit  II.  Comment.y  1.  8. 


RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIES  335 

the  head  again  to  the  reverent  gaze  of  a  vast  crowd, 
but  mechanical  means  had  to  be  contrived  for  his 
support  when  he  said  Mass,  so  crippled  had  he 
become. 

It  was  an  ancient  dispute  among  theologians 
whether  the  Blood  shed  during  the  Passion  of  Our 
Lord  ceased  to  be  of  the  substance  of  the  Godhead. 
A  Franciscan  friar,  preaching  at  Brescia  on  Easter 
Sunday,  1462,  asserted  that,  since  It  was  separated 
from  the  Divine  Body,  It  was  no  object  of  worship ; 
but  the  Dominicans,  rivals  of  the  Franciscans,  at  once 
saw  the  opportunity  of  obtaining  a  victory,  and  a 
furious  battle  of  words  ensued.  Pius  strove,  in  vain, 
to  suppress  a  strife  that  had  become  venomous,  but 
was  obhged  at  last  to  summon  both  sides  to  argue 
the  matter  before  him^  (Christmas,  1462).  He  had 
small  interest  in  theological  hair-splitting,  and  it  is 
clear  that  the  natural  man  was  somewhat  amused, 
though  he  tried  to  batter  himself  into  the  belief  that 
the  question  was  important.  But  he  thoroughly 
enjoyed  the  debate.  '  It  was  a  treat,'  he  says,  '  to 
follow  the  contention  of  acute  and  trained  intellects, 
and  to  mark  now  this  one,  now  that  one  making  a 
point.  Though  they  argued  with  a  measure  of  self- 
restraint  and  some  of  the  awe  befitting  the  Papal 
presence,  so  hot  did  they  wax  and  so  eager  for  victory 
did  they  become  that,  though  it  was  mid-winter  and 
the  earth  hard  with  frost,  they  sweated  profusely.'  ^ 
When  they  had  done  Pius  told  them  he  would  confer 

^  Voigt,  Pius  II.j  iii.  592 ;  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  PopeSy  English  trans., 
vol.  iii.  p.  280,  note  1. 
2  Pii  II.  Comment  y  1.  9. 


336 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


with  his  cardinals.  He  found  that  most  of  these 
espoused  the  Dominican  view,  but  he  says  he  delayed 
giving  a  decision  so  as  not  to  damp  the  ardour  of  the 
Franciscans  for  a  crusade.  The  strife  continued, 
however,  and,  just  at  the  end  of  his  life,  the  Pope  was 
obliged  to  forbid  any  further  disputation  on  the 
subject.^ 

Pius  was  chary  of  pronouncing  censure,  but  in 
1459  he  felt  compelled  to  issue  a  Bull  against  Reginald 
Peacock,  former  Bishop  of  Chichester,  for  heresy ;  ^ 
and  he  tried  to  put  down  certain  communistic  sects 
that  had  arisen  out  of  the  Franciscan  movement ; 
sects  that  tended,  in  his  judgement,  to  subvert  social 
order.  He  had  no  small  contempt  for  the  mis- 
chievous necromancy  and  astrology  so  much  credited 
in  his  time,  and  he  took  the  severe  measure  of  im- 
prisoning a  man  of  Bergamo,  for  life,  who  taught 
that  the  Church  was  controlled  by  the  stars.  ^ 

It  was  probably  the  happiest  moment  in  his 
Pontificate  when  he  canonised  Santa  Caterina  of 
Siena.  She  was  a  Dominican,  and  the  canonisa- 
tion had  been  delayed,  owing  to  Franciscan  jealousy 
and  opposition.  But  now  it  fell  to  the  most  illus- 
trious of  all  the  eminent  sons  of  Siena  to  do  justice  to 
the  noblest  and  ablest  of  her  daughters  and  to  confer 
a  new  distinction  on  their  common  city.  He  wrote 
the  Bull  raising  her  to  the  rank  of  sainthood  with  his 
own  hand,  June  1461.  But  he  resolutely  refused  the 
Franciscans'  prayer  to  canonise  their  candidate,  Capis- 
trano.     Wonderful   were   the   miracles  said  to  have 


^  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  PopeSy  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  288,  note  2. 
*  Raynaldus,  Ad  ann.  1459. 
'  Pastor,  loc.  cit.f  vol  iii.  p.  163. 


Pius  II  canonizes  St.  Catherine  of  Siena. 

Pintiiricchio,  Siena. 


EELIGIOUS  CEEEMONIES  337 

been  done,  but  Pius  had  known  him ;  he  had  seen 
nothing  in  him  that  indicated  supernatural  power, 
and  he  could  find  no  sufficient  proof  of  these  alleged 
miracles;  the  King  of  Hungary  entreated  him  to 
accede,  but  Pius  remained  firm.  His  disposition  was 
too  sceptical,  his  intelligence  too  highly  trained,  his 
experience  of  life  too  great  to  yield  facile  credence  to 
any  contemporary  story  that  contradicted  the  general 
trend  of  happenings.  He  had  learned  the  difficult 
lesson  of  reserving  judgement.  Even  of  Joan  of  Arc 
he  says  she  was  a  wonder,  who  certainly  restored  the 
fallen  fortunes  of  France ;  she  was  indubitably  a 
modest  maiden,  but  whether  she  was  directed  by  God 
or  man,  he  refuses  to  affirm.  He  thinks  it  possible 
that  'some  man,  wiser  than  the  others,  contrived  a 
scheme  whereby  all  might  be  induced  to  submit  to 
the  captaincy  of  a  maiden  who  said  she  was  heaven- 
directed,'  ^  a  view  not  so  very  different  from  the 
explanation,  supported  by  our  modern  knowledge  of 
the  power  of  suggestion,  that  has  been  offered  by  a 
recent  and  not  unsympathetic  critic.^ 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.,  1.  6. 

*  Anatole  France,  Jeanne  d'Arc,  1908. 


338  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTEE    XX 

PIUS   AND   THE   CRUSADE 

The  Neapolitan  war  and  the  quarrel  with  France, 
Germany,  and  Bohemia  prevented  the  Pope  from 
prosecuting  his  project  for  a  crusade.  He  could  not 
even  support  Hungary  with  any  vigour  in  the  noble 
defence  she  offered  to  the  Turk ;  for  there  was  war 
between  the  Emperor  Frederick,  who  claimed  the 
Hungarian  Crown,  and  Corvinus,  its  actual  possessor. 
Pius  wrote  to  Bessarion,  on  May  2,  1461,  that  all  he 
could  do  now  was  to  try  and  make  peace  between  the 
twain.^  Papal  authority  was  weakened  throughout 
Europe,  and  men  disbelieved  in  the  sincerity  of  Pius, 
for  his  predecessor  Nicholas  had  collected  money  for  a 
Turkish  war  and  spent  it  on  the  adornment  of  Bome,^ 
while  Calixtus  had  exhausted  his  resources  on  a  war 
begun  without  due  preparation. 

An  Eastern  embassy  came  in  strange  garb,  and 
startled,  not  merely  Italians,  but  all  Europe,  by  the 
incredible  quantities  of  meat  they  consumed.  They 
told  the  Pope,  after  his  return  from  Mantua,  that 
they  were  sent  by  the  Emperor  of  Trapezium,  the 
King  of  Mesopotamia,  the  King  of  Persia,  the  Prince 
of  Georgia,  and  other  Eastern  lords  to  arrange  for 

*  Maildpth,  Geschichte  der  Magyaren^  iii.  p.  152. 

*  Oreighton,  Hist,  of  the  Papacy,  1878,  vol.  ii.  p.  457, 


PIUS   AND   THE  CRUSADE  339 

a  united  attack  on  the  Turk  by  Asiatic  and  European 
powers.  They  had  come  a  long  and  perilous  journey 
through  Scythia,  and  then  on  to  Rome  by  way  of 
Hungary  and  Germany,  and  all  the  Christian  nations 
they  passed  through  received  them  with  warm  wel- 
come. These  envoys  promised  the  aid  of  120,000 
men.  But  they  were  led  by  one  Fra  Lodovico,  a 
rascally  monk  of  Bologna,  who  only  wanted  to  get 
the  title  of  Patriarch  of  the  East.  Pius  soon  saw 
enough  to  make  him  suspicious,  and  only  suffered  the 
monk  to  depart  for  his  companions'  sake.  Lodovico 
contrived  to  beguile  the  Venetians,  and  Pius  ordered 
his  arrest,  but  the  Venetians  did  not  like  Papal  inter- 
ference and  smuggled  him  out  of  the  city.^ 

Queen  Charlotte  of  Cyprus,  deprived  of  her 
kingdom  by  a  usurper  who  had  allied  himself  with 
the  Turk,  came  to  Rome,  demanding  aid  of  the  Pope, 
in  1461.  Pius  was  much  taken  by  the  young  queen. 
*  He  received  her  with  incredible  kindness,'  says  an 
ambassador.^  Pius  says,  '  She  seemed  to  be  about 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  was  of  moderate  height,  her 
eyes  full  of  vivacity,  her  complexion  pale  but  some- 
what dark,  and,  as  is  usual  with  the  Greeks,  her 
speech  was  voluble  and  of  the  quality  to  win  favour. 
She  was  dressed  in  the  French  fashion,  and  her  bear- 
ing was  dignified.'  ^  He  paid  her  expenses  to  visit 
her  father-in-law,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  hoping  that  he 
and  other  princes  would  take  up  her  cause  and  that 
the  urgency  of  a  crusade  would  be  made  more  mani- 
fest to  them ;  but  the  unfortunate  lady's  journeys 
were  fruitless.* 

*  Pii  II.  Comment,  1.  6. 

2  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  PopeSj  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  253-254. 

3  Pii  11.  Comment,  1.  7.  *  Ibid, 


340  iENEAS  SILVIUS 

A  few  months  after  the  failure  of  the  Congress  of 
Mantua  the  Pope  conceived  an  idea  that  could  only 
have  sprung  from  an  imaginative  and  original  mind. 
He  resolved  to  try  and  convert  Mohammed  ii.  by 
force  of  argument.  He  lived  in  an  age  that  trusted 
to  an  illusion :  men  believed  in  the  sovereignty  of 
reasonable  propositions;  they  gilded  the  pill  with 
persuasive  language.  There  was  much  to  make  such 
a  plan  appear  feasible  to  Pius.  In  the  first  place,  he 
was  a  devout  Christian,  and  believed  that  he  held 
a  divinely  appointed  office.  The  Holy  Spirit  might 
have  chosen  so  successful  an  orator  as  himself  to  the 
very  end  now  set  before  him.  The  heathen  Franks, 
like  the  Turks,  had  conquered  a  portion  of  the  Roman 
Empire  and  had  been  converted.  Leo  i.  was  reputed 
to  have  repelled  Attila  and  his  Huns  by  an  eloquent 
appeal.  The  Barbarian  conquerors  of  Italy  accepted 
the  Faith.  The  Turks  were  far  more  tolerant  to 
Christians  than  Christians  to  Turks.  Pius  was 
acquainted  with  the  Koran ;  and  he  may  have  known 
that  Mohammed  had  ordered  a  statement  of  the 
tenets  of  Christianity  to  be  drawn  up  for  his  perusal.^ 
Mohammed  had  shown  signs  of  departing  from  strict 
Mohammedan  custom.^ 

The  letter  of  Pius  to  the  Sultan  was  probably 
written  at  the  close  of  the  year  1461.  It  is  a  work 
of  consummate  power  and  close  argument.  The  Pope 
begins  by  drawing  a  picture  of  the  horrors  of  warfare. 
Then  he  assures  the  Turk  that  he  holds  him  in  no 
implacable  enmity,  but  is  a  sincere  well-wisher.     Can 

1  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  256,  note. 

2  A  little  later,  1479,  he  sent  to  the  Venetian  Senate  for  an  artist  to 
paint  his  portrait.  A  pen-and-ink  drawing  of  the  Sultan  and  his  mother 
exists  in  the  British  Museum,  London. 


PIUS  AND   THE  CEUSADE  341 

the  Sultan  dream  of  overcoming  warlike  Europe  as  lie 
has  done  servile  Asia  ?  If  he  is  in  pursuit  of  fame,  the 
easiest  and  best  way  to  obtain  it  would  be  to  submit 
to  the  sprinkling  of  a  little  water  in  baptism,  and 
literature  and  the  arts  will  preserve  his  glory  through- 
out the  ages.  Then  the  Pope  would  recognise  him  as 
Emperor  of  the  East,  and  he  would  bring  back  once 
more  the  Golden  Age  of  antiquity,  and  restore  the 
world  to  a  new  obedience.  There  are  historical  pre- 
cedents for  this  course  :  so  acted  Clovis  and  Stephen 
and  Recared  and  Constantino  himself,  whom  even 
Rome  followed  in  the  Christian  path.  If  the  Franks 
followed  Clovis,  and  Rome  Constantine,  shall  not  the 
Turks  follow  their  Sultan  ?  But  this  is  not  the  least 
blessing  that  would  result :  there  is  the  heavenly 
promise.  Then  the  Pope  unfolds  Christian  doctrine 
and  gives  arguments  for  its  truth.  The  letter  is  full 
of  passionate  passages,  and  so  conspicuously  sincere 
that  it  is  marvellous  how  the  honajides  of  its  writer 
can  ever  have  been  doubted.^  It  is  a  masterpiece  of 
composition  and  even  of  close  logic.  How  Mohammed 
received  it,  we  do  not  know,  but  it  was  widely  read 
throughout  Europe  and  kept  the  fire  of  enthusiasm 
alive  for  a  crusade. 

A  year  later  (1462)  the  discovery  of  alum  at  Tolfa, 
near  Civit^  Yecchia,  added  greatly  to  the  Papal 
revenue,  for  the  commodity  had  hitherto  only  been 
found  in  Asia.  It  was  worked  by  a  company,  and 
provided  the  Pope  with  additional  funds  for  a  crusade. 

So  far  from  being  guilty  of  the  charge  levied 
against   him  by  Voigt  and  Creighton,  that  he  lost 

*  Let  the  reader  judge  for  himself.     It  is  given  in  the  Basel  edition  of 
Pius's  works,  Epistle^  No.  396. 


342 


iENEAS   SILVIUS 


sight  of  the  crusade  for  a  time,  in  March  1462  Pius 
summoned  six  cardinals  to  a  private  conference,  and 
told  them  to  observe  that  he  had  been  silent  about 
the  crusade  since  Mantua  and  was  giving  the  world 
a  false  impression.  He  lacked,  not  enthusiasm,  but 
power.  In  truth  the  subject  had  given  him  many  a 
sleepless  night.  *Our  bosom  swells.  Our  old  blood 
boils,'  he  said,  '  Our  legates  are  mocked,  and  a  Council 
is  threatened  directly  We  wish  to  impose  a  Turkish 
tithe.  Cowardice  is  imputed  to  Us,  and  all  that  We 
do  is  put  down  to  bad  motives.  Folk  measure  Us 
by  themselves.  Now,  We  wish  to  go  Ourself.  The 
noise  of  Our  plan  will  be  as  startling  as  a  thunder- 
bolt ;  it  will  arouse  all  Christian  peoples  to  fight  for 
the  faith. '  ^ 

This  announcement  of  his  intention  almost  stunned 
the  cardinals.  They  asked  time  for  reflection.  At 
last  they  agreed  that  the  plan  was  one  worthy  of 
the  Vicar  of  Christ.  Pius  urged  Louis  to  action,  but 
that  Most  Christian  Monarch  replied  that  he  would 
treat  of  the  Neapolitan  and  Turkish  questions  to- 
gether. The  Pope  also  sent  a  stirring  appeal  to  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy.  That  monarch  was  sick  and 
remembered  the  Oath  by  the  Peacock ;  he  made  great 
promises,  which  he  forgot  all  about  directly  he  got 
well.  But  the  internal  troubles  of  his  dukedom 
called  for  much  of  his  attention.  The  Pope  also 
wrote  to  Venice,  and  got  a  diplomatic  reply. ^ 

Month  by  month  passed,  and  the  Turk  was  still 
advancing ;  province  after  province,  island  after  island 
of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  fell  under  his  sway. 

*  Pii  II.  Comment.y  1.  7. 

*  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes^  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  310. 


PIUS   AND    THE  CEUSADE  343 

But,  in  September  1463,  Venice  allied  herself  with 
Hungary,  and  Burgundy  promised  to  aid  the  Pope. 
A  Congress  met  at  Bome.     The  Pope  tells  us  that 
his  heart  filled  with  hope  and  joy,^  for  Ferrante  was 
triumphant,  and  the  rebels  of  the  Papal  States  were 
subdued  :  there  were  no  longer  quite  unsurmountable 
obstacles  blocking  the  path.     The  Pope  spoke  to  the 
Congress  and  unfolded  a  plan  to  divide  the  Turkish 
Empire  among  the  Christian  powers.     His  eloquence 
failed ;  he  was  listened  to  with  quiet  contempt.     *  The 
Pope  spoke  in  his  usual  graceful  style,'  wrote  the 
Mantuan  envoy.^     Then,  as  ever  since,  the  mutual 
jealousy   of  the   powers  kept  them   all  back.     The 
Florentine  envoy,   who   was   opposed   to  a  crusade, 
asked  the  Pope  to  grant  him  a  private  interview,  and 
pointed   out   that   if  Venice   triumphed   she   would 
conquer  Italy  and  the  Holy  See  would  become  her 
bond-slave.     He  advised  Pius  to  let  Venice  and  the 
Turk   weaken   one   another.     But  the  Pope  replied 
that  this  would  be  an  ignoble  policy,  and  he  would 
have  none  of  it ;  the  liberty  of  all  Europe  was  in  peril ; 
speculation  as  to  a  merely  possible  future  was  futile ; 
the  future  must  be  left  to  itself.^ 

On  September  23,  Pius  called  the  cardinals  to- 
gether in  secret  conclave,  for  he  knew  that  the  French 
party  would  oppose  him,  as  well  as  those  that  only 
loved  pleasure.  He  made  a  long  and  eloquent 
speech,  and  his  voice  was  often  broken  by  tears.  For 
six  years  he  had  reigned  he  said,  and  nothing  had 
been  done.     Even  he,  the  most  zealous  of  them  all, 

^  Pii  II.  Comment.y  1.  12. 

2  B.  Marasca,  quoted  by  Pastor,  loc.  city  vol.  iii.  p.  322. 

3  Pii  11.  Comment.^  1.  12. 


344  ^NEAS  SILVIUS 

had  been  silenced  by  troubles  at  home  and  abroad. 
But  he  had  never  swerved  from  his  purpose,  and  now, 
at  last,  there  was  peace.  The  hour  had  come.  *  We 
have  only  300,000  ducats  a  year,  and  half  of  that  is 
swallowed  up  in  necessary  expenses,  and  the  war  will 
cost  more  than  three  times  that  amount.  But  we 
could  raise  the  necessary  sum  if  only  we  had  the 
confidence  of  Christian  peoples.  They  charge  us  with 
living  for  pleasure  ;  we  pile  up  wealth ;  we  are  puffed 
up  with  pride;  we  ride  the  sleekest  mules  and  the 
handsomest  palfreys  ;  we  flaunt  our  rich  garments, 
show  round  red  cheeks,  keep  our  hounds,  waste  our 
income  on  actors  and  parasites,  and  spend  nothing  on 
the  faith.  This  charge  is  not  baseless  ;  it  is  true  of 
many  cardinals  and  officials  of  the  curia.  There  is 
too  much  luxury  and  display  among  us.  And  so 
people  loathe  us  and  will  not  heed  what  we  say, 
however  wise  our  speech  may  be.  How  can  we  alter 
this  unhappy  state  of  affairs  ?  How  can  we  restore 
confidence  ?  Solely  by  entering  on  a  new  path.  We 
must  examine  the  means  by  which  our  predecessors 
built  up  authority  and  made  the  Church  venerated. 
We  must  follow  their  course,  for  only  so  can  authority 
be  preserved.  What  has  raised  the  Roman  Church 
to  her  pre-eminent  rule  but  temperance,  chastity, 
singleness  of  heart,  zeal,  contempt  for  death,  the 
spirit  of  the  martyr  ?  It  is  not  enough  to  preach  the 
truth,  to  denounce  evil  and  extol  virtue.  We  must 
be  like  those  who  were  ready  to  give  up  life  for 
Christ.  We  must  suffer  all  things  even  to  death  for 
the  flock  entrusted  to  Our  care.  The  Turks  are 
overwhelming  the  Christian  peoples,  one  by  one,  with 
fire  and  sword.     What  shall  We  do  ?    Shall  We  send 


PIUS   AND  THE  CRUSADE  345 

soldiers  ?  Where  is  the  money  to  come  from  ?  Shall 
We  urge  the  princes  to  drive  out  the  foe  ?  We 
have  done  so,  and  in  vain,  for  Our  appeal  has  fallen 
on  deaf  ears.  Now,  it  is  possible  that  if  We  say, 
"  Come  with  Us,"  We  may  succeed.  Therefore  We 
are  resolved  to  go  bodily  against  the  Turk  and,  by 
actual  deed  no  less  than  by  word,  to  stir  up  all  the 
rulers  of  Christendom  to  do  likewise.  It  may  be,  that, 
when  they  see  their  Pastor  and  Father,  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  an  old  man,  broken  and 
ill,  setting  forth  to  the  war,  it  will  put  them  to 
shame  and  they  will  join  Us.  If  this  plan  fail,  We 
can  think  of  no  other.  We  know  how  infirm  We 
are,  and  that  We  shall  go  forth  to  an  almost  certain 
death.  But  the  issue  is  with  God.  Let  His  will  be 
done  and  We  shall  die  happy  in  doing  it. 

*But  you.  Cardinals,  who  counselled  war  against 
the  Turk,  you  cannot  remain  at  home  in  ease.  The 
members  of  the  body  must  follow  the  head.  What 
We  do  is  of  stern  necessity.  Fighting  is  not  for  Us. 
Like  Moses,  praying  on  the  mountain  top,  while  the 
battle  waged  below  between  Israel  and  Amalek,  so 
will  We  on  some  ship's  prow  or  some  height,  with  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  before  Us,  pray  the  Lord  to  guide 
the  battle  to  deliverance  and  victory.  God  does  not 
despise  the  contrite  heart.  You  will  be  with  Us  to 
pray  with  Us,  save  those,  only,  that  are  too  old.  .  .  . 
So  We  commend  Our  grey  hair  and  infirm  body  to 
the  loving  mercy  of  God.  He  will  keep  Us,  and 
if  He  ordain  that  We  do  not  return  He  wiU  take  Us 
to  Himself,  and  keep  the  See  of  Rome  and  the 
Church,  His  bride,  from  harm.'  ^ 

1  Mansi,  Pii  11.  Orationes,  ii.  168,  et  seq. 


346 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


Cusa  and  Carvajal  were  the  only  cardinals  who 
appear  to  have  been  affected  by  the  noble  resolve  of 
Pius  or  his  moving  words.  '  It  is  the  voice  of  an 
angel/  the  latter  exclaimed.  *I  will  follow,  for  you 
are  leading  us  to  heaven/  Even  Eroli,  Pius's  friend, 
whom  he  had  made  a  cardinal,  had  no  confidence  in  the 
scheme  :  he  raised  objections  '  to  show  himself  cleverer 
than  anybody  else,'  says  Pius,  with  the  intoler- 
ance of  the  enthusiast.  The  French  cardinals  were 
silent,  and  Jouffroy  went  home.  Pius,  with  that  self- 
consciousness  inseparable  from  the  mobile,  sensitive 
literary  and  artistic  temperament,  though  under 
the  impulse  of  a  great  emotion,  and  bitterly  dis- 
appointed that  his  speech  had  not  moved  their  hearts, 
knew  it  to  be  beautiful  and  recorded  it  in  his  Com- 
mentaries,  but  his  kindliness  prevented  him  from 
including  a  censure  of  the  cardinals  it  contained.^ 

On  October  6,  a  general  meeting  of  cardinals  and 
ambassadors  took  place.  Everybody  assented  to 
a  Crusade,  except  the  envoys  of  Venice :  that 
Republic  disliked  to  fight  under  the  Ensign  of  the 
Church,  for  she  had  always  asserted  an  unusual 
freedom  from  Papal  control,  and  she  objected  to  the 
distribution  of  spoils  according  to  service  done.^  So 
Pius  sent  Bessarion  to  Venice  to  arouse  enthusiasm 
there,  and  the  people  responded  to  his  eloquence ;  in 
a  single  day  he  collected  an  enormous  sum  for  the 
war.  Meanwhile,  the  Pope  was  busy  trying  to  excite 
not  merely  the  generosity  of  Christian  men  but  their 
fear;  for  no  one  was  quite  sure,  at  that  time,  that 


1  Pii  II.  Comment^  1.  12. 

2  Keport  of  the  Milanese  envoy,  quoted  by  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  PopeSy 
English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  328. 


PIUS  AND  THE  CRUSADE  347 

the  Turk  was  only  formidable  so  long  as  he  was 
conquering,  and  that  his  incapacity  to  consolidate 
conquests  would  restrict  his  dominion  to  lands 
occupied  by  the  feebler  races  of  the  East. 

On  the  22nd  the  Papal  Bull  was  published.  *  O  ye 
Christians,  hard  of  heart  and  unmindful,^  wrote  the 
Pope,  *  ye  are  unworthy  to  die  for  Him  that  died  for 
you.  Think  on  your  wretched  brothers,  groaning  in 
slavery,  living  in  hourly  dread.  If  ye  be  men,  let 
human  feeling  arouse  you  to  aid  those  that  are 
trampled  underfoot.  If  ye  be  Christians,  obey  the 
command  to  love  your  neighbours  as  yourself  Think 
of  the  horrors  committed  by  the  Turk — picture  sons 
torn  away  from  their  fathers,  babes  from  their  mothers' 
bosoms,  wives  dishonoured  before  their  husbands*  eyes, 
youths  replacing  cattle  at  the  yoke.  If  you  cannot 
feel  for  others,  feel  for  yourselves.  The  same  fate  hangs 
over  you.  If  you  forsake  them  that  lie  between  you 
and  the  foe,  you  in  your  turn,  will  be  forsaken  ...  If 
Germany  will  not  aid  Hungary,  can  it  hope  for 
deliverance  from  France  ?  If  France  will  not  help 
Germany,  shall  Spaniards  avail  in  the  hour  of  need  ? 
The  East  has  already  fallen  to  Mohammed  :  the  West 
will  follow  and  that  quickly.'^  The  Pope  tells  us 
very  frankly  how  pleased  he  was  with  his  own 
heroism,  and  the  beautiful  composition  of  this  appeal. 
*  The  moving  style,'  he  says,  '  the  novel  proposal,  the 
readiness  of  the  Pope  to  give  his  life  for  his  sheep, 
caused  many  tears  to  be  shed.'^  In  a  certain  respect 
he  is  very  modern  in  his  introspective  moments. 
Capable  of  fiery  enthusiasm,  of  martyrdom  to  duty, 
he  knows  when  he  has  risen  to  the  full  height  of  his 

1  Pius  II.,  ed.  Basel,  412.  ^  Pii  II.  Comment.^  L  12. 


348 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


calling,  when  posterity  will  applaud,  when  he  has 
written  well,  and  he  enjoys  the  supreme  moment ; 
but  there  is  a  simplicity  and  frankness  in  his  admis- 
sion of  it  to  which  our  age  is  a  stranger. 

The  common  folk  of  Europe  listened  to  the  Bull 
with  enthusiasm,  but  rulers  stood  aloof.  Ornaments 
were  taken  from  churches  and  sold :  the  officials  of 
the  Curia  gave  up  one-tenth  of  their  income.  Pius 
tried  to  get  Sforza  to  take  the  lead,  hoping  that 
other  princes  would  follow.  To  an  earnest  entreaty,^ 
the  Duke  replied  that,  though  he  was  in  full  sym- 
pathy, he  was  ill ;  insufficient  notice  had  been  given, 
and  such  a  grave  enterprise  required  prolonged  and 
careful  preparation.*  But,  in  spite  of  disappointment, 
many  remained  full  of  hope.  *  The  Pope,'  wrote  the 
Sienese  envoy  (October  12),  'is  indefatigable  in  his 
efforts  on  behalf  of  a  crusade.  His  Bull  on  the 
subject  has  been  sent  to  all  Christian  countries  and 
will,  I  believe,  lead  many  to  take  part  in  it.  God 
has  indeed  sent  this  Pope  for  the  salvation  of  his 
people,  whose  Princes  have  forsaken  them  and  left 
them  a  prey  to  the  attacks  of  the  Turks.'  ^ 

But  the  only  success  achieved  by  Pius  was  that  he 
had  taken  his  place  as  the  Head  of  Catholic  Christen- 
dom. He  resolved  to  take  up  his  abode  in  Bome, 
though  plague  raged  there.  It  grew  more  virulent, 
and  nearly  everybody  fled,  but  he  remained.  He  told 
the  Sienese  envoys  that  he  was  obliged  to  lead  the 
Crusade  because  the  princes  were  lukewarm,  for  if 
the  Turk  were  allowed  to  advance  as  he  had  done 
of  late  he  would  conquer  Europe.    '  I  will  do  what 

1  Given  in  Mansi,  iii.  103.        ^  Pius  ii.,  Opera  Omnia,  ed.  Basel,  393. 
^  Quoted  by  Pastor,  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  337. 


PIUS  AND  THE  CRUSADE  349 

lies  in  my  power,  and  God  will  help  me.'  ^  He  wrote 
to  the  Doge  of  Venice  urging  him  to  join  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy  and  himself :  *  We  shall  be  three  old  men, 
and  God  rejoices  in  Trinity.  Our  trinity  will  be  added 
to  that  of  Heaven,  and  we  shall  trample  our  foes  under 
our  feet.'  ^  The  majority  of  the  Venetian  Senate  were 
with  the  Pope,  but  not  the  Head  of  the  State.  Vittor 
Capello  told  the  Doge  that  if  he  did  not  go  of  his 
own  free  will  he  would  be  compelled,  for  the  honour 
of  the  State  was  of  more  importance  than  the  person 
of  its  chief  magistrate.^ 

The  Eomans  were  unwilling  to  let  the  Pope  leave  ; 
nearly  all  the  cardinals  remained  opposed  to  him. 
Everybody  in  power  wanted  to  see  the  matter 
dropped.  Italian  States  scented  danger  to  them- 
selves in  an  increased  prestige  of  the  Papacy.  All 
the  European  Powers  were  busy,  intriguing  for  their 
own  aggrandisement  at  the  expense  of  each  other, 
and  everybody  was  afraid  of  his  neighbours.  On 
Good  Friday,  1464,  news  reached  Pius  that  Ren^ 
of  Provence  would  not  allow  tithes  to  be  collected  for 
the  war,  and  that  Burgundy,  in  spite  of  his  Oath  by 
the  Peacock,  would  not  go.  He  tells  us  that  he  felt 
the  news  congruous  with  that  Day  of  Passion.  He 
also  heard  that  Marini  and  George  Podiebrad  of 
Bohemia  were  actively  intriguing  to  forestall  him  in 
the  Crusade  and  would  call  a  congress  of  the  Powers 
to  secure  the  peace  of  Europe. 

The  action  that  the  Pope  took  was  the  resultant  of 

*  Letter  of  L.  Bentivoglienti,  Kome,  November  5,  1463,  quoted  by 
Pastor,  loc.  cit,  pp.  337-338. 

2  Malpiero,  Archiv.  Stor.  It.j  S.  7.,  vii.  p.  18. 

'  Marin  Sanudo,  quoted  by  Sisimondi,  Hist,  des  rdpubliques  italienneSj 
c.  79. 


350 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


many  motives.  Desire  for  immortal  fame,  so  dear  to 
the  man  of  the  Renaissance,  anxiety  to  give  the  lie  to 
the  widespread  disbelief  in  his  sincerity,  fear  of  losing 
the  prestige  he  had  already  achieved,  dread  of  what 
a  congress  might  do  to  the  Church,  but,  above  all, 
a  strong  sense  of  duty,  a  design  to  restore  to  the 
Papacy  the  guardianship  of  Catholic  Christianity  and 
of  European  concord,  and  a  prescient  misgiving  as  to 
the  trouble  the  Turks  would  become  if  not  expelled 
from  Europe — all  these  were  motives  urging  Pius  to 
immediate  action. 

He  was  lying  ill  at  Siena — so  ill  as  to  be  unable  to 
meet  his  cardinals.^  He  was  compelled  to  go  on  to 
Petrioli  to  take  the  baths,  but  he  returned  to  Rome 
early  in  May.  *  Every  day  that  passes  seems  a  year 
to  him ;  so  anxious  is  he  to  go  to  Ancona  and  take 
ship,'  wrote  the  Milanese  ambassador.^  Diplomatists 
intrigued  against  him  ;  his  cardinals  tried  to  dissuade 
him ;  the  Burgundian  envoys  found  the  poorest  pre- 
paration they  had  ever  seen,  for  only  two  ships  were 
ready ;  the  Milanese  envoy  wrote  that  he  believed 
the  Pope's  absence  would  be  taken  advantage  of  to 
call  a  General  Council;^  he  was  so  ill  that  Caretto 
wrote  to  Sforza  that  men  were  already  guessing  at 
who  would  be  the  next  Pope ;  he  had  a  fresh  attack 
of  fever,  too,  but  Caretto  told  Sforza  that,  in  spite  of 
all,  he  was  resolved  to  die  rather  than  break  his  word.* 
Crowds  of  would-be  warriors  were  filling  Rome,  Venice, 
and  Ancona.    Many  of  them  returned  home  in  disgust 

1  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  p.  346. 

2  Quoted  by  Pastor,  loc.  cit,  347,  note  4. 
5  Quoted  by  Pastor,  loc.  cit.,  351,  note  3. 

*  Otto  de  Caretto  to  Sforza,  given  by  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  vol.  liL, 
Appendix,  No.  62. 


PIUS  AND  THE  CRUSADE  351 

when  they  found  that  an  indulgence  was  the  only  pay 
they  were  likely  to  receive.  But  Pius  held  the  pro- 
mise of  Venice  to  aid  him.  No  time  was  to  be  lost. 
He  knew  now  that  the  project  was  predoomed  to 
failure ;  he  was  suffering  cruel  tortures  from  cough 
and  gout  and  stone ;  he  must  have  suspected  that 
death  was  not  far  off,  but  he  possessed  that  highest 
kind  of  courage,  the  courage  that  is  ready  to  face 
failure  and  certain  death  in  the  fulfilment  of  duty. 
He  would  uphold  the  Papal  dignity,  proclaim  the 
headship  of  Christ's  Vicar,  and  set  an  example  to  a 
reluctant  world.  iEneas  Silvius,  the  *  shifty  adven- 
turer,' had  at  last  achieved  the  noblest  manhood. 
Calmly  but  intrepidly  he  prepared  to  do  as  he  had 
promised  and  *  lay  down  his  life  for  his  sheep.' 


352  iENEAS  SILVIUS 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE  JOURNEY  TO  ANCONA — DEATH  OF  PIUS 

On  June  18,  1464,  Pius,  accompanied  by  a  nephew, 
his  friend  Cardinal  Ammanati,  three  bishops,  and  a 
secretary,  set  out  for  Ancona,  where  he  expected  to 
find  the  Venetian  fleet  awaiting  him.  He  took  boat 
and  was  rowed  up  the  Tiber  as  far  as  possible,  for  his 
condition  required  a  careful  choice  of  the  easiest  modes 
of  travel.  Every  movement  gave  him  intense  pain. 
The  Romans  thronged  to  see  him  depart,  and  he  stood 
on  the  prow  of  his  barge,  holding  a  banner  with  the 
motto,  *God  arises  and  scatters  His  foe,'  in  his  left 
hand  while,  raising  his  right  hand,  he  blessed  the  crowd. 
He  gave  orders  that  his  state  of  health  should  be  con- 
cealed. When  night  came,  he  found  himself  too  ill 
to  land,  and  slept  on  the  barge.  Next  day  he  received 
the  painful  intelligence  that  little  preparation  had 
been  made  for  the  war,  and  that  there  was  mutiny 
among  the  hordes  of  would-be  crusaders  at  Ancona. 
He  ordered  Carvajal,  one  of  the  few  cardinals  who 
shared  his  enthusiasm,  to  go  on  ahead  and  restore 
order.  Carvajal  was  now  aged  and  infirm,  but  he 
replied,  *  Father,  since  you  think  me  fit  to  deal  with 
this  issue,  I  will  imitate  you  and  go,  for  you  risk  your 
own  life  for  the  flock.  You  told  me  to  come  and  I  am 
here  ;  you  order  me  to  go,  and  I  am  going.     How  can 


Pius  II  is  borne  to  Ancona. 

Pintitricchio,  Siena. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO   ANCONA  353 

I  refuse  to  Christ  our  Lord  the  few  poor  days  that 
remain  to  me  V  Pius  was  greatly  moved  at  this  reply, 
for  he  and  Carvajal  had  a  great  affection  for  one 
another,  and  were  in  close  sympathy. 

On  June  21,  an  unfortunate  oarsman  fell  into  the 
Tiber  and  was  drowned.  The  Pope  was  very  much 
agitated  by  the  accident;  tears  coursed  down  his 
cheeks,  and  he  prayed,  silently,  for  the  soul  of  the  dead 
man.^  At  Otricoli  he  left  the  barge,  and  was  carried 
the  rest  of  the  long  journey  in  a  litter.  The  heat  was 
intense ;  the  Pope  had  fever,  and  was  so  feeble,  that  it 
was  only  possible  to  carry  him  six  or  seven  miles  a  day. 
The  Crusade  had  aroused  such  enthusiasm  north  of  the 
Alps  that,  although  Pius  had  asked  for  trained  men 
only,  bearing  their  own  arms  and  at  their  own  cost, 
to  enlist  for  six  months,  bands  of  needy  folk,  filled 
with  crusading  zeal,  or  lust  of  gain,  or  love  of  excite- 
ment, but  wholly  incompetent  to  serve  as  soldiery, 
flocked  to  Ancona,  and  were  now  returning.  The 
Pope's  attendants  made  some  pretext,  and  contrived 
by  drawing  the  curtains  of  the  litter  to  spare  the  Pope 
the  sight  of  these  ragged  wayfarers.  At  Spoleto, 
Ammanati  fell  ill,  and  had  to  be  left  behind.  The 
journey  across  the  Apennines,  in  the  glare  and  heat 
of  an  Italian  summer,  tried  the  strong  :  it  was  terrible 
for  the  sick  Pope,  but  he  bore  up  bravely.  When  he 
reached  Loreto,  where,  two  centuries  before,  angelic 
warders  had  deposited  the  lowly  cottage  of  Our  Lady, 
he  offered  Her  a  golden  cup  and  bowl.  He  was  hope- 
lessly ill  by  the  time  he  reached  Ancona.  Riots  were 
going  on  there,  for  a  report  had  spread  through  Italy 
that  the  Crusade  was  nothing  but  the  Pope's  pretext 

^  Ammanati,  Jacobus,  Card.  Papiensis,  EpisL  et  Comment,  f  Ep.  354. 

Z 


354  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

for  seizing  the  city.  The  crusading  visitors  also  were 
more  than  inclined  to  mutiny.  Many  had  given  up 
the  Crusade  as  hopeless,  and  had  to  sell  their  arms  to 
the  Jews  of  Ancona  to  get  sufficient  means  for  their 
return  journey.^  Pius  took  up  his  abode  in  the  bishop's 
palace,  which  stood  on  a  height :  there  he  could  breathe 
refreshing  sea  breezes  that  beat  up  the  hill,  and  look 
down  on  the  harbour  that  Trajan  had  built,  and  on 
the  Adriatic  shimmering  beyond  it,  and  watch  for  the 
fleet. 

Only  six  Papal  ships  lay  in  the  harbour ;  none  from 
Venice.  Alarming  news  came  from  Dalmatia  that  the 
Turkish  army  was  advancing  on  Ragusa  and  threaten- 
ing to  destroy  it  unless  the  Pope  surrendered  his  fleet 
at  Ancona.  Pius  at  once  sent  his  own  body-guard  to 
defend  Ragusa,  and  ordered  food-supplies  to  be  for- 
warded. Ammanati,  who  had  recovered  and  was  now 
in  Ancona,  tells  us  that  Pius  asked  Carvajal  what 
should  be  done  if  the  siege  was  commenced.  '  I  will 
take  the  galleys  out  to-night,'  answered  the  courageous 
old  cardinal.  '  And  what  should  prevent  me  from  sail- 
ing with  you  ? '  asked  Pius.  Only  his  mental  energy, 
as  is  so  often  the  case  with  men  of  high-strung  tem- 
perament, now  sustained  the  breaking  Pope.  He  was 
convinced  that  the  presence  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
would  be  an  overwhelming  inspiration ;  but  Am- 
manati, though  he  afterwards  reproached  himself  for 
want  of  faith,  foresaw  nothing  but  terrible  disaster. 

Day  after  day  passed,  and  there  were  no  Venetian 
sails  to  be  seen  from  the  palace-windows.  The  Vene- 
tians did  not  like  the  Pope  to  possess  a  fleet,  and  they 
wished  the  money  collected  for  the  enterprise  to  be 

*  Peruzzi,  Agostino,  Storia  di  Ancona,  ii.  362. 


DEATH   OF  PIUS  355 

sent  to  Hungary,  where  a  brave  and  protracted 
resistance  was  being  made  to  the  Turkish  troops. 
They  had  promised  forty  triremes :  two  transports 
arrived  on  August  11/  when  most  of  the  crusaders 
had  gone  home.  Ammanati  says  this  disappointment 
killed  the  Pope.  Certainly,  anxiety  as  to  whether 
Venice  would  send  a  fleet  after  all  told  on  him,^  and 
uncontrollable  dysentery  soon  set  in.^  At  last  a 
wretched  little  fleet  was  observed  making  for  the 
harbour,  and  Cristofero  Moro,  the  reluctant  Doge, 
arrived.  Pius,  summoning  all  the  strength  that  was 
left  to  him,  ordered  his  attendants  to  carry  him  to 
the  window,  and  looked  down  on  the  ships.  He 
groaned  and  said,  '  Up  till  now  there  was  no  fleet  for 
me,  and  now  a  fleet  has  come,  but  I  shall  not  be  here.' 
Happily  he  never  heard  of  the  death  of  Cardinal 
Cusa,  his  old  friend  of  so  many  years,  which  occurred 
at  Todi,  two  days  before  his  own ;  yet  everything  that 
happened  served  to  increase  his  gloom. 

Next  day,  August  13,  the  Pope  received  the  Sacra- 
ment and  said  a  few  solemn  words  to  his  friends.  At 
vespers  on  the  14th,  he  felt  the  end  approaching,  and 
after  the  custom  of  Popes,  he  summoned  the  cardinals 
that  were  at  Ancona  to  his  room.  They  stood  round 
his  bed-side,  and  he  bade  them  farewell.  The  sweet, 
flute-like  voice  was  low  and  very  broken  now.  *  Be- 
loved brothers,'  said  Pius,  '  the  end  is  drawing  near. 
God  is  calling  me.  I  die,  as  I  have  lived,  in  the 
Catholic  Faith.  I  have  kept  charge,  and  shrunk 
neither  from  labour  nor  peril.     What  I  have  begun  I 

*  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes^  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  364,  365. 

2  Pastor,  loc.  cit.,  p.  367,  and  notes  5  and  6. 

'  Von  Reumont,  Oeschichte  der  Stadt  Bom.^  ill.  i.  151. 


356  iENEAS   SILVIUS 

leave  for  you  to  finish.  Labour  for  God  and  the  Faith, 
for  such  is  your  obligation.  Bend  your  minds  to  your 
duty  and  towards  the  All- Seeing  Redeemer,  who  will 
render  you  according  to  your  service.  Keep  the  States 
of  the  Church  from  all  peril.  Dear  brothers,  as  Car- 
dinal and  Pope,  I  have  done  you  much  wrong.  I  have 
sinned  against  the  Almighty  and  against  Christian 
love.  May  God  forgive  my  shortcomings,  and  I  ask 
you,  too,  to  forgive  me,  now  that  T  am  about  to  die. 
Look  after  my  kindred  and  my  servants,  so  long  as 
they  shall  prove  worthy.  .  .  .  Farewell,  my  brothers. 
God  bless  you,  and  give  you  His  peace.' 

No  eye  remained  dry;  no  one  dared  trust  himself 
to  speak.  At  last  Bessarion  managed  to  utter  a  few 
words  of  farewell,  and  asked  for  a  last  blessing.  All 
knelt  and  kissed  the  Pope's  hand,  and  he  said,  *  May 
the  All  Merciful  forgive  you  your  sins  and  grant  you 
His  heavenly  grace  ! '  And  then,  sadly  and  quietly, 
one  by  one,  they  went  out  of  the  chamber,  leaving 
his  nephew,  Andrea,  Ammanati,  and  his  secretary 
alone  with  Pius.  The  sun  was  setting  over  the  hills 
and  clothing  the  sea  with  glory.  There  was  silence, 
but  the  dying  man  broke  it.  He  asked  Ammanati  to 
look  after  his  nephew.  '  Do  you  wish  your  body  to 
be  taken  to  Borne  ? '  asked  Ammanati.  Tears  coursed 
down  Pius's  face  :  he  wanted  to  know  who  would  see 
to  that.  *  I  will,'  promised  Ammanati ;  and  it  seemed 
to  please  him.  Again  there  was  silence  for  a  time, 
and  then  he  beckoned  to  Ammanati,  '  Pray  for  me,  I 
am  a  sinner,'  he  whispered.  A  third  time  there  was 
silence,  but,  at  last,  the  feeble  voice  was  heard  again. 
'  Urge  my  brothers  to  go  on  with  the  Crusade,'  said 
Pius,  *  and  do  you,  yourself,  all  in  your  power.     Woe 


DEATH  OF  PIUS  357 

be  to  you  if  you  draw  back  from  God's  work.'  The 
Cardinal  was  choked  with  tears,  and  could  not  reply, 
and  Pius,  with  great  difficulty,  managed  to  pass  his 
arm  round  Ammanati's  neck,  and  said,  *  Do  your  duty, 
my  son,  and  pray  to  God  for  me.'  ^  They  had  anointed 
him  before  this ;  and  now  the  usual  prayers  for  the 
dying  were  read.  It  seemed  as  if  he  could  hear  and 
was  following  them.  *  At  the  third  hour  of  the  night,' 
wrote  his  secretary,  'it  pleased  God  to  claim  the 
blessed  spirit  of  Pope  Pius,  who  is  now  a  happy 
memory'  (August  14,  1464).^ 

Next  day  the  body  was  carried  to  the  Cathedral, 
and  the  Doge  made  a  long  oration,  every  word  of  it 
insincere.  The  Crusade  was  at  an  end.  Cristofero 
Moro  set  sail  for  Venice  immediately  afterwards,  and 
the  cardinals  rode  ojff  to  Rome  to  elect  a  new  Pope. 

The  viscera  were  buried  in  the  Cathedral  of  Ancona ; 
the  body  of  Pius  lies  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Peter's  ;  his 
monument  was  transferred  to  St.  Andrea  della  Valle 
when  the  Cathedral  was  rebuilt. 

But  these  were  his  mortal  remains.  The  flashes  of 
his  lively  wit  even  now  burst  through  the  heavy  type 
of  yellow,  ancient  pages  ;  there  that  kindly  heart  still 
throbs;  there  ^neas  Silvius  still  lives  on  in  genial 
converse  with  his  friends. 

^  Ammanati,  Jacobus,  Card.  Papiensis,  Ep.  41-57 ;  et  cf.  Campanns, 
Vita  Pii,  apud  Muratori,  B.  I.  8.,  xxiii.  pars  ii. 

2  Gregorio  LoUi,  quoted  by  Pastor,  Hist,  of  the  Popes^  English  trans., 
vol.  iii.  Appendix,  No.  64. 


INDEX 


Abelard,  30. 

Adamites,  39. 

Adolph  of  Nassau,  309. 

iEneas  Silvius.  See  Piccolomini,  Enea 

Silvio. 
Albano,  336. 
Albergati,  Niccol6  d'.  Cardinal,  52, 

53,  54,  55,  67,  75,  90,  158,  163. 
Albert,  Emperor,  97,  110,  216. 

of  Austria,  210,  273,  312. 

of  Bavaria,  125. 

of  Brandenburg,  199,  210,  277. 

of  Hapsburg,  24. 

Alberti,  E.  B.,  304. 

Albigenses,  28. 

Albret,  Prince  Louis  d',  300. 

Alfonso  of  Aragon,  King  of  Naples, 

177,  183,  185,  186,  195,  196,  197, 

199,  218,  219,  220,  235,  258,  268. 
Allemand,  Louis  d'.  Cardinal,  75,  76, 

85,  101,  104,  125,    129,   151,   168, 

169. 
Alsace,  152. 
Amadeo  viii.,  Duke  of  Savoy.     See 

Felix  V. 
Amiata,  Monte,  3,  325. 
Ammanati,  Jacopo,  Cardinal,  20,  280, 

281,  282,  300,  352,  353,  354,  355, 

356,  357. 
Ancona,  47,  350,  352,  353,  354,  355, 

356,  357. 
Andrew,  St.,  head  of,  333  sqq. 
Anjou,  House  of,  104,  153,  236,  267, 

275,  285,  286,  296,  305,  306. 

Jean  d',  235,  267,  277,  278,  292. 

Louis  d',  151. 

Margaret  d',  151,  152. 

R^n^  d',  267,  277,  286. 

Annates,  72. 
Anspach,  172. 


Antonino,  St. ,  Bishop  of  Florence,  248. 

Apostilicians,  38. 

Aragon,  75,  104,  133,  153,  207,  300. 

Cardinal  of,  240. 

Armagnacs,  152. 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  30. 
Arras,  Congress  of,  53,  55,  56,  67. 
Aschaffenburg,  178. 
Aspel,  Hermann,  174. 
Assalbach,  Thomas,  130. 
Assisi,  236. 
Astrologers,  247. 
Aurispa,  14. 
Austria,  229. 

Austrians,  the,  98,  196,  199. 
Avignon,  12,  25,  44,  77,  78,  80,  82, 
235,  246,  287. 

Bank  of  St.  George,  206. 
Barbo,  Cardinal,  237,  241. 
Bartholomew,  Bishop  of  Novara,  48, 

50,  67,  97,  156,  218. 
Basel,  18,  20,  21,  22,  44,  45,  48,  53, 

55,  67,  73,  74,  77,  95,  98,  100,  114, 

151,  173. 

Academy,  90. 

Council  of,  22,  40,  41  sqq.,  55, 

69  sqq.,  75  sqq.,  81,  97,  104,  162, 

167,  168,  169,  170,  182,  201,  216, 

217,  249,  297,  310. 
constitution  of  the,  42,  73 

sqq.,  84. 

history  of  the,  95. 

scenes  at  the,  82. 

university,  218. 

Bavaria,  98,  215. 

Beaufort,     Henry,     of    Winchester, 

Cardinal,  57. 
Beccadelli,  7,  112,  143  n.,  219. 
Bedford,  Duke  of,  55. 


360 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


Belgrade,  victory  of,  225. 

Beneschau,  189. 

Benevento,  251. 

Bentivogli,  the,  260. 

Bernard,  St.,  Pass  of,  53. 

Bernardino,  St.,  of  Siena,  9,  10,  13, 
146,  187,  202,  216. 

Bessarion,  Bishop  of  Nicea,  after- 
wards Cardinal,  86,  87,  240,  243, 
244,  249,  264,  271,  306,  308,  338, 
346,  356. 

Bichi,  Giovanni  de',  290. 

Biondo,  Flavio,  217  and  n.  2. 

Bisticci,  Vespasiano,  35,  177. 

Bohemia,  36,  37,  43,  44,  46,  69,  71, 
97,  187,  188,  189,  196,  207,  227, 
229,  257,  301,  312  aqq.,  314,  338. 

Bologna,  14,  67,  159,  260. 

Bonifaccio,  Straits  of,  19. 

Boniface  viii. ,  Pope,  24. 

Borgia,  Roderigo, :  Cardinal  (after- 
wards Pope  Alexander  vi.),  231, 
243,  290  sqq. 

Bourges.     See  Pragmatic  Sanction. 

Bozen,  171. 

Braccio,  16. 

Brandenburg,  Duke  of,  110. 

Breslau,  257,  258. 

Briick,  122. 

Bruges,  59. 

Brunoro,  Condottiere,  268. 

Bull,  Execrabilis,  279. 

Ezechielis,  347  sqq. 

of  Retractation,  180,  181. 

Burchard,  provost  of  Salesburg,  289. 

Burckhardt,  historian,  229. 

Burgundy,  210,  301. 

Caccia,  Stefano  de,  106,  107. 

Calais,  57. 

Calandrini,  Cardinal,  234,  239,  240, 

241. 
Calixtines,  37,  69  sqq.,  187,  313. 
Calixtus  III.  (Alfonso  de  Borja),  212, 

213,  214,  219,  224,  225,  226,  231, 

232,  233,  234,  235,  236,  240,  247, 

250,  257,  291,  338. 
Campagna,  the,  20. 
Campano,    Giantonio,    vi,    217,   246, 

280,  281,  282,  319,  333. 


Campisio,  Giovanni,    115,    126,    142, 

147,  172,  201. 
Canterbury,  57. 
Capistrano,  Fra  Giovanni,  187,  209, 

210,  211,  336,  337. 
Capranica,  Cardinal  (Pantagale   Do- 

menico),  16,  17,  18,  19,  45,  47,  134, 

202,  233,  293. 
Cardona,  Don  Jayme  de,  300. 
Caretto,  Otto  de,  301,  350. 
Carinthia,  119. 
Carvajal,  Cardinal,  129,  130, 162, 177, 

188,  202,  204,  224,  228,  278,  316, 

346,  352,  353. 
Castel  Gondolfo,  326. 
Castiglione,  Cardinal,  224. 
Castiglione  della  Pescia,  287. 
Castillo,  153,  182. 
Catherine  of  Siena,  St.,  canonisation 

of,  336  sqq. 
Cervantes,  Cardinal,  75,  85. 
Cesarini,  Guiliano  de'.  Cardinal,  17, 

34,  36,  39,  41  sqq.,  69,  73,  75,  85, 

87,  91,  105,  129,  146,  152, 154, 167, 

316. 
Chancellery,  the  Imperial,  114  sqq.^ 

148. 
Charlemagne,  23,  24. 
Charles  vii.  of  France,  88,  153,  182, 

205,  275,  276. 
Charlotte,  Queen  of  Cyprus,  339. 
Chiemsee,  Bishop  of.     See  Sylvester. 
Chiusi,  320. 

Christian  of  Denmark,  205. 
Church  and  State,  29  sqq. 
Civit^  Vecchia,  341. 
Cleves,  Duke  of,  161,  265. 
College,  the  Sacred.     See  Curia. 
Colonna,  the,  16,  17,  18,  32,  47,  237, 

251,  296. 

Cardinal,  241. 

Communism,  28. 
Compacts,  the  four,  71. 
Constance,  94. 

Council  of,  31,  73,  167. 

Constantinople,     capture     of,     201, 

202. 
Corsica,  19. 

Corsignano,  23,  254,  311,  324,  330. 
Corvinus  of  Hungary,  237,  338. 


INDEX 


361 


Councils,  General,  29,  42.  See  under 
Basel,  Constance,  etc. 

Courcelles,  T.  de,  85. 

Creighton,  Mandell,  historian,  v,  63, 
233  n.  1,  279,  341. 

Croye,  Lord  of,  265. 

Cugnoni,  J.,  historian,  296  w.,  303  n. 

Curia,  17,  32,  33,  47,  77,  80,  81,  84, 
91,  163,  169,  177,  186,  194,  196, 
209,  214,  224,  225,  227,  228,  229, 
231,  233,  235,  238,  239,  242,  245, 
247,  248,  250,  275,  287,  288,  289, 
294,  297,  299,  300,  301,  304,  332. 

Cusa,  Cardinal  (Nicholas  von  Cues), 
17,  75,  85,  106,  107,  168,  178,  199, 
202,  205,  228,  251,  292,  309,  310, 
312,  346,  355. 

Cypraicus,  Carolus,  148,  173  n.  2. 

Czechs,  36,  37. 

Denmark.     See  Christian. 

Diether,  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  309, 

312.. 
Domenichi,  Domenico  de',  237,  238, 

243. 
Dominicans,  the,  335,  336. 
Dover,  67. 
Durham,  66. 

Edinburgh,  60. 

Elba,  isle  of,  19. 

Electors.     See  German  Princes. 

England,  38,  55,  56,  57,  64,  110,  182, 
205,  207,  276,  277. 

Ericn^^adt,  Bishop  of,  199. 

Ermland,  bishopric  of,  231. 

Eroli,  Bishop  of  Spoleto,  331. 

Eryx,  100. 

Este,  Borso  d',  261,  262,  285. 

Estouteville,  Cardinal  d'.  Archbishop 
of  Rouen,  235  sqq.,  244,  326. 

Eugenius  iv..  Pope  (Gabriello  Con- 
dulamaro),  18,  33,  34,  41,  45,  46, 
47,  48,  50,  51,  52,  55,  67,  72,  73, 
75,  76,  77,  80,  81,  84,  86,  87,  91, 
97,  101,  105,  114,  126,  129,  133, 
134,  147,  151,  153,  154,  155,  156, 
158,  161,  162,  163,  164,  165,  166, 
167,  168,  169,  170,  173,  177,  216. 


Fang,  285. 

Federigo  da  Montefeltro,  Duke  of 
Urbino,  285,  287,  306,  317,  318. 

Felix  v.,  Antipope,  53,  54,  101  sqq., 
104,  105,  107,  113,  123,  125,  154, 
162. 

Ferrante  of  Naples,  150,  235,  236,  237, 
247,  250,  275,  277,  278,  286,  287, 
294,  301,  306,  310. 

Ferrara,  86,  191,  205,  261,  285. 

Filelfo,  Francesco,  13,  14,  283. 

Florence,  13,  15,  28,  38,  42,  47,  67, 
75,  77,  78,  86,  87,  104,  218,  236, 
240,  248,  249,  259,  273,  286,  301, 
306,  323,  343. 

Council  of,  86-88. 

Forteguerra,  Vittoria,  3,  5. 

France,  25,  26,  38,  55,  57,  80,  102, 
110,  133,  186,  205,  207,  235,  236, 
243,  247,  250,  275,  276,  278,  286, 
297,  301,  305,  314,  337,  338,  343, 
346. 

Franciscans,  the,  28,  335,  336. 

Franconia,  173. 

Frankfort,  94, 112, 148, 151, 160,  162, 
311. 

Frederick  iii..  Emperor,  appearance 
and  character.  111  ;  crowns  ^neas 
as  poet,  112,  113;  invites  ^neas 
to  Vienna,  114,  116,  123,  129,  130, 
131,  133,  151,  152,  155,  161,  162 
sqq.,  168,  171,  172,  175,  181,  182, 
183,  184,  186,  187,  189;  descends 
into  Italy,  190  sqq. ;  coronation  and 
marriage,  193  sqq. ;  his  abasement, 
200,  201,  202,  208,  209,  210,  211, 
212,  213,  216,  217,  224,  225,  228, 
237,  253,  257,  267,  277,  309,  311, 
312,  338. 

Freund,  John,  147, 148,  149,  173  n.  2. 

Fiillendorf,  Michael  von,  121. 

Geneva,  Lake  of,  53. 

Genoa,  19,  206,  207,  273,  278,  306. 

Gentiluomini  of  Siena,  2. 

German  Church,  101,  212,  225,  231. 

manners,  117  sqq.,  197. 

princes,  39,  86,  88,  110,  112,  136, 

163,  181,  204,  225,  247,  301,  311. 
women,  139. 


362 


.ENEAS   SILVIUS 


Germany,  36,  37,  42,  46,  102,  133, 
154,  155,  156,  168,  175,  178,  186, 

187,  205,  207,  208,  210,  213,  214, 
215,  225,  227,  233,  268,  297,  307, 
338,  339,  346. 

Gers,  John,  121,  147. 

Giordano,  Monte,  177. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  57. 

GobellinuB,  Johannes,  320. 

Gonzaga,  Francesco,  300. 

Gonzaga,  the,  263. 

Graz,  122. 

Greek  Church,  77. 

Greeks,  the,  77,  86,  87,  88,  153,  202. 

Gregorovius,  historian,  v,  179,  180, 

243. 
'  Greys,'  the,  85. 
Gualdo,  236. 
Guarini,  14. 

Guazzalotti,  Andrea,  vi. 
Guglio,  island  of,  287. 
Guinoforto,  128. 
Giirck,  Bishop  of,  206,  209. 

Hadrian's  Villa,  320,  324. 
Hapsburg,  House  of,  151,  152. 
Heimburg,  Gregory,  150,  161,    162, 

165,  168,  199,  215,  273,  274,  277, 

310,  311. 
Heinrich  of  Goritz,  118. 
Henry  vi.,   King  of  England,    186, 

277. 
Heresies,   general  character  of,  27, 

188,  199.  See  under  Adamites, 
Albigenses,  etc. 

Hildebrand,  Pope  Gregory  vii.,  24. 
Hinderbach,  John,  213,  214. 
Hohenstauffen,  House  of,  25. 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  45,  57,  164. 
Hungary,  154,  196,  201,  216,  224,  229, 
266,  271,  338,  339,  343,  346,  355. 

Chancellor  of,  217. 

Hunyadi,  269. 

Hiis,  John,  32,  35,  42. 

Hussites,  32,  35,  69  sqq.,  115. 

Imola,  Giovanni  da,  14. 
Ingoldstadt,  University  of,  218. 
Innocent  III. ,  Pope,  25. 
Ippolito  of  Milan,  148,  173  w.  2. 


Isidore  of  Russia,  202,  243. 

Isotta  da  Rimini,  305. 

Italy.     See  Separate  Italian  States.- 

condition    of,  in    the  fifteen! 

century,  229  sqq. 

Jacob,  Archbishop  of  Trier,  110,  112, 

161,  210,  211,  212,  225. 
James  i.  of  Scotland,  60,  61,  63. 
Jews,  the,  177,  288,  354. 
Joan  of  Arc,  337. 
John  of  Bavaria,  125. 
Jouffroy,  Bishop  of  Arras,  300,  301, 

302. 

Kautsky,  author,  37  w.  1. 
Koln,  Archbishop  of,  110,  161,  225r 
265. 

diocese  of,  226. 

University  of,  89,  106,  178,  316. 

Ladislas,  King  of  Poland,  129,  154. 
son   of    Emperor    Albert,    129, 

154,  187,  189,  199,  228,  229. 
Lake  of  the  Four  Cantons,  20. 
Lateran,  St.  John's,  177. 
Lefranc,  Martin,  106,  107. 
Leghorn,  191. 
Leo  III,,  Pope,  23. 
Leonora  of  Portugal,  185,  191  sqq. 
Liege,  316. 
Lodi,  peace  of,  203. 
Lodovico,  Fra,  339. 
Lollards,  27,  35,  38. 
Lolli,  Gregorio  de',  300,  331. 

Niccol6  de',  5. 

Teodoro  de',  311. 

London,  57,  58,  59,  66,  67. 

Loreto,  353. 

Louis  XI. ,  King  of  France,  298,  299, 

300,  301,  302,  303. 
Lubeck,  66. 
Luca,  Giacomo  di,  331. 
Lucca,  14,  205. 
Ludwig,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  29,  205, 

215. 
Lysura,  John  of,  88,  168,  169,  170. 

Macebata,  battle  of,  289. 


INDEX 


363 


Mainz,  Archbishop  of,  110,  167,  169, 

225,    226,     227,    228.      See    also 

Diether. 

diet  of,  88. 

diocese  of,  226. 

Malatesta,  Sigismondo,  272,  285, 295, 

301,  303,  304,  305,  306. 
Mansi,  scholar,  262. 
Mantua,  150,  205,  249,  260,  264,  268, 

278,  279,  281,  284,  285. 
Congress  of,  264  sqq.,  303,  308, 

340,  342. 
Marasca,  B.,  Florentine  envoy,  343. 
Marche,  Oliver  de  la,  206. 
Marini,  Antoine,  314,  349. 
Mario,  Monte,  192. 
Marsiglio  of  Padua,   29. 
Martin  v..  Pope,  16,  32,  33. 
Martin,  Cardinal  St.,  125,  126. 
Masaccio,  novelist,  263. 
Mayr,  Martin,  226,  227,  228,  229. 
Medici,  Cosimo  de',  50,  259,  266,  286. 
Mersa,  river,  289. 
Meusel,  Dr.  A.,  jurist,  175. 
Milan,  3,  15,  19,  47,  48,  52,  53,  75, 

93,  99,  182,  184, 191,  218,  231,  236, 

248,  259,  267,  286,  302,  306. 
Modena,  301. 

Mohammed  ii. ,  Sultan,  206,  340,  347. 
Montferrat,  301. 
Monticuli,  Niccolo,  5. 
Morals,  of  the  Church,  103 ;  of  the 

fifteenth  century,  135 ;  of  the  Scots, 

62,  63. 
Moravia,  196. 
Morea.     See  Palseologus. 
Moro,   Cristofero,   Doge  of   Venice, 

349,  355,  357. 
Miinster,  161. 


Nantks,  University  of,  218. 
Naples,  16,  153,  185,  195,  218,  219, 

236,  248,  250,  277,  278,  285,  301, 

303,  306,  338. 
Necromancy,  98,  99. 
Nemi,  lake  of,  326. 
Neustadt,  119,  210,  233. 
Newcastle,  65. 
Niccolo,  Bishop  of  Palermo,  157. 


Nicholas  v..  Pope  (Tommaso  Paren- 
tucelli),  53,  64,  84,  158,  159,  162, 
163,  168,  174  ;  his  coronation,  176  ; 
177,  178,  181,  186,  190,  193,  194, 
195, 196,  199,  200 ;  and  the  Turkish 
war,  201  sqq.,  205,  210,  274,  316, 
338. 

Nicholaus  of  Pistna,  36. 

Nicodemus,  Bishop  of  Freising,  48, 
131. 

Nocera,  236. 

Noceto,  Piero  da,  20,  53,  54,  67,  68, 
90,  132,  139,  146. 

Norway,  60,  205. 

Novara,  48,  106. 

Bishop  of.     See  Bartholomew. 

Niirnberg,  66,  117, 147, 162, 154,  308. 

Nursia,  100. 

Occam,  William  of,  29. 
Oliveto  Maggiore,  Benedictine  mon- 
astery, 325,  326. 
Olivia,  Alessandro,  289. 
Orleans,  Duke  of,  183. 
Orsini,  Cardinal,  237,  250. 

The,  16,  17,  237,  241,  261. 

Ortobello,  218. 
Ostia,  326. 
Otricoli,  353. 

Padua,  University  of,  34,  48. 

Paloeologus,  John,  Emperor,  77, 86, 88. 

Thomas,  despot  of  the  Morea, 

265,  332. 

Palgrave  of  the  Rhine,  110,  152,  210, 
225. 

Palomar,  John,  of,  70. 

Panormita.     See  Beccadelli. 

Pantagale,  Domenico.   See  Capranica. 

Paolo  di  Giovanni,  vi. 

Paris,  30. 

University  of,  298,  299. 

Passau,  Bishop  of,  172. 

Pastor,  historian,  v,  147, 173,  243. 

Pauvres  de  Lyon,  27. 

Pavia,  77,  78,  80. 

Council  of,  33. 

Peacock,  Oath  by  the,  206,  342,  349. 

Peacock,  Reginald,  Bishop  of  Chi- 
chester, 336. 


364 


^NEAS   SILVIUS 


Pelago,  29. 

Perugia,  1,  17,  253,  280. 

Pescia,  20. 

Peter's,  St.,  Basilica  of,  199,  202. 

Petrioli,  baths  of,  289,  292,  350. 

Philip  of  Burgundy,  57, 205, 206, 266, 
342,  343. 

Piave,  river,  122. 

Piccinino,  Jacopo,  218,  219,  247, 285, 
293,  295,  303,  305,  307,  317. 

Niccol6,  50,  51,  86,  100,  218. 

Picciolpassi,  Francesco  di,  92,  129. 

Piccolomini,  the,  2,  258,  261,  262. 

Andrea,  287,  356. 

Antonio,  287,  293,  295,  306. 

Caterina,  5,  253. 

Enea  Silvio,  the  elder, 

^neas  Silvius,  after- 
wards Pope  Pius  II.,  parentage 
and  birth,  2  sqq. ;  childhood,  4  sqq. ; 
at  the  University  of  Siena,  6  sqq. ; 
under  S.  Bernardino's  iufluence, 
9  sqq.  ;  goes  to  Florence,  etc.,  13; 
teaches  at  Siena,  14;  journeys  to 
Basel,  18  sqq.  ;  involved  in  con- 
spiracy, 50  sqq.  ;  enters  Albergati's 
service,  52 ;  journeys  to  Ripaille, 
53 ;  to  Arras,  55 ;  to  Britain,  57 
sqq.  ;  his  ride  through  England, 
64  sqq.  ;  returns  to  Basel,  67  ;  his 
work  at  the  Council,  74  sqq.  ; 
pleads  for  Pavia,  77  sqq.  ;  his  ora- 
tory, 79  sqq.  ;  is  offered  a  provost- 
ship,  92,  93  ;  preaches  at  Basel,  93  ; 
takes  ofl&ce  under  the  Council,  94 ; 
is  sent  on  missions,  94 ;  ill  of 
plague,  98  sqq.  ;  loses  the  provost- 
ship,  99 ;  defends  Council,  100 ; 
presented  to  canonry  at  Trient,  101 ; 
revisits  Ripaille,  101 ;  refuses  to 
take  orders,  102  sqq.  ;  at  Felix's 
election,  103  ;  becomes  Papal  Secre- 
tary, 104 ;  sent  on  missions,  108 
sqq.;  crowned  as  Poet,  112,  113; 
invited  to  Imperial  Chancellery, 
113;  accepts,  114;  his  position 
there,  116  sqq.  ;  longs  for  Italy, 
120;  courts  Schlick,  121 557.  ;  veers 
towards  Eugenius,  129  sqq.  ;  inner 
struggle,  140 ;  life  at  Vienna,  144 ; 


takes  orders,  147,  173 ;  revisits 
Siena,  158 ;  submits  to  Eugenius, 
159  sqq.  ;  sent  to  Rome,  162  sqq.  ; 
appointed  pastor,  171  sqq.  ;  bishop 
of  Trieste,  174 ;  at  Nicholas's  coro- 
nation, 176  sqq.  ;  at  Diets,  178  ; 
his  retractation,  179;  at  Milan,  183  ; 
at  Naples,  185 ;  made  bishop  of 
Siena,  185 ;  at  Jubilee,  185 ;  in 
Bohemia,  187  sqq. ;  meets  Em- 
peror's bride,  191  sqq. ;  accompanies 
Frederick  to  Rome,  192;  at  his 
coronation,  193  sqq.  ;  at  Vienna, 
199 ;  speech  there,  199 ;  his  view 
of  the  Turkish  danger,  201  sqq. ; 
his  policy,  203  sqq.  ;  his  means, 
208  sqq.  ;  quits  Germany,  208 ; 
literary  relations  with  Germany, 
214  sqq.  ;  is  made  cardinal,  214 ; 
controversy  with  Mayr,  226  sqq. ;  fl 
activity  in  German  affairs,  228  sqq.  ;  V 
leaves  baths  for  Rome,  235 ;  is 
elected  Pope,  235  sqq.  ;  is  crowned,  ^ 
247  ;  urges  a  Turkish  war,  249  sqq.  ;  fl 
journeys  to  Mantua,  252  sqq.  ;  re-  " 
builds  Corsignano,  254 ;  presides 
at  the  Congress,  264  sqq.  ;  his 
private  friends,  279  sqq.  ;  ad- 
monishes Borgia,  290 ;  finds  Rome 
disturbed,  294 ;  leaves  Tivoli,  296 ; 
his  relations  with  France,  297  sqq.  ; 
with  Malatesta,  303  sqq.  ;  with 
Germany,  307  sqq.  ;  with  Bohemia, 
312  sqq.  ;  issues  the  Bull  In  mino- 
ribus  agentihus,  316 ;  his  life  as 
Pope,  317  sqq.  ;  his  relations  with 
the  Curia,  332 ;  receives  St.  An- 
drew's head,  332  sqq.  ;  presides  at 
a  deputation,  335 ;  measures  against 
heresy,  336 ;  canonises  St.  Caterina 
of  Siena,  336 ;  receives  an  Eastern 
embassy,  338 ;  aids  Charlotte  of 
Cyprus,  339  ;  writes  to  the  Sultan, 
340 ;  enriched  by  a  mine,  341  ; 
resolves  to  lead  a  crusade,  342  sqq.  ; 
journeys  to  Ancona,  352  sqq. ;  his 
death,  355  sqq.  ;  his  character,  56, 
89,  90,  98,  99,  127  sqq.,  320  sqq., 
337 ;  his  works,  49,  91,  95,  96,  97, 
105  sqq.,  119,  131,  134,  136,  137, 


INDEX 


365 


138,  139,  148,  163,  172,  173,  186, 

2Usqq.,  227,  232,  318  sgg. 
Piccolomini,    Francesco    (de'    Tode- 

Bchini),  afterwards  Pope  Pius  iii., 

288,  331. 

Laodamia,  5,  140,  141. 

Silvio,  2,  5. 

Pienza.     See  Corsignano. 
Pilsen,  70. 
Piombino,  19. 
Pisa,  273. 

Council  of,  31,  73. 

Pius  II.    See  Piccolomini,  Enea  Silvio. 

Pius  III.    See  Piccolomini,  Francesco. 

Plague,  98,  189. 

Platina,  95. 

Podiebrad,  George,  189,  257,  278,  309, 

312sgg.,349. 
Poland,  38,  205,  252,  268,  314. 
Pontano,  Ludovico,  98,  157. 
Porcaro,  294. 
Porto  Venere,  19,  100. 
Portugal,  186,  205. 
Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges,  88, 
183,  199,  276,  279,  298,  299,  301. 

of  Germany,  101,  199. 

Procopius  of  Rabstein,  169,  177. 
Pulci,  novelist,  323. 


Ratisbon.     See  Regentburg. 

Reati,  Bishop  of,  289. 

Regensburg,  205,  217. 

Renaissance,  11,  12,  13,  260,  283,  286. 

Retractation,  letter  of,  179,  180. 

bull  of,  180,  181. 

Riccio,  50,  51. 

Rimini,  272,  304. 

Ripaille,  53,  54,  55. 

Riverio,  302. 

Rodocofani,  4. 

Rokycana,  Archbishop  of  Prague,  69. 

Romagna,  303. 

Rome,  1, 10, 11, 15,  17,  26,  47,  71,  77, 
156,  160,  162,  163,  169,  173,  176, 
185,  186,  187,  189,  190,  192,  193, 
212,  213,  214,  246,  248,  249,  251, 
252,  253,  292,  293,  294,  296,  316, 
323,  326,  334,  339,  350,  357. 

Rose,  the  Golden,  177,  195  7i.  1,  258. 


Salvadore,  St.,  monastery  of,  325. 
Savelli,  the,  296. 
Savoy,  103,  273,  301. 

Duke  of,  339. 

Saxony,  Duke  of,  110,  273. 
Scala,  della,  the,  48. 
Scanderbeg,  269. 

Scarampo,  Cardinal,  202,  264,  332. 
Schism,  the  Great,  26,  73. 

at  Basel,  60,  112,  131,  155. 

Schlick,  Caspar,  114;  his  character, 
115,  116,  117,  121,  122,  131,  138, 
145,  155,  184,  218,  266. 

Heinrich,  125. 

Scotland,  60  sqq.,  65,  182,  205. 
Segobia,  Juan  de,  76,  85,  169. 
Servia,  252. 
Sforza,  Alessandro,  307. 

Bianca  Maria,  ride  Visconti,  183, 

263. 

Francesco,  Duke  of  Milan,  47, 

183,  184,  191,  203,  205,  231,  236, 
259,  266,  267,  268,  271,  286,  287, 
294,  301,  305,  348,  350. 

Galeazzo,  259. 

Ippolyta,  262,  263,  323. 

Siena,  vi,  vii,  1,  2,  4,  5,  6,  8,  9,  10, 
13,  14,  28,  38,  46,  51,  89,  95,  112, 
156,  161,  169,  185,  190,  191,  192, 
205,  208,  209,  218,  219,  257,  258, 
286,  287,  323,  324,  330,  348,  350. 

council  of,  33. 

Sigismund,  Emperor,  15,  31,  36,  45, 
46,  71,  72,  73,  112,   115. 

Duke  of  Tyrol,   116,   125,  136, 

137,  273,  274,  275,  278,  309  sqq., 
312. 
Simonetta,  287. 
Sinigaglia,  285. 

Sismondi,  J.  C.  L.,  historian,  46. 
Sluys,  59. 
Soest,  265. 

Soldo,  Cristofero  da,  185. 
Sozzini,  Mariano  de',  6, 7,  49, 95,  258. 
Spaniards,  the,  76,  102,  301,  347. 
Spires,  Chronicle  of,  308. 
Spoleto,  253,  353. 

Bishop  of,  289. 

Stein,  Wilhelm  von,  216. 
Strassburg,  94. 


366 


iENEAS  SILVIUS 


Strood,  58. 
Styria,  119. 
Subiaco,  325. 
Switzerland,  151,  152. 
Sylvester,  C,  of  Chiemsee,  112,  113, 
131. 

Tabor,  39,  188,  189. 

Taborites,  39,  71,  188,  189. 

Tag,  Wilhelm,  117. 

Taranto,  Archbishop  of,  81. 

Terracina,  251,  288,  295. 

Teutonic  Knights,  the,  205,  251,  252. 

Thuscon,  John,  134. 

Tiber,  river,  352. 

Tiburzio,  294. 

Ticino,  valley  of  the,  19. 

Tivoli,  296,  317,  318,  324,  325. 

Tolfa,  mines  at,  341. 

Tolomei,  the,  261. 

Torcello,  Bishop  of.    See  Domenichi. 

Torquemada,  Cardinal,  75,  237,  243, 
264. 

Torriani,  the,  183. 

Toul,  Bishop  of,  232. 

Trasimeno,  Lago,  254. 

Trient,  100,  171. 

Trier,  Archbishop  of.     See  Jacob. 

Trieste,  173,  177,  178,  184. 

Trionfo,  29. 

Troilo,  condottiere,  268. 

Troja,  battle  of,  306. 

Turks,  the,  86,  97, 115,  201,  209,  212, 
225,  227,  236,  238,  247,  248,  269, 
271,  278,  307,  310,  314,  332,  333, 
338,  340,  342,  343,  348,  350. 

Turrecremata,  75. 

Udinb,  249. 


Univeraitiea,  29,  74,  75,  90,  104,  157.! 

See  also  under  Padua,  Paris,  etc. 
Urbino,  Duke  of.     See  Federigo 

Montefeltro. 


Valdo,  Pierre,  27. 

Valla,  or  Vallo,  Lorenzo,  143  n.,  280. 

Valle,  Fantino  de,  314,  315. 

Vatican,  the,  237,  330. 

Venice,  13,  42,  75,  78,  104,  191,  205, 
213,  236,  249,  268,  273,  301,  306, 
314,  342,  343,  346,  350,  351,  354. 

Verona,  48. 

Vienna,  114,  129,  148,  158,  161,  215. 

Visconti,  the,  183. 

Bianca  Maria.     See  Sforza. 

Filippo  Maria,  19,  47  ;  his  char- 
acter, 48  sqq,,  50,  51,  72,  76,  78, 
99,  102,  104,  123,  182,  303. 

Gian  Galeazzo,  3. 

Vitelleschi,  Cardinal,  47,  153. 

Viterbo,  192,  293. 

Voigt,  G.,  historian,  82,  95,  141, 150, 
175,  213,  311,  319,  341. 

Waldenses,  the,  38,  199. 
Wartenburg,    Nicholas,     147,     173 

w.  2. 
Weiss,  A.,  historian,  v,  and  various 

notes. 
Wenceslaus,  Emperor,  36. 
Worcester,  Earl  of,  277. 
Worms,  Dean  of,  226. 


York,  66. 


ZiSKA,  John,  36,  39,  188. 


Printed  by  T.  and  A.  Constable,  Printerg  to  His  Majesty 
at  the  Edinburgh  Unirersity  Press 


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