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Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II (Latin: Pius PP. II, Italian: Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (Latin: Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464.
Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, and orator, and private secretary of Antipope Felix V and then the Emperor Frederick III, and then Pope Eugenius IV. He participated in the Council of Basel, but left it in 1443 to follow Frederick, whom he reconciled to the Roman obedience. He became Bishop of Trieste in 1447, Bishop of Siena in 1450, and a cardinal in 1456.
He was a Renaissance humanist with an international reputation. Aeneas Silvius' longest and most enduring work is the story of his life, the Commentaries, which was the first autobiography of a pope to have been published. It appeared posthumously, in 1584, 120 years after his death.
Aeneas was born in Corsignano in Sienese territory of a noble but impoverished family. His father Silvio was a soldier and member of the House of Piccolomini, and his mother was Vittoria Forteguerri, who had eighteen children including several twins, though no more than ten were alive at one time. The plague (iniqua lues) finally left him with only two sisters, Laudamia and Catherina. He worked with his father in the fields for some years.
In 1423, at the age of 18, he left to study at the university of Siena, where he first followed the humanities curriculum, and then that of civil law. At Siena he studied under the Augustinian Andreas of Milan, the noted historian. His preceptor and professor of civil law was Antonio de Rosellis. He also studied law under Mariano Sozzini. He then attended the university of Florence where he studied under Francesco Filelfo, and where he became friends with Poggio Bracciolini, Leonardo Bruni, and Guarino da Verona. He settled in Siena as a teacher.
In 1431 he accepted the post of secretary to Domenico Capranica, bishop of Fermo, then on his way to the Council of Basel. Capranica was protesting against the new Pope Eugene IV's refusal of a cardinalate for him, which had been designated by Pope Martin V. Arriving at Basel after enduring a stormy voyage to Genoa and then a trip across the Alps, he successively served Capranica, who ran out of money, and then other masters.
In 1435, he was sent by Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, Eugenius IV's legate at the council, on a secret mission to Scotland, the object of which is variously related even by himself. He visited England as well as Scotland, underwent many perils and vicissitudes in both countries and left an account of each. The journey to Scotland proved so tempestuous that Piccolomini swore that he would walk barefoot to the nearest shrine of Our Lady from their landing port. This proved to be Dunbar; the nearest shrine was 10 miles (16 km) distant at Whitekirk. The journey through the ice and snow left Aeneas afflicted with pain in his legs for the rest of his life. Only when he arrived at Newcastle did he feel that he had returned to "a civilised part of the world and the inhabitable face of the Earth", Scotland and the far north of England being "wild, bare and never visited by the sun in winter". In Scotland, he fathered a child but it died.
Upon his return to Basel, Aeneas again served from 1436 to 1438 as secretary of Cardinal Domenico Capranica. He actively supported the council in its conflict with the Pope, and, although still a layman, eventually obtained a share in the direction of its affairs. He gave a speech advocating the choice of Pavia as the site of a meeting between council members and the Greek delegation, to discuss church union, which caught the attention of the duke of Milan, as he had hoped. The archbishop of Milan named him Provost of the church of S. Lorenzo in Milan, even though he had not been elected to the post by the chapter of the church and was still a layman. The Council granted him a dispensation, despite their policy against such dispensations, which they considered a feature of papal corruption. But when Aeneas was sent on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1438, it was reported that he had died; and the duke of Milan, who had abandoned the council and returned to Pope Eugenius' side, gave Aeneas' provostship to another candidate. In recompense, the Council appointed him a canon in the cathedral Chapter of Trent.
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Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II (Latin: Pius PP. II, Italian: Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (Latin: Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464.
Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, and orator, and private secretary of Antipope Felix V and then the Emperor Frederick III, and then Pope Eugenius IV. He participated in the Council of Basel, but left it in 1443 to follow Frederick, whom he reconciled to the Roman obedience. He became Bishop of Trieste in 1447, Bishop of Siena in 1450, and a cardinal in 1456.
He was a Renaissance humanist with an international reputation. Aeneas Silvius' longest and most enduring work is the story of his life, the Commentaries, which was the first autobiography of a pope to have been published. It appeared posthumously, in 1584, 120 years after his death.
Aeneas was born in Corsignano in Sienese territory of a noble but impoverished family. His father Silvio was a soldier and member of the House of Piccolomini, and his mother was Vittoria Forteguerri, who had eighteen children including several twins, though no more than ten were alive at one time. The plague (iniqua lues) finally left him with only two sisters, Laudamia and Catherina. He worked with his father in the fields for some years.
In 1423, at the age of 18, he left to study at the university of Siena, where he first followed the humanities curriculum, and then that of civil law. At Siena he studied under the Augustinian Andreas of Milan, the noted historian. His preceptor and professor of civil law was Antonio de Rosellis. He also studied law under Mariano Sozzini. He then attended the university of Florence where he studied under Francesco Filelfo, and where he became friends with Poggio Bracciolini, Leonardo Bruni, and Guarino da Verona. He settled in Siena as a teacher.
In 1431 he accepted the post of secretary to Domenico Capranica, bishop of Fermo, then on his way to the Council of Basel. Capranica was protesting against the new Pope Eugene IV's refusal of a cardinalate for him, which had been designated by Pope Martin V. Arriving at Basel after enduring a stormy voyage to Genoa and then a trip across the Alps, he successively served Capranica, who ran out of money, and then other masters.
In 1435, he was sent by Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, Eugenius IV's legate at the council, on a secret mission to Scotland, the object of which is variously related even by himself. He visited England as well as Scotland, underwent many perils and vicissitudes in both countries and left an account of each. The journey to Scotland proved so tempestuous that Piccolomini swore that he would walk barefoot to the nearest shrine of Our Lady from their landing port. This proved to be Dunbar; the nearest shrine was 10 miles (16 km) distant at Whitekirk. The journey through the ice and snow left Aeneas afflicted with pain in his legs for the rest of his life. Only when he arrived at Newcastle did he feel that he had returned to "a civilised part of the world and the inhabitable face of the Earth", Scotland and the far north of England being "wild, bare and never visited by the sun in winter". In Scotland, he fathered a child but it died.
Upon his return to Basel, Aeneas again served from 1436 to 1438 as secretary of Cardinal Domenico Capranica. He actively supported the council in its conflict with the Pope, and, although still a layman, eventually obtained a share in the direction of its affairs. He gave a speech advocating the choice of Pavia as the site of a meeting between council members and the Greek delegation, to discuss church union, which caught the attention of the duke of Milan, as he had hoped. The archbishop of Milan named him Provost of the church of S. Lorenzo in Milan, even though he had not been elected to the post by the chapter of the church and was still a layman. The Council granted him a dispensation, despite their policy against such dispensations, which they considered a feature of papal corruption. But when Aeneas was sent on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1438, it was reported that he had died; and the duke of Milan, who had abandoned the council and returned to Pope Eugenius' side, gave Aeneas' provostship to another candidate. In recompense, the Council appointed him a canon in the cathedral Chapter of Trent.