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READING HALLDOORS OF WISDOM |
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HISTORY OF THE POPES FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGESBYLUDWIG PASTOR
Author’s Preface
INTRODUCTION.THE
LITERARY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY AND THE CHURCH
THE POPES AT AVIGNON
1305-1376
BOOK I
I. THE POPES AT
AVIGNON, 1305-1376
II. THE SCHISM AND THE GREAT HERETICAL MOVEMENTS, 1378-1409 III. THE SYNODS
OF PISA AND CONSTANCE, 1409-1418
BOOK III. MARTIN V, 1417-1431II. EUGENIUS IV,1431-1447
BOOK IIINICHOLAS V. 1447-1455THE
FIRST PAPAL PATRON OF LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS,
1. ELECTION OF
POPE NICHOLAS V, 1447-1455
BOOK IVCALIXTUS III. 1455-145THE CHAMPION OF CHRISTENDOM AGAINST ISLAM,
1.
ELECTION OF CALIXTUS III. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE RENAISSANCE. HIS CORONATION
AND THE EMBASSIES SENT TO DO HIM HOMAGE.
BOOK VPIUS II 1458-1464
1. ELECTION OF
PIUS II. A.D.1458
BOOK VIPAUL II. 1464-1471
1.
BOOK VIISIXTUS IV. A.D 1471-1484.
BOOK VIII.INNOCENT VIII. 1484-1492.
1.
BOOK IX.ALEXANDER VI. A.D. 1492-1503. I.
BOOK 10PIUS III. A.D.1503 & JULIUS II. 1503-1513. Restorer of the States of the Church and Patron of the Fine Arts.
CHAPTER I.- The Conclaves of September and November, 1503. Pius III and Julius II. CHAPTER
II.
BOOK 11POPE LEO X. A.D. 1513-1521
BOOK 12.ADRIAN VI A.D. 1522-1523
CHAPTER I Situation in Rome at the Death of Leo
X. Election of Adrian VI.
BOOK 13CLEMENT VII (1523-1534)
CHAPTER I. Clement VII. —His
Election, Character, and the Beginning of his Reign. —His Ineffectual Efforts
for Peace and his Alliance with Francis I of France.
AUTHOR'S
PREFACE.
THE publication
of a new “History of the Popes from the Conclusion of the Middle Ages drawn
from original Sources”, cannot be considered a superfluous task. Apart from the
special interest attaching to the annals of this the most ancient and still
most vigorous of dynasties, from a purely scientific point of view, a new work
embodying the substance of the numerous monographs of the last ten years, with
additions and corrections from fresh original documents, seems urgently called
for.
Ranke, the first
in importance of all Protestant German Historians, owes his fame to his Lives of the Popes in the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries, which appeared in 1834-1836, and which, even in the
most recent editions, essentially represents the state of historical research
at that period. The alterations made by the aged author are, with the exception
of its continuation to the year 1870, confined to a small number of points. He
gives but a summary notice of the Renaissance age, our knowledge of which has
been immensely increased during the last few decades by the labours of learned
men in Italy, as well as in Germany and France; in the latter country
especially, by those of the indefatigable Eugene Müntz.
A thorough acquaintance with that period is an essential preliminary to the
comprehension of the sixteenth century.
When His
Holiness Pope Leo XIII generously opened the secret Archives of the Vatican to
students, it became evident that the History of the Popes during the last four
centuries would have to be re-written. Ranke, Burckhardt, Voigt, Gregorovius, and Creighton all wrote on the Renaissance Age
before these Archives were accessible, and even Reumont,
whose trustworthy and exhaustive "History of the City of Rome" has
been of the greatest use to me, gives but a few specimens of the rich treasures
they contain. Accordingly my first task, during a somewhat prolonged residence
on two occasions in the Eternal City, was to make myself thoroughly acquainted
with them. My studies were greatly facilitated by the kind assistance afforded
me by their custodians, and I soon became convinced that Pertz’s observation, “the keys of St. Peter are still the keys of the Middle Ages” is
also applicable to our own times.
In addition to
the secret Archives of the Vatican, I found, while in Rome, partly by my own
exertions, and partly by the aid of friends, historical materials of great
value in a number of other Archives, which had hitherto been almost inaccessible.
Among these are the Consistorial Archives, the Archives of the Lateran (which
unfortunately have not been classified), of the Inquisition, of Propaganda, of
the Sixtine Chapel, of the Secretaryship of Briefs,
and of the Library of St. Peter’s. Nor must the treasures of the Vatican
Library be passed over, especially as Ranke and Gregorovius were only able to inspect a small number of these manuscripts.
My researches in
the inexhaustible mine of the Papal collections were supplemented by those
which I made in the Libraries and Private Archives of Rome. I visited the
public or semi-public Libraries, which are celebrated throughout the literary
world, as the Angelica, the Barberina, the Casanatense, the Chigi, the Corsini, and the Vallicellana Libraries, and also the less known Altieri, Borghese, and Boncompagni Libraries, the Archives of the Anima, of the Campo Santo al Vaticano,
and of the Santo Spirito, as well as those of the Roman Princes, which, in many
cases, are not easy of access. Among these the Archives of the Colonna,
Gaetani, and Ricci families yielded an unexpected amount of treasure, while
others, as, for example, those of the Odescalchi and
Orsini, were comparatively barren.
The overwhelming
mass of documents before me decided me only to begin my systematic
investigation of the Roman Archives at the middle of the fifteenth century,
which we may consider as the period closing the Middle Ages, and forming the
transition between two great epochs.
Ample as are the
historical materials to be found in Rome, I could not limit myself exclusively
to these sources without incurring the danger of being one-sided.
I therefore
extended my investigations to the other Archives in Italy, especially those of
the more or less important Italian powers, which were in constant communication
with the Holy See, and which sent Ambassadors to Rome at an earlier date, and
more frequently than is generally supposed. The diplomatic correspondence of
the Sfozas in the State Archives at Milan long
detained me, and I was able to fill up the gaps existing in it from the
Ambrosian Library, and afterwards from the National Library of Paris. Florence,
Vienna, and Mantua furnished an unlooked-for number of documents, most of which
are still unknown. Lucca is not so rich, but from Modena and Naples I have
gathered much that is of value for my work.
I need hardly
say that in my various journeys I did not neglect the numerous rich Libraries
and the important Municipal Archives which are scattered through Italy. I also
investigated the collections of manuscripts in France and Germany, and at
several places, as, for example, at Aix in Provence and at Treves, I made
interesting and valuable discoveries.
I owe a debt of
gratitude, in the first place to His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, who has most
graciously been pleased to take an interest in my work, and to encourage me in
its prosecution; then to their Eminences Cardinals Jacobini, Hergenrother, and Mertel,
His Excellency Count Paar, Austrian Ambassador to the
Holy See, Monsignori de Montel and Meszczynski, and Herr Wilhelm Hüffer in Rome; also to Fr. Ehrle, S.J., and Dr. Gottlob, the latter of whom
placed at my disposal a number of documents relating to the war against the
Turks.
I am also
greatly indebted to the Minister of Public Worship and Education in Vienna for
his kindness in regard to the transmission of manuscripts, and to the
custodians and officials of the Archives and Libraries I have visited, for the
assistance they have so obligingly afforded me in my investigations. I beg them
all to accept my sincere thanks.
The second
volume of this work will conclude the History of the Renaissance Age, and will
appear as soon as possible. The subject matter of the four other volumes, which
will probably complete my undertaking, will be the three great events of
History since the Renaissance: the great disruption in the Western Church, the
Catholic Restoration, and the Modern Revolution.
Ludwig
Pastor.
15th August, 1885.
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