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CHAPTER
VIII.
NEGOTIATIONS
FOR PEACE IN ITALY— THE CRUSADE IN GERMANY — SICKNESS AND DEATH OF THE POPE
While
consultations were being held throughout Western Christendom as to the means of
repelling Turkish aggression, a cause for which no one was ready to make any
real sacrifice, envoys arrived from Cyprus and Rhodes. They implored
assistance, bearing witness to the magnitude of the peril which threatened
Europe, and unanimously asserting that no cessation of Turkish hostilities was
to be expected. These envoys were accompanied by Cardinal Isidore of Russia,
some Franciscans of Bologna, and a few other Italians, who had escaped from the
massacre at Constantinople or from bondage among the infidels. The Cardinal,
more fortunate than Cesarini, had escaped the terrible massacre which followed
the victory of the Turks, by dressing a corpse in his own clothes and taking
those of the dead man. Unrecognized in this disguise, he had been captured and
sold as a slave, but at length succeeded in making his escape, at first at the Peloponesus, and thence to Venice, where he arrived in the
end of November, 1453, as one returned from the dead. He and the Franciscans
were the first to make known the full details of the catastrophe of the 29th
May, 1453.
Cardinal Isidore
gave a terrible account of the cruelties practised by the Turks, and declared that
they were determined to conquer Italy. The danger was, he believed, imminent,
and the necessity for the union of Christians imperative. He thought the forces
at the Sultan's command more numerous than those of Caesar, Alexander, or any
other conqueror, and the pecuniary resources at his disposal to be equally
enormous. The Turkish fleet already consisted of two hundred and thirty ships,
the cavalry was thirty thousand strong, and there seemed to be no limit to the
numbers by which the infantry might be increased. Calabria would probably be
the spot selected for the first incursion of the infidels, and it was possible
that Venice might also be attacked. According to the report of the Sienese
ambassador in Venice, the Cardinal was firmly persuaded that unless within six
months peace was restored another year and half would see the Turks in Italy.
It was evident
that serious measures against the Turks could not be contemplated until concord
had been re-established in the Italian peninsula, and accordingly Nicholas
summoned the ambassadors of all the Italian powers to a Peace Congress in Rome.
The matter was pressing, and the Pope's messengers were despatched in all haste
towards the close of September. About a month later the ambassadors began to
appear in the Eternal City. On the 24th of October, 1453, envoys from the
Republic of Florence and Venice arrived; the latter were specially charged to
excuse the Signoria for their negotiations with the Turks.
The Duke of
Milan, who believed that the Venetians were merely endeavouring to gain time
for fresh warlike preparations, reluctantly resolved to take part in the
Congress. The delay of his ambassadors created a most unfavourable impression
in Rome, and tht Pope and his cardinals bitterly
complained of Francesco Sforza. On the 10th November the long-expected envoys
at length arrived,t and business accordingly could
begin. The despatches which have come down to us regarding this Congress are
unfortunately of a very fragmentary character, and those of the Venetian and
Neapolitan envoys are altogether wanting. It is, therefore, impossible to give
a clear account of these complicated proceedings, but there can be no doubt
that the greatest difficulties arose in the way of a satisfactory settlement.
All parties, indeed, were profuse in professions, but when their proposals were
brought forward it became evident that the pretensions of each Power were so
extravagant as to render the restoration of peace almost hopeless.
King Alfonso of
Naples demanded from the Florentines the repayment of the sums which the war
had cost him; the latter, far from being disposed to pay anything, called upon
the King to deliver up to them Castiglione della Pescaja in the Maremma. The
Venetians insisted that Sforza, for whose assassination they had, on the 14th
September, 1453, promised a hundred thousand ducats, should restore all his
conquests in the territories of Brescia and Bergamo, evacuate Cremona, and
consider the banks of the Po and the Adda as the boundary of his States.
Sforza, however, instead of making any concession to the Republic of St. Mark,
asked that Crema, Bergamo, and Brescia should be restored to him. He had not
the least intention of concluding peace so quickly, and his ambassadors
complained of the pretensions of Naples and Venice to rule over Tuscany and
Lombardy. Each one of the hostile powers brought violent accusations against
his adversary before the Pope. The envoy of the Marquess of Mantua assured
Nicholas that Venice, if victorious, would strive to make the Pope her
chaplain, adding that his master would rather fall into the hands of the Turks
than into those of the Venetians!
If anything had
been wanting to render a favourable result of the Congress impossible, the
deficiency was supplied by Nicholas. He had already endeavoured secretly to
foment the dissensions of the other Italian powers, with the object of
diverting hostilities from his own dominions and securing for them alone the
blessing of peace, and to this line of policy he continued to adhere. Impossible
as it is to justify the Pope's conduct, we nevertheless take into account the
circumstances which partially excuse it. Had the States of the Church been
involved in the conflicts of the period, all that he had accomplished at
immense cost, and by the labour of years, in the hope of making Rome the centre
of art and of learning, would have been undone. This idea took such possession
of his mind that all other considerations had to give way. Moreover, the
relations which existed between him and King Alfonso of Naples were of a
character unfavourable to the success of the Congress. The King did everything
in his power to complicate the negotiations and hinder Nicholas from taking any
step which might have tended to peace. If we may credit the ambassador of Francesco
Sforza, Alfonso, even in the month of July, had threatened to ally himself with
the revolutionary party in Rome in the event of the Pope adopting a policy at
variance with his wishes. The monarch had supporters in the Court, his
influence over the timid Pontiff had for years been excessive, and Nicholas
yielded unduly, carrying on the negotiations, as even his eulogist Manetti admits, in a lukewarm and indifferent manner. The
state of his health no doubt had much to do with his timidity; at the end of
August he was ill, and in December he was confined to his bed with so severe an
attack of gout that for a long time even the Cardinals were not admitted to his
presence. After a short period of improvement, the malady returned at the end
of January with fresh intensity, and for fully a fortnight Nicholas V was again
unable to grant any audiences. A secret Consistory, which had been fixed for
the 29th January, 1454, had, on account of the Pope's condition, to be held in
his bedroom. The reports of the Florentine ambassadors enable us accurately to
follow the history of Nicholas's illness. After announcing on the 6th of
February that the Pope was again holding receptions, they had, five days later,
to say that the gout had returned. In the beginning of March they speak of a
fresh attack, and so it went on, for he never again rose from his sick bed. Can
we wonder that in the midst of such suffering, and oppressed by ceaseless
anxieties, he had not sufficient energy for vigorous and determined action?
The Congress
finally arrived at the end which had been foreseen. On the 19th March, 1454,
the Sienese ambassadors announced to their Republic the utter failure of the
negotiations, and on the 24th the Florentine envoys left Rome; the assembly
effected nothing, and its members parted in mutual dissatisfaction.
A simple
Augustinian friar, Fra Simonetto of Camerino,
accomplished that which the Congress had been unable to effect. The Venetians,
whose finances were exhausted, and who were in need of peace, sent him as a
secret messenger to Francesco Sforza to treat with him personally and lay fair
proposals before him. The unquiet state of Sforza's own camp made him willing
to accede to these, and Cosmo de' Medici, who alone was in the secret, favoured
the negotiations. He knew that the intolerable burden of taxation was causing
increasing discontent among the Florentines, and that there was a general
longing for peace throughout the city. Francesco Contarini, the Venetian
ambassador to Siena during the years 1454 and 1455, repeatedly informs the
Signoria of the general feeling which prevailed at Florence. "The
citizens", he writes in April, 1454, "had raised a great outcry
against the new taxes, and used strong language against Cosmo and the others
who desired war".
Fra Simonetto's negotiations were brought to a conclusion at
Lodi on the 9th April, 1454, when Sforza agreed to restore to the Venetians
all his conquests in the territories of Bergamo and Brescia, with the exception
of a few castles, only laying down the condition that those who had espoused
his cause should remain unpunished. The Duke of Savoy and the Marquess of
Montferrat were, if they desired to share in the benefits of peace, to deliver
up the places which they had taken in Novara, Pavia and Alessandria; in the
event of their refusal the Duke of Milan held himself free to recover them by
force. The Lords of Corregio and the Venetians were
to give back to the Marquess of Mantua the part of his territory which they had
annexed, and he was to restore to his brother Carlo his inheritance; finally
the Castle of Castiglione della Pescaja in Tuscany, which King Alfonso had conquered, was to be retained by him on
condition that he should withdraw his army from the rest of the Florentine
States. All the Italian powers were called upon to give in their adhesion to
the peace within an appointed time if they desired to partake of its benefits.
The peace of Lodl did not at once produce the effects expected by the
States, which were longing for tranquillity. Venice and Milan had kept the
matter so secret that, with the exception of Florence, no power had been aware
of what was going on. Accordingly the announcement that a treaty had been
concluded on the 9th April was a surprise to all, and especially to King Alfonso
of Naples. He had hitherto imagined that, as the most important of Italian
princes, he could at his will impose peace, and now found himself treated as a
secondary power, and invited to subscribe to an agreement framed without his
knowledge. He expressed his indignation in no measured terms to the Venetian
Ambassador, Giovanni Moro, and endeavoured, as it proved, in vain, to hinder
his allies, the Sienese, from becoming parties to it.
On the 30th
August Venice, Milan, and Florence entered into a League for five-and-twenty
years for the defence of their States against every attack, but Alfonso, in his
anger, held aloof for nearly a year, and tedious negotiations, prolonged by
dread of France, ensued. The Pope, who had at first resented his exclusion from
the compact of Lodi, brought these to a happy conclusion by sending Cardinal Capranica, the most distinguished among the members of the
Sacred College, to Naples as his legate, with the special mission of persuading
Alfonso to join the League. The Cardinal was successful, and, on the 30th
December, 1454, Sforza was informed by his ambassadors at Naples that the King
had determined publicly to proclaim peace, and to enter into the alliance on
the approaching Feast of the Epiphany. "On the Feast of the Epiphany, when
the solemnity of the Three Kings takes place, Alfonso, after the example of
those Three Kings who offered Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, will bring as an
offering to God — first, peace for all Italy; secondly, the League for greater
quiet and security; and thirdly, the League against the enemy of Jesus Christ
for the defence of our holy Faith. On that day the Papal Legate will celebrate
Mass, and this holy Peace, the League and Alliance will be proclaimed, it God
permit and your Highness consent". The peace was, however, actually
confirmed by the Neapolitan Monarch on the 26th January, 1455, but with the
condition that the Genoese, whose ancient offences Alfonso could not pardon,
and Sigismondo Malatesta, who had deceived him, should be excluded from it. By
a further compact the Pope, Naples, Florence, Venice, and Milan bound
themselves by an offensive and defensive alliance for five-and-twenty years.
The Pope ratified this great Italian League on the 25th February, 1455, and it
was solemnly published in Rome on the 2nd March. The happy event was celebrated
with splendid festivities by the command of Nicholas V in that City and
throughout the States of the Church.
There was good
cause for these rejoicings, for now Italy might be considered as at peace, and
the peace seemed likely to prove permanent. In Upper Italy, Milan and Venice,
and in Lower Italy the Pope and the King of Naples counterbalanced each other.
Florence was determined to maintain the political equilibrium, and never to
join those who evidently desired to impair it. The eyes of all were anxiously
turned towards the East. Many of the lesser princes were ardently devoted to
the interests of art and learning, and the rest, if not exempt from the vices oftyrants, were at least capable of appreciating the
general intellectual revival which distinguished the age. Venice, Genoa, and
Florence, with their rich commerce, were naturally averse to the continuance of
war. Accordingly with Fra Simonetto's peace begins
the most flourishing period of the Italian Renaissance. King Alfonso, Duke
Francesco Sforza, Cosmo de Medici and the Republic of Venice, together with
Pope Nicholas V, constituted the intellectual aristocracy of Italy, and the
lesser princes followed them.
While the
negotiations for the pacification of Italy were thus successful, the
deliberations which took place in the Holy Roman Empire in 1454 and 1455
regarding the means of defending Europe from the Turk came to little good. It
soon became sadly evident that the solidarity of Christendom as opposed to
Islam had ceased to exist.
Frederick III
had summoned a great diet to meet at Ratisbon on St. George's Day (23rd April),
1454, "to deliberate concerning the defensive and offensive measures to be
taken against the enemies of Christ in order that these should be punished, the
sufferings of the martyrs avenged, the friends of God and Christian men
consoled, and the faith upheld in an honourable and suitable manner, since all
those who help this cause become partakers of the grace of God in the Papal
indulgence for the health of their souls and obtain everlasting life."
Frederick III
promised himself to be present unless prevented by some special hindrance. The
imperial letter of invitation was addressed, not merely to the German States,
but to all princes and republics of Christian Europe, so that it was generally
supposed that a Congress of Christendom, like the Council of Constance, was
about to assemble. But when the time drew near the disappointment was immense.
The Emperor did not come in person, but only sent a representative. The Pope
sent Bishop John of Pavia as his legate, and an embassy came from Savoy, but
otherwise the Italian powers were unrepresented. The only foreign prince who
came to Ratisbon was the Duke of Burgundy, and of all the many princes of
Germany none but the Margrave Albert Achilles of Brandenburg and Duke Louis of
Bavaria appeared. Stranger still, no one came on behalf of the young King of
Bohemia, for whom the help of Christendom had been in a special manner invoked.
In February there was a prospect of his presence at the Diet, but intrigues
among those about him probably kept him away. In Buda a plan was made for the
removal of Hunyadi from the government, in view of his appointment as General
of the whole Christian forces against the Turks; but there is no doubt that the
real object of this scheme was to keep him at a distance.
The empire never
appeared to less advantage than at this Diet, and the result of the Emperor's
appeal was all the more deplorable at a moment when the nation was in a state
of anxious and alarmed expectation. The intestine divisions of Germany, and the
weakness of its ruler, were patent to all, and we cannot wonder that even the
fiery eloquence of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini failed to bring the Diet to any
important decision. It was merely resolved that peace should be maintained in
all countries, and that about Michaelmas another, and, if it pleased God, a
more numerous and effective assembly should be held. In the event of the
Emperor appearing in person, Nuremberg was selected as the place of meeting,
otherwise it was to be Frankfort. The blustering Duke of Burgundy declared that
if the other princes would likewise take part in the expedition he would
proceed against the Turks with a force of sixty thousand men. The Diet
assembled at Frankfort-on-Maine in October, 1454, was somewhat more numerously
attended than that of Ratisbon. Albert of Brandenburg, together with the
Margrave of Baden, represented the Emperor; Aeneas Sylvius and the Bishop of Gurk appeared as his ambassadors; the Bishop of Pavia, who
was engaged in the collection of the ecclesiastical tithes in Germany, was
commissioned to act as the Pope's plenipotentiary; Jakob of Treves and Dietrich
of Mayence alone of the German electors were present;
Archduke Albert, who arrived after the proceedings had commenced, was the only
one of the temporal princes to answer the summons. A tone of drowsy
indifference characterized the Diet. Many of its members openly expressed their
aversion to a crusade, and their contempt for Emperor and Pope. Both of these
lords, they said, “merely want to extort money from us, but they will find
themselves mistaken, and learn that we are not so simple as they imagine”. The
discourses of Capistran and of Aeneas Sylvius, and
the urgent prayers of the Hungarian envoys, were powerless to evoke any zeal
for the common cause of the West. "The lords had no good will in the
matter", says a chronicler. The energy and exertions of the Margrave of
Brandenburg alone saved the deliberations of the Diet from complete failure,
and at least kept up a respectable appearance". A German force of thirty
thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry was to be sent the following year to
assist the Hungarians, but it was necessary that a fleet should at the same
time proceed against the Turks from the Italian ports. The fleet was to be
provided by the Pope, the King of Naples, and the Republics of Venice and
Genoa, while the Emperor was to come to an agreement with the German princes at
Vienna to furnish the land forces. The Diet of Vienna accordingly was the
consequence of that of Frankfort, which in its turn had been the result of one
held at Ratisbon. The witty saying of Aeneas Sylvius, in the year 1444, that
the German Diets could not be accused of sterility, since each was the parent
of a new one, was thus again verified.
The Vienna Diet
was even more pitiful than its predecessors. The Empire was so scantily
represented that practically it consisted only of the Emperor himself and the Electoral
College. Its leader and ruler was the crafty Jakob of Treves; he personally
represented four electors, and the others were his puppets. They came,
commissioned to evade the Turkish question, and to urge on the Emperor their
projects of reform; and, notwithstanding the speeches made by Aeneas Sylvius, Capistran and Johannes Vitez of Zredna the proxy for King Ladislas, adhered to their
purpose. Vexatious explanations ensued, and the Turkish question remained
unsettled. On the 12th April the tidings of the death of Nicholas V arrived,
and were far from unwelcome to this miserable assembly, furnishing, as they
did, a decent pretext for the departure of its members, who agreed to put off
to the following year further consultations regarding the crusade.
The health of
Nicholas V had always been indifferent. Even as a boy he had dangerous
illnesses, and there can be no doubt that the fatigues and privations of his
youth, as well as the wearing labours of his maturer years, had told on his weakly constitution. His nervous anxiety about his
health is thus easily accounted for. The pressure of work and of care had been
greatly increased from the time that he wore the tiara, yet, during the earlier
years of his pontificate, he seems to have enjoyed a fair amount of health and
to have displayed immense energy.
In the year 1450
we hear that a sudden and severe illness attacked Nicholas V at Tolentino, and
that his physician, the celebrated Baverio Bonetti of
Imola, had no hopes of his life. Nevertheless, the Pope very soon recovered,
but in December of the same year he again fell ill, and from this time forth he
never seems to have been really well. A great change was remarked in his
disposition; his former expansiveness gave place to excessive reserve. Francesco
Sforza's ambassador, Nicodemus, whom we have often mentioned, wrote, on the 7th
January, 1453, to the Duke, that during the previous year an extraordinary
change had taken place in the Pope, and that one of its causes was his
sickness.
The year 1453
was in every way a disastrous one to Nicholas V. It opened with Porcaro's
conspiracy, and the tidings of the fall of Constantinople arrived when its
course was half run. The account, which says that grief for this event killed
Nicholas V, may be an exaggeration, yet there can be no doubt that the
agitation and anxieties, which were its inevitable consequence, must have had a
most injurious effect. The Pope had a bad attack of gout soon after Porcaro's
conspiracy, and another before the year was over. From the end of August, 1453,
until June, 1454, he was, with short intervals, confined to his bed, hardly
ever able to give audiences and altogether incapable of taking part in the
great feasts of the Church. In August, 1454, he was again suffering acutely
from the gout, and the baths of Viterbo failed to give him any relief. In the
early part of November he was afflicted with gout, fever, and other maladies,
and the ambassadors contemplated the possibility of his decease. The sickness
which was consuming the Pope's life manifested itself in his countenance, for
his brilliantly clear complexion had become yellow and dark brown.
His physical
sufferings were aggravated by disappointment and anxiety. From the beginning of
his reign he had attached the greatest importance to the maintenance of peace
in the States of the Church, and had been successful in re-establishing it. But
from the time of Porcaro's conspiracy serious changes took place. Not only did
the revolutionary party gain strength in Rome, but a dangerous agitation
prevailed throughout the States of the Church. "The whole of the States of
the Church are in commotion", writes Contarini, the Venetian ambassador in
Siena, on the 14th May, 1454, "and messengers are sent from all sides,
especially from the Marches to Rome". Troops of disbanded soldiers, who
had taken part in the war of Lombary, overran the
defenceless country. The Pope was soon convinced that many, even among his own
people, were unworthy of confidence. The auditor of the governor of the
patrimony of St. Peter was imprisoned as a suspicious character.
Towards the end
of the reign of Nicholas V great troubles broke out in the patrimony and the
adjacent portion of Umbria. They originated in a quarrel between the cities of
Spoleto and Norcia, in which Count Everso of Anguillara espoused the cause of Spoleto. The Pope, hoping
to bring about a reconciliation between the hostile cities, forbade the Count
to take part in the contest, and also endeavoured to hinder Spoleto from
entering into an alliance with Everso. Neither party,
however, heeded the Papal behest, and accordingly Nicholas was constrained to
intervene with an armed force. Spoleto submitted, but the Count, aided by the
treachery of Angelo Roncone, managed to escape. The
Pope punished the traitor with death. Fresh tumults also occurred in Bologna.
The following
spring brought no alleviation to the Pope's sufferings. From the beginning of
March he grew daily worse; he was perfectly aware of his state, and, as we
learn from the Milanese ambassador in a letter of the 7th March, spoke of the
place where he wished to be buried, and seriously prepared for death. On the
15th of the month he received the sacrament of extreme unction; on the previous
day he had ordered that briefs should be sent to the chief cities of the States
of the Church, requiring them in all things to obey the Cardinals until God
should give the Church a new Pope.
With a view of
making a good preparation for death Nicholas V summoned to his presence Niccolo of Tortona and Lorenzo of Mantua, two Carthusians
renowned for their learning and sanctity; these holy men were to assist him in
his last hours, and accordingly were to remain constantly with him. Vespasiano da Bisticci has given
us a minute description of the last days of the Pope. He tells us that Nicholas
was never heard to complain of his acute physical sufferings. Instead of
bewailing himself he recited Psalms and besought God to grant him patience and
the pardon of his sins. In general his resignation and calm were remarkable.
The dying man comforted his friends instead of needing to be comforted by them.
Seeing Bishop John of Arras in tears at the foot of his bed he said to him,
"My dear John, turn your tears to the Almighty God, whom we serve, and
pray to Him humbly and devoutly that He will forgive me my sins; but remember
that today in Pope Nicholas you see die a true and good friend". But the
Pope also passed through moments of deep dejection, in which his terrible
bodily sufferings and his anxieties regarding the disturbances in the States of
the Church almost overwhelmed him. At such times he would assure the two
Carthusian monks that he was the most unhappy man in the world.
"Never", he said, "do I see a man cross my threshold who has
spoken a true word to me. I am so perplexed with the deceptions of all those
who surround me, that were it not for fear of failing in my duty I should long
ago have renounced the Papal dignity. Thomas of Sarzana saw more friends in a
day than I do in a whole year". And then this Pope, whose reign was
apparently so happy and so glorious, was moved evea to tears.
As Nicholas felt
that his last hour was close at hand, his vigorous mind roused itself once
more. When the Cardinals had assembled around his dying bed he made the
celebrated speech designated by himself as his will. He began by giving thanks
to God for the many benefits conferred upon him, and then, in the manner which
has already been related, justified his action in regard to the great amount of
building which he had undertaken, adding the request that his work might be
completed. He then spoke of his measures for the deliverance of Constantinople,
because complaints had been raised against him by a great many superficial men
unacquainted with the circumstances. After a retrospect of his early life and
of the principal events of his Pontificate, Nicholas continued: "I have so
reformed and so confirmed the Holy Roman Church, which I found devastated by
war and oppressed by debts, that I have eradicated schism and won back her cities
and castles. I have not only freed her from her debts, but erected magnificent
fortresses for her defence, as, for instance, at Gualdo,
Assisi, Fabriano, Civit& Castellana, at Narni,
Orvieto, Spoleto, and Viterbo; I have adorned her with glorious buildings and
decked her with pearls and precious stones. I have provided her with costly
books and tapestry, with gold and silver vessels, and splendid vestments. And I
did not collect all these treasures by grasping avarice and simony. In all
things I was liberal, in building, in the purchase of books, in the constant
transcription of Latin and Greek manuscripts, and in the remuneration of
learned men. All this has been bestowed upon me by the Divine grace, owing to
the continued peace of the Church during my Pontificate". The Pope
concluded by exhorting all his hearers to labour for the welfare of the Church,
the Bark of St Peter.
Then Nicholas
raised his hands to heaven and said: "Almighty God, give the Holy Church a
pastor who will uphold her and make her to increase. I also beseech you and
admonish you as urgently as I can to be mindful of me in your prayers to the
Most High". Then, with dignity, he raised his right hand and said, in a
clear, distinct voice, "Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus". Soon after this
Nicholas, whose eyes were to the last fixed on a crucifix, gave back his noble
soul to Him whose place he had filled on earth.
"It was
long", says Vespasiano da Bisticci,
"since any Pope had passed in such manner into eternity. It was wonderful
how he retained his perfect senses to the last. So died Pope Nicholas, the
light and the ornament of God's Church and of his age."
Nicholas V was
laid in St. Peter's, near the grave of his predecessor. The costly monument
erected in his honour by Cardinal Calandrini was
transferred in the time of St. Pius V to the Vatican grotto, where some parts
of it are still to be seen. Here is also the modest effigy of the great Pope,
with the four-cornered white marble urn which contains his mortal remains. His
epitaph, composed by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, is the last by which any Pope
was commemorated in verse.
EPITAPH
ON NICHOLAS V.
Hie sita sunt Quinti Nicolai antistitis ossa,
Aurea
qui dederat saecula, Roma, tibi.
Consilio illustris, virtute illustrior omni,
Excoluit doctos, doctior ipse, viros.
Abstalit errorem quo schisma infecerat orbera,
Restituit mores, moenia, templa,
domos.
Turn
Bernardino statuit sua sacra Senensi,
Sancta Jubilei tempora dum celebrat.
Cinxit honore caput Friderici et conjugis aureo,
Res Italas icto foedere composuit.
Attica
Romans complura volumina linguae
Prodidit. Heu! tumulo fundite thura sacro.
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