CRISTO RAUL.ORG |
READING HALLTHE DOORS OF WISDOM |
HISTORY OF THE POPES FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES |
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BOOK IV
CALIXTUS III,
1455-1458
THE CHAMPION OF
CHRISTENDOM AGAINST ISLAM,
CHAPTER I.
ELECTION OF CALIXTUS III.— HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE RENAISSANCE— HIS CORONATION AND THE EMBASSIES SENT TO DO HIM HOMAGE.
FROM the beginning of March, 1455, by which time
the death of Nicholas V was looked upon as imminent, the question of the Papal
election engaged the attention of all parties in the Eternal City. On the 13th
March we find that the Cardinals assembled in the greatest haste to take
counsel regarding the situation. “God grant”, wrote the Bishop of Chiusi to Siena, "that the election of the
Supreme Pastor of the Church may take place in peace and without obstacle, a
matter on which grave doubts here prevail".
These apprehensions were not groundless.
Considerable agitation again prevailed in Rome; the republican antipapal party
was astir, and it was fortunate that its gifted and eloquent leader, Porcaro,
was no longer among the living. The masses became daily more and more
turbulent, and the Cardinals prudently brought troops into the City. On the
24th March Nicodemus of Pontremoli, the Duke of
Milan's ambassador, wrote as follows: — "The whole city is in an uproar,
and the population are ripe for revolt". Another element of danger was
added by the disturbances in Bologna and Romagna, stirred up by the Venetian
Condottiere Jacopo Piccinino and other leaders, like himself thrown out of
employment by the peace of Lodi.
After the death of Nicholas V, which took place
in the Vatican in the night between the 24th and 25th of March, the ceremonies
usual on such occasions were carried out, and meanwhile the Sacred College
laboured unremittingly. Letters were despatched to the rulers of all the cities
in the States of the Church, exhorting them as "quiet, peaceable, good and
devoted sons of the Church" to persevere in their wonted obedience, and at
the same time the necessary preparations were made for the election of a new
Pope. Everything was duly accomplished, so that on Thursday, April 3rd, the
solemn Mass of the Holy Ghost was sung. The preliminaries had been hastened,
because the next day was Good Friday. According to custom, a Prelate then
delivered a Latin discourse to the Cardinals, exhorting them to give
Christendom a worthy Supreme Pastor.
On the morning of the 4th April all the
Cardinals present in Rome, preceded by the Papal Cross, went, while the Vent
Creator Spiritus was sung, “peacefully and with great reverence and piety” from
St. Peter's to the Chapel of the Vatican, in which the conclave was to be held.
The adoration of the Cross customary on Good Friday and the exposition of the
Holy Handkerchief had already taken place, and the conclave began that day. The
custody of the place of election was entrusted to six Bishops, of which four
were foreigners, and six laymen; pre-eminent among the latter were Pandulfo Savello, Marshal of
the Church, and Nicodemus of Pontremoli, Francis
Sforza's ambassador, a portion of whose admirable account of the proceedings of
the conclave is still preserved in the State Archives at Milan.
At the death of Nicholas V, the Sacred College
was composed of twenty members, of whom six were absent, namely, two Germans,
Peter von Schaumburg, Bishop of Augsburg, and Nicholas of Cusa, the
Hungarian, Dionysius Széchy, the Greek,
Bessarion, Jean Rolin, Bishop of Autun, and
Guillaume d'Estouteville, both of whom were
French; the last mentioned had been for nearly a year acting as Legate in
France, and did not return to Rome till the 12th of September, 1455. Of these
six Cardinals, Bessarion alone was able to arrive in Rome in time for the
election. The Sacred College accordingly assembled in Conclave to the number of
fifteen members. Two of these, the noble Capranica, and the aged Prospero
Colonna, had been created by Martin V; while five, namely, the learned and
open-hearted Antonio de la Cerda, Latino Orsini, Alain, the former Bishop
of Sitten, Guillaume d'Estaing, and
Filippo Calandrini owed their elevation to
Nicholas V. The remaining eight had been nominated by Eugenius IV on different
occasions. Scarampo and Pietro Barbo, two men of diametrically
opposite characters and purposes, occupied the most prominent position among
the Cardinals.
Italy furnished but seven of the fifteen
electors; these were Fieschi, Scarampo, Barbo,
Orsini, Colonna, Capranica, and Calandrini;
of the eight foreigners, two, Bessarion and Isidore, were Greeks; two, Alain
and d'Estaing, French, and the remaining four, Torquemada, Antonio de la Cerda,
Carvajal and Alfonso Borgia, Spaniards. But in the election of 1455, as in the
previous one, nationality was of comparatively little account. The opposing
factions of r the Colonna and Orsini formed the centres of the different
parties.
"The majority of the Cardinals were",
Nicodemus of Pontremoli informs us,
"at first inclined to favour the election of the Colonna Cardinal, who would
no doubt have become Pope had Nicholas V died at the commencement of his
illness. But its long continuance gave Cardinal Orsini time to counteract this
feeling, and to enter into negotiations with the ambassadors of King Alfonso
and of the Republic of Venice. Consequently — unless God should order otherwise
— either Barbo or Scarampo will obtain the Papacy. The
Orsini party, with the assistance of King Alfonso, is able to dispose of five
votes, one of which would be absolutely required by the Colonna candidate to
give him the necessary majority of two-thirds". According to another
despatch from the same ambassador, the wealthy, business-like Cardinal Orsini
originally himself aspired to the tiara, and won over the Venetian ambassadors
who lodged in his palace to his side; but in case his own hopes should be
disappointed, he brought forward Cardinal Pietro Barbo, who subsequently
became Paul II.
The two opposing parties adopted different modes
of action. The Colonna sought to gain adherents by prudence and affability,
while the Orsini strengthened their material power. The prospects of Cardinal
Orsini seem to have been rapidly clouded, for on the 20th March, Nicodemus
writes that Pietro Barbo is as likely as any other candidate to fill
the Papal Throne.
An old Roman proverb declares that "he who
enters the Conclave a Pope leaves it a Cardinal”, and the truth of the saying
was exemplified in the case of Pietro Barbo.
Regarding the proceedings in the Conclave, our
information is derived from the report of Aeneas Sylvius, some scanty
particulars in isolated despatches of ambassadors, and a notice in Vespasiano da Bisticci's work.
From these authorities it appears that the Cardinals were greatly divided, and
that three scrutinies failed to give any
decided result. For a time it seemed as if Domenico Capranica, after
Carvajal the most worthy among the members of the Sacred College, would be
Pope. Christendom might, indeed, have been congratulated had the majority of
votes been given to a Prince of the Church so distinguished for piety,
learning, decision of character, and political ability. But Capranica was
a Roman, and favourably disposed to the Colonna, and therefore unacceptable to
many. The Colonna desired the election of an Italian, the Orsini that of a
French Pontiff, and as neither party was able to carry the day, a neutral
candidate was sought. In this capacity the learned Cardinal Bessarion had much
to recommend him; as a born Greek, he had held aloof from Italian
complications, he had no enemies, and was justly and generally esteemed for his
learning and for his beneficent labours as Legate to Bologna. No one, moreover,
seemed more likely to give a fresh impulse to the crusade than this
distinguished representative of Greece. Eight Cardinals declared themselves in
his favour, and on the Easter Sunday and Monday there was reason to think that
he would be unanimously elected, and at once acclaimed Pope. Favours were asked
of him as if the matter were already settled. Roberto Sanseverino,
in a letter to the Duke of Milan, expressed his conviction that "if the
Greek Cardinal had exerted himself more the tiara would have been his".
According to the account given by Aeneas Sylvius it was Alain, the Cardinal of
Avignon, who prevented the election of the great humanist, who would
undoubtedly have carried on the work of Nicholas V. The French Cardinal
represented to his colleagues that it was not becoming to place at the head of
the Roman Church a neophyte, a Greek, who still wore his beard in Oriental
fashion, and had but lately ceased to be a schismatict These
words seem scarcely credible, and the truth probably is, that the pride of some
Italian Cardinals was wounded by the prospect of an Eastern, a member of the
hated Greek nation, occupying the chair of St. Peter, while the worldly-minded
amongst them, like Scarampo, dreaded Bessarion’s austerity.
When this name had ceased to figure in the list
of candidates, the former perplexity again returned. The crowds assembled in
front of the Vatican grew impatient, and the ambassadors who kept watch over
the Conclave were urgent for a decision, representing to the Cardinals the
unsettled condition of Rome, and the danger threatened by Piccinino.
In this difficulty, each party being strong
enough to hinder the election of the opposing candidate, and yet too weak to
secure that of its own, the electors cast their eyes upon a man who was not a
member of the sacred college, the Minorite Antonio de Montefalcone,
but he also failed to obtain the requisite majority of votes. Finally — as it
were to postpone the contest — all agreed in electing an old man, whose life
was almost at an end. Accordingly, mainly through the exertions of Scarampo and
Alain, on the morning of the 8th April a Spanish Cardinal, the aged Alonso
(Alfonso) de Borja (Borgia) was elected by accession, and took the name of
Calixtus III. Those who had even before the beginning of the Conclave foretold
that the discord of the Italians would result in the election of an "Ultramontane", now saw their predictions verified.
Instead of Bessarion, the Greek humanist and philosopher, a Spanish canonist
mounted the Papal throne.
No one had hitherto contemplated the elevation
of Alfonso Borgia as a possibility, but when once it became known, a prophecy
of St. Vincent Ferrer was called to mind. It was said that this Spanish
Dominican, while preaching at Valencia, remarked a priest among the crowds who
commended themselves to his prayers, and addressed him in the following words:
"My son, I congratulate you; remember that you are called to be one day
the ornament of your country and of your family. You will be invested with the
highest dignity that can fall to the lot of man. I myself, after my death,
shall be the object of your special honour. Endeavour to persevere in your
virtuous course of life". The priest to whom the saint spoke was
no other than Alfonso Borgia. From that moment, with the tenacity which
belonged to his character, he had firmly believed in the prediction and
frequently repeated it to his friends. Now that it had been accomplished, one
of the first acts of his pontificate was to raise St. Vincent Ferrer to the
altars, and his solemn canonization took place at Rome on the 29th June, 1455.
The old Catalan race of the Borja, or Borgia, as
the Italians pronounced the name, had brought forth many remarkable men. Nature
had been lavish in her gifts, and endowed them with beauty and strength, with
intellect, skill, and that energy of will which compels fortune. Alfonso, who
was no less gifted than the other members of his family, was born, at Xativa, in Valencia, on the last day of 1378, the year
which witnessed the outbreak of the great schism. At a very early age he
studied jurisprudence at the University of Lerida, and became a doctor of civil
and canon law. Subsequently he successfully taught these subjects at Lerida,
and was nominated to a canonry in the Cathedral of that city by Pedro de Luna,
afterwards known as Benedict XIII. His relations with King Alfonso were the
means of diverting Borgia from the career of learning on which he had entered.
The monarch recognized his diplomatic capabilities and drew him into his
service, where, as private secretary and confidential counsellor, he amply
justified the trust reposed in him, displaying the greatest skill and activity in
the conduct of ecclesiastical and political negotiations. Borgia also rendered
important service to the Papacy in the time of Martin V, and the abdication of
the anti-Pope Clement VIII was in great measure due to his exertions. The
lawful Pope, Martin V, rewarded him in that very year by conferring on him the
Bishopric of Valencia (1429).
As Bishop, Alfonso took part in the most
important affairs of Church and State. In the reorganization of the kingdom of
Naples, which had long been distracted by war and tumult, he rendered special
services to King Alfonso, and the institution of the celebrated tribunal of
Sta. Chiara was his work. His prudence and his spirit of perfect loyalty to
Rome were manifested in the fact that he refused to act as Alfonso's ambassador
to the Council of Basle, which was antagonistic to Pope Eugenius. He afterwards
laboured most zealously to bring about a reconciliation between the King and
the Pope, and, after it had been accomplished, was raised to the purple, and
took his title from the picturesque old Basilica of the Quattro Incoronati which stands on a spur of the northern
Caelian hill. Alfonso could not but accede to the Pope's desire that he should
remain at his Court, and he there gained the reputation of being incapable of
flattery or party feeling. There was but one opinion in Rome regarding the
moral purity, the integrity, the capacity for business, and the knowledge of
canon law which distinguished the Cardinal of Valencia, as Alfonso was now
commonly styled.
His health, unfortunately, was weak; severe
study and unceasing activity had told upon his strength, and this circumstance,
together with the familiar relations existing between him and King Alfonso,
awakened considerable anxiety in Italy. The Republics of Venice, Florence, and
Genoa were, as we learn from many contemporary letters, dissatisfied with the
election, although their official documents expressed sentiments of a very
different character.
The choice of a foreigner for the Papal dignity
was a severe blow to the national feeling in Italy. It was by some even deemed
probable that a great schism would break out, and that a number of Cardinals
would leave the Papal Court, where, in the days immediately succeeding the
election, Scarampo and Alain exercised an excessive influence. Fears
were entertained, especially by the Republics, that the already too great
influence of King Alfonso would be still further increased, and that the hated
Catalans would be unduly promoted. The latter of these apprehensions was, as we
shall see, but too well justified. But the idea that King Alfonso would now,
through his former Secretary, rule the Holy See, happily proved unfounded.
Calixtus III was certainly regarded in Rome as a
right-minded and just man. "The new Pope", wrote the Procurator of
the Teutonic Order on the 3rd May, 1455, to the Grand Master, "is an old
man of honourable and virtuous life and of excellent reputation". His
previous life had been blameless. Austere towards himself, he was amiable and indulgent
to others. As Bishop and as Cardinal he had declined all other preferment. The
poor and needy never sought comfort and help from him in vain. The Sienese,
Bartolommeo Michele, who had been previously acquainted with him, praised him
in the highest terms. On the day after the election he wrote to his native
city: "He is a man of great sanctity and learning, a friend and adherent
of King Alfonso, in whose service he has been. He has always shown himself well
disposed towards our city. His nature is peaceable and kindly". Michele,
in this letter, exhorts the Sienese to send the most splendid embassy possible
to Rome, and to select for it eminent and worthy men, inasmuch as the Pope was
very clear-sighted and learned.
A letter addressed by St. Antoninus, the
great Archbishop of Florence, to Giovanni, the son of Messer Domenico of
Orvieto, in Pisa, gives a good idea of the fears awakened by the election of
Calixtus, and of the favourable change in public opinion which soon took place
in his regard. "The election of Calixtus III", says St. Antoninus,
"at first gave little satisfaction to the Italians, and this for two
reasons. First, inasmuch as he was a Valencian or Catalan, they felt some
apprehension lest he might seek to transfer the Papal Court to another country.
Secondly, they feared that he might confide the strongholds of the Church to
Catalans, and that it might eventually be difficult to recover possession of
them. But now the minds of men have been reassured by more mature reflection,
and the reputation which he bears for goodness, penetration, and impartiality.
Moreover, he has bound himself by a solemn promise — a copy of which I have
seen — to devote all his powers, with the advice of the Cardinals, to the war
against the Turks, and the conquest of Constantinople. It is not believed or
said that he is more attached to one nation than to another, but rather that as
a prudent and just man he will give to everyone his due. The Lord alone, whose
providence rules the world, and especially the Church, and who in His infinite
mercy brings good for her out of evil, knows what will happen. Meanwhile we
must always think well of the Holy Father, and judge his actions favourably,
even more so than those of any other living being, and not be frightened by
every little shock. Christ guides the bark of Peter, which, therefore, can
never sink. Sometimes He seems to slumber in the storm: then must we wake Him
with prayers and good works, of which there is much need".
The whole demeanour of Calixtus III was marked
by great simplicity ; splendour and pomp were most distasteful to him. Aeneas
Sylvius Piccolomini bears witness that he greatly surpassed his predecessor in
the patience with which he gave audiences. He himself dictated the letters sent
to Kings and to friends, and countersigned petitions with pleasure. He loved to
converse upon legal matters, and was as familiar with laws and canons as if he
had but just left the University. Nicholas V had delighted in conversation, but
Calixtus was chary of his words. Nowhere, however, was the contrast between the
Spanish Pontiff and the great patron of the Renaissance so striking as in the
domain of literature and art.
But in order to correctly estimate Calixtus III
in this matter we must begin by discarding the passionate and exaggerated
denunciations of the humanists of his day, one of whom went so far as to
declare that "Calixtus III was a useless Pope". Their golden age
certainly closed with the life of Nicholas V. Indeed, if we consider the
prominent position occupied in his days by men either indifferent or actually
antagonistic to the Church, we must admit that a reaction was inevitable. The
violence of this reaction — which, from the ecclesiastical point of view, was a
salutary one — was greatly exaggerated by the humanists. Calixtus III, the
quiet, dry, legal student, was not directly inimical, but simply indifferent,
to the Renaissance movement. In his reign its victorious course was checked for
a time, but it was not violently arrested.
The extraordinary favour shown by the Pope to
the humanist Valla has never been sufficiently explained. He was appointed
Papal Secretary, and canonries were freely bestowed upon him, but he died on
the 1st August, 1457. His monument in the Lateran, rescued from destruction by
a great German historian, was removed to another place in the most recent
restoration of the Church.
It is interesting to note the manner in which
the humanists conformed themselves to altered circumstances. In the Vatican
Library there is still preserved a petition for a pension, addressed to
Calixtus III by a learned man, who endeavours to recommend himself to the
Pontiff by an allusion to the Eastern question, in which the latter took so
deep an interest. When they saw that it was in vain to hope for anything from
this Pope they avenged themselves by calumnies.
One of the chief of these was that propagated by Filelfo and Vespasiano da Bisticci, which accused Calixtus of dispersing the Vatican
Library. The account of Vespasiano runs as
follows: "When Pope Calixtus began his reign, and beheld so many
excellent books, five hundred of them resplendent in bindings of crimson velvet
with clasps of silver, he wondered greatly, for the old canonist was used only
to books written on linen and stitched together. Instead of commending the
wisdom of his predecessor, he cried out as he entered the Library: 'See, now,
where the treasure of God's Church has gone! Then he began to disperse the
Greek books. He gave several hundred to the Ruthenian Cardinal, Isidore. As
this latter had become half childish from age the volumes fell into the hands
of the servants. That which had cost golden florins was sold for a few pence.
Many Latin books came to Barcelona, some by means of the Bishop of Vich, the powerful Datary of the Pope, and some as presents
to Catalan nobles". There are serious grounds for disbelieving this
narrative. If the dispersion of the books had been so complete, how could
Platina, the Vatican Librarian under Sixtus IV, have
admired their splendour? Isolated volumes may, as often happens after the death
of a Pope, have found their way into other hands, but this cannot have been at
all a general case, for a large portion of the collection of Nicholas V, is at
the present moment in the Vatican.
The next testimony which we shall adduce is of
itself almost sufficient to decide the question. On the 16th April, 1455, even
before his coronation, the Pope caused his confessor, Cosimo da Monserrato, to undertake the compilation of a catalogue of
the valuable library left by his predecessor. This very fact indicates an
interest in the preservation of the books, and it is not likely that a Pope who
thus acted would give them away to the first comer. In this most ancient
inventory of the Vatican Library we find a number of marginal notes, by means
of which the humanistic statements regarding the dispersion of manuscripts may
be reduced to their proper dimensions. Here it appears that Calixtus certainly
gave away some manuscripts, five volumes in all, and these of no great value.
Two went to the King of Naples. The fact that the catalogue was undertaken on
the 16th April, 1455, does not exclude the possibility of subsequent presents
having been made by the Pope, but even if this were the case the number of
manuscripts so disposed of must have been very small. If he bestowed only two
on King Alfonso, his intimate friend, we may rest assured that he cannot have
given hundreds to Cardinal Isidore or to the Catalan nobles. The only thing
that may be granted as probable is that Calixtus, who was ready to pledge even
his mitre to provide funds for the Turkish war, may have sacrificed some of the
gold and silver bindings for this purpose. Thus this oft-repeated tale proves
for the most part legendary.
The attitude of the new Pope towards the
Renaissance and its promoters doubtless formed a striking contrast to that of
its enthusiastic patron, Nicholas V. It is to be accounted for, not only by his
own want of taste for polite literature, but by the peril which threatened
Christendom from the East. He justly deemed it to be his first duty to defend
Europe from the Turk, and this care occupied his mind so completely that little
room was left for more peaceful labours in the realm of literature and art.
The pontificate of Calixtus III opened ominously
on the very day of his accession with a violent outbreak of the old Roman
family broils. He was crowned on the 20th April. In the morning he repaired to
St. Peter's, where, according to the old custom, one of the Canons of the
Church reminded him of the transitory nature of all earthly greatness by
burning a bundle of tow before his eyes, and saying, "Holy Father, so
perishes the glory of the world!". The Pope himself celebrated Mass,
Cardinal Barbo singing the Epistle and Cardinal Colonna the Gospel.
The coronation afterwards took place in front of the Basilica; Prospero
Colonna, as the senior Cardinal Deacon, placed the triple crown upon the
pontiff's head with the words: "Receive the triple crown and know that
thou art the father of all Princes and Kings, the guide of the world, the Vicar
on earth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom is honour and glory for ever and
ever. — Amen."
Immediately after this solemnity Calixtus took
possession of the Lateran, the Cathedral Church of the Popes. He was
accompanied by all the Cardinals and about eighty Bishops clad in white,
together with many Roman barons and the magistrates of the city. He rode
"a white horse" through the streets, adorned with tapestry, to the
"golden Basilica, the mother and head of all the churches in the city and
in the world". In pursuance of an ancient custom the representatives of
the Jews met the Pope on his triumphal procession in the Piazza, known as Monte
Giordano; they presented him with the roll of the law. He read some words from
it, and said: "We ratify the law, but we condemn your interpretation, for
He of whom ye say that He will come — our Lord Jesus Christ — has come, as the
Church teaches us and preaches". This ceremony was the occasion of a riot,
by which the Pope's life was endangered. The populace endeavoured to seize the
richly ornamented book of the Jewish law, and even laid hands on the
Papal baldacchino.
Disturbances of a yet more serious character
occurred on the Campo de' Fiori. Napoleone Orsini,
who had a dispute with Count Everso of Anguillara regarding the lordship of Tagliacozzo, determined to avenge the death of one of his
men slain by an adherent of Everso. Leaving the
procession he hastened to the Campo de Fiori, where the Count lodged, and
pillaged his quarters. So great was the power of the Orsini that three thousand
armed men assembled on Monte Giordano in answer to the cry, "Orsini! to
the rescue!. The Colonna sided with the Count, and a fierce encounter between
the two factions under the very eyes of the Pope was barely prevented, and
peace for the moment restored by the strenuous exertions of his messengers and
of Cardinal Orsini and the Prefect, Francesco Orsini.
The Pope was greatly angered by these
disturbances. He afterwards charged Cardinal Pietro Barbo, who had recently
established peace in the patrimony, to bring about a cessation of hostilities
for a few months. This truce was subsequently prolonged by the Pope, who
endeavoured also to restore peace among the other baronial families of Rome.
Happily the rest of the reign of Calixtus III was not of a piece with this
ill-omened beginning, for although the feuds among the barons were not
completely extinguished, the city was less affected by them.
The Pope's coronation was followed by the homage
of the Christian powers, and from the latter part of April Rome witnessed the
arrival of a succession of splendid embassies. That of Lucca was the first to
appear, and was followed at longer or shorter intervals by those of the other
cities. That of King Alfonso was exceptionally magnificent, but his attempt to
begin by making terms with the Pope regarding the obedience to be promised was
little calculated to maintain the good understanding which had previously
existed between him and Calixtus, who met his pretensions and a similar attempt
on the part of the envoys of Frederick III with a decided refusal.
The Republic of Florence which had sent
humanists to do homage to Nicholas V now selected as the chief of its embassy
their Archbishop, St. Antoninus, a man remarkable alike for the purity of
his life and his theological learning. With him were associated Giannozzo Pandolfini,
Antonio di Lorenzo Ridolfi, Giovanni di Cosimo de Medici, and the lawyer Oddone Nicolini. The
ambassadors were desired without the archbishop's knowledge to request Pope
Calixtus to promote him to the purple. On the 24th of May, the day of their
audience, Calixtus spoke of his determination to combat the foes of the
Christian faith and to reconquer New Rome, not sparing even his own life in the
cause, although he deemed himself unworthy to win the martyr's crown. In
conclusion, he expressed his hope that Florence, as a true daughter of the
Church, would render every possible assistance in this holy undertaking. On the
28th May the Archbishop delivered in open consistory his celebrated discourse
on the war against the Turks, and the Pope replied by an eulogy of Florence.
Two days later in a private audience Calixtus dwelt on his earnest desire for
the complete restoration of peace in Italy, and the distress caused him by the
disturbances which Piccinino was again stirring up in his unfortunate country.
In the end of July, 1455, the Venetian embassy
reached Rome. The message which it bore regarding the burning question of the
day was not of a very satisfactory nature. The ambassadors were the same who
had already presented to Nicholas V the congratulations of the Signoria. They
were instructed to reassure the Pope as to the intentions of the Republic
concerning the Turkish war. They were to inform him that if the other Christian
powers would proceed seriously against the Turks they would manifest the same
good will as their forefathers had shown. The import of this answer was clear,
and the Signoria subsequently inculcated on the envoys the necessity of
adhering to it. A similar evasive reply was given to Aeneas Sylvius
Piccolomini, when, on his passage through Venice to offer the Emperor
Frederick's homage to the Pope, he, in his master's name, inquired into the
intentions of the Republic regarding the Turkish question.
Their stay in Venice delayed the arrival in Rome
of Aeneas Sylvius and his companion, the lawyer, Johann Hinderbach, until the 10th August. Their reception was
honourable, but their attempt to treat with Calixtus regarding the Emperor's
claims in the matter of reservations, tithes, nominations, and first requests,
before making the profession of obedience, was frustrated, as the Pope
absolutely refused to make any promise for the sake of gaining that which was
his due. "We were placed in no small perplexity", Aeneas Sylvius
wrote to the Emperor, "but as we saw that nothing else could be done, and
that it would cause scandal if we were to depart without making profession of
obedience, we decided on doing this, and then proceeding with your
petition". Two days later the profession of obedience of the German nation
took place in open consistory. Aeneas Sylvius made a long speech on the
occasion, and congratulated the aged Pope on the fact that he was the first
Pontiff since Gregory XI, that is to say, for a period of about eighty years,
who had no antiPope to fear. He then
proceeded to advocate the Turkish war, a matter very near the heart of the
Pope, and one in regard to which the speaker's former exertions and present
zeal gave weight to his words. Calixtus praised the Emperor and commended his
good intention of devoting himself to the war; and, for his own part, declared
that he would not shrink from any sacrifice to achieve the extermination of the
infidels. During the following days the ambassadors presented the Emperor's
petition in writing, and had repeated conferences concerning it with the Pope,
but, as might have been foreseen, gained nothing. Hinderbach then
returned to Germany, while Aeneas Sylvius remained in Rome, endeavouring to
make himself of use, and eagerly seeking promotion to the purple, for which,
however, he had long to wait.
CHAPTER II.
THE HOLY SEE AND
THE EASTERN QUESTION—A CRUSADING FLEET BUILT IN ROME— ITSFIRST SUCCESSES —
ATTITUDE OF THEWESTERN POWERS TOWARDS THE DANGERWITH WHICH THE TURKS
THREATENED EUROPE.
The dangers to the Church and to civilization
which troubled the latter days of Nicholas V had assumed yet more alarming
proportions at the accession of Calixtus III. Torn by conflicting interests and
internecine feuds, the West was ill-fitted to withstand the united and
fanatical advance of Islam. The disastrous consequences of the fall of
Constantinople had at once been felt, not only in the stagnation of trade with
the East, but in the threatened hindrance by the Turks of free navigation in
the Mediterranean. Servia and Hungary, Greece, the Christian Islands,
especially Rhodes, and the Empire of the Comneni at
Trebizond, were in imminent danger, and the colonies in the Black Sea were
almost lost. Mahomet II was himself unremitting in his efforts to extend his
dominion.
Nevertheless, the leading Princes and States of
Europe, with scarcely an exception, displayed the most deplorable indifference
to the welfare of Christendom. So grievous were their dissensions, and such the
decay of zeal and heroism, that not one could rise above individual interests
and animosities to gather round the banner of the Cross. The Holy See alone
truly apprehended the importance of the situation, and while all others were
swayed by selfish considerations, again showed itself to be the most universal
and most conservative power on earth.
With her traditional wisdom, Rome appreciated
the magnitude of the danger which menaced the Western world and its
civilization. She also perceived that this victory of the infidel, like the
loss in former days of the Holy Sepulchre, might be a means of reviving the
zeal and loyalty of the faithful, and thus lead to further progress in the work
of restoration already begun. The greater the spirit of dissension in the
political and ecclesiastical sphere the more did it behove the Holy See to
devote itself to the common interest.
Calixtus III was the man of all others to give a
new and powerful impulse to the crusade. His duty and his inclination were in
this matter identical. From the beginning to the end of his Pontificate, in
public and in private, in his letters to Christian princes and prelates, and in
his solemn Bulls addressed to all Christian people, he declared that he looked
upon the defence of Christendom as the main object of his life. The crusade
against the hereditary foe of the Christian name was the point upon which all
his powers and efforts were concentrated.
The new Pope resolved to inaugurate his reign by
a solemn vow which bound him to sacrifice everything — the treasures of the
Church and, if necessary, his own life — in order to repel Islam and recover
Constantinople. The words of this vow, copies of which were circulated in
almost all countries to the joy and edification of the good, have been handed
down to us. They are as follows: "I, Pope Calixtus III, promise and
vow to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to the Ever-Virgin Mother
of God, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the heavenly host, that
I will do everything in my power, even, if need be, with the sacrifice of my
life, aided by the counsel of my worthy brethren, to reconquer Constantinople,
which in punishment for the sin of man has been taken and ruined by Mahomet II,
the son of the devil and the enemy of our Crucified Redeemer. Further, I vow to
deliver the Christians languishing in slavery, to exalt the true Faith and to
extirpate the diabolical sect of the reprobate and faithless Mahomet in the
East. For there the light of Faith is almost completely extinguished. If I
forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave
to my jaws, if I do not remember thee. If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of
my joy, God and His holy Gospel help me. — Amen."
With the resolute tenacity of a Spaniard, the
aged Calixtus laboured unremittingly to accomplish his vow.
Seven centuries of warfare with the Moors had
left an indelible impress on the Spanish national character. The crusades form
an episode in the history of other nations, but the very existence of the
Spanish race was a perpetual crusade; and one consequence of this state of
things was the development of a high-souled enthusiasm, which led each
individual to look on himself as one of a chosen race, and especially called to
be a champion of Christendom. That spirit of religious chivalry — which in
other European countries had long since given place to more material views, or
else degenerated into lawless feuds — still flourished in Spain. Like thousands
of his fellow-countrymen, Calixtus III had from his earliest days imbibed sentiments
of deadly hatred for the mortal enemy of the Christian name, and after his
elevation to the highest dignity in Christendom he deemed it his first duty to
combat that foe. The repeated declarations in his writings that, next to the
attainment of everlasting life, he desired nothing so ardently as the
accomplishment of his vow regarding the deliverance of Constantinople, were no
mere figure of speech. He wished to make the most ample reparation for the
shortcomings of his un-warlike predecessors, and as we read his fervent words
we feel that years had done nothing to quell his ardent Spanish temperament.
The union of Western Christendom against the power of Islam, the succour of
imperilled Hungary, and the construction and equipment of a Papal fleet were
the objects to be accomplished within the shortest possible space of time. With
an energy which seemed to defy the advance of age, the Pope at once began to
deal with the matter in all its aspects.
The history of the Papal power was materially
affected by the action of Calixtus. The Papacy under Eugenius IV had been
engrossed by Italian politics and contests with the Councils, and under
Nicholas V it had been absorbed in literary and artistic interests. Now under
Calixtus III it seemed to be roused to remorse by the fall of Constantinople,
and, as in the days of Urban II to realize the magnitude of the Eastern
problem, whose solution might be the means of endowing it with fresh vigour.
The warlike zeal and indomitable resolution
displayed by Calixtus III, notwithstanding his age and infirmities, is justly
characterized by ecclesiastical annalists as marvellous.
"The Pope", writes Gabriel of Verona, "speaks and thinks of
nothing but the crusade". For whole hours he used to converse with the
Minorites on the subject, which seemed to him to surpass all others in
importance. "Other affairs", says the historian, "he despatches
with a word, but he treats and speaks of the crusade continually."
On the 15th May, 1455, Calixtus published a
solemn Bull, by which all the graces and indulgences granted by Nicholas V on
the 30th September 1454, to those who should take part in the crusade, were
confirmed, and all other indulgences published since the Council of Constance
repealed. New regulations were made concerning the tithes to be devoted to the
war, and the 1st March of the following year was appointed as the day for the
departure of the expedition against the common foe of Christendom.
In order to restore unity among the Christian
princes, and to incite them to hostilities against the Turks, the Pope
determined to send special legates to the principal countries of Christendom.
The Cardinal Archbishop of Gran, Dionysius Széchy,
was appointed to Hungary; the indefatigable Cardinal Carvajal to Germany,
Hungary, and Poland; Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa to England and
Germany; and Cardinal Alain to France. On the 8th September Calixtus III
personally conferred the cross on Cardinals Alain and Carvajal, and on the
Archbishop Urrea of Tarragona, who was to
hasten with a naval force to the relief of the hard-pressed Christian islands
in the Aegean and Ionian waters. This solemn ceremony was performed at St.
Peter's. This was indeed fitting, as the place hallowed by the remains of him
whom our Lord had made the rock and foundation of His Church. It was the scene
of all the most important actions of the Popes, and as such it was also to
witness a deed whose effects were destined to embrace the whole of Christendom.
The Pope, as we learn from the Bishop of Pavia, manifested the greatest
devotion on this occasion, and shed many tears. Calixtus III, he adds, is most
eager to combat the Turks; anyone, who places obstacles in his way, is guilty
of a great sin. As early as September 17th Alain entered on his office as
legate, and a week later Carvajal left the Eternal City on his way to the
North. Nicholas of Cusa apparently did not undertake the journey to
England, for the negotiations with the Duke of Tyrol prove that he spent the
whole of the year 1455 in his diocese of Brixen.
The deplorable issue of the Diet summoned in the
time of Nicholas V to deal with the Turkish question determined Calixtus III to
renounce the idea of any assembly of the kind, and to endeavour to deal
directly with the individual potentates. He accordingly sent to the lesser
European Princes and States, bishops, prelates, or monks who were to treat with
the chief persons of the country regarding tithes, to call upon the people to
contribute, to take part in the expedition, and to pray earnestly for the
success of the Christian arms. He granted at the same time ample indulgences to
those who should thus assist in the holy work. Anyone who has had the
opportunity of looking through the thirty-eight thick volumes in the Secret
Archives of the Vatican which contain the acts of Calixtus III's short
Pontificate must be amazed at the immense energy manifested by the aged and
sickly Pontiff.
Special envoys were despatched, not merely to
the larger Italian States, such as Naples, Florence, and Venice, but also to
the smaller Republics and cities, and to the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and
Corsica. In the Regesta of Calixtus III we,
moreover, find records of the appointment of preachers of the crusade and of
tithe collectors for the several provinces of Spain and Germany, for Portugal,
Poland, Dalmatia, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and an ambassador was sent even
to Ireland and to the distant shores of Scotland.
Most of these envoys were chosen from among
the Observantine Friars, who, as mendicants
and as brethren of St. John Capistran, enjoyed the confidence of the
people to a remarkable degree. The names of San Jacopo della Marca,
of Roberto da Lecce, and of Antonio de Montefalcone,
on whom the cardinals in conclave had for a moment fixed their attention, are
worthy of special mention. But other Orders were also called upon by the Pope
to assist in the work he had at heart. Heinrich Kalteisen,
a Dominican from the Rhenish province, who had already given proof of his zeal
at the Council of Basle, and whom Nicholas V had appointed Archbishop of Drontheim, laboured in Germany, preaching in Vienna,
Ratisbon, Augsburg, Eichstadt, Nuremberg, and finally in his own Rhenish
home, and had the honour of receiving a Brief of special commendation from the
Pope.
Another instance of the extent to which the Pope
claimed the assistance of the religious orders in the matter of the crusade
against the infidels is to be found in the command addressed on the 4th May,
1456, to the General and Provincials of the Augustinians, whereby he required
them, under pain of excommunication, to immediately detain all the preachers of
the Order, to give up all other undertakings, and to devote themselves entirely
to preaching the crusade.
The chronicler of Viterbo enables us to form a
clear idea of the manner in which it was published. "On the 8th
September", he says, "a Franciscan monk began preaching the crusade
in the chief square near the fountain. First of all he caused drums and fifes
to be sounded, and then a silver gilt cross with a figure of the Redeemer to be
set up; afterwards he brought forth the Pope's Bull and thoroughly explained
it."
Calixtus III guarded against the abuses which
had frequently occurred on former occasions by the most exact directions
respecting the collection and keeping of the tithes to be levied on all
ecclesiastics for the Turkish War. In the march of Ancona, for example, it was
decreed that, subject to the advice of the Bishop, one or two collectors and
treasurers should be appointed for each city, and should keep duplicate
accounts of the names of the contributors and the sums paid. The Papal envoys
were empowered to inflict the severest ecclesiastical penalties on the
refractory, and, if necessary, to invoke the secular arm. They were, moreover,
carefully to examine the preachers and to insist upon their explaining the
contents and the import of the Bull of the crusade. A chest with four locks was
to be placed in the sacristy of the cathedral to receive the alms; one of the
keys of this chest was to be kept by the Bishop, the second by the Papal
Commissioner, the third by the two collectors, and the fourth by two notable
citizens to be chosen by the congregation. A notary was to write down the names
of the contributors and the amount paid, so that everyone might be sure that
the funds were devoted exclusively to the object of the crusade.
Nevertheless, as nothing human is perfect,
serious abuses occurred. Some of the collectors retained the funds entrusted to
them; false collectors arose, as they had done in the time of Nicholas V, and
cheated the people out of their money. Calixtus III, when informed of these
malpractices, lost no time in proceeding against the offenders, yet it was
impossible for him entirely to avert the discredit brought upon the whole
enterprise in many cases by their misconduct.
Not content, however, with causing collections
to be made in every country for the expenses of the Holy War, the Pope, like a
true Spaniard, determined to devote all the pecuniary and military resources at
his disposal to the same object.
He accordingly did not hesitate to alienate
jewels from the Papal treasure and even Church property in order to provide the
means required for warlike preparations. The long list of gold and silver plate
bought by the art loving King Alfonso of Naples from the Pope in the year 1456
is still extant, and mentions gilt amphorae and cups, a silver wine cooler, a
table service for confectionery, and also a tabernacle with figures of the
Saviour and of St. Thomas, chalices and instruments of the pax. It is easy to
understand that such a Pontiff lost little time in dismissing the needy men of
letters and most of the artists and craftsmen who had been constantly employed
by his predecessor. Those whom he still retained in his service were required
to labour in the cause of the crusade. The painters and embroiderers had to
devote their skill exclusively to the fabrication of banners, and the sculptors
to that of stone cannon-balls.
We can hardly wonder that the records of this
Pontificate do not speak of any new buildings of importance. In Rome, however,
the erection of fortifications was not altogether discontinued, and the works
commenced by Nicholas V at the Ponte Molle, the
Castle of St. Angelo, and on the walls of the city were continued. A medal of
this period represents the Eternal City surrounded with great fortifications.
But the ramparts of the Vatican seem to have been left as they were, and the
Tribune of St. Peter's to have remained a ruin rising scarcely twenty feet
above the ground. In vain did the Poet Giuseppe Brippi conjure
the Pope to continue the building of St. Peter's. He merely placed a new organ
in the church, restored the windows, and repaired the circular chapel of St
Andrew.
The architects who always found a welcome from
Calixtus III were military engineers and ship-builders, and he willingly
expended the treasure of the Church in remunerating their labours. Although the
great projects of his predecessor remained in abeyance, the Pope caused some
works to be undertaken in those churches of the Eternal City for which he felt
some special attraction. He was not in reality indifferent to the state of the
public buildings, but the war against the infidel absorbed his attention almost
to the exclusion of every other subject.
A Bull is still extant in which severe penalties
are pronounced against the robbers who were in the habit of removing stones and
ornaments from the churches of Rome.
Calixtus III, however, took no interest in an
antiquarian discovery made in July, 1458. In preparing the grave of a
Penitentiary in the Church of St. Petronilla, adjoining St. Peter's, a great
marble sarcophagus was brought to light, which contained a large coffin and one
for a child, both made of cypress wood and lined with silver. These coffins
were so heavy that six men could with difficulty carry them. The bodies, which
had been wrapped in rich, gold-embroidered, silken fabrics, crumbled away when
exposed to the air. As no inscription was found, many conjectures were made;
some believed the remains to be those of the Emperor Constantine or of his son.
Calixtus III had the coffins removed, and the gold of the embroidery, worth
about a thousand ducats, was, by his desire, sent to the Mint to be made
available for the Turkish war. Contemporary writers mention the circumstance
without a word of disapproval; a century later the destruction of such a
treasure would have elicited expressions of indignant protest.
It was the intention of the Pope to attack the
Turks at once, both by land and sea, and by this combined assault he expected
to recover possession of Constantinople. He mainly relied for the land forces
on Duke Philip of Burgundy, who ruled the richest and most important countries
of Western Europe. He had received the Cross from the hands of a Papal envoy,
and accordingly had been favoured, as in the time of Nicholas V, with the grant
of a plenary indulgence for his companions in arms, a tax on all reserved
benefices, a tithe of the ecclesiastical revenues in his territory, and other privileges.
Moreover, in order that he might devote himself without distraction to the
crusade, the Pope, in July, 1455, confirmed the peace which had been concluded
between Burgundy and France.
As no dependence could be placed on Venice, King
Alfonso of Naples seemed pointed out as the leader of the attack by sea. His
sway extended over Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and
the Balearic Isles; in fact, with the exception of Corsica which belonged to
the Genoese, he commanded all the western portion of the Mediterranean, and
could have done more than any other Western Prince to stay the advance of the
Turks. Accordingly the Pope spared no effort to induce him to take part in the
expedition, and the intimate relations, which had subsisted between them, gave
good grounds for expecting his hearty co-operation. The monarch was lavish of
fair promises and begged the Pope to allow him to be invested with the Cross.
Calixtus III gladly consented, and the ceremony was performed with great
solemnity on All Saints' Day, 1455. Many of his nobles and barons also took the
Cross on this occasion, and the hopes of the Pontiff rose high, soon however to
be blighted by the troubles which Jacopo Piccinino excited in Central Italy.
Deprived of his livelihood by the peace of Lodi
in 1455, this Condottiere had threatened Bologna and the Romagna. The Duke of
Milan, however, by sending an army of four thousand men into the field, had
made it evident that insurrection in these quarters would not be tolerated, and
Piccinino crossed the Appenines and
directed his course towards Siena. This Republic had in the last war been
hostile to Florence and Venice, and had also offended King Alfonso of Naples.
These circumstances emboldened Piccinino to advance against the Sienese, who at
once appealed to all the powers who had joined the league, and more especially
to the Pope, imploring assistance. Calixtus granted their request all the more
willingly because the renewal of hostilities in Central Italy would necessarily
have hindered his preparations for the crusade. In June, 1456, he informed the
Venetian ambassadors that he would offer the same resistance to Piccinino as to
the Turks, and would make an example of him, deeming the maintenance of peace
in Italy to be a matter equal in importance to the defence of the Christian
faith, and, indeed, inseparable from it. In order to protect Siena, he
despatched the Papal forces which were in readiness to make war upon the
Turks. Napoleone Orsini, Stefano Colonna,
and Deifobo and Ascanio,
sons of Count Everso of Anguillara, accompanied these troops, and their commander
was the Sicilian, Giovanni Ventimiglia. Venice and Florence also declared
against Piccinino, and Francesco Sforza desired his generals, Roberto di Sanseverino and Corrado Folliano, to start in his pursuit King Alfonso alone
remained passive, from which it was soon surmised that there was a secret
understanding between him and the Condottiere.
The troops of the Duke of Milan joined those of
the Pope near the Lake of Thrasymene. Piccinino
boldly advanced and made an unexpected attack, which at first promised to be
successful, but Roberto di Sanseverino soon rallied
his forces and repulsed the enemy, who then fell back upon Castiglione della Pescaja. This fortress
was situated between a marshy lake and the sea, and was almost impregnable. It
belonged to King Alfonso, who caused his fleet to convey provisions to
Piccinino. In con- sequence of this assistance afforded to the Condottiere by
the King, and of the incapacity and indecision of Giovanni Ventimiglia the war
was protracted to a disastrous length. This was exactly what the King of Naples
desired, for it gave him time to place fresh obstacles in the way of the
projected campaign against the Turks, and involved Calixtus III and his allies
in great expense. Yet the Pope seems to have hoped that the influence of their
ancient friendship would have enabled him to persuade Alfonso to second his
efforts for the defence of Christendom. The King's pretensions on behalf of
Piccinino were, however, little calculated to encourage such hopes. He required
that the Italian league, into which he had entered, should consent to support a
common army, and that Piccinino should be its general, and be always in readiness
to resist the Turks. The Italian powers were called upon to promise a yearly
payment of a hundred thousand florins to the army, and quarters for the
soldiers. Francesco Sforza and Calixtus III indignantly rejected the proposal
that Italy should be made tributary to one whom they justly regarded as a brigandJ The attempt made by Piccinino to burn the
papal crusading fleet at Civita Vecchia may enable us to estimate his fitness for the
command of the army destined to make war upon the Turks.
Unspeakable mischief was done to the Sienese by
the petty warfare which Piccinino waged against them, and their hardships were
increased when, in the October of 1455, he took possession of their port
of Orbitello, and from its plunder derived means
to maintain himself for a season. In despair they determined on sending an
ambassador to the Court of King Alfonso, the source of all their troubles. But
no agreement was arrived at, and early in April, 1456, a fresh embassy,
consisting of Galgano Borghese,
Leonardo Benvoglienti, and Aeneas Sylvius,
proceeded to Naples. Just at this time an open breach between Alfonso and the
Pope seemed imminent. The King had been informed that Calixtus had on Maundy
Thursday pronounced a sentence of excommunication against Piccinino, his partisans
and protectors, and, enraged by these tidings, Alfonso had declared that he
would have all the Pope's relations banished from his dominions. He also sent
subsidies to Piccinino's adherents. He was
satisfied, however, when it was pointed out to him that those who took arms
against the Church had been excommunicated by previous Popes since the days of
Martin V, and that the action of Calixtus in this matter was nothing new.
This cause of discord having been set at rest
negotiations were resumed, and on the 31st May were at last concluded. The
following were the conditions of peace: Piccinino was to give up the places he
had conquered, to evacuate Tuscany and retire into the domains of his patron
Alfonso; the States of the League were to pay fifty thousand florins for the
maintenance of his army, Alfonso undertaking to furnish a fifth part of this
sum. The arrangement of details was confided to the Pope, who desired that
twenty thousand florins should be paid out of the apostolic treasury; and Siena
was to contribute a like amount. The admonitory briefs of Calixtus III,
preserved in its State Archives, bear witness to the dilatory discharge of this
obligation by the exhausted city. Piccinino did not leave Orbitello until constrained to do so by King Alfonso
in September, 1456, fifteen months after his disgraceful inroad into the
territory of the unfortunate Sienese, who now sent Bishop Alessio de' Cesari of Chiusi as
their ambassador to Rome to thank the Pope for the great services which he had
rendered them during the continuance of the war.
Another circumstance which occurred in the first
year of his Pontificate caused the Pope even greater distress than that
occasioned by this war in Central Italy. In September, 1455, he had entrusted
to Archbishop Pietro Urrea of Tarragona,
Antonio Olzina, and Antonio de Frescobaldis the command of the vessels destined for
the relief of the Christian islands in the Aegean Sea, which were at this time
harassed by the Turkish fleet. The traitors, however, instead of employing the
vessels which had been procured with money collected for the crusade in
operations against the Turks, combined with King Alfonso's fleet, commanded
by Villamarina, attacked the Genoese, devastated
their coast, and waged war with the ships of other Christian powers. As soon as
the first faint rumour of these events reached the ears of the Pope he at once
despatched letters of urgent remonstrance to King Alfonso. "If only a few
Christian galleys had shown themselves in the neighbourhood of Ragusa",
wrote the justly incensed Pontiff to his ambassadors at Naples, "the
Hungarians would have taken fresh courage. As it is they hear nothing of our
fleet, and break forth into bitter complaints. Oh, traitors! your ships might
have discomfited the Turks, raised up the Christians of the East, and delivered
Hungary from the danger which threatens her. Instead of this, you have
shamefully betrayed us with the help of our own money. The vengeance of God and
of the Holy See will surely overtake you! Alfonso, King of Aragon, help Pope
Calixtus! If you refuse, you will incur the wrath of heaven!". The Pope
then issued orders removing Urrea and his
accomplices from their posts, and entrusted the execution of the sentence to
Cardinal Scarampo, who was nominated Admiral of the Fleet.
These disastrous occurrences, however, could not
damp the courage of the Pope, on the contrary, difficulties only increased his
zeal for the holy cause. The construction and equipment of a fleet in Rome was
the object of his efforts, and it is the special glory of this Pope that he
successfully carried into execution a project which had hitherto been scoffed
at as hopelessly chimerical. The astonished Romans, who were soon to behold the
baptism of a Turkish prince (March, I456), suddenly witnessed the development
of an unwonted activity on the banks of the Tiber : docks were constructed
at Ripa Grande, and a wall for the mooring
of the galleys erected at Sto. Spirito. In order
to hasten as much as possible the completion of the naval preparations, the
Pope caused carpenters and seamen to be brought from Spoleto and other places.
Cardinal Lodovico Scarampo was
appointed Captain-General and Admiral of the Fleet. This warlike and wealthy
prince of the Church, whose character had much in common with that of Vitelleschi, had already given proof of his military
capacity in the time of Eugenius IV. Of all the Cardinals, he was perhaps the
one best fitted for the conduct of this arduous enterprise, but he would have
preferred remaining in Rome, where he occupied a most influential position at
Court. This very circumstance, however, made the jealous members of the Borgia
family anxious for his removal, and the Cardinal was finally compelled to
depart.
Scarampo's appointment as Legate and Admiral of the
Papal Fleet took place on the 17th December, 1455, and was the occasion of
magnificent festivities in Rome. A further decree then extended his authority
as Legate over Sicily, Dalmatia, Macedonia, the whole of Greece, the Islands of
the Aegean Sea, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, and the Asiatic Provinces, and declared
that all places which he should conquer from the enemy were to be subject to
his rule.
The arrangements for the construction of the
ships of war were henceforth chiefly in Scarampo's hands;
but a commission which had been formed by Nicholas V and consisted of Cardinals
Bessarion, d'Estouteville, Capranica,
Orsini, and Barbo, shared his labours. The Pope's anxiety was increased by
the frequent arrival of evil tidings from the East, and he unceasingly strove to
push forward the works, and, in addition to the general tithe, required from
the Cardinals a special contribution towards the cost of the fleet.
A Register marked with a red cross is preserved
in the Roman State Archives, and furnishes us with an account of the
arrangements concerning the sums expended on the construction of the fleet in
1455-1456. The insight afforded us into the warlike preparations so zealously
carried on by the Pope is most valuable. The administrative labours were
directed by the Surveyor-General, Ambrogio Spannochi, under the control of Cardinal Scarampo.
From this Register we learn that the work was begun in the autumn of 1455, and
carried on during the whole of the following winter. The cost of the iron,
pitch, and timber required for ship building is accurately entered, as well as
the amount spent in the purchase of stone and leaden cannon-balls, cross-bows,
arrows, morions, coats of mail, lances, swords,
pick-axes, chains, ropes, and anchors. We are made acquainted with the smallest
details of the equipment of the expedition, including even the flags and
banners, the tents, and the ship-biscuits. The very bill for five reams of
paper, (sent from Rome to Ostia), for the future correspondence of the Papal
fleet is before us.
The eager Pontiff desired that the expedition
should start on the 1st April, 1456, but the month of May had drawn to its
close before the preparations were so far advanced as to render its departure
possible. On the Feast of St. Petronilla (May 31) the Pope himself affixed the
cross to the shoulder of the Cardinal Legate, who at once proceeded to Ostia
with the ships which had been built in Rome. Three weeks more passed before
they stood out to sea, for in an Italian Archive there are letters written
by Scarampo on the 13th and 20th June, and dated from the mouth of
the Tiber. According to the commonly received account, the forces under the
Legate's command consisted of sixteen galleys; a recent historian, however,
asserts that the fleet numbered twenty-seven sail, was manned by a thousand
seamen, and conveyed five thousand soldiers with three hundred pieces of
cannon.
The troops were gathered partly from Rome, Civita-vecchia, Ancona, and Perugia, and partly from Fermo
and Bologna. Among them were the Counts of Anguillara and
other leaders of the mercenary bands which had been engaged against Piccinino.
Velasco Farigna, a Portuguese, was appointed by
the Pope vice-admiral. Judicial functions were confided to Alfonso de Calatambio, of Aragon. By the month of August the cost of
the fleet had amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand ducats.
The object of the expedition was twofold —
firstly, to protect the harassed Christian populations of the islands in the
Aegean Sea from the Turks; and, secondly, to divide the armed forces of the
infidels by means of a sea attack. For the latter purpose the fleet was
evidently inadequate, and accordingly the Pope's first care was to provide
reinforcements. Scarampo, furnished with ample powers, directed his course
at once to Naples, in order to take possession of fifteen galleys which had
been promised the year before by King Alfonso. But the faithless monarch now
made difficulties of every kind. As long as he could extort money from the
churches and clergy of his realm he had been lavish of promises, but the money
had been spent in the payment of his debts, squandered in splendid feasts, or
employed in the prosecution of the war against the unfortunate Genoese. The
departure of Scarampo was thus delayed so long that the Pope became
extremely impatient. He sent a special messenger to Naples, requiring the
legate to put to sea immediately, even if the King's galleys were not in
readiness. Letters from Cardinal Carvajal had reached Rome with tidings that
the Turks might be expected to attack Hungary unless their forces were shortly
weakened by the operations of the fleetf Calixtus
III shortly afterwards desired his ambassador to "constrain" the
legate to depart, saying that in Sicily he would find money and the ships which
had been commanded by the Archbishop of Tarragona. The Pope also wrote himself
imploring him to start without delay, and finally laid him under an obedience
to do so. In one of the Papal Briefs he thus addresses him: "Gird yourself
with the sword, beloved son; leave Naples and fulfil your promise. Then will
God be with you, and neither money nor anything else that is necessary will be
wanting”.
Scarampo entered on the expedition with
great and manifest reluctance, and endeavoured as much as possible to defer its
departure. The Pope was greatly incensed, and bitterly complained of the
Cardinal, who only quitted Naples with a few of the King's galleys on the 6th
of August. The persistent entreaties of the Pope, who had in an autograph
letter urgently implored Alfonso to furnish the promised galleys, were at least
effectual in bringing about a change in the mind of the King.
Almost as soon as the Pope heard that Scarampo had
quitted Sicily he urged him to proceed to the Greek waters. His anxiety for
immediate action was due to the continuance of disquieting reports from Hungary
regarding Turkish preparations. He hoped that the appearance of his naval
forces in the Aegean Sea would ultimately divert the attention of the Turks
from that Kingdom, and meanwhile diminish their power of attacking it.
Accordingly his first care was for the fleet. New ships for its reinforcement
were built in Rome. Odoardo Gaetani, Count
of Fondi, presented Calixtus with a vessel
which, in company with one of these, was to proceed to the relief of Rhodes
early in the year 1457. The command of these two ships was entrusted to two
Knights of St. John.
The ardent desires of the Pope were at last fulfilled;
the flag of St. Peter appeared in the Greek waters, and the Christian islands
were in some degree defended against the advances of the Turks.
The Papal force under Scarampo first
touched at Rhodes to supply the distressed Knights with money, weapons, and
corn, and then proceeded to Chios and Lesbos. In vain did the Cardinal
endeavour to incite the inhabitants of these two islands to refuse payment of
the tribute imposed by the infidel. Dread of Turkish vengeance deterred them
from joining the Christian cause. He was more successful in Lemnos, whence, as
well as in Samothrace and Thasos, he expelled the Turkish garrison and left
Papal troops in their place. He then established his head-quarters at Rhodes,
where a large arsenal was at his disposal.
The hopes and expectations of Calixtus III were,
no doubt, out of proportion with the strength of the fleet at his command. Yet
he also clearly perceived that no decisive success was possible without the
co-operation of some of the most powerful of the western princes. But the
danger which threatened to annihilate all the great results of centuries of
Christianity elicited from these princes nothing but fair words. In vain did
the aged Pontiff raise his voice in favour of the Holy War; his fiery eloquence
produced little or no effect.
It became more and more evident that the age of
crusades was past, and that the ideas which for centuries had ruled the minds
of men had now lost their power. Internal dissensions had destroyed the
sentiment of the solidarity of Christendom and its interests as opposed to the
infidel. The great cause of Eastern Christianity touched no chord in the heart
of Europe.
Fruitless deliberations took place in Germany,
where a portion of the clergy sought to veil their selfish dislike to the levy
of tithes for the crusade under a show of zeal for the liberties of the German
Church. The peace-loving Emperor Frederick III was by no means the man to rouse
the empire to united and vigorous effort. Indeed its distracted condition would
have made it an easy prey to any invader who once gained a footing in the
realm. He would have found only isolated forces to resist him, each one of
which could have been separately overcome.
The conduct of France was utterly unworthy of a
Christian power. Repeatedly and in eloquent terms did the Pope appeal to the
French King, particularly at the time of the departure of the fleet, but the
weak and helpless Charles VII was indifferent to the exhortations by which he
was reminded of his predecessors, and especially of St. Louis. He excused his
failure to comply with the Papal demands on the ground of the uncertain state
of his relations with England, and of the necessity of being on his guard
against that State. In the first instance he had forbidden the passage of troops
through France, the promulgation of the Bull of the Crusade, and the collection
of the tithes for the war. These proceedings called forth just and serious
complaints from the Pope, who used every effort to bring about peace with
England, and so remove the King's pretext. His attempts were unsuccessful in
this matter, as were also those which he made to reconcile Charles VII with his
son. The Pope was much distressed by the manner in which Cardinal Alain
neglected his duties as legate in France. There are a number of unpublished
letters on this subject. In the first of these, which was written in September,
1456, Calixtus expresses his surprise at the conduct of the French King, who,
notwithstanding the goodwill recently manifested towards him by the Pontiff,
would not permit the collection of the tithes for the crusade or even the
publication of the Bull concerning it. This unfriendly conduct at such a time
was, Calixtus declared, most painful to him. In conclusion, Alain is urgently
exhorted to show himself zealous in the fulfilment of the duties entrusted to
him, so as to falsify the sneering remarks which were current in regard to the
failure of his mission to France. In October of the same year the Pope again
felt it necessary to write to him in a similar strain. "The Christian who
does not now render assistance in following up the victory God has
granted", he says, alluding to the battle at Belgrade, “proves himself
unworthy of divine favours". To this exhortation was added a command to
urge upon the King the repeal of the Pragmatic Sanction. The Knights of St.
John at Rhodes were at this time endeavouring to secure a very large portion of
the French tithes. In a long letter to Charles VII the Pope objected to this
arrangement, inasmuch as a great deal had already been done for Rhodes, and the
support of the fleet was now the first consideration.
In February, 1457, Alain was again urged in the
strongest manner to forward the money for the crusade. That which had been
collected in Italy was far from sufficient for the support and reinforcement of
the fleet, and he was to take measures for the collection of the tribute, not
merely in France, but also in England. "Woe, woe to those, whoever they
may be", exclaimed the Pope, "who hinder the cause of the crusade!".
At the end of March, 1457, Calixtus had not yet received a penny towards the
war from the wide dominions of France. While he deplored this strange fact, he
expressly blamed Alain for writing so little regarding the crusade. In the same
brief he regrets the sluggishness of the Catholic princes; and in hopes of
stirring up the French King to greater zeal, he this year sent him the Golden
Rose. Afterwards when an agreement had been entered into between Charles VII
and the Pope for the construction of a fleet of thirty sail from the proceeds
of the tithe, fresh difficulties arose. The King expressly prohibited the
export of the money collected for the crusade, and even detained the ships
which he had engaged to send, and employed them, not against the Turks, but
partly against the English and partly against Naples. This amounted to actual
treason against the Christian cause.
Under these circumstances it can hardly be
deemed surprising that a considerable proportion of the French clergy assumed
an attitude of absolute opposition to the Papal demands.
As early as the year 1456 the University of
Paris had ventured to appeal from the Pope to a council in regard to the tithe
for the war imposed by Calixtus. The University of Toulouse and several
ecclesiastical corporations in different dioceses of the kingdom joined in this
appeal. Alain lost courage, and failed to act with the energy required. The
appellants then presented a very violent memorial to the King, strongly urging
him to resist the "presumption of the Pope in levying a tax on the
Gallican Church without her consent”, and to do this all the more zealously in
view of the audacity with which the Pope had opposed the newest fundamental law
of the French State, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1438. In August, 1457, the King
answered by a declaration that "the levy of the tithe prescribed by the
Pope was to take place, but that the rights of the French were in no way to be
impaired".
In June, 1457, the University of Paris had even
sent a special envoy to Rome to protest before the Pope and cardinals against
the collection of the tithes, and at the same time to present eighteen
anti-Papal articles and demand a general council. The reply of Calixtus was by
no means wanting in decision. Alain was reproved for his negligence, and
commanded to compel the University of Paris to withdraw the appeal, which was
declared invalid on the score of "rashness and impiety", while the
appellants were visited with ecclesiastical penalties.
Notwithstanding all the grand promises made by
the Duke of Burgundy, he did no more than Charles VII to assist in the Holy
War. None of the money collected in his dominions appears to have been
transmitted to Rome, for, in the Register of Briefs of Calixtus III, we find
one addressed to Philip regarding the large sums obtained in Burgundy for the
crusade. The Pope here begs that, if not the whole, at least a portion of the
amount may be sent to him. In December, 1457, when alarming accounts of the
immense warlike preparations of the Turks reached Rome, the Pope wrote a fresh
letter of remonstrance to the Duke, but it proved equally fruitless.
King Christian of Denmark and Norway, and King
Alfonso of Portugal, had also been lavish in promises of assistance against the
Turks. But on the 2nd June, 1455, we find the former of these two monarchs
providing himself with money by abstracting from the sacristy of the cathedral
at Roskilde the pious offerings which had been collected for the expenses of
the war and for the relief of the King of Cyprus!
The solemn promises made by the King of Portugal
in the autumn of 1456 both by letters and by his envoys to Rome had filled the
Cardinals, the whole Court, and the Pope himself with the brightest hopes, and
Calixtus had felt no hesitation in leaving in his hands the tithe collected in
his dominions in the years 1456 and 14574 King Alfonso certainly kept possession
of the money, but was as far as his Neapolitan namesake from taking part in the
crusade. Calixtus did not spare his exhortations, and continued to hope against
hope for the ultimate fulfilment of the royal promise. A letter addressed to
Cardinal Carvajal on the 23rd May, 1457, shows that he at that time expected
the immediate appearance of vessels of war from Portugal and from Genoa. The
nuncio to Portugal received repeated instructions to do everything in his power
to hasten the King's arrival, but all was in vain. Towards the end of the year
1457 the Pope's patience was at length exhausted. He commanded his nuncio to
return to Rome, bringing all the money for the crusade with him unless Alfonso
should set sail in the following April. When the month of April was near its
close, and the Portuguese fleet had not started, Calixtus was constrained to
carry his threat into execution. By this means he at least saved the money
collected in Portugal, which was greatly needed for the reinforcement of the
fleet.
Forsaken in this manner by all the European
powers, the Pope could look for assistance to the Italian states alone. Here,
however, he found the same indifference, the same treachery, in regard to the
Christian cause. None of the Italian statesmen of the day could rise to the
idea of a crusade. Their views were directed exclusively to their own immediate
interests.
We have already spoken of the great difficulty
which the faithless King Alfonso of Naples had, like "the most Christian
Monarch", placed in the way of the crusade. Next to Alfonso, Duke
Francesco Sforza of Milan was the most powerful of Italian potentates. The
Pope's constant requests for the favourable reception of his envoys and for
material help against the Turks were met by the fairest promises. In reality,
however, the great general had no intention of heeding the Papal behests, nor
of placing himself in the cause of the crusade at the head of an army against
the Turks. The strengthening of his own rule in Lombardy was his constant and
principal care, and all other interests were secondary to this object.
The Republic of Venice, which was beyond all
other States bound to take a decisive part in this struggle, turned a deaf ear
to all the Pope's exhortations. The Signoria would not on any account
compromise its commercial interests, and accordingly kept up constant and
amicable relations with the Sultan.
Florence also used every effort to avoid any
open espousal of the Christian cause. The envoy who in the autumn of 1445 went
to Porto Pisano to meet the Cardinal Legate Alain on his way to France, was
strictly admonished on no account to make any definite promise in regard to
co-operation in the Turkish war. Love for the "cursed flower”, as Dante
called the Florentine golden florin, outweighed all else. A few of the smaller
powers, like Mantua, supported Calixtus, but the words of Aeneas Sylvius
Piccolomini, "The Pope calls for help and no one listens to him; he
threatens, and no one is afraid”, may be taken as of a most universal
application.
The courage of Calixtus III, in presence of such
overwhelming difficulties, was marvellous. He continued to adjure the Christian
princes and potentates to make peace among themselves, and take arms against
the enemies of God. He still sent a number of ambassadors, chiefly selected
from the Minorite friars, to collect money and troops for the holy war from
every country in Europe. He himself gave the example of sacrifice by turning
the treasures and jewels collected by Nicholas V into money, and finally giving
up the silver plate used at his table. Brother Gabriel of Verona informed his
friend, St. John Capistran, that one day when gilt salt-cellars and other
valuable articles were placed on his table, the Pope exclaimed: "Away,
away with these things! take them for the Turks! Earthenware will do quite as
well for me!". In one of his briefs Calixtus expresses his willingness to
have only a linen mitre for the sake of the defence of the Holy Gospel and of
the true faith.
No danger or difficulty had power to subdue the
fiery enthusiasm of the aged man. "Only cowards", he used to say,
"fear danger; the palm of glory grows nowhere but on the
battle-field". The epithet of "high-souled old man" has been
well bestowed on Calixtus III by Palmieri, but the reproach uttered by Petrarch
in the days of Urban V was still applicable to the European potentates.
Ye lords of
Christendom I eternal shame
For ever will
pursue each royal name,
And tell your
wolfish rage for kindred blood,
While Paynim
hounds profane the seat of God!
CHAPTER III.
THE VICTORY OF THE
CRUSADERS AT BELGRADE— THROUGH THE INDOLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN POWERS IT IS NOT
TURNED TO ACCOUNT — ANTI-PAPAL FEELING IN GERMANY— RELATIONS OF CALIXTUS III
WITH NAPLES.
The failure of the efforts made by the Holy See
to unite all the nations of Europe in a defensive alliance against the
ceaseless encroachments of Islam strengthened Mahomet II's determination to
adopt aggressive measures and attack Hunyadi, whom he justly considered as,
after Skanderbeg, the only enemy able to meet him on equal terms. Hungary was
the power most dreaded by the Sultan, and accordingly his chief aim was to
cripple or to annihilate it. In order to give a firmer basis to the political
and military operations undertaken for this pur-
pose he had even in the year 1454 begun to extend his dominion in Servia.
Hunyadi was not in a position to prevent this, and in July, 1455, the important
and strongly fortified city of Novoberdo, with
all the treasures, which had in the course of years been amassed within its
walls, fell into the hands of the infidels.
In the following year Mahomet resolved to deal
Hungary a decisive blow. He had no reason to apprehend hostile attacks by sea
from the west, for the Republic of Genoa was helpless and Venice was friendly,
while the little Papal fleet, unsupported by any Christian naval power, was not
likely to give him much trouble.
During the winter of 1455-1456 the Turks were
actively engaged in getting ready for war. Troops were assembled from all parts
of the kingdom, and an immense number of men worked day and night in a
cannon-foundry, which was established at Kruschewatz on
the Morava. Extensive preparations were made for the provisioning of the army
which was to besiege Belgrade. War materials of all descriptions were carried
to the spot. Weapons, especially bows and arrows, and a great part of the
provisions, were procured in the adjacent province of Bosnia and stored up in
magazines. Mills for grinding corn and a number of bakeries were constructed.
With a care and foresight almost unknown in the West, everything was provided
that could be needed for a protracted siege, or serve, in the event of success,
to render Belgrade available as the Sultan's headquarters for future operations
against Hungary and more northern lands.
In June, 1456, the ruler of the infidels led an
army of more than a hundred and fifty thousand ment with
three hundred cannons towards the Danube, on his way to Belgrade, the bulwark
of Vienna. His progress was absolutely unopposed, and by the beginning of July
the city, which was the key to Hungary, was completely invested by land. A
terrible fire was opened and kept up night and day. The thunder of the
artillery was heard at Szegedin, more than
twenty-four Hungarian miles distant. Mahomet, after his victory at
Constantinople, looked on the siege of Belgrade as mere child's play, and is
said to have boasted that he would in a fortnight subdue the fortress which his
father had vainly besieged for half a year, and within three months' later
would sup in Buda. The besieged had completely lost heart, when unexpected
succour arrived in the persons of John Hunyadi and St. John Capistran.
These two great men were powerfully supported by the Papal legate Cardinal Juan
Carvajal, a fellow-countryman of the Pope's, and one of the noblest characters
of the age. In November, 1455, he had arrived at Wiener-Neustadt, whence he
proceeded to Vienna and to Buda. "He brought", writes the biographer
of Aeneas Sylvius, "nothing with him but a plenary indulgence for all who
should take up arms against the Turks, and promises, which had proved often
delusive. But he brought himself, and his own inspiriting example".
"Such a legate truly corresponds to the greatness of our need", said
the King of Hungary when he thanked the Pope for sending this distinguished
man, who spent the next six years on the banks of the Danube, sharing all the
sufferings and privations of the crusaders, and ready to close by a martyr's
death a life of complete devotion to the service of God and His Church.
The summons issued on the 14th January, 1456, to
the Hungarian Diet to meet at Buda, and the arrival of King Ladislas himself in
Hungary towards the end of the month, were alike due in great measure to
Carvajal's energy. When the Diet opened in February he did his utmost to
encourage the Hungarians, by holding out the prospect of assistance from the
Papal fleet, and from the King of Naples and the Duke of Burgundy, who were
both engaged in warlike preparations. On behalf of the Pope he granted a
plenary indulgence to every soldier who should take the field. The States
levied a contribution of a golden florin on every farmhouse, made arrangements
to provide shelter and food for the crusaders, who were expected to arrive in
great numbers from other countries, and begged the Pope soon to send the
promised fleet to the Hellespont. At the same time they declared that in
consequence of the bad harvest of the previous year the expedition could not
set out until August. They bad barely time to draw up their reports before
messengers from the Lower Danube arrived bringing the alarming news of the
advance of the Sultan with an immense army, and the imminent danger which
threatened Belgrade, the bulwark of Hungary. At this critical moment the eyes
of the nation naturally turned to King Ladislas, who, with his Privy
Counsellor, the Count of Cilli, was still at
Buda. But the King, having absented himself from his capital on pretext of a
hunting party, made his escape to Vienna. His flight was a signal to the
cowardly barons, who had taken no measures for the defence of their country,
and they also at once left Buda and concealed themselves.
In this terrible extremity, Hungary was saved
from the advancing tide of Islam by the three great men whom we have mentioned,
each of whom bore the name of John. Hunyadi raised a force of seven thousand
men at his own cost; Carvajal, who, at the earnest desire of its Governor,
remained in Buda, laboured unremittingly to procure means of transport,
provisions, and assistance; while St John Capistran collected the
Crusaders who had been won to the cause by his own burning words and those of
the missioners, Giovanni da Tagliacozzo, Niccold da Fara, and Ambroise of
Languedoc.
As the Hungarian nobles, like those of Germany,
remained, with few exceptions, inactive, the crusading army assembled by the
Saint and Carvajal constituted the only aid afforded to the heroic Hunyadi. The
force was made up for the most part of poor citizens and peasants, monks,
hermits and students, armed with axes, pikes, flails, pitch-forks, and such
other weapons as they could collect. Some greedy adventurers were certainly to
be found among the motley crew, but the majority of the crusaders were
determined to fight and die for their faith. They wore a red cross on the left
breast, and their banners bore on one side a cross and on the other the figure
of Sts. Anthony, Francis, Louis, or Bernardine.
A number of German foot soldiers and three hundred Polish warriors gave some
support to the untrained and ill-armed masses; the generalship of
Hunyadi, seconded by the zeal of St John Capistran, did the rest.
Belgrade is
situated on a rocky hill, in the corner of the promontory formed by the union
of the Save with the Danube. At the summit of this steep hill stands the
castle, which, at the time we are speaking of, was strongly fortified. The
declivity along the banks of the river was occupied by the lower town, which
was then surrounded by walls and also on the land side defended by a double
wall and moat. Mahomet II had not only shut in the fortress completely on the
land side, but also sent a flotilla to cut off communication by the Danube and
the Save. To make a breach in this iron circle was the first object of Hunyadi
and St. John Capistran. The former, with the assistance of the legate,
collected about two hundred boats at Salankemen,
laden with munitions of war and provisions. He embarked his followers and the
crusaders who joined them, and on the 14th of July, taking advantage of the
current, bore down upon the Turkish ships, which were chained together. After
five hours’ fighting, during which the waters of the Danube ran red with blood,
the Christians succeeded in breaking through the Turkish line, and gained a
complete victory. While the combat was going on, St. John Capistran stood
on the shore and encouraged the Christian warriors by holding up the crucifix,
which the Pope had sent him by Cardinal Carvajal, and calling out the
Holy Name of Jesus!
The moral effects of this great victory were
most important, for it broke the charm of supposed invincibility which had
grown up around the Crescent. Moreover, it afforded breathing-time to the
besieged, who had been under fire for a fortnight in the burning heat of
summer. The Danube too was free, and the fortress was replenished with corn,
wine, and troops. Hunyadi was prudent enough not to lose time in the pursuit of
the Turkish vessels, but seizing on the favourable moment, at once occupied the
fortress which had been so hardly won. St. John Capistran accompanied
him, and with his heart-stirring eloquence stimulated the courage of the
besieged for the decisive day which was approaching.
Mahomet, infuriated by defeat, determined to
avenge the disgrace of the 14th July by the complete destruction of the place.
Night and day the city was subjected to an unceasing fire, and meanwhile he
gathered together the flower of his army for a general assault which was to
deal the final blow. In the evening of the 21st July, the seventh day after the
engagement on the Danube, at the head of his janissaries, he gave the signal
for attack. The battle lasted throughout the whole of that night and the
following day. From a tower in the fortress, Hunyadi and the Saint watched its
vicissitudes, the former giving orders for the despatch of succour where it was
required, and for the relief of the wearied and wounded. If he saw his forces
anywhere giving way he flew to the spot, reanimating the courage of his men by
fighting among them as a common soldier. St. John Capistran from the
tower held up the crucifix which the Pope had blessed, and poured forth
unceasing supplication to the Almighty for aid. The besieged fought like lions,
all the Turkish assaults were repelled, and those who had taken up their
position in the trenches were dislodged by means of bundles of brushwood soaked
in oil, pitch, and sulphur, and set on fire.
Various accounts are given of the final crisis
of the battle. The following is probably the true one. The crusaders, whose
enthusiasm had by this time reached its climax, ventured in opposition to
Hunyadi's commands, and without any order from St. John Capistran, on a
strong sortie against a portion of the fortified camp of the Turks. The voice
of the Saint, who not only called out from the walls, but hastened down amongst
them, was powerless to restrain their ardour. Suddenly the Turkish cavalry
charged the rash Christian warriors, who, eager for plunder, were pressing
forward into the encampment of a pasha, and drove them, exhausted as they were,
into a narrow place. At this critical moment Hunyadi came to the rescue, making
a fresh sally from the city, spiking some of the enemy's artillery and turning
some against the Turks themselves. The Sultan, wounded by an arrow and mad with
rage, was compelled as night came on to give the signal for retreat. The whole
of the Turkish camp with all the arms and a portion of the artillery fell into
the hands of the Christians. And thus, to use the words of Nicholas Cusa,
on the day of St. Mary Magdalen the Cross of Christ triumphed over its enemy. Belgrade,
Hungary, and, in some sense, Christendom and European civilization were saved;
their deliverance was due in great measure to the fiery eloquence of the
indefatigable St. John Capistran, who, in conjunction with Hunyadi, had
been the soul of this terrible battle, and who had the chief share in its happy
result. Calixtus III and his legate, the noble Cardinal Carvajal, must also be
mentioned as having contributed to this memorable victory. "Whatever was
achieved against the Turks", says a Protestant historian, "was
entirely the Pope's doings, and the great deliverance wrought at Belgrade is to
be ascribed most properly to him".
It would be hard to describe the agitation of
the Pope when the first tidings of the advance of the Turks towards Belgrade reached
Rome. The report of the Milanese ambassador, Jacopo Calcaterra, who had a long
conversation with Calixtus III on the 27th July, 1456, gives a vivid picture of
the distress of the aged Pontiff, who, in his noble efforts for the defence of
Christendom, found himself abandoned by all the Western Princes. While groaning
under the heavy burden laid upon him, the brave man was ready to sacrifice
himself for the common cause. “I acknowledge and firmly believe, O Almighty
God" he said, in the course of this memorable interview, "that it is
Thy will that I alone should wear myself out and die for the general good. So
be it! I am ready, even if I must myself go into bondage and alienate all the
possessions of the Church". And, alluding to the plague which was at this
time raging in Rome, he added, "Nothing will induce me to leave Rome, not
even if, like so many others, lam to fall a victim to the plague. Mahomet, the
enemy of our faith, compels me to remain. He does not relax his efforts,
although thousands in his immense army have been carried off". The
ambassador was greatly touched by the Pope's words, and on the day following
the audience wrote thus to his master: "No man on earth can have so hard
and stony a heart as not to be moved with the greatest compassion for His
Holiness".
A month before this, Calixtus, bereft of all
human aid, had solemnly sought Divine assistance. On the Feast of St. Peter and
St. Paul (29th June), 1456, he addressed a Bull to all the Patriarchs,
Archbishops, Bishops, and Abbots of Christendom, exhorting them by prayers,
fasting and penance to "return to the Lord, that He may again return to
us", and also to direct their attention to the reformation of the flocks
committed to their charge. The following special directions were added: "On
the first Sunday of each month processions were to be made in every diocese in
order to pray that the threatened Turkish invasion might be averted; the Missa contra Paganos was
to be said, and a suitable discourse delivered to the assembled people.
Moreover, every priest, without exception, was required to use the following
prayer in every Mass he said: "Almighty, everlasting God, to whom all
power belongs, and in whose hand are the rights of all nations, protect Thy
Christian people and crush by Thy power the pagans who trust in their
fierceness". Indulgences were attached to the performance of these
devotions, and to enable the people to share in these prayers and indulgences
it was further enacted that in every church, between noon and vespers, one or
more bells should be rung as for the angelus, and three "Our
Fathers", and “Hail Marys" recited. Indulgences were granted for
these prayers. The Pope considered the splendid victory on the Danube primarily
due to these supplications.
The Christian world breathed more freely after
hearing of the triumph of Hunyadi and St John Capistran. If the fear of
Turkish invasion had been extreme, the joy of Christendom at the happy tidings of
unlooked-for victory knew no bounds. Every heart that beat true to the good
cause received the news as a favour from God. "We can hardly find a
chronicler, however distant from the scene of action, or however obscure, who
fails to mention this wonderful victory of the poor crusaders". Even in
Venice, though she had done her best to remain neutral, the victory was the
occasion of the greatest rejoicings. Splendid festivities took place in the
cities of the States of the Church, which learned the good news from special
messengers sent by the Pope. Processions, in which the Madonna of St. Luke, the
heads of St. Petronius and St. Dominic, the hand of St. Cecilia, and other
precious relics were borne, were made in Bologna for three days.
No one throughout all Christendom was more
delighted than the Pope at the defeat of the infidels. In one of his Briefs he
speaks of the victory at Belgrade as the happiest event of his life. The
Emperor and other potentates informed the Pope of it by special messengers. In
Rome, by his desire, the ringing of all the church bells, processions of
thanksgiving and bonfires announced the good news.
The Milanese ambassador, Jacopo Calcaterra,
writing on the 24th August, 1456, gives a detailed and highly interesting
description of the impression made on the aged Pope by the tidings of the
relief of Belgrade. In an audience lasting three hours and a half Calixtus
poured forth his feelings with the utmost expansiveness and freedom. "The
Pope", writes the ambassador, "was so full of the great victory that
he constantly reverted to it. He praised Hunyadi to the skies, calling him the
greatest man that the world had seen for three hundred years. But with equal
energy did he lament the torpor of the Hungarians who had not supported Hunyadi
and the crusaders". Moreover, Calixtus ascribed the victory to the grace
of God more than to human courage. "God", he said, "has granted
this victory especially to bring shame and confusion on those who opposed my
efforts for the crusade, who said that no one could understand what I wanted,
and that in pursuit of my vain dreams the treasures of the Church, which other
Popes had amassed, were being thrown to the winds". "His
Holiness", here observes Jacopo Calcaterra, "plainly told me that it
was King Alfonso of Naples who had thus reproached him". Even more
strongly did the Pope express himself regarding Scarampo; and it is
evident that this Cardinal's influence at the Papal Court was entirely gone,
and that the Borgias had succeeded in prejudicing the mind of the Pope against
him. This estrangement was no doubt also caused by the delay of Scarampo in
leading the Papal fleet against the Turks.
The victory at Belgrade had, as the letter of
the Milanese ambassador shows us, raised the Pope's spirits wonderfully. Calixtus
fully expected that the Christian Princes would look with very different eyes
on the crusade, and would be more willing to make sacrifices for the common
cause of Christendom now that his predictions, a thousand times repeated in the
course of the past year, had been accomplished by the defeat and destruction of
the Turks.
There can be no doubt that in the first joyful
enthusiasm elicited by the success of the Christian arms he cherished far too
brilliant anticipations regarding the consequences of the victory. The accounts
which reached him from Hungary were well calculated to strengthen these hopes.
In the joy of their triumph, Hunyadi and St. John Capistran were so
persuaded of the approaching annihilation of the Sultan's power that they did
not hesitate to represent it to the Pope as an accomplished fact, only now
requiring from him the support of an insignificant force to secure its fruits.
“Most Holy Father”, wrote St. John Capistran, a few days after the relief
of Belgrade, "the right time has come. The day of the salvation of
Christendom has dawned! Now is the moment when the long cherished desire of
your Holiness will be fulfilled, not only by the recovery of the Greek empire
and Europe, but also by the conquest of the Holy Land and Jerusalem. Almighty
God will surely help us if only your Holiness persevere in your pious purposes.
But one thing do your legates ask from your piety and zeal for the faith,
namely, that you will send some ten or twelve thousand well-armed horsemen from
Italy. If these remain with us for at least six months, together with the
crusaders, who are devoted to you as obedient sons, and the noble princes,
prelates, and barons of the kingdom of Hungary, we hope to acquire enough of
the goods of the infidels to cover all expenses for three years and richly to
reward the whole army. For at this moment we can do more with ten thousand men
for the spread of the Christian faith and the destruction of these heathens
than could be accomplished in other times by thirty thousand". Hunyadi
wrote in a similar strain: "Be it known to your Holiness, that at the
present time the Emperor of the Turks is so completely crushed that if the
Christians, as is proposed, would only rise against him they might very easily,
with the help of God, become masters of the whole Turkish kingdom".
No wonder that the lively imagination of the
Spanish Pope rose to gigantic schemes on the reception of such letters. The
victory granted by God must now be followed up, and immediately after the
tidings arrived he urged his legates and the Christian princes to proceed with
united forces against the Turks. In the following March a great expedition was
to set forth. Constantinople was to be reconquered, and Europe set free, the
Holy Land and all Asia to be purged of infidels, the whole race of unbelievers
extirpated. In almost all the Briefs of the period these exaggerated schemes
appear again and again, showing what complete possession the subject had taken
of the Pope's mind.
These hopes were no doubt illusory; and yet it
was a misfortune for Europe that the heroes who had given them birth, and had
fostered them in the mind of the Pope, closed their earthly career soon after
the glorious day at Belgrade.
A fearful pestilence, generated most probably by
the heat of the burning sun brooding on the heaps of unburied corpses, broke
out and carried off the brave Hunyadi on the 11th August. "When he felt
his last hour draw near” said Aeneas Sylvius, "he would not permit them to
bring the body of the Lord to his sick bed. Dying as he was, he had himself
carried into the Church, and there, after having received the Holy Sacrament,
breathed forth his soul beneath the hands of the clergy". On the 23rd
October the aged St. John Capistran followed his companion in arms.
By the death of these two great men the
operations against the Turks were deprived of their most powerful promoters.
The hope that the unexpected victory at Belgrade would give a fresh impulse to
the Holy War melted away through the indifference of the Western Powers, which
manifested itself in a disgraceful manner at the very time when its fruits
might have been secured. Again was the Pope the only one who took the interests
of Christendom seriously and honestly to heart. He wrote in strong terms to the
Emperor, the Kings of France and of Naples, to the more powerful German
princes, and to the several States of Italy, entreating them to give God thanks
for the victory, and to turn it to account; but his words were all in vain.
Because the danger was for the moment averted, and this victory had been gained
by the Hungarians and the undisciplined Crusaders, the Christian potentates
seemed to think themselves justified in leaving all further defensive
operations entirely to them. All through the upper ranks of society, which
ought to have given an impulse to the rest, slothfulness, selfishness, and
petty interests again outweighed all better feelings, and deadened all energy
for good.
Almost all the other powers followed the example
of Venice. In vain did the eloquent Carvajal unite his prayers and exhortations
with those of the Pope; all that could be said as to the necessity of following
up the victory fell on deaf ears. The ambassador of the King of Hungary about
this time failed to obtain any answer from Venice, "for, on account of the
plague, no deliberations could take place"; and when he again, on his way
from Rome, visited the city he received an evasive answer.
The tepidity of the Western Powers, although
unable to deter Calixtus from his efforts against the Turks, caused him for a
time to seek for aid in other quarters. In December, 1456, he made an appeal to
the Christian King of Ethiopia; in the following year he applied to the
Christians in Syria, Georgia, and Persia, and finally to Usunhassan, Prince of the Turcomans,
the only one of the Eastern princes whose power could compare with that of the
Sultan.
As a lasting memorial of the victory at
Belgrade, and in thanksgiving for the unlooked-for success of the Christian
arms, the Pope in the following year decreed that henceforth the Feast of the
Transfiguration of our Lord should be solemnly observed throughout Christendom.
A number of briefs attest the importance attached by Calixtus to the due
observance of this decree, by which he hoped to revive the enthusiasm for the
holy war. As far as the princes were concerned, however, these expectations
were vain.
A pleasing contrast to the indifference is
furnished by the zeal with which the lower orders received the Papal
exhortations regarding the crusade. In many places the excitement and ardour
manifested were most remarkable. A contemporary tells of peasants abandoning
ploughs and of bridegrooms leaving their brides in order "to fight for the
Catholic Faith for the love of God". Supernatural signs induced others to
join the expedition. Throughout Upper Germany especially fresh hosts of
crusaders assembled after the relief of Belgrade. These bands were incomparably
superior in discipline to those that had flocked together before that decisive
victory. Another contemporary description of the departure of the Nuremberg
crusaders for Hungary says, "Anno 1456, when our Holy Father, Pope
Calixtus III, sent a Danish legate and Bishop named Heinricus Kaldeysen to preach the crusade against the Turks, and
to confer the cross, in September (more correctly August), many people came to
the church here to take the cross, and set forth against the Turks. And as they
were without a leader, and needed one to maintain order and authority for the
glory of God and the honour of the city, the Council gave them for their help
and comfort Heinrich Slosser, of Berne, who was
the captain of the Swiss, and Otto Herdegen, who
knew the Hungarian language, with eight horses and a red and white pennon (the
colours of Nuremberg). These captains appointed chiefs over tens and over
hundreds, and the chiefs and their men respectively took an oath of mutual
fealty. This oath is written in the little book which is kept in the Court, and
the men are inscribed by name in the same register. About fourteen baggage
waggons were also borrowed from the city to take their armour to Ratisbon. They
bought three great ships for two hundred and twenty Rhenish florins, in which
from one thousand three hundred to one thousand four hundred well-armed men
were to be embarked, six hundred carrying muskets, and the rest spears,
cross-bows, and battle-axes. And they went forth in goodly array on the Friday
after St. Bartholomew's day (27th August), shriven, and fortified with the
Blessed Sacrament. They marched under the banner of the Holy Cross, whereon
were also painted St. Sebaldus, St. Lawrence,
and the Holy Lance, and under the flag of Nuremberg, which the chief leader,
Heinrich Slosser, bore, as the Council had
commanded through Niclas Muffel, Paulus Grunther,
and Erhart Schurstab,
who admonished him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to
keep faith with the city, and to be a true leader of the people. By the Council
they were provided with pots, kettles, pans, plates, spoons, and other vessels
for cooking, two tents, a cask of powder and priming, lead, arrows, five
bushels of oatmeal fried in dripping in little barrels, and six bushels of
millet and peas, and fifty hand-guns. Item, in Hungary they were immediately to
receive four hundred pounds’ weight of copper coins for the general benefit,
and in Vienna the house of Baumgartner gave two hundred pounds of the same,
also to be spent for the general good. All this was done by the Council. Item,
on the day when they departed hence each one of them was touched with the holy
lance and with the holy cross at the hospital in the church of the Holy Ghost.
The German crusaders were joined, the chronicle
of Spire informs us, by crusaders from England, France, and other countries,
among whom were "priests and monks, and they were mostly poor working
people”. Cardinal Carvajal welcomed them all with real joy, and in every way
that he could, showed them the greatest goodwill.
The army of King Ladislas was now increased to
forty-four thousand men, and, accompanied by Count Ulrich of Cilli, he landed with his force at Belgrade on the 8th
November, 1456. The King and the Count were received with all due respect, but
as soon as they and their servants had entered the fortress the gates were shut
behind them, and admittance was refused to the armed Germans and Bohemians. On
the following morning Cilli was invited to
take part in the Council of the Hungarian nobles. When he appeared Ladislas
Hunyadi upbraided him in violent terms with his ambition and his hatred of the
Corvinus family. Ulrich, overmastered with rage, drew his sword and wounded
Hunyadi and three Hungarian nobles, but finally himself fell beneath the blows
of his enemies. When this became known in the army of the King and among the
crusaders, "everyone put on his armour, and the leaders went forth with
their men intending to storm the castle". Young King Ladislas, however,
dissembling his grief and indignation, sent word to the soldiers "that
they were to take no notice of this matter, which did not concern the
crusaders, and were to take off their armour". Soon afterwards the
crusading army, which was as in a sack between fortress and town in double
danger from Turks and Hungarians, was permitted by mutual agreement between the
King and Cardinal Carvajal to go home again. “And so ended the expedition
against the Turks on account of the perfidy of the Hungarians, of which we
complain to God”.
At the very time when the people of Germany were
thus loyally supporting the crusaders their prelates were occupied in evading
any real participation in the common cause by again coming forward with
complaints against the Holy See. Now, as on former occasions, reform was the
pretext, and pressure the means used to accomplish their end, which was to
evade their obligations. As leader of the opposition, the aged Elector
Dietrich, Count of Erbach, filled the place of
Jakob of Treves, who had died in the end of May, 1456. The Elector's
Chancellor, Doctor Martin Mayr, accompanied him and concentrated all his
diplomatic and intriguing skill on the cause in hand.
In June, 1455, at a Provincial Synod at
Aschaffenburg, the Archbishop of Mayence had
caused a whole list of complaints against the Court of Rome to be drawn up.
These complaints, which referred chiefly to violations of the Concordat, were
contained in an instruction for the embassy to be sent to Rome, and are
important as being the foundation of many similar documents of a subsequent
date. After the close of this Synod, Dietrich and the Archbishops of Cologne
and Treves entered into an understanding for the summoning of a great German
national Council. The object of this Council was to confirm the decrees of
Basle and to take precautions against the burdens laid upon Germany, which
strangely permits its eyes to be again torn out after having them restored by
those salutary decrees.
The anti-papal sentiments of the Elector
of Mayence, the ally of the Count Palatine
Frederick, were manifested in a most decided manner at a Synod which he held at
Frankfort-on-Main in February and March, 1456. It was here determined that the
Archbishop and his suffragans should unite in resisting the volition of
the Constance and Basle decrees by the Court of Rome and the oppression of the
German nation by tithes and indulgences.
On the Feast of St. Peter ad vincula (1st
August), 1456, the representatives of the five Electors, together with the
Bishops of Salzburg and Bremen, again met at Frankfort-on-Main; the Elector of
Treves held back, as he had not yet been confirmed by Rome. The fact that the
Cathedral Chapters of Mayence, Treves, Cologne,
and Bremen sent messengers to this assembly gave it a great importance. All
were unanimous in refusing the tithe which Cardinal Carvajal was about to
demand from the clergy for the crusade. In order to furnish a plausible excuse
for this refusal the old disputes which the Concordat had set at rest were
again revived. The war against the Turks was used by the Pope, they declared,
as a pretext to fleece Germany. This was the object of the tithe, and the
reason why the Indulgence granted to the defenders of Cyprus by Pope Nicholas
had been withdrawn and declared invalid. They were resolved to appeal against
the tithes; they would send the dealers in Indulgences back over the Alps
with empty purses; they would not give money to support the
spendthrift Catalan nephews at the Papal Court. The assembly then proceeded to
draw up a report. This began with the usual complaints of the burdens imposed
on the German nation; the tithes claimed by Rome for the Turkish war closing
the list. A series of resolutions were passed for the redress of these
grievances and the relief of the German Church. An appeal against the exactions
of the Roman officials was drawn up and recommended. A league was formed, of
which the members exchanged promises of mutual support in case anyone of them
were threatened with excommunication, outlawry, war, or ecclesiastical or
judicial proceedings, and also bound themselves not to enter into any
"negotiation or understanding" without the consent of all.
"This", says a recent historian, "was an attempt at a German
Pragmatic Sanction, which the ambassadors in the old fashion were to bring
after them". Practically but little result was to be apprehended from all
this bluster. The assembly was to meet again at Nuremberg to consider whether
it might not be better simply to accept the decrees of Constance and Basle. In
reality their resolutions were nothing but a compilation of these with some
slight modifications, which essentially altered nothing. The Frankfort assembly
also resolved to apply to the Emperor and see if he would not make common cause
with the Princes in endeavouring to find a remedy for the grievances of the
nation, either by concluding a Pragmatic Sanction with the Holy See or by some
other means. Moreover, they strongly urged him to come into the Empire, and to
take upon himself the charge of it. Could he really suppose that the infidels
were to be vanquished by letters and messengers? The document closes with a
threat that if the Emperor should fail to appear at the Diet to be held in
Nuremberg at the end of November, "we, with the help of God, will meet
there to take counsel and to determine on all that it behoves us to do as
Electors of the Holy Roman Empire and all that may be necessary for the
furtherance of the Christian expedition”.
The Emperor met these demands with a blunt
refusal, and the Pope in a brief to his nuncio expressed his just displeasure.
He strongly condemned the appeal of the Elector of Mayence,
but did not excuse the dilatory Emperor. “O, hearts of stone which are not
moved by this!” exclaims Calixtus, after speaking of the victory won at
Belgrade, “without King and without Emperor. Our fleet with the legate has
sailed for Constantinople, and the Emperor sleeps. Arise, O Lord, and support
our holy enterprise”.
At the Diet held at Nuremberg in the end of the
year 1456, anti-Imperial feeling for a moment effaced the opposition to the
Pope. There is no doubt that the revolutionary party contemplated setting the
Emperor aside by the election of a King of the Romans; the candidate they had
in view was the young and powerful Frederick I of the Palatinate, but as the
anti-Imperial party was still too weak for action, it was merely determined
that another Diet should meet at Frankfort-on-Main on Reminiscere Sunday (13th March); counsel was there
to be taken as to the manner "in which the Pope was to be entreated
regarding the Holy Roman Empire and the German nation". No energetic
measures against the Emperor were adopted at this Diet (March, 1457), which
assembled in spite of his formal prohibition. The attitude of the anti-Papal
party seemed more threatening. Its grievances were fully set forth in an
intemperate letter addressed by Doctor Martin Mayr to Aeneas Sylvius
Piccolomini, who had meanwhile been promoted to the purple. The Pope, says this
letter, does not observe the decrees of the Councils of Constance and Basle, he
does not consider himself bound by the treaties which his predecessors have
entered into; he appears to despise the German nation and to extort all he can
from it. The election of prelates is frequently postponed without cause; and
benefices and dignities of all kinds are reserved for the cardinals and Papal
secretaries. Cardinal Piccolomini himself has been granted a general
reservation in an unusual and unheard-of form on three German provinces.
Expectancies without number are conferred, annates and other taxes collected
harshly and no delay granted; and it is also known that more has been exacted
than the sums due. Bishoprics have been bestowed, not on the most worthy, but
on the highest bidder. For the sake of amassing money, new indulgences have
daily been published and war-tithes imposed without consulting the German
prelates. Lawsuits, which ought to have been dealt with and decided at home,
have been hastily transferred to the Apostolic Tribunal. The Germans have been treated
as if they were rich and stupid barbarians, and drained of their money by a
thousand cunning devices. And therefore this nation, once so glorious, which,
with her courage and her blood had won the Holy Roman Empire, and was the
mistress and queen of the world, is now needy, tributary, and a servant. For
many years she has lain in the dust, bemoaning her poverty and her sad fate.
But now her nobles have awakened as from sleep; now they have resolved to shake
off the yoke and to win back their ancient freedom.
The real weight to be attached to this document
was soon made manifest, for hardly three weeks had passed away before the same
Doctor Martin Mayr made private overtures to Cardinal Piccolomini for a treaty
to be concluded between his master, the Archbishop of Mayence and
the Pope. This proposal elicited the humiliating reply that it was not for
subjects to make alliances with their lords, and that an Archbishop of Mayence should be content with the position which his
predecessors had occupied and not seek to rise above it.
All this anti-Papal agitation was well known,
and caused grave solicitude in Rome. The apprehension that Germany might follow
the footsteps of the French, who adhered to the Pragmatic Sanction, caused much
anxiety, and the chief object of the Pope was to prevent the Emperor from being
drawn into the party of the Roman princes. The Brief which Calixtus
addressed to Frederick III was drawn up by Cardinal Piccolomini. In this
document the Pope denies the charge of disregarding the Concordats and of
neglecting to appoint bishops. In regard to reservations and other exercises of
patronage, if, in the multiplicity of affairs, anything has been amiss, this,
he says, has been through inadvertence. Although the authority of the Holy See
is absolutely independent and cannot be limited by the bonds of a contract,
yet, in token of his ardent desire for peace and his goodwill towards the
Emperor, he will allow the Concordat to continue, and will never, as long as he
is at the helm, permit its violation. If, however, the nation has other
complaints regarding the proceedings of his Court, and amendment is deemed
necessary (for even he may fail and err as a man, especially in matters of
fact), it does not become bishops or others to follow the example of those who,
to the injury of ecclesiastical government, the destruction of the mystical
Body of Christ and the ruin of their own souls, maintain principles which would
authorize them to despise the commands of the Apostolic See and direct the
affairs of the Church after their own will. He who ventures to act thus cannot
call God his father, inasmuch as he does not acknowledge the Church for his
mother. No one may oppose himself to the Roman Church; should anyone think
himself wronged he must bring his grievances before her. The Pope dwells in
forcible terms on the unreasonableness of the complaints regarding the money
collected in Germany for the Turkish war, inasmuch as the great expenses which
he incurred on behalf of Christendom in general, by the equipment of a fleet in
the East, by supporting Skanderbeg in Albania, by paying so many ambassadors in
all parts of the world, and by assisting multitudes who needed help in Greece
and Asia, were evident to all. "We venture", Calixtus says, "to
glory in the Lord, for while the Christian princes have almost all been sunk in
slothfulness, He, through His own servants, who alone carry on the holy work,
has broken the proud ranks of the Turks in Hungary, and discomfited the great
and mighty army which had threatened to ravage not only Hungary, but also the
whole of Germany, France, and Italy, and to overthrow the kingdom of
Christ".
Copies of this Brief were sent from Rome to
various persons, amongst whom were the King of Hungary and Cardinal Nicholas
of Cusa; and, at the same time, Cardinal Carvajal and the Minorite, San
Jacopo della Marca were exhorted to resist
the anti-Papal agitation in Germany. A very severe letter was addressed by the
Pope to the Archbishop of Mayence, the chief
promoter of the movement. Calixtus declared that he could not believe so
prudent a prelate to be capable of undertaking anything against the Papal
authority, by which he would incur ecclesiastical and civil penalties and be
guilty of the sin of heresy. As Elector, the Archbishop was, beyond all others,
bound to maintain and extend that authority; if devils in human form taught
otherwise, he ought not to give ear to them. To the Archbishops of Cologne and
Treves he wrote in a similar strain, and also sent despatches to several States
of the Empire, to Berne and other cities, exculpating himself from the charges
made against him. As Carvajal had more than enough to do in Hungary, it was
determined that another legate should be nominated for Germany, and
Lorenzo Roverella, a distinguished theologian
and diplomatist, was selected. Cardinal Piccolomini gave him detailed
instructions as to the manner in which he was to proceed against the anti-Roman
party in Germany.
The Cardinal himself personally took part in all
these measures, and wrote a number of letters, among which those to Martin Mayr
have attained a certain celebrity. This is the case more especially in regard
to one of them, subsequently known as "Some account of the state of
Germany”, a title which, in strictness, is applicable only to a small portion
of it. In it he defends the action of the Holy See, and appeals to the
prosperity of the country as a refutation of Mayr's complaints of Roman
extortion. This graphic picture of German life in the middle of the fifteenth
century is still read with pleasure by patriotic Germans. "The apology of
Aeneas Sylvius”, to use the words of a French historian, "perhaps too
closely resembles that of the ancient Roman who replied to a charge of
malversation of public money by proposing that his accusers should go to the
Capitol and thank the gods for the victories which he had won. It must be
confessed that there is much truth in the plea of the Pope's champion, and
history will not fail to praise the zeal with which the common Father of
Christians laboured to stem the further progress of the Turks and wrest their
victims from them.
At the beginning of the year 1458 alarming
reports of the excited state of Germany again reached Rome; no decided step,
however, was taken, and ultimately the opposition died a natural death.
The conduct of Alfonso, the powerful King of
Naples, was calculated to cause the Pope even greater anxiety than that
occasioned by German discontent. From the very beginning of the Pontificate of
Calixtus III the personal relations between him and this monarch, which had
formerly been most friendly, had totally changed.
The King who could boast of having in great
measure brought about the elevation of Calixtus III, expected his old friend to
show his gratitude by acceding to all his requests. The first of these was
certainly not a modest one, for he asked the Pope to hand over to him the March
of Ancona and other territories of the Church. Calixtus, however, was not
prepared to sacrifice his duty to his affection for his former patron, and refused
the investiture. Further misunderstandings arose when the King proposed for
several bishoprics in his dominions persons whose youth and ignorance rendered
it impossible for the Pope to accede to his request. It must have been with
reference to these differences that the Pope exclaimed: "Let the King of
Aragon rule his own Kingdom, and leave to Us the administration of the supreme
Apostolate". The tension between Calixtus III and the King was
considerably intensified by the arrogance of Alfonso, who went so far as to
insult the Pope personally. This we learn from a letter shown by a Papal
Secretary to the Milanese ambassador, in July, 1455, in which Alfonso, calling
upon the Pope to proceed against the infidels, says that : he appears to be
asleep!" The document is full of other unbecoming expressions.
Calixtus greatly disliked the alliance between
Alfonso and the Duke of Milan, which the former announced to him on the 4th
October, 1455. Francesco Sforza betrothed his daughter, Hippolyta, to Don
Alfonso, grandson of the Neapolitan monarch, and son of Ferrante of Calabria,
while the daughter of Ferrante was actually married in 1456 to Sforza Maria, a
son of the Duke of Milan. Venice, Florence, and Siena shared the apprehensions
which these unions between the most powerful among the Italian princes awakened
in the mind of the Pope.
The disgraceful conduct of King Alfonso on the
occasion of Piccinino's war with Siena must
have still more embittered the relations between him and Calixtus. A fresh
outbreak of hostilities in Italy was the greatest possible obstacle to the
crusade on which his heart was set, nevertheless the monarch, who had solemnly
promised to take part in this, persisted in fomenting the war in the Sienese
territory.
These matters being at length settled, the
question of the crusade again became prominent. The success of the war against
the infidels depended in great measure on the King of Naples, who had large
naval and military forces at his disposal, and whose example might be expected
to have great influence in winning the co-operation of other states. Alfonso
formally made the most magnificent promises, but he really had no intention of
performing his vow of joining the crusade. Instead of proceeding against the
enemies of Christendom, and without a declaration of war, he commenced
hostilities against Genoa, which had always been the object of his hatred, and
employed the fleet equipped by the Archbishop of Tarragona for the Holy War in
devastating the territory of his enemies. At the same time he never ceased to
oppress Sigismondo Malatesta, the Lord of Rimini.
This policy, which not only stirred up fresh troubles in the Romagna, but also
revived the designs of Anjou, and became the occasion of repeated interference
on the part of the French, naturally had a most disastrous effect on the Pope's
endeavours to unite Christendom against the Turks. All his exhortations and
attempts to re-establish peace were in vain, and Alfonso's aggression finally
compelled the Genoese to turn to France for assistance.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising
that the relations between Calixtus and Alfonso became more and more
embittered. The King was convinced that the Pope was determined to thwart him
in every way. In the summer of 1457 there was much excitement about a
presentation to a bishopric. The Pope having refused to accede to the King's
desire, the Neapolitan ambassador appealed to a future council, and thus
incurred excommunication. If we may trust the report of an ambassador then in
Rome, the dispute became so violent that Calixtus concluded a Brief addressed
to Alfonso with the words: "His Majesty should be aware that the Pope can
depose kings", and Alfonso rejoined,
"Let his Holiness know that the King, if he wishes, can find a way to
depose the Pope".
The almost regal reception therefore accorded to
the beautiful Lucrezia di Algano, who was
generally supposed, though he denied it, to be King Alfonso's mistress, when
she came to Rome with a great suite in October, 1457, can only have been due to
political considerations. Whether any improvement in the state of feeling
between Alfonso and Calixtus ensued it is impossible to say. If, as an ambassador
has asserted, Lucrezia asked the Pope for a dispensation to become Alfonso's
second wife, it is evident that the contrary must have been the case, as the
Pope neither could nor would have granted such a request.
In March, 1458, we learn that the Pope's
nephews, more especially Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, made efforts to bring about a
reconciliation between him and Alfonso, and there was some talk of sending the
Cardinal to Naples. It was expected that the great affection of the Pope for
his relations would have ensured the success of these endeavours, but the King
repelled all pacific overtures. In June, 1458, Calixtus wrote of the Neapolitan
monarch: "Since Alfonso has come into possession of Naples the Church has
had no peace; he has been a constant torment to Pope Martin, Eugenius, and
myself. Therefore, when he dies, I will do my utmost to deliver my successor
from such oondage by preventing the
succession of Don Ferrante, the King's illegitimate son". The feudal law
of Lombardy was on the Pope's side and of this he was no doubt aware.
According to it legitimization does not of
itself carry the right of succession to a fief, and no special provision had
been made to secure this for Ferrante.
CHAPTER IV.
SKANDERBEG,
"THE SOLDIER OF CHRIST"— THE POPE'S SOLICITUDE FOR THE CHRISTIANS IN
THE EAST— COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE PAPAL EFFORTS FOR A CRUSADE —THE RISE AND
DOWNFALL OF THE BORGIA — THE LAST DAYS OF CALIXTUS III.— THE DEATH OF CARDINAL
CAPRANICA.
AFTER the death of the great Hunyadi, the Turks
had but one adversary, able to cope with them, left on the western
battlefields, and this was George Kastriota,
Prince of Albania, generally known by the name of Skanderbeg. The history of
this hero, on whom Calixtus III bestowed the name, "Soldier of
Christ", has been rescued by recent investigations from the romantic
fictions which had obscured it
It is now an established fact that Kastriota was not, as had been supposed, a scion of an
ancient Albanian family, but was of Slavonian origin. Original documents have
also refuted the story that he distinguished himself when a hostage among the
Turks, gained favour with the Sultan, and, after the battle of Kunovica, escaped and returned home to incite his
countrymen to take arms against the infidel. The truth is that Skanderbeg’s
youth was passed in his native mountains, and his warfare with the Turks began
with the victory gained over them in the Dibra in
1444. This victory filled western Christendom with joyful hopes, inaugurated
the independence of Albania, which Skanderbeg maintained for more than twenty
years, and ushered in the heroic age of its brave people. He was himself the
hero of heroes. Contemporary testimony is unanimous in representing him as one
of the noblest figures of the age. While yet a boy, his handsome features and
commanding gestures presaged a glorious future. A companion in arms tells us
that he used to turn up his sleeves in battle, that he might better wield the
sword or the club. His warlike spirit was such that a battle from time to time
seemed to be a necessity for him. He was at once a soldier and a general. His
physical strength was almost inexhaustible, and in their rapidity his military
movements resembled those of Caesar.
All the efforts of the infidels failed to
vanquish this mighty foe, and after a while they attempted by cunning to
accomplish that for which their power had proved unequal. They succeeded in
inducing some Albanian chiefs, who found the rule of the energetic Skanderbeg too
burdensome, to revolt, and among these were the Princes Nicholas and Paul Ducagnini. A bloody civil war then broke out, and there was
reason to believe that the Signoria of Venice were no strangers to these
disturbances. The hatred of the Venetians to Skanderbeg was due to his
connection with King Alfonso of Naples. Pope Nicholas, who in every way
supported him, at length brought about a peace. The Turks now stirred up Moses
Golem Komnenos against him. In 1455, Isabeg, one of the most experienced of the Turkish leaders,
attempted a fresh attack on Albania. In order to make sure of the support of
the King of Naples, Skanderbeg did homage to him as heir of the House of Anjou
for his capital of Kroja, and Alfonso sent a
thousand foot soldiers and five hundred musketeers to assist him. In the end of
June, 1455, when with fourteen thousand men he attempted an attack on Berat, he was beaten by the superior Turkish forces, but
his mountain home, with its raging rivers and torrents, easily placed him
beyond the reach of his enemies. At the approach of winter the Turks retired
and left the traitor Moses Golem in possession, promising him that if he
brought them Skanderbeg's head he should receive a hundred thousand ducats, and
be put in possession of Albania without having to pay tribute.
For some time after the defeat at Berat Skanderbeg's fate was a matter of uncertainty in
Western Europe, but in the spring of 1456 he reappeared upon the scene. In
April he wrote to Cardinal Capranica, whose zeal for the cause of the crusades
was well known, describing the warlike preparations of the Turks, and begging
for his good offices with the Pope. An envoy from the Albanian hero reached
Milan in June, and in October he again sent another messenger to Francesco
Sforza and to Calixtus III. The Pope received his envoy with the greatest
cordiality, but unfortunately was not able to assist the Albanians with ships
or troops. He, however, encouraged and sanctioned their enterprise and afforded
pecuniary help to the best of his power.
On the 5th April Skanderbeg made his triumphal
entry into his capital, Kroja, laden with rich
spoils, after having a few days previously defeated the traitor Moses and his
Turks in the Lower Dibra. Moses returned home a
despised and vanquished man. Full of repentance for his treachery he fled to
Albania and begged forgiveness from Skanderbeg. The hero pardoned him and
generously restored his confiscated possessions; it was henceforth Moses' aim to
atone for his treachery by loyal service against the common foe.
A sorrow far deeper than that which the apostasy
of Moses can have caused him fell upon Skanderbeg in the defection of his
nephew Hamsa, who, beguiled by Mahomet II,
proved false to his blood, his country, and his faith. In 1457 he joined the
Turkish General Isabeg with a considerable
force, and advanced against his uncle, who had scarcely ten thousand men at his
command. The latter, therefore, determined to avoid an engagement with an enemy
so superior in number, and to entice him into the interior of the devastated
country. The crops which were nearly ripe were hastily gathered into the
fortresses, where most of the country people with their goods also took refuge.
As soon as the enemy began his march through the upper Dibra Skanderbeg
with his troops retired towards Alessio. The Turks occupied a great part of the
country, and extended their lines as far as this place, which belonged to the
Venetians. Venice complained bitterly of the violation of her neutral
territory, but did not support the oppressed Albanians. Now, as before, the
Signoria, in their desire to prevent any foreign interference in Albania,
viewed with displeasure the assistance rendered by Alfonso of Naples to
Skanderbeg, who in his necessity had also written to the Pope, entreating aid.
The state of the Papal Treasury was unfortunately at this time far from
prosperous. The maintenance of the crusading fleet was a great and constant
expense, claims were made from all sides on the Supreme Head of Christendom,
and meanwhile the war tithe came in very sparingly. The Pope did all that was
in his power by transmitting a sum of money to Skanderbeg, and promising, as
soon as possible, to send a well-equipped galley, which was to be followed by
other ships. The most splendid and most bloody of Skanderbeg's victories was
that which he gained in the Tomorniza in
July, 1457. Isabeg's army was surprised,
and those who did not escape were cut to pieces. Thirty thousand Turks are said
to have perished. Fifteen hundred prisoners, four-and-twenty horse-tails, and
the whole camp of the enemy, with all its treasures, were taken by the
conqueror. Hamsa, the traitor, was among the
captives. Skanderbeg magnanimously spared his life, but sent him to Naples to
be kept in safe custody by the King.
Albania was now delivered from the Turkish
invasion, as Hungary had been by the victory of Belgrade in the previous year.
The only powers who had afforded Skanderbeg any real assistance at this
critical period were King Alfonso and the Pope. On the 17th September, 1457,
the latter wrote to him in the following terms: "Beloved son! continue to
defend the Catholic Faith; God, for whom you fight, will not abandon His cause.
He will, I am confident, grant success against the Turks and the other
unbelievers to you and the rest of the Christians with great glory and
honour."
The Pope had previously, on the 10th September,
determined that a third part of the tithes from Dalmatia should be placed at
the disposal of the brave Albanian chief. He also commanded his legate to come
to Skanderbeg’s assistance with at least a part of the fleet then in the Aegean
Sea. A special nuncio, Juan Navar, was sent to
Dalmatia and Macedonia to collect the tithes; he was to oblige the people of
Ragusa to fulfil their promises. Navar does
not, however, appear to have been very successful, for in December, 1457, the
Pope threatened them with excommunication.
After his victory Skanderbeg had informed the
Western Princes that he was not in a position to bring the war to a happy
conclusion without further assistance. The time had come, he said, for them to
awaken from their lethargy, to lay aside their dissensions, and to unite with
him in exerting all their powers to obtain the liberation of the Christian
world and to secure the future. But this appeal was as ineffectual as those
which the Pope had previously made. Naples alone sent some troops to Albania.
Calixtus III energetically expressed his satisfaction at the victory, and, on
the 23rd December, 1457, appointed Skanderbeg his Captain-General for the
Turkish war. He also repeatedly sent him pecuniary aid. Skanderbeg appointed as
his lieutenant the despot of Roumania, Leonardo III, Tocco, ex-Prince of
Arta, whose name was expected to rouse Southern Epirus to a general
insurrection against the Turks. Unfortunately, Venice now came forward with
various pretensions, the result of which was a new civil war, which was not
terminated until February, 1458.
In his zeal for the defence of Europe against Turkish
aggression, and for the protection of the Oriental Christians, Calixtus III
never forgot the more distant outposts of Christendom in those regions. He
interested himself more especially in the Genoese possessions in the Black Sea,
which had already engaged the attention of Nicholas V. On the second day after
his coronation he issued a Brief urgently exhorting the inhabitants of the
Genoese territory on the mainland, and some few specified provinces in the
neighbourhood, to support the Bank of St. George with money and gifts, so that
Caffa might not fall into the hands of the unbelievers. In order to give the
more weight to this appeal, new and ample indulgences were granted to those who
should in any way support this establishment in its opposition to the Turks. On
the 22nd November, in the same year, Calixtus, who had in the meantime
personally afforded considerable assistance to the Bank, expressly declared
that the Bull issued in favour of Caffa was not to be considered as suspended
by that of the crusade of the 15th May.
These favours occasioned great satisfaction in
Genoa, and honest collectors were sent without delay to the territories
indicated by the Pope. Calixtus continued to manifest his goodwill to the
undertaking. On the 3rd March, 1456, the directors of the Bank of St. George
wrote to Caffa in the following terms: "The Pope shows himself in every
way so well disposed towards the Genoese colonies that their welfare appears to
be even nearer to his heart than it is to ours". The reason of this was
that Calixtus's motives were nobler than those of the directors of
the Bank; they only cared for the preservation of their colonies on account of
the income they derived from them, while the Pope undertook their protection
from zeal for the maintenance of the Catholic faith and the defence of
Christian civilization against the inroads of Islam.
The Pope's correspondence with Genoa, which has
recently been brought to light, enables us to appreciate his marvellous energy
in his care for the Eastern colonies at the very time when Hungary and the
fleet were so urgently claiming his attention. On the 10th March, 1456, he
extended to the dioceses of Albenga, Savona, and
Ventimiglia the Bull by which Lodisio Fieschi and Giovanni Gatti had
been appointed collectors of the ecclesiastical tithes in the Genoese
territory. Other Briefs called upon the Bishops of Tortona, Luni, Alba, Acqui, and Asti
to assist the collectors in every possible manner, and to give a good example
to their subjects by their zeal for the common cause of Christendom. Others,
again, confirmed the plenary powers given to these commissioners, and commanded
them severely to punish those who, under the cloak of piety, deceived the
simple people by falsely representing themselves as collectors. The Pope
strictly charged Valerio Calderina, Bishop of
Savona, and Administrator of the Diocese of Genoa, not to damp the zeal of the
people by the suggestion of doubts and scruples. He also addressed a special
Brief to Paolo Campofregoso, Archbishop Elect of
Genoa, urging him to set a good example by the complete and speedy payment of
the tithes of his benefice. In his indefatigable zeal he also exhorted the Duke
of Milan and the Marquess of Montferrat, the neighbours of Genoa, to support
Caffa. We cannot give a full account of all the favours which the Genoese
received from Calixtus III, but we can undoubtedly assert that he did
everything in his power on their behalf.
With regard to the fleet, the Pope was sedulous
in providing it with reinforcements, and in encouraging the legate and
exhorting him to keep his forces together in readiness for any emergency.
A splendid victory gained at Mitylene over
the Turks in August, 1457, when no fewer than five-and-twenty of their ships
were taken by the Papal fleet, gave much consolation to Calixtus. He
commemorated the happy event by causing a medal to be struck with the
inscription: "I have been chosen for the destruction of the enemies of the
Faith".
This fresh success encouraged the Pope to do
everything in his power for the support and assistance of Scarampo and
his forces. As time went on, he continued to urge on the Cardinal Legate the
necessity of keeping the fleet together, and remaining with it during the
winter, so that the expedition might be carried on with renewed vigour in the
following year. Further reinforcements were sent for this purpose early in
1458, and, in announcing their arrival to the Cardinal Legate, Calixtus III
solemnly assured him that he would never give up the fleet, and would support it
as long as he lived. He bid Scarampo not lose courage, and expressed
his confident hope that God would grant victory, and would bring great things
to pass by its means. The energy of the Pope never flagged until he was struck
down by mortal sickness; and alas! it was not granted to him to witness another
victory for the cause so near his heart.
Save for these successes, won by the arms
of Scarampo and Skanderbeg, the year 1457 was fraught with
disappointments to Calixtus. The King of Portugal, like the rulers of France
and of Burgundy, constantly buoyed up his mind with vain hopes and empty
expectations. No one in Italy made any exertion for the defence of Christendom.
Venice remained, as before, deaf and cold to all Apostolic appeals; her traders
cared only for their selfish interests, and accordingly maintained peace with
the Sultan, who invited the Doge in March, 1457, to the marriage of his son.
The Duke of Milan endeavoured to obtain
investiture from the Emperor by holding out hopes that he would send troops for
the war. These tedious negotiations came to nothing, although the Pope took the
Duke's part, and all expectations of succour from this quarter vanished. Like
the great victory on the Danube in 1456, the successes of Skanderbeg and Scarampo in
1457 were attended by no adequate results. All who wished to remain in peace,
and attend without interruption to their own private interests, easily
persuaded themselves that the power of the Turks was sufficiently subdued. Time
was thus given to the enemy to recover from defeat, and to prepare for further
aggressions, and an opportunity which never returned was lost by the
short-sighted and egotistical policy of the European Powers.
The strength of Hungary was crippled; discord
prevailed among her magnates and at the Court; Frederick II, was at variance
with the young King Ladislas regarding the inheritance of the Count of Cilli. The Pope most earnestly adjured these two princes to
lay aside this petty private matter for the sake of Christendom in general and
of their own dominions. "How", he asks, "can the French, the
Spaniards, and the English think of sending armies against the Turks when you,
who are near at hand, and whose interests are at stake, seem to take no heed of
the danger which threatens you from the infidels?". In the beginning of
November, 1457, an agreement was at last arrived at between Frederick III and
Ladislas, but on the 23rd of the same month Ladislas died, and in consequence
of his death affairs in the East took a new and unexpected turn. Matthias
Hunyadi Corvinus, who was very young, ascended the Hungarian throne, and
the Utraquist Governor, George Podiebrad, was elected King of Bohemia (2nd March, 1458).
In the election of George no regard was paid to
the hereditary pretensions of Saxony, Poland, and the House of Hapsburg; the
adjoining countries were not consulted, and the proceedings were altogether of
an exceptional kind. Accordingly the new King was not without opponents, who
had legitimate grounds for calling his election in question. Under these
circumstances the congratulations of an eminent and generally esteemed Prince
of the Church were peculiarly welcome. Cardinal Carvajal wrote from Buda on the
20th March to express his good wishes, and at the same time took the
opportunity of urging upon the new Monarch the cause of ecclesiastical unity,
and of the defence of Christendom against the Turks.
Even before his elevation the crafty Podiebrad had been working to gain the favour of Rome. The
Pope, who had already expressed his desire for the reconciliation of the
Bohemians, was all the more easily won because he was assured, not only
of Podiebrad's Catholic sentiments but also
of his intention of taking part in the war against the Turks. The Premonstratentian Canon, Lukas Hladek, and Heinrich Roraw,
the Procurator of the Bohemian Hospice in Rome, exerted themselves in his
cause, and were so successful that the confiding Pontiff declared his
determination in every way to defend the honour of the Bohemian King. Calixtus
had letters of safe-conduct issued for the Bohemian ambassadors, and his
confessor, Cosimo di Monserrato, shewed
Lukas Hladek presents destined for King
George. The Pope's anticipations were raised still higher when he received
tidings of what King George and his consort had, before their coronation, done
and bound themselves by oath to do.
According to the decision of the States the coronation
of George was to take place according to the ancient Catholic rite. Prague was
at this time without an Archbishop; the Archbishop of Olmutz had not yet been enthroned, and the Archbishop of Breslau was hostile to the
King. Consequently King Mathias and the Cardinal Legate Carvajal were requested
to send a Hungarian Bishop to perform the ceremony. The Bishops of Raab and Waitzen declared themselves willing to undertake the
office. Carvajal would not allow them to start until they had promised to insist
upon George's abjuration of the Hussite heresy previously to his coronation.
The King, who well understood his obligations to the Utraquists,
began by refusing to do this; the Bishops, however, stood firm, and at length
he agreed to abjure his errors and take a Catholic coronation oath, providing
only tnat the matter was kept secret. Fresh
difficulties arose when the Bishops required that the abjuration of heresy
should be inserted with the other points in the formal record of his oath.
George could not be induced to consent, and the Bishops contented themselves
with his verbal abjuration. In the coronation oath taken on the 6th May, 1458,
in presence of only eight witnesses, who were bound to secrecy, George swore
fidelity and obedience to the Roman Catholic Church, her head, Pope Calixtus
III, and his lawful successors, and promised to preserve his subjects from all
errors, divisions and heretical doctrines, and especially from everything
opposed to the Catholic Church and the true Faith, and to bring them back to
obedience, and to perfect external and internal unity and union with the Roman
Church in worship and ceremonials. Every difference of every kind was to be
given up, and notably the administration of the Sacrament of the Altar in both
kinds, and other things contained in the compacts which had never been
confirmed by Rome.
These solemn promises on the part of the King
led Calixtus III to cherish confident hopes that in time the majority of
the Utraquists would follow the example of
their monarch and return to the Catholic Church. Soon after his coronation
George further encouraged these anticipations by accrediting Doctor Fantino de
Valle as his Procurator in Rome, sending the Pope a copy of his oath, and
adding ample promises regarding an expedition against the Turks to be
undertaken when he had arranged the affairs of his kingdom. According to
Cardinal Jacopo Ammannati Piccolomini, the aged
Pontiff now resolved on addressing a Brief to King George with the
superscription: "To my beloved son George, King of Bohemia", after
the formula generally employed in the case of Catholic Princes. This Brief,
however, has not come to light, and neither the King nor the Court ever alluded
to it.
The coronation of King George by two Catholic
prelates according to the rite of the Roman Church, together with the friendly
relations established between him and the Pope, produced an immense impression,
and the tide of feeling became much more favourable to the new monarch. He had
now a fair hope of inducing the neighbouring States to acknowledge him, and of
depriving the efforts of the Duke of Saxony and the Hapsburgs of any prospect
of success.
To the end of his life Calixtus III continued
heartily devoted to the cause of the crusade. In order to estimate the immense
difficulties in his way, we must bear in mind that he had to encounter the
obstinate opposition of almost all the European princes and of a great portion
of the clergy. This opposition was displayed not only in France and Germany,
but also in Italy and Spain, and the Papal registers contain a series of
condemnatory briefs bearing on the subject. The Pope laments this sad state of
things in language which shews how deeply it affected him. "The harvest is
great but the labourers are few", he writes, in December, 1456, to
Cardinal Alain. The sense of his isolation became at times so overwhelming that
the burden of his office seemed almost intolerable.
In Italy the restless spirit of Piccinino and
the crafty policy of Alfonso of Naples caused him constant and serious anxiety.
On account of these troubles, and also with the view of making yet another
effort to avert the danger of Turkish aggression, Calixtus, in the autumn of
1457, conceived the idea of holding a congress in Rome. His invitation was
addressed to all the princes of Christendom; and it was his last attempt. In
order to facilitate the deliberations, the envoys were summoned for different
dates. Naples, Milan, Genoa, Florence, and Venice were to send their deputies
to Rome by December, 1457; France, Burgundy, and Savoy by the end of the
following January, and the other European princes, with the Emperor, by the end
of February. The Pope placed great hopes on this congress, but the appointed
periods passed by without the arrival of any of those invited. Otto de Carretto wrote on the 4th February, 1458, to the Duke
of Milan, "No one of the envoys convened to discuss the Turkish business
has yet arrived". In February several at last appeared, so that the
deliberations could be commenced in March. They continued into the month of
June, but there is no record of any result.
The excessive nepotism of Calixtus III is the
only blot on his otherwise blameless character. The lavish prodigality with
which he enriched his unworthy relations can only be, in some measure, caused
as an effort to secure in them a counterpoise to the influence of the
untrustworthy and often dangerous barons.
The relations of the Spanish Pope were very
numerous, and some of them had come to Rome while he was still a cardinal. They
belonged chiefly to the three allied Valencian families of Borgia, Mila,
and Lanzol. Caterina Borgia, one of the Pope's
sisters, was married to Juan Mila, Baron of Mazalanes,
and was mother of young Luis Juan; another sister, Isabella, was the wife
of Jofre Lanzol,
a nobleman possessed of property at Xativa, and
had two sons, Pedro Luis and Rodrigo. Calixtus gave both these nephews his
family name by adoption.
The promotion of his relations was in itself
objectionable, and was rendered still more so by the vicious character of some
among them. A recent historian draws a striking comparison between the family
of Borgia and that of Claudius in ancient Rome; the Borgias were in general
distinguished by physical strength and beauty; they were sensual and haughty in
disposition, and had for their armorial bearings a bull. Calixtus III was the
founder of their fortunes, but derived little satisfaction from them. Could he
have foreseen the evil which his nephews would do to Italy and to the Church,
he would certainly, instead of elevating them, have banished them to the
deepest dungeons of Spain.
Amongst the Pope's nephews, Rodrigo Lanzol, or, as the Italians called him, Lenzuoli, has attained the saddest celebrity. The
remarkable abilities of this man, who was born at Xativa,
near Valencia, in 1430 or 1431, have been acknowledged even by his bitterest
adversaries. Guicciardini says that "in him were combined rare prudence
and vigilance, mature reflection, marvellous power of persuasion, skill and
capacity for the conduct of the most difficult affairs".
Even while yet a Cardinal, Calixtus III had a
partiality for his gifted nephew; and, after his elevation to the Papal Throne,
he loaded him with dignities and favours of all kinds. As early as the 10th
May, 1455, Rodrigo was Notary of the Apostolic See; on the 3rd June he was made
Dean of the Church of Our Lady at Xativa, and
other benefices in Valencia were conferred on him, and in the same month he was
sent by the Pope to Bologna to study jurisprudence. He accompanied Luis Juan Mila,
Bishop of Segorbe, who was nominated Governor of
Bologna on the 13th June, 1455. On the 29th June the two cousins reached their
destination, where they were honourably received. Luis Juan, however, had to be
on his guard with the Bolognese in the exercise of his new dignity : and his
abilities do not appear to have been considerable.
Nevertheless, Calixtus III determined to raise
him, as well as the young Rodrigo, to the purple. In November, 1455, the
Archbishop of Pisa, Filippo de' Medici, was made aware of this intention, and
it was expected that it would be carried out in the following month. Some
obstacle, however, must have arisen, for it was not till the 20th of February,
1456, that the Pope's nephews were secretly created Cardinals.
The records of this creation are preserved, and
it appears that it took place in a Secret Consistory, in the presence and with
the consent of all the Cardinals then in Rome. Contrary to the usual custom,
the Church of San. Niccolo in Carcere was on the same day assigned to Rodrigo as his
title, and it was decreed that in the event of the Pope's death before his
publication, the other Cardinals were at once, under pain of excommunication,
to regard his creation as published, and to admit him to take part in the
Conclave for the election of a new Pope.
The new Cardinals had not as yet done; anything
to merit the dignity conferred on them, they were both very young — Rodrigo
only five-and-twenty — their elevation was in itself an unjustifiable action,
and the evil was aggravated by the fact that Rodrigo was an immoral and vicious
man.
Such is the judgment of a German Cardinal of the
nineteenth century, and though it may seem severe, it is perfectly just Rodrigo
was handsome, of an ardent temperament, and extremely attractive to women. In
the time of Pius II the historian, Gasparo di
Verona, sketched his portrait in the following terms: "He is handsome, of
a pleasant and cheerful countenance, with a sweet and persuasive manner. With a
single glance he can fascinate women, and attract them to himself more strongly
than a magnet draws iron". No unfavourable testimony regarding the conduct
of Rodrigo during the lifetime of Calixtus III has come to light; but the same
cannot be said as to his subsequent course.
Repeated efforts have nevertheless been made in
recent days to rehabilitate the moral character of this man. In the face of
such a perversion of the truth, it is the duty of the historian to show that
the evidence against Rodrigo is so strong as to render it impossible to restore
his reputation. We shall have to speak at a future period of his scandalous
relations with a Roman lady, Vannozza de' Catanei, which form part of this evidence.
The first light thrown upon Rodrigo's immorality
occurs in an admonitory letter of the year 1460, in which Pius II reproaches
the Cardinal, who probably was not at the time a priest, with his unbecoming
behaviour at an entertainment given at Siena, in the garden of Giovanni
de Bichis. "Our displeasure," says
Pius II, "is unspeakable, for such conduct disgraces the ecclesiastical
state and office. It will be said to us that we have been made rich and great,
not in order that we should lead blameless lives, but to give us the means of
self-indulgence. This is the reason why princes and powers despise us and the
laity daily deride us. They reproach us with our own conduct when we would
blame that of others. Contempt falls even upon the Vicar of Christ, because he
seems to tolerate such things. You, beloved son! govern the Bishopric of
Valencia, the first in Spain; you are also Chancellor of the Church, and —
which makes your conduct more reprehensible — you sit with the Pope among the
Cardinals, the Counsellors of the Holy See. We leave it to your own judgment
whether it is becoming to your dignity to pay court to ladies, to send fruit
and wine to the one you love, and all day long to think of nothing but
pleasure. We are blamed on your account; the memory of your blessed uncle,
Calixtus, is blamed; many consider that he did wrong in heaping so many honours
on you. You cannot plead your youth, for you are not now so young as to be
unaware of the duties which your dignity imposes on you. A Cardinal must be
blameless and an example of moral life before the eyes of all men. What right
have we to be angry if temporal princes call us by names that are little
honourable, if they grudge us our possessions and constrain us to submit to
their commands? Truly we inflict these wounds upon ourselves and invite these
evils when by our own deeds we daily lessen the authority of the Church. Our
chastisement for these things is shame in this world, and the ways of sin in
the next. We trust in your prudence to remember your dignity, and not suffer
yourself to be called a gallant by women and youths. For should such things
occur again we shall be constrained to show that we do not consent to them, and
our censure will not fail to bring confusion on you. We have constantly loved
you, and we held you worthy of our protection as a grave and discreet person.
Let your conduct be such that we may retain this opinion to which nothing can
more conduce than the adoption of a regular life. Your years favour the hope
that you will amend, and permit us to exhort you in a fatherly manner. Petriolo, the 11th June, 1460".
Cardinal Rodrigo hastened to write a letter of
apology to the Pope and endeavoured to place the affair in a more favourable
light. The reply of Pius II was grave and dignified. The conduct of Rodrigo, he
maintains, is inexcusable, although, perhaps, there may have been some
exaggeration in the account of it. In any case the Cardinal must for the future
keep aloof from all such things and be more careful of his reputation. If he
will do this and live discreetly the Papal favour will not be withdrawn from
him.
The hopes of Pius II were not realized. Cardinal
Rodrigo would not change his mode of life. In the year 1464 Pius II, with his
mortal sickness upon him, undertook his celebrated expedition to Ancona to
place himself at the head of the crusaders. Rodrigo accompanied him, but even
at so serious a time this "essentially low-minded man" could not
bring himself to give up his evil pleasures.
It cannot surprise us to find that among the
better disposed Cardinals great opposition was made to the promotion of such a
man. This was probably manifested even in the Secret Consistory of the 20th
February, 1456. If the Cardinals then gave him their votes, it was in the hope
that the old Pontiff would die before Rodrigo's publication.
This hope, however, was soon disappointed. In
September, 1456, when all the Cardinals had left Rome on account of the
insupportable heat and of a pestilential sickness, Calixtus III actually
proceeded to the publication (17th September). A month later the Pope's nephews
made their solemn entry into Rome; on the 17th November the red hat was
conferred upon them, and on the 26th the ceremony of opening their mouths took
place.
Together with his nephews the Pope had raised to
the purple the Portuguese Infante, James, a young man noted for his modesty and
purity of life. This Cardinal, who was in every way a contrast to Rodrigo
Borgia, unhappily died on the 27th August, 1459, on his journey to Florence as
legate. His monument, by Antonio Rossellino, is
in the Church of San Miniato al Monte. The
beautiful form of the young Cardinal, wearing on his countenance an expression
of profound peace, rests on a bed of state standing in a niche raised on a
lofty architectural pedestal. Two nude figures hold the ends of the pall.
Above, on either side, two angels kneel on brackets fastened to the wall,
holding a crown and a palm. In the vault over the niche is a medallion in
relief of the Blessed Virgin, borne by two angels in the air.
On the 17th December, 1456, Calixtus III made
another promotion of Cardinals, and on this occasion also the Sacred College
offered opposition. "Never", wrote one of those nominated, "had
Cardinals more difficulty in entering the Sacred College. The hinges (cardtnes) had become so rusty that they would not turn. The
Pope had to use battering-rams and all kinds of engines to burst open the
door". Calixtus was again unsuccessful with some of the candidates; for
instance, he had to give up the Bishop of Novara, on whose behalf the Duke of
Milan had repeatedly interested himself. Of the six actually nominated, Aeneas
Sylvius Piccolomini was undoubtedly the most worthy and distinguished. The
others were Juan de Mella, Bishop of Zamora, a
man noted for his stately manners and his knowledge of canon law;
Jacopo Tebaldo, Bishop of Montefeltre; Rinaldo de' Piscicelli,
Archbishop of Naples; Giovanni da Castiglione, Bishop of Pavia; and lastly,
Richard Ollivier de Longueil, Bishop of Coutances,
who, like d'Estouteville, belonged to a
distinguished family in Normandy. Charles VII had zealously exerted himself for
the promotion of the last named prelate; and Calixtus hoped, as it proved, in
vain, that by conferring on him the purple he would win the French monarch to
the cause of the crusade.
As time went on fresh favours were constantly
heaped upon the Borgias. Young Cardinal Rodrigo was appointed legate in the
March of Ancona in December, 1456, and went there on the 19th January in the
following year. Cardinal Luis was made legate of Bologna, and both were richly
endowed with benefices.
The most important and lucrative office of the
Papal Court was that of Vice-Chancellor; one of the ambassadors speaks of it as
the highest dignity after that of the Pope. Since the death of Cardinal Condulmaro (30th October, 1453) no one had been
appointed to fill this high position, and it was but natural that those
Cardinals who held no great office at the Court should aspire to it. We are
expressly informed that such was the case in regard to d'Estouteville.
Since the year 1455 he had been labouring to obtain it, but in 1457 it was
bestowed on Rodrigo, who was also made Commander-in-Chief of the Papal troops
in Italy in December of the same year. Don Pedro Luis, his brother, a layman,
and a year younger than himself, was loaded with offices and honours in a
manner equally scandalous. In the spring of 1456 he was appointed
Captain-General of the Church and Commander of St Angelo, and, in the autumn of
the same year, Governor of Terni, Narni, Todi, Rieti, Orvieto, Spoleto, Foligno,
Nocera, Assisi, Amelia, Cività Castellana, and Nepi; soon
afterwards the patrimony of St Peter in Tuscany was added to these.
Such a career was unheard of. Cardinal Capranica,
who, as Grand Penitentiary under Nicholas V, had enjoyed the esteem of all
classes, made a courageous protest, and his opposition could not be overcome
either by prayers or threats. His noble conduct drew upon him the hatred of the
Borgias, who vainly sought to have him sent as legate to a distance from Rome.
Finally they went so far as to try to put him in prison, but this the Pope
would not permit.
The Borgias kept up the closest intimacy with
the Colonna family — in the summer of 1457 was even said that Don
Pedro Borgia was to marry a Colonna — and accordingly their relations with the
Orsini were unfriendly. In 1457, when the Pope sent Don Pedro against the
Orsini to recover from them some fortresses which he considered to be the
property of the Church, open war broke out. Cardinal Orsini now left Rome
(July, 1457); Scarampo, Carvajal, and Nicholas of Cusa were
absent; and as d'Estouteville, Barbo, and
Piccolomini held to the Borgias, they had the preponderance in the Sacred
College. It is, moreover, not improbable that most of the Cardinals had
assented to the appointment of Don Pedro Luis as Prefect of the City, which
took place on the death of the City Prefect, Gian Antonio Orsini, on the 19th
August, 1457. On the evening of the same day the Conservators and the principal
citizens of Rome came to the Papal Palace to thank Calixtus for the selection
he had made. The Pope took the opportunity of assuring them that Don Pedro was,
in feeling and manners, an Italian, and that it was his desire to live and die
a Roman citizen. One of the Conservators went so far as to observe that he
hoped soon to see the new City Prefect King of Rome; all united in requesting
the Pope to make over to Don Pedro the fortresses which had always constituted
the Prefect's fief. Don Pedro himself, in receiving the deputations which came
to congratulate him, expressed his intention of becoming an Italian and his
wish to live in Italy.
These empty speeches were made because everyone
knew how dearly the Pope loved his nephews. In reality there was no love lost
between the new Prefect and the Italians. The manners of almost all the Pope's
nephews were over-bearing and insolent towards the Romans, who retaliated by
bitterly hating the foreigners. Their resentment was aggravated when the good
fortune of the Borgias attracted a host of relations and other Spaniards to
Rome, who brawled in the streets and overran the provinces.
Adventurers of all kinds gathered round the wild
and handsome Don Pedro Luis; the general name of "Catalans" was given
to all these strangers, among whom were Neapolitans as well as Spaniards, and,
similarly, all the Pope's nephews were called "Borgia", whatever might
be their patronymic; Calixtus, indeed, conferred on most of them the honour of
bearing his family name.
From the very beginning of his pontificate the
Pope showed a marked preference for his numerous fellow-countrymen equally with
his nearer and more distant relations. Only a few days after his election we
find evidence of this. The feeling against the Catalans was already so strong
that many Germans and Frenchmen voluntarily resigned their positions at the
Papal Court. The posts thus vacated were filled by Spaniards, who soon formed
the largest portion of the Pope's circle; they were also to be found in the
Papal Chapel and among the artists attached to the court. No large orders,
however, were given to these latter, for, where he could, Calixtus economized
for the sake of the Turkish war.
The power of the Borgias and Catalans became
almost intolerable after the important fortress of St. Angelo had been given up
to them. This was done on the 15th March, 1456, at a late hour in the evening
and after the Pope had threatened the Castellan with the severest penalties.
Great excitement prevailed in the city, and it was thought that nothing short
of the summoning of a general council could avail to restore
tranquillity.
As the military and police were in the hands of
the Catalans they had unlimited power, and administered justice as they chose.
“Every day” says a chronicler, "there were assassinations and encounters
in the streets; nothing but Catalans could be seen". The aged and sickly
Pope had, we are expressly informed, no idea of what was going on. His
attention was constantly engrossed by the war against the Turks; and he thought
that he might safely leave the affairs of Rome to the care of his beloved
nephews.
The confusion in Rome was yet further increased
by repeated visitations of pestilential epidemics. In the beginning of June,
1458, the plague raged so violently that everyone who could do so sought safety
in flight. Most of the Cardinals left the city, amongst them the Portuguese
Cardinal, the Infant James, Giovanni da Castiglione, Filippo Calandrini, and Piccolomini. The last-named betook himself
to the Baths of Viterbo, to continue his former life of peaceful leisure. The
aged Pontiff, however, remained in Rome, and his attention was fully occupied
by the illness of his bitterest opponent, Alfonso of Naples, which terminated
fatally on the 27th June.
On the same day the King's illegitimate son, Don
Ferrante, to whom he had bequeathed Naples, rode with royal pomp through the
city, while the people cried "Long live King Ferdinand!". But this
was not sufficient to overcome the opposition to his accession which arose on
all sides. The aged René of Anjou-Provence, who bore the title of King of
Naples, and his son John, who styled himself Duke of Calabria, accepted the
proposals of the former and recent antagonists of the Aragonese,
all the more readily because Calixtus III, the lord paramount, was also hostile
to that party.
Almost as soon as the Pope had heard what must
to him have been the welcome tidings of Alfonso's death, he sent to the
Neapolitan ambassador's house to have him arrested and taken to St. Angelo. But
the ambassador, who had been warned of the Pope's intentions, and had received
early intelligence of the death of his King, had fled. The property, which he
left behind him, was seized. On the following day Calixtus held a Consistory,
in which he conferred on Cardinal Rodrigo the Bishopric of Valencia, with its
revenue of eighteen thousand ducats, and on his Datary the Bishopric of Gerona.
The same morning Cardinal Luis Juan and other relations of the Pope received
various benefices, the right of appointment to which, in common with the
above-named Bishoprics, had been in dispute between Calixtus and Alfonso. After
dinner the Pope had an interview with Cardinals d'Estouteville and
Alain, lasting nearly till evening, in which he declared his determination of
making every effort to recover Naples for the Church from Don Ferrante, who had
no right to it. The Pope added, were this to take place, and it were proved to
belong to King René, he would give it to him, otherwise he would grant it as a
fief to whomsoever he deemed fit. It was surmised that he intended to bestow it
on Don Pedro. The ambassador, from whom we learn this, says that the Pope looked
on Don Pedro as a second Caesar, and the reports of others are to the same
effect. Many contemporaries even assert that after the conquest of
Constantinople Don Pedro was to have been made its Emperor or King of Cyprus.
There is more intrinsic probability, however, in the statement concerning
Naples, and it is certain that although Ferrante made every possible effort to
bring about a reconciliation, the Pope resolutely refused to acknowledge his
right of succession. On the 14th July a Bull was published in Rome, by which
Calixtus claimed the kingdom of Sicily on this side of the Faro as a lapsed
fief. At the same time its subjects were forbidden to swear fealty to any one
of the pretenders to the Crown; such as had taken an oath were loosed from
their obligations, and the claimants were invited to come to Rome to establish
their rights. Provision was immediately made for the publication of this
document throughout the kingdom of Naples, and it was moreover reported that
the Pope had required from Don Ferrante, under pain of the most severe
punishments, the payment of the sixty thousand ducats which Alfonso had
bequeathed for the crusade.
Great excitement was caused in both Naples and
Rome by this action on the part of the Pope. On the publication of the Bull the
price of corn at once rose in Rome. One of the Conservators, moreover, is
reported to have expressed himself to the effect that in the event of the Pope
making war upon Naples, the Romans would be compelled to choose the lesser
evil. The threat did not deter Calixtus from his purpose, and, in order to give
greater effect to his Bull, he commanded Don Pedro to levy troops for a hostile
demonstration against Naples.
Contemporary despatches from ambassadors show
how strong was the Pope's feeling against Don Ferrante. Calixtus had been
greatly incensed by his letter announcing to the Pope and the Cardinals the
death of his father, in which he already styled himself King. In a conversation
with the Milanese ambassador, he called Ferrante a little bastard, whose father
was unknown. "This boy who is nothing", he said, "calls himself
King without our permission. Naples belongs to the Church, it is the possession
of St. Peter. Alfonso would not assume this title until he had the consent of
the Holy See, in this following our counsel. You," continued the Pope,
"being from Lombardy, where fiefs are more common than elsewhere, know
that, admitting him to be the legitimate successor of Alfonso, he must have our
confirmation before he can be called King. Moreover, Ferrante wrongfully holds
possession of Terracina, Benevento, and other places which belong to the
Church. Many have therefore thought that we should have proceeded against him
with more severity, and altogether denied his right of succession. This we have
not wished to do, but for the defence of the rights of the Church we have
issued this just and holy Bull, which will stand not only on earth but also in
heaven. In it we have reserved his rights as well as those of the other
claimants, for everyone shall have his due. If your Duke, whom we greatly love,
leaves us a free hand, we shall conquer and exalt him as we have always wished
to do; the Duke must attach no importance to a child who is nothing, and whom
no one regards; we have been told that Ferrante, when he heard the words of our
Bull, burst into tears; his subjects do not wish to be excommunicated, and have
accordingly determined to send ambassadors to us; they will be obedient to the
Church. If Don Ferrante will give up his usurped title and humbly place himself
in our hands, we will treat him as one of our own nephews".
Ferrante was by no means disposed to do anything
of the kind. He summoned a Parliament at Capua, and called on his barons for
assistance against the unjust pretensions of the Pope. It was determined that
ambassadors should be sent to Rome to appeal against the Bull of July 12th.
The messengers who brought the Bull into the kingdom were, by order of
Ferrante, seized and soundly beaten. It was a great advantage to him that the
most powerful of Italian princes, Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan, declared
himself against the Pope and acknowledged Ferrante as King. Cosmo de Medici
united with Sforza in supporting him against Papal menaces and French
pretensions.
Under these circumstances it would have been
hard to foretell the complications to which the Neapolitan question might have
given rise had not the death of Calixtus III. completely altered the aspect of
affairs.
The Pope had been seriously ill in the spring,
but had recovered and risen up again with characteristic energy. From the
beginning of July, however, there had been a general failure of strength, and
about the middle of the month his condition had become so much worse that all
the business of government had to be suspended. On the 21st a violent and most
painful attack of gout supervened, and as he was also suffering from fever,
which may have been due to agitation regarding the Neapolitan question, the
physicians gave but little hopes of his recovery.
On the 30th July a report of the Pope's death
was current in Rome, and immediately the hatred of the Romans against the
"Catalans" broke forth; the foreigners were ill-treated in the public
streets by the populace, and a young Catalan was slain. The state of things was
so alarming that the Florentine merchants and the wealthy prelates and
courtiers removed their possessions to places of safety.
Meanwhile the Pope had again rallied a little;
on the 1st and 2nd of August he was decidedly better, but on the 3rd a burning
fever took away all hope of amendment. Even now the marvellous energy of the
aged man made it hard for him to believe that he was so near his end. When the
plain-spoken Cardinal Antonio de la Cerda told him that, as the physicians had
given him up, it was now time to think of his soul and to prepare to die as
beseems a Pope, Calixtus replied that it was not yet certain that he was to die
this time. On the 1st August, however, he made up his mind to receive the
Sacraments, and on the 4th he was anointed.
The affairs of government occupied his attention
while he lay on his death-bed; on the 26th of July he held a Consistory, and on
the 31st he gave proof of the undying strength of his affection for his
relations by an act of great importance.
On the death of King Alfonso, Terracina and
Benevento had reverted to the Church, and on the above-named day the Pope
granted the Vicariate of these two cities to his beloved Don Pedro. If we may
rely on the report of the Milanese ambassador, the Cardinals consented from
fear, lest opposition on their part might have involved imprisonment in St.
Angelo. On the 1st August, Calixtus conferred the Archbishopric of Naples on
Cardinal Tebaldi, the brother of his physician. At the same time it was
understood that he intended to nominate no less than five new Cardinals, of
whom two were to be "Catalans" and two Romans. A violent opposition
arose on the part of the Sacred College, and Cardinals d'Estouteville,
Orsini, Barbo, and de Mella met that
evening in Cardinal Alain's Palace to take counsel. "It appears",
writes one of the ambassadors, "that they have determined not to go to the
Pope's Palace, and above all not to cross the Tiber until St. Angelo is given
over to the Sacred College. Moreover, they have resolved not to consent to the
nomination of new Cardinals".
The excitement was not confined to the great
Princes of the Church. The tidings of the mortal sickness of the Pope had
deeply moved not only Rome, but also the Pontifical States, and the general
confusion was aggravated by the arrival (August 2nd) of Don Ferrante's
ambassadors, who affixed to the doors of St. Peter's an appeal to the new Pope
or to a Council, and declared that if the Cardinals would not listen to them
they would seek the alliance of the Romans.
With a view of maintaining order, the Sacred
College had, before the end of July, appointed a Commission consisting of four
of its members — Cardinals Bessarion, d'Estouteville,
Alain, and Barbo. The Commission met daily, and one of its first acts was
the occupation of the Capitol by a force of two hundred men under the
Archbishop of Ragusa. The Cardinals further made every effort to come to an
understanding with Don Pedro Borgia. This was accomplished more easily than had
been expected. Don Pedro, on whom his brother Rodrigo exercised a restraining
influence, had sense enough to perceive that his longer residence in Rome would
be attended with danger; he therefore gave up to the College of Cardinals all
the fortresses, including St. Angelo, and in return received in coin the sum of
two-and-twenty thousand ducats which Calixtus III had left him by will. His
troops were at once required to take an oath of fealty to the Sacred College in
the person of the Vice-Camerlengo; the dying Pope being left in ignorance of
these transactions. The Cardinals had already taken into their keeping the
treasury of the Church, which at the time contained a hundred and twenty
thousand ducats.
The excessive bitterness of the Orsini family
against Don Pedro can easily be accounted for. It was an open secret that they
would spare no efforts to bring about his downfall, and his way had been barred
by land and by sea. Moreover, the violence of the popular fury against the
"Catalans" had now in many places increased. In Rome the hated
foreigners were cut to pieces whenever they fell into the hands of their
enemies. Under these circumstances Don Pedro felt that he was not safe, and he
knew that his danger was all the greater because most of his troops were
Italians, and he had not treated them very well; by the end of July it was
thought that he would flee to Spoleto, and there await the election of a new
Pope.
Don Pedro's flight actually took place early in
the morning of the 6th of August. He was assisted by Cardinal Pietro Barbo,
who was a friend of the Borgias, and was anxious to prevent bloodshed. In order
to avoid the snares of the Orsini, Don Pedro proceeded with the greatest
circumspection. He mounted his horse at three in the morning, accompanied by
his brother Rodrigo in disguise, and by Cardinal Pietro Barbo, who brought
with him three hundred horse and two hundred foot. They first passed through
the Porta del Castello di St. Angelo, and turned towards Ponte Molle. They then came back through the Porta del Popolo into the city, and hurried on, choosing the
least inhabited streets to the Porta di San Paolo. At this gate the two
Cardinals parted from him, after commanding the soldiers to escort him to
Ostia. But Don Pedro was already detested to such a degree that, although the
order was given in the name of the Sacred College, nearly all the soldiers
refused to accompany him any further. "Not one even of the grooms",
says an ambassador, "would remain with him". Fresh difficulties met
the forsaken fugitive at Ostia, where he had ordered a galley with money and
other valuables to await him. In vain did he look for this vessel, which had
disappeared long before his arrival, and he was accordingly compelled to escape
in a boat to Cività Vecchia.
Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia showed more courage. He
had retired to Tivoli in June on account of the unhealthy state of Rome, but
returned during the night, between the 25th and 26th July, on hearing of the
dangerous illness of the Pope. In the general confusion his servants forsook
him, so that his splendid palace was left to be plundered by the populace.
Rodrigo's return to the city, after his brother's flight, was a brave action.
The chronicler of Viterbo says that the Cardinal went to St. Peter's to pray
for the forsaken and dying Pope.
For fully a fortnight the aged Pontiff hung
between life and death, until at last, on the evening of the 6th of August, the
Feast of the Transfiguration, which he himself had instituted, God released him
from his sufferings.
Except for his nepotism, Calixtus III deserves
high praise, more especially for the energy, constancy and purpose which he
displayed in dealing with the burning question of the day — the protection of
Western civilization from the Turkish power. In this matter he gave a grand
example to Christendom, and it is to be observed that in the midst of the
military and political interest which claimed so large a share of his time and
attention, he did not neglect the internal affairs of the Church, and vigorously
opposed heresies.
The tidings of the Pope's death caused the
greatest excitement in Rome. The Orsini and the other enemies of already taken
flight, and those who still remained in the city sought to conceal themselves
in out-of-the-way places, for the populace were attacking the houses of all the
Spaniards and of any Romans who belonged to the Borgia party. Cardinal Barbo was
included in the hatred borne to the family of the late Pope, and the assistance
which he had afforded to Don Pedro in his flight was not forgiven.
The bitter feeling against the evil doings of
the Spanish strangers led to bloodshed in many parts of the States of the
Church. Disturbances had occurred in Viterbo as early as August 1st. The
Castellan of Castelnuovo was slain by
Stefano Colonna, and a like fate befell the Catalan Castellan of Nepi. At Cività Castellana, Fabriano,
Ascoli, and other places, the people rose with the cry, "Long live the
Church!". The Orsini, with the consent of the College of Cardinals,
invested San Gregorio, which Don Pedro had formerly wrested from them. Jacopo
Piccinino again appeared to see what he could fish out of the troubled waters.
Almost as soon as he heard of the Pope's dangerous illness he concluded a truce
with Malatesta, and returned to the States of the Church. On the 15th August he
appeared before Assisi, and the Catalan Castellan gave it up to him for a sum
of money. Piccinino also occupied Gualdo,
Nocera, Bevagna, and other places, and pitched
his camp at Foligno. It was believed that there
was an understanding between him and the King of Naples, who thus sought to
extort a recognition of his own claims, to frighten the Cardinals, and to
prevent the election of a French Pope.
Even in the last week of July negotiations
regarding the Papal election had begun among the Cardinals, and the Italian
Cabinets had also been busy. The questions connected with the succession to the
chair of St. Peter were, indeed, of a most important character. Was the new
Pope to be an Italian, a Spaniard, or a Frenchman, a friend of the Orsini or of
the Colonna party? Would he favour the French or the Aragonese dynasty in Naples? Would he attack the Turks? Would he be a man of peace or a
man of war?
It would appear that the Italian Cardinals,
mindful of the previous Conclave which had resulted in the election of a
foreigner, on this occasion at once proposed one of their own number, against
whom no party could raise any serious objection. This was Cardinal Capranica,
in favour of whose election, as an ambassador expressly declares, Italian and
non-Italian Cardinals, Orsini and Colonna, were unanimous.
The powerful Duke of Milan used his influence on
behalf of Capranica. Writing on August 2nd to his ambassadors in Rome he
says, "We wish you on this occasion to use all your zeal and all your skill,
and leave nothing undone, of course, with due care for what is becoming, for
the fulfilment of our desires. We exclude every other". On the following
day Simonetta, the Duke's confidant, repeated the command, and pointed out
that Capranica was not only the most worthy member of the Sacred
College, but also the individual best fitted to carry out ecclesiastical
reforms. The King of Naples also was induced to favour his election.
The explanation of this marvellous unanimity is
to be found in the moral purity and the rare qualities of this great man.
Domenico Capranica was born in the
Jubilee year of 1400, in the little town near Palestrina, which bore his name.
Although of modest fortune, his family was intimate with that of the Colonna.
Domenico, who from his earliest youth showed a great love of learning, went at
fifteen years of age to the University of Padua to study civil and canon law.
Here Nicholas of Cusa was his fellow-disciple, and together they sat
at the feet of Cesarini. The relations between Capranica and
his master were of the happiest and most friendly description, and became yet
more intimate when they were both on the same day raised to the purple. Capranica pursued
his legal studies in Bologna with extraordinary zeal. Sleep, of which he
allowed himself but a scanty measure, often surprised him over his books. His
attention to jurisprudence did not lead him to neglect polite literature, and
even at this early period a brilliant future was predicted for the gifted
youth, who outstripped all his companions, and was the favourite of his
teachers. His modesty was such that he used to blush when an older person
addressed a question to him. Never, during his student life, did he take part
in any public merry-makings or banquets, and we cannot be surprised to learn
that he received the doctor's cap when only one-and-twenty. Martin V was at
this time living in Mantua, and was a friend of the Capranica family;
Domenico accordingly at a very early age became a clerk of the Apostolic
Chamber. In his new position he diligently continued his studies; St.
Augustine, St. Jerome, Cassian, and Seneca are said to have been his favourite
authors.
The more Pope Martin V saw of the young
official, the more persuaded did he become of his remarkable learning and of
his rare virtues. In consequence he raised him to the purple when only three
and thirty, but deferred the publication of his promotion to a later period for
fear of the jealousy which it might arouse.
After Capranica had admirably
accomplished several difficult missions entrusted to him by the Pope, and had
also distinguished himself as leader of the Papal troops, Martin V made him
Governor of Perugia, where his justice, moderation, and disinterestedness won
the affection of the people, and led them to look upon him as a father.
Martin V's last creation of Cardinals took place
in the beginning of November, 1430, and on this occasion Ram, Prospero Colonna, Cesarini and Capranica were published. His
friends received the tidings of his elevation with the greatest joy, and many
of the Cardinals, including Albergati and
the great Cesarini, congratulated him in the most
cordial terms. “I pray the Giver of all good things”, wrote the latter,
"daily to increase in you the virtues by which you have merited the
purple. May God grant to us both that as we have received this dignity upon
earth at the same time we may also together be partakers of the glory of
heaven”.
Capranica purposed soon after his
publication to go to Rome in order to express his gratitude to the Pope, and to
receive his hat and ring. The unsettled state of Perugia, however, caused him
to defer his journey, and in the interval Martin V died. After the death of his
patron our Cardinal at once repaired thither with the view of taking part in
the coming election. Anxious to avoid hurting the feelings of any member of the
Sacred College, he halted at San Lorenzo fuori le mura, and sent three messengers to ask that he might be
admitted to the Conclave. Meanwhile his enemies had been actively at work; his
connection with the Colonna family and the circumstance that he had filled
a position in the treasury were brought up in an invidious manner. No
one, however, ventured to take any open measures against him. After a long
delay he was informed that the existing state of affairs in Perugia made it
seem most desirable that he should return there. Capranica perfectly
Understood the design of his enemies, but not wishing to occasion any confusion
in the Conclave he acceded to the desire of the Cardinals. Before his departure
he caused ah act to be drawn up in which he complained of their delay, and
declared that he would for the sake of peace yield to their wishes, but that he
maintained his rights; against any attack on his position as Cardinal he
appealed to the Council.
The election of Eugenius IV immediately took
place. Capranica hastened to send messengers to congratulate the new
Pope on his elevation, and respectfully to ask permission to appear with the
red hat. But his enemies had already succeeded in completely prejudicing the
mind of Eugenius against him. The Orsini, who bitterly hated the Colonna and
their adherents, had been particularly active. They had caused Capranica's palace in Rome to be plundered, and his
precious library had been dispersed. Soon after these tidings had reached him
he heard that officers were on their way from Rome to arrest him. He therefore
fled to the Convent of San Silvestro, on the Soracte,
and waited there in hopes that the Pope would in time be better advised. These
hopes were vain, as also were the efforts made by a few of the Cardinals on his
behalf. A commission appointed by Eugenius gave judgment against him, and the
dignity of Cardinal was denied him.
Under these circumstances Capranica determined
to seek protection from the Council then sitting at Basle. He appealed to this
assembly, and set out to present himself before it. In Siena he took into his
service Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini and Pietro da Noceto,
who was afterwards the confidant of Nicholas V. After a difficult and dangerous
journey they arrived at Basle in the spring of 1432. In the meantime Eugenius,
further irritated by calumnious reports, had deprived him of the posts which he
held, and had even confiscated his patrimony. The Cardinal was thus reduced to
such poverty that he was compelled to dismiss his retainers, and amongst them
Piccolomini and Noceto.
The Council, whose general esteem Capranica soon
gained, pronounced in his favour. With admirable moderation, however, while
claiming the purple as his right, he distinguished between persons and offices.
During the whole of his sojourn at Basle he was never betrayed by his
controversy with the Pope into any anti-Roman step, nor did he ever suffer a
harsh word against Eugenius or the Court of Rome to pass his lips. When an
opportunity offered of coming to an understanding with the Pope he gladly
embraced it. When at last a satisfactory arrangement had been arrived at, he
went to Florence and was cordially received by Eugenius (1435). His relations
with the Pope soon assumed an intimate character, which was only for a short
time disturbed by his courageous protest against the admission of Vitelleschi to the Sacred College. Important and
honourable missions were entrusted to him, and he took part in the zealous
Pontiffs monastic reforms, as well as in the negotiations for Union with the
Greeks. He, together with Cesarini, induced the Pope
to make Bessarion a Cardinal. The reconciliation of Germany with the Church,
which was the last joy of Eugenius IV on earth, was a congenial task to his gentle
and kindly nature, and his zeal and discretion largely contributed to it. The
place which the Cardinal held in the estimation of the Romans is evident from
the fact that on the death of Eugenius it was generally expected that he would
be the next wearer of the tiara, although he was at the time only forty-seven
years of age. The reasons which prevented his election on this occasion are
unknown.
Capranica, or the Cardinal of Fermo, as he was
styled from his Archiepiscopal See, was valued by the new Pope even more highly
than he had been by Eugenius. He accompanied Nicholas V on his various
journeys, and in the year 1449 was appointed by him to the important office of
Grand Penitentiary, the duties of which he discharged in the most admirable
manner. Various difficult legations were, as we have already said, confided to
him, and while fulfilling these he also gave proof of his genuine devotion to
the Church by promoting the cause of reform wherever it was possible to do so.
In the Conclave after the death of Nicholas V
there seemed again a likelihood that Capranica would be chosen.
During the Pontificate of Nicholas V he had already been actively interested in
the Turkish question, and under Calixtus III he redoubled his efforts for the
protection of Christendom. The plague, which raged in Rome in the year 1456,
drove almost all the Cardinals away, but he remained with the Pope. He
fearlessly traversed the infected streets, strewn with the unburied corpses of
its victims, as he went to confer with Nicholas on the affairs of the Church.
He displayed equal courage of another sort in personally and freely
remonstrating with Calixtus when favours were heaped upon his unworthy
relations. As we have already related, he steadfastly refused to acquiesce in
Don Pedro's appointment as Duke of Spoleto. The enmity which he thus incurred
induced him to withdraw more and more from public life, and he employed his
time of retirement in pious exercises, as if foreseeing his approaching end.
In the last days of July, 1458, just at the time
when negotiations regarding his election as Pope were going on, Capranica was
attacked by a slight indisposition, which soon grew into a mortal sickness. His
first care was to receive the Holy Sacraments, and to seek pardon from the
Cardinals for any offence he might have given them.
Years before he had composed a little book,
which we may really call a golden volume, on “the art of dying”, and all his
thoughts were now directed entirely to eternity. He consoled the friends who
stood mourning around his bed by reminding them that the death of those only is
to be lamented who have never thought of dying until they saw that they could
live no longer.
The ideal of what a Cardinal should be is
certainly a very high one. Capranica may be said to have realized it.
All his contemporaries are unanimous in testifying that this great man united
learning and piety in an uncommon degree. His life was that of a Saint. His
nightly repose was limited to four hours. Immediately on rising he recited the
Hours, he then said or heard Mass, generally first going to Confession. Before
granting audiences he devoted several hours to the study of the Fathers, among
whom he had a special love for St. Jerome and St. Augustine. No women were
allowed to enter his apartments, neither religious women nor his nearest
relations — not even his sister and sister-in-law were excepted from this rule.
The Cardinal of Fermo had built himself a palace
suitable to his dignity in the vicinity of Santa Maria in Aquiro in Rome, but luxury found no place within its
walls. His manner of life was remarkable for its simplicity; his dinner
consisted of one dish. He hated court ceremonies, and in intercourse with
others he was simple, short, and precise. His ecclesiastical household was
composed exclusively of men of worth; various nationalities found place in it.
To those around him he was rather a careful father than a master. If he
perceived a fault in one of his retainers he at once endeavoured to correct it.
He could be vehement and severe in dealing with the vicious and idle, and was
unsparing in his reproofs to prelates who forsook their churches and busied
themselves at court. Capranica was sterner towards himself than
towards others. It is told of him that never, even in joke, did he permit
himself to utter a falsehood. He repeatedly asked his friends frankly to point
out his faults to him. When his dead body was unclothed it was found that even
in his last illness he had worn an instrument of penance. His liberality was so
unbounded that he was often in pecuniary difficulties. He frequently disposed
of silver vessels and gave the proceeds, in secret, to the poor, who were
required to promise that they would never let anyone know of his bounty. He
bequeathed all his property to ecclesiastical uses. “The Church” he would say,
"gave it to me; I give it back, for I was not its master but its steward.
I should, indeed, have reaped but little profit from the nights spent in
studying ecclesiastical decisions if I were to leave the goods of the Church,
which belong to the poor, to my own relations".
In Rome and in the States of the Church, Capranica zealously
strove to settle the numerous feuds which existed. If anyone would not be
reconciled he used to take him into his room, and having bound him to secrecy,
fall on his knees and implore him to make peace with his enemy.
He was a great lover of learning; his own
attainments, especially in theology and in canon law, were considerable, and he
counted among his friends both ecclesiastical and humanistic scholars. His
valuable library was open to all students. He was also the founder of the first
of the numerous colleges in Rome. In this institution, which still exists and
bears his name, thirty-one poor scholars were to be received, of whom sixteen were
to study theology and the liberal arts, and the remainder canon law. As his
means were not sufficient to enable him to erect a building for this college,
he received the students into his own palace. The constitutions, which he drew
up himself, are in their way a model. Capranica was also an author.
We have already spoken of his "Art of dying"; he also collected the
Acts of the Council of Basle, wrote a work on the Turkish war, dedicated to
Calixtus III, and for his nephews a set of Rules of Life, in which his
beautiful character is reflected.
When in the second week of August the physicians
declared Capranica to be out of danger, the joy with which the
announcement was received by all friends of learning and all well-disposed
persons may be imagined. But a violent attack of fever came on in the night
between the the 13th and 14th, and by the afternoon of the latter day
he was dead. A short time before he breathed his last he received the Holy
Sacraments with such recollection and piety that he seemed to those who stood
by like an angel from Paradise. The last words which the dying man addressed to
his friends were to beg the alms of their prayers, and to exhort them to
continue to labour indefatigably for the welfare of the Church which he had
loved so ardently in life.
"Two hours before his death," writes
Otto de Carretto, the Duke of Milan's
ambassador, "the Cardinal gave me his hand and said, 'God be with you; it
grieves me to the heart that I have not been able before my departure to show
to your lord and yourself the gratitude you deserve from me; but God will repay
you'. I," continues the ambassador, "had no power to answer him. And
so, my illustrious Duke, the wisest, the most perfect, the most learned and the
holiest prelate whom the Church in our days has possessed is gone from us. His
whole life was devoted to the exaltation of the Roman Church. He was the pillar
of Italian peace and a mirror of piety and all sanctity. We all confidently
expected soon to be able to honour him as Pope, for parties in general were
agreed regarding his elevation. And now we must sorrowfully assist at his
obsequies. Such is the world! So is every hope disappointed!" With these
words, written an hour after Capranica's death,
the ambassador closes the despatch from whose faded lines the warm heart of the
writer still speaks to our souls.
The remains of the great man found a fitting
resting-place near the grave of St. Catherine of Siena in Santa Maria sopra
Minerva. He was lamented by all. "Nothing but mourning and sighing is
heard” wrote the ambassador of the Marquess Lodovico de Gonzaga on the 19th
August, in reference to this calamity.
The Romans had, indeed, good cause for grief. Of
all the cardinals of the Renaissance Age none but Albergati, Cesarini, and Carvajal can compare with Capranica.
His sudden death was, in the existing state of affairs, the heaviest imaginable
loss to the Church.
Two days later the Conclave began, and from it
issued, as Pope, a cardinal distinguished alike as a statesman and an author,
who had once been secretary to the Cardinal of Fermo.
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