Under the name of Pius II (1458-1464), the remarkable humanist poet and scholar Enea Silvio Piccolomini entered the papal throne. Together with him, the throne of St. Peter was captured by the idea of the era - humanism. (This was the same embodiment of the idea of the century, as in its time the triumph of the idea of militant mysticism was embodied in the election of a hermit pope.)
A native of Siena, fifty-three years old, but already badly battered by the previous turbulent life, the humanist pope was already by that time the highest church dignitary. But he remained a humanist to the core. Pope Calixte knew that he was the father of two illegitimate children, but turned a blind eye to this and kept them in his entourage. As secretary to Cardinal Capranica, Piccolomini participated in the Council of Basel, where he showed himself to be a supporter of extreme conciliarism. That is why he went to the service of the last antipope Felix V. When the position of the antipope became hopeless, he tried his luck at the court of the German-Roman emperor. As a dexterous imperial diplomat, Piccolomini traveled almost all of Europe. Educated, witty, possessing universal knowledge, Piccolomini simultaneously combined a poet, historiographer, geographer, politician and diplomat, anything but a high clergyman! When he was honored with the cardinal's cap, he also found his place as the highest clergyman, earning himself favor and respect.
The election of Pius II was greeted by Rome with stormy enthusiasm, because with him the "prince of the humanists" entered the papal throne. (Another question is that the humanist pope, due to vague internal conditions, did not really care about Rome and was more pleased to be in other cities of Italy than in his Roman residence.) A cardinal from the Colonna family placed the papal tiara on the head of Pius II, symbolizing this unity of Rome and humanism. Pius II, even as a pope, retained his commitment to the arts, antiquity, to all manifestations of living life. Under him, a systematic collection of the treasures of ancient Rome began. Piccolomini continued his literary work as a pope. Only one single papal manuscript, written in classical Latin, has come down to us - his memoirs.
The central idea of the pontificate of Pius II was the creation of a large European anti-Turkish alliance. He convened for this purpose a congress of European monarchs. In a papal bull issued on October 13, 1458, beginning with the words "Vocabit nos Pius", the pope ordered a congress to be held in Mantua. In 1459 he arrived at Mantua for the opening of the congress and gave a speech in brilliant Latin; however, the meeting suffered a complete fiasco due to the indifference and passivity of the monarchs. Pope Pius had to take into account that the era of the knightly crusades had irrevocably passed and that, even as a pope, he would not be able to awaken to a new life the ideals of chivalry long gone, although glorified in his poems. In place of the Christian Middle Ages came the era of centralized estate monarchies.
Christian princes and monarchs did not budge, and the pope began to make new attempts to repel the Turkish danger. In 1461, Pius sent a letter to the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, in which - along with an attempt to harmonize and unite the Christian faith with the Koran - he called on the Turkish ruler to convert to the Christian faith. Then, they say, the pope recognizes him as the heir to the Byzantine Empire, crowns him and concludes an alliance with him! These fantastic plans showed that the head of the humanist church, living in the world of ideas, had not a very developed instinct in the field of practical affairs; practical policy concerning the problems of the Eastern European peoples, their state existence. We can consider this step even more wonderful and strange, knowing that the Palaiologos dynasty, expelled by the Turks, sought refuge in Rome.
Desperate attempts to unite the Christian powers failed; this was facilitated by the fact that Pius II, having abandoned the concilarist views of his youth, became, as pope, a resolute supporter and defender of noble absolutism. At the beginning of 1460, he issued the bull "Execrabilis", in which he emphasized that no one could protest the papal verdict by appealing to the ecumenical council; whoever does this excommunicates himself from the church. This step of the pope aggravated, first of all, his relations with France. Supported by King Louis XI, the French Church, in the spirit of the Pragmatic Sanction adopted in Bourges in 1438, stood on the positions of conciliarism, because in this way it could secure its autonomy, its "Gallican freedoms" in opposition to the supreme power of the pope. Since the pope did not support French claims to Naples, the king, for his part, tacitly recognized these Gallican rights and freedoms. The speech of Pius II against concilarism caused discontent both in Italy and in the German-Roman Empire (in Germany, mainly because of the ever-increasing papal taxes).
Meanwhile, however, the danger of a Turkish invasion threatened not only Hungary, but also Italy directly, and above all Venice. In 1463 the Venetian fleet stood ready to undertake a naval campaign against the Turks. In September 1463, at a meeting of the consistory, Pius II announced that he himself would become the head of the combined papal and Venetian military fleets. However, the pope arrived in Ancona already broken by a fatal illness. And literally on the threshold of the realization of his plan, Pius II was struck down by death - thus, nothing came of this campaign.
Following the pope - a humanist poet, the nephew of Eugene IV, Cardinal Pietro Barbo, who took the name of Paul II (1464-1471), took the papal throne; it was again the anti-humanist dad. The new pope was a genuine Venetian: he loved the pomp, was a clever diplomat, but suspicious by nature, a stern, prudent person. In making the final decision at the conclave, two points equally played a role: the promise of Pietro Barbo to start a crusade against the Turks and the promise to convene an ecumenical council. Under Paul II, who was, one might say, inaccessible (very rarely held hearings of advisers and high clergy), papal dignity acquired the outward pomp of the Renaissance. Paul II loved beauty, but did not recognize the human element in it, but he himself was delighted with his own beauty. Generally speaking, the external pomp became an organic part of the Catholic cult during this period. In place of spiritual, religious life, in place of faith, coming from the very depths of the soul, came the outward pomposity of church rituals. This pomp has also developed populist varieties. For the broad masses of the people, by no means humanists, but as before, the church meant culture, festivity, entertainment. Opportunities for this were provided by the ever more colorful and generous feasts of the church year. By the way, it was in accordance with the order of Paul II, issued in 1470. The holy year was supposed to be celebrated every 25 years.
The reign of Paul II was characterized by arbitrariness and the relegation to the background of the College of Cardinals, whose influence was growing. The growing power of the cardinal consistory, of course, was contrary to papal absolutism. The pope cut the fabulous incomes of the cardinals, the expenses of the curia, pursued the simony. These reformist orders limited the patronage of the pope and the cardinals, which, in turn, made the Roman humanists, artists and masters of art impoverished wanderers. The attacks of the humanists on the stern and despotic pope were encouraged by the cardinals. The leader of the humanists, Bartolomeo Platina, had already threatened to convene an ecumenical council. The Pope responded by ordering Platina to be arrested and kept in the Castel Sant'Angelo. Here it must be borne in mind that Platinus, in his work on the history of the papacy, on which he was working at that time, presented Paul II as a barbarian, an enemy of culture and the arts.
Paul II strove for the internal strengthening of the Church state, realizing that only by relying on a single state, the popes would be able to prevent its annexation by the French or the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs. Pope Paul also realized that a joint campaign against the Turks was no longer possible. Therefore, he saw his task in helping the Christian states, which were fighting the Turks not for life, but for death, not only morally, but also materially, with money. Based on this, he really supported Hungary, Venice and Albania with significant sums. Under Paul II, a new conflict arose: between the Czech Republic and the papacy. Czech national king Jiří Poděbrad (1458-1471) favored moderate Hussism; for this the pope excommunicated him from the church in 1466. In the dynastic war between the Hungarian king Matthias and the Czech king, the pope took the side of Hungary.
Acting in the spirit of papal absolutism, Paul II consistently avoided convening an ecumenical council (council of reforms). Even the personal visit of Emperor Frederick III in 1468 to Rome could not influence the change in this position of his. Pope Paul clearly saw that at this time the Council of Reforms could only end in the defeat of papal primacy.
In the person of Sixtus IV (1471-1484), the founder of the Rovere dynasty ascended the throne of St. Peter, in order to then make the papal throne hereditary for this family. Under him, the politics of nepotism already unequivocally prevailed over the general interests of the church and the papacy. Francesco della Rovere, before his election as pope, was first a meek Franciscan friar, then from 1464 - the master of this order, and from 1470 - a cardinal.
Pope Sixtus IV already felt like an Italian sovereign. The fact is that by the time he ascended the papal throne, the opportunities for the missionary and mentoring activities of the popes had finally been exhausted, the anti-Turkish struggle had failed; thus, there was only one thing left to do - to take control of the political life of Italy. The means for this was the conquest of world domination by the pope (and, accordingly, the family nominating the pope) through kinship and nepotism, which now acquired the concrete forms and character of the founding of the dynasty. Sixtus IV did not hide the fact that he saw the task of his pontificate in the rise of the Rovere family to the level of the richest and most influential families in Italy. In accordance with this, the pope not only provided his relatives with church posts, but also contributed to the acquisition of Italian duchies and principalities by them.
Sixtus IV, contrary to the capitulations (electoral obligations) signed by him during his election, appointed 34 new cardinals, including six of his nephews. A magnificent perpetuation of this princely nepotism is the famous fresco by Melazzo da Forli, which depicts the founding of the Vatican Library; she portrays Sixtus IV as a prince and patron of the arts in the circle of his family and courtiers. Before him knelt Platinum, appointed by him as prefect of the library; the rest of the faces depicted in the fresco are the pope's cardinal nephews. We see Giuliano Rovere, who later became Pope Julius II, as well as (also a nephew) the young and infamous for his immorality Pietro Riario; both were made by Sixtus first to the bishops, and then to the cardinals, and were endowed with huge benefices. Giuliano, who had a clear inclination towards leaderism, organized a family party in the College of Cardinals in order to secure the right of succession. And if we talk about Pietro, then his annual income, according to one Hungarian church historian, was - if converted into Hungarian pengös at the rate of 1938 - a million pengös! Pietro led an unbridled life and died young. Another nephew, Cardinal Raffaello Riario, was later involved in an assassination attempt on Pope Leo X.
Girolamo Riario had the greatest influence on Pope Sixtus IV. This nephew did not take holy orders and was a mercenary commander in the Papal State. He used the power of the popes to create his principality. Sixtus IV awarded him the title of duke, setting himself the goal of creating a grand duchy for Girolamo Riario on the beautiful and fertile plains of Romagna. In the interests of this, he used all his authority as the head of the church. But in Rome he ran into opposition from the Colonnas and began to persecute and drive them out as they resisted his plan. With the expulsion of the Column, the pope managed to keep Rome and its environs in his hands. He also spoke out against the nepotism of previous popes. From this time on, it became generally accepted that the new pope, with the help of his relatives and adherents, drove out the enriched relatives and minions of his predecessor.
In connection with the ongoing family policy, Sixtus IV developed hostile relations with the Medici clan in Florence. Girolamo, in all likelihood, with the knowledge of the pope and with the support of the Florentine Pazzi family, attempted to overthrow the dominance of the Medici. During a conspiracy in 1478, the leaders of the Medici clan wanted to be slaughtered on the Florentine Hill. Giuliano de' Medici was killed, Lorenzo was wounded.
Pope Sixtus subordinated the very expansion of the Church State to the interests of his family. He purchased Imola and Forlì for Pietro Riario. The Pope no longer forced a crusade against the Turks, although taxes imposed on her needs continued to be levied. Those huge sums of money that his predecessors collected for the purpose of this war, the pope used mainly to strengthen the power of his family. "The real Turks are now the pope's nephews," a catchphrase was circulating in Rome. (In this, however, there was a certain exaggeration. According to Thraknoi, Sixtus IV sent Matthias 200,000 gold to fight the Turks.)
As a generous philanthropist, Sixtus IV earned himself immortal fame by patronizing the art of the Renaissance: Rome really became a city of the Renaissance, the center of Italian culture. Suffice it to mention here the amazing frescoes on the walls of the Vatican chapel (chapel), named after him. The chapel, 40 meters long, 14 meters wide and 18 meters high, with 6 windows in two parallel walls, was completed in 1483. Each of these walls was decorated with six frescoes; on one side - from the life of Moses, on the other - from the life of Christ. (Artists: Pinturicchio, Botticelli, Chirlandaio, Perugino, Roselli and Signorelli.) Above these frescoes, images of 28 popes could be seen. The chapel is the most ornate part of the Vatican; conclaves, consistory meetings, the most solemn papal events were held here
The pope entrusted Platina with the equipment of the Vatican Library, a description of the history of the popes. (B. Platina: De vitis ac gentis pontificum. Colon, 1626.) At the direction of Sixtus, the "ancestor" of the Vatican archive was also created. This order of his was, first of all, an organic part of the improvement of the papal bureaucratic structures and the administration of cassation.
With Pope Sixtus IV, an atmosphere of venality was established in the Vatican Palace. The cardinals at the conclave gave their votes to those candidates who promised a large amount. And Sixtus himself received the tiara in the same way. The Curia organized, through an early form of the World Bank, the buying and selling of all church offices and privileges. With his family policy, the pope incredibly expanded the sale and purchase of church offices, which extended to everything from the appointment of cardinals down to the granting of the most insignificant privilege and papal blessing.
In 1475, Sixtus again celebrated the Jubilee Holy Year, which was marked by a growing cult of Mary. During the pontificate of Sixtus, the strengthening of Spanish influence again began to be felt - the pope was looking for the support of the Spaniards against the pro-French-minded Medici and Colonna. At this time, a single Spanish absolutist bureaucratic monarchy was formed on the Iberian Peninsula. In 1479, as a result of the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, Castile and Aragon were reunited under the Spanish crown. In the Spanish monarchy, church and state were extremely strongly intertwined, since the Catholic faith and the church were a binding and unifying force for a long time. This was also the reason that it was here that the most cruel state inquisition took shape.
As soon as Sixtus IV died, unrest and anarchy began again in Rome. In the city, bandit gangs snooped, robbed and set fire to, street fights broke out. This shows that the desire to make the rule of the Nepotes hereditary after the death of the pope is doomed to failure, since the papal monarchy, in accordance with its constitution, is an elective kingdom: the monarch, that is, the pope, does not inherit power, it can only come to him as a result of his election by the cardinals. Anarchy was facilitated by the clashes and struggle of interests of family clans who nominated popes with the aim, in particular, of winning over the masses to their side.
After the death of the pope, the chances of two family clans - the Borgia party (headed by Rodrigo Borgia) and the Rovere party (led by Giuliano Rovere) - turned out to be equal in the college of cardinals. This was largely in line with the Franco-Spanish orientation as well. As a result, the usual compromise was born: Cardinal Cibo was elected pope, who took the name Innocent VIII (1484-1492). He owed his election primarily to Giuliano della Rovere, whose influence was decisive even during his papacy.
Pope Innocent VIII entered the Vatican "accompanied" by 16 illegitimate children. But, having become a dad, he generously took care not only of them, but also of all his numerous relatives. Thus, the aristocratic Genoese Cibo family became a new pope-nominating dynasty. The son of Innocent, Franceschetto Cibo, married Maddalena Medici, while the son of Lorenzo Medici, thirteen-year-old Giovanni Medici, was elevated to the rank of cardinal by the pope, he later became Pope Leo X. With his dynastic policy, Innocent won Florence as an ally in the conflict that arose with the Kingdom of Naples . All this indicated that the "Renaissance" pope conducted politics as one of the monarchs of Italy.
As for high politics, his predecessor, Sixtus IV, started a feud with Matthias over Ancona, while Innocent VIII began to mediate in concluding peace between Matthias and Emperor Maximilian. In fact, it can be said that, since the policy of Pope Innocent began to take an anti-Habsburg orientation, the Hungarian kings supported it. Pope Innocent was also not a strong supporter of the struggle against the Turks. He preferred to achieve peace between Europe and the Turks through negotiations. For his own benefit, he used the internal strife that undermined the Turkish imperial court. When he tried to provoke a putsch of the Duke of Cem against Sultan Bayazed, which ended in failure, the Duke was forced to seek refuge in the Vatican in 1489. Although Matthias also laid claim to the fugitive duke, the pope held him as a hostage in Rome. (The Sultan allegedly paid the pope an annual rent for the asylum granted to the duke, which turned out to be a real captivity.)
During the entire reign of Innocent VIII, he had to constantly deal with the problems of restoring public security in the vicinity of Rome. For example, the following fact can serve as a characteristic of the situation of that time: a high-ranking embassy delegation sent by the Roman king Maximilian was robbed near Rome and stripped to their underwear by robbers. The Pope tried to put an end to the unrest by reorganizing the administration of the Church State. On December 31, 1487, with his bull "Non debet reprehensibile", Innocent created the predecessor of the future secretariat of state - Camera secretaria, establishing that the number of secretaries living in the Vatican should be 24. This body functioned as a kind of office of the papal office. At the head was a secret secretary, whose office still exists today.
Pope Innocent VIII, who died in 1492 (the year Columbus discovered America), gave his blessing to the church for the inhuman persecution and destruction of witches. It is amazing that just at the end of the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the New Age, this mass hysteria takes on tragic proportions. The belief in witchcraft brought back to life ancient religious elements, which became widespread, one might say, in all strata of society. According to the church, witchcraft was a kind of communication with the devil. Witchcraft took on a variety of forms in every country; in Italy, for example, it was believed that the realm of witches was love. The hunt for witches, their persecution, was inflated by the mendicant religious orders closest to primitive, popular beliefs, primarily the Dominicans. Prompted by them, Pope Innocent VIII issued on December 5, 1484, his bull "Summis desiderantes" ("With the greatest zeal"), in which he gave consent and blessing to the church for the persecution of witches. After this, the persecution of witches took on a universal character, creating for the Inquisition - in the absence of other heretics - a huge field of activity. Social subordination, the dependent position of women found their expression in the fact that witchcraft was considered, in essence, only a woman's sin, a woman's crime. The strength and vitality of this superstition is evidenced by the fact that later Protestant churches also took part in persecutions, witch hunts.
While historical research abounds with many contradictory statements about a number of prominent popes, about the most famous pope of the Renaissance - Alexander VI (1492-1503), the opinion of the vast majority of historians, with the exception of individual French authors, is surprisingly unambiguous: a harsh, condemning sentence.
According to the official Catholic history of the papacy, "he is the darkest figure in the papacy" (Adriani G. A pocket guide to the history of religion. Munich, 1975, p. 170), and also: "His reign was a misfortune for the church" (Franzen A., Beumer R. History of the Papacy, Freiburg - Basel-Vienna, 1974, p. 279). Why such a harsh, condemning assessment, although it is well known that during his reign the Italian Renaissance reached its climax, and also that no dogmatic errors, heretics or other deviations from the true faith can be blamed on Alexander VI? Behind this phenomenon, undoubtedly, is the truly "Renaissance" personality of Pope Borgia, with all its contradictions and extremes.
Rodrigo Borgia, as Nepot Calixtus III, became a cardinal while still very young, and a year later - deputy head of the papal office. Cardinal Borgia, according to his contemporaries, was an exceptionally handsome man, clearly an endearing person who few could resist. Although he became a cardinal in 1455, he received the papal regalia only in 1468. There is no doubt that he was the most authoritative among the cardinals. God rewarded him with exceptional abilities: he was a clever diplomat and an experienced statesman, but at the same time he was distinguished by greed and stinginess, cunning, immorality and a clearly secular, worldly mentality, despite his dignity as a high priest. In his cardinal palace, he openly cohabited first with one woman, then with another; by one of his concubines, Vanozzi de Catanei, he had four children: Cesare, Giovanni, Jofre and Lucrezia - all of whom he recognized. They were to the marrow of their bones a product of the Renaissance: they craved power and glory, they did not know any moral brakes, they strove for the realization of their political goals, just like sensual desires. Alexander II remained a slave to his sensual passions until his death; according to some sources, he was "painfully sexual".
His election as pope corresponded to the conditions of that era - intrigues, threats, bribery, simony were hidden behind the unanimous vote. Sixty years old at that time, Alexander VI, who possessed brilliant human qualities and believed that everything was permissible for him, became a model of Renaissance monarchs. Although the Borgias were Spaniards by origin, under him the pro-French Milanese party won the conclave. Alexander VI subordinated everything to politics; his political goal was to establish the power of the Borgia clan in Italy. According to Alexander VI, the papacy was just a significant Italian principality.
An essential condition for the world domination of the popes, the transformation of their state into a true state, was the creation of papal armed forces. This, too, goes back to the time of the "Renaissance" popes. The true creator of the papal mercenary army was Alexander VI, or rather, its commander, the son of the pope - Cardinal Cesare Borgia. Papal mercenaries were recruited primarily from the Swiss cantons.
The distant long-term goal of Borgia was the real mastery of the Church state as a hereditary Italian kingdom. So far, not a single large family clan that has nominated popes has been able to do this. Pope Alexander VI sought to achieve Italian hegemony through his first-born son Cesare. And Cesare Borgia could become a monarch on the model of Machiavelli's "Sovereign", since he was really the first modern politician who looked at politics from the standpoint of complete moral permissiveness. Following Ranke, historiography considers Cesare a "virtuoso of crimes" who dealt not only with his allies and opponents, but also with his brothers. The youngest son of Alexander VI, Giovanni, was killed on the orders of Cesare by assassins. The Nepotas of the Borja clan, striving for more and more power, took the place of the creatures of the previous pope - Rovere. Cesare expelled the widow Riario from Imola. At the same time, Lucrezia Borgia became Duchess of Ferrara.
Prior to Alexander VI, Italian petty states followed what Lorenzo de' Medici so spectacularly phrased as a "policy of equilibrium": in his opinion, equilibrium in Italy was achieved by balancing the power of such city-states as Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, and Naples. However, from the end of the 15th century, Italy again attracted the attention of foreign invaders, and under the influence of their expansion, this balance was also disturbed. In the XIV-XV centuries, the Italian city-states were not yet interested in political unity, since it would limit their independence, their independent development. Their interests were driven by competition, not by the idea of cohesion. Imperial dominion over Italy became nominal, papal power was in decline; therefore, neither the emperor nor the pope threatened the independence of the large city-states. The question of the political unity of Italy did not become vital for Italian society until the fragmentation of the country aroused the appetites of foreign invaders (French, Spaniards, Germans). again acted as a conqueror - now in Italy. The French kings and the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs, striving for world domination, laid the foundation for the age-old struggle of the European great powers for wealthy Italy. Possession of Italy henceforth meant European hegemony.
The elected monarchs of the German-Roman Empire since the middle of the 15th century were the Habsburgs. Maximilian I (1493-1519) acquired the Netherlands and a significant part of Burgundy through a successful marriage, and eventually became the German-Roman emperor in 1493. In 1496, he married his son, Philip, to the only heiress of a Spanish married couple (Ferdinand and Isabella), Juana. After the death of Philip and Juana, their sons (grandchildren of Maximilian) inherited the Spanish and Austrian possessions. The eldest, Charles, inherited the imperial throne; from 1506 he was the sovereign of the Netherlands and Burgundy, and from 1516 he became the hereditary owner of Spain, Naples and Sicily, Sardinia. His younger brother, Ferdinand, inherited the Austrian provinces; he was also a candidate for the Hungarian, Czech and, perhaps, the Polish throne (the legacy of Jagiello). So, the Habsburgs, as it were, encircled the French and both in southern and northern Italy became competitors of French influence. In essence, the only way for the great French power to break out of the circle of the Habsburgs was to expand into Italy.
The battles for Italy, in which the popes had to be content with the role of a second-class power, began in 1494-1495 with the campaign of the French king Charles VIII. In 1494, his troops captured (as the hereditary possession of Anjou) Naples, which was under the rule of the Aragonese Spanish dynasty. In this contest of great powers, Alexander VI first took the side of the French, whom he considered less dangerous. But when Charles VIII extended French hegemony to almost all of Italy, the pope turned against him. Having become the head of the Italian cities, Alexander VI also counted on external forces in the fight against the French invaders. In 1495, the Holy League was created for a period of 25 years; its members were: Pope, Venice, Milan, Ferdinand's Spain and Emperor Maximilian I. Imperial and Spanish troops expelled the French from Naples, which turned out to be forever lost to the French conquerors and since that time for centuries has become the base of Spanish influence in Italy. Since then, the attention of Charles VIII and his successors turned to the conquest of Northern Italy.
Maneuvering between the contradictions of the great powers, Alexander VI tried to create the Middle Italian kingdom of Borgia. The greatest resistance to this was provided by Tuscany, led by Florence, which was experiencing its heyday. Alexander VI, with the support of the French and in alliance with internal opposition, expelled the Medici from Florence. The kingdom was restored in Florence. However, a radical popular movement soon gained the upper hand, led by the abbot of the Dominican monastery of St. Mark in Florence, Girolamo Savonarola. With calls for a church reform, the restoration of the original apostolic poverty of the church, he won the urban poor to his side. The fanatical monk fervently scourged not only the wealth of the church, but also the depraved way of life of the wealthy burghers. Ordinary people listened with trepidation to the words of the preacher, who predicted all sorts of horrors that awaited them in the next world. From 1494-1498 Savonarola was the absolute dictator of Florence. His goal was to create, with the help of the French, a theocratic city-state. Starting in 1495, Savonarola sharply opposed the pope, but his criticism was not so much theological in nature as it contained a ruthless denunciation of the depravity and immorality of the papal court. The Pope first ordered that no response be made to his attacks, and then in 1497 excommunicated Savonarola from the Church. As the mood of the masses turned against the dictator, he fell into the hands of the Inquisition. He was tortured with hot iron. This gave the desired result to the pope, and on May 23, 1498, Savonarola was burned at the stake as a heretic.
The tragedy of Savonarola meant the defeat of the Italian church reform. Accompanied by the revolution of the poor, the church reform did not go beyond the walls of Florence, because its asceticism and radicalism did not correspond to the interests of the Italian merchant bourgeoisie. The death of Savonarola also did not cause a particular shock, did not become the causative agent of a broad popular movement, like the martyrdom of Jan Hus in his time. At the heart of the confrontation between Savonarola and the pope were not religious, but political reasons. The Pope, who turned against the French, wanted to acquire Florence for the Holy League, but she, fearing for her independence, believed more in an alliance with the French. When Charles VIII was defeated in Italy, Florence betrayed Savonarola to the pope.
The new French king, Louis XII (1498-1515), successfully broke up the Holy League and made an alliance with Venice against the Habsburgs and the pope. The French army occupied Milan. Since that time, very frequent changes took place in the allied groups opposing the French. The Italian cities and the pope took the side of those who were less dangerous to their independence than others. So, at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Spaniards appeared in Naples, and the French in Lombardy. Alexander VI did not feel sympathy for either one or the other. But when the Habsburgs again took over, he made an alliance with the defeated Louis XII. Now he again tried, with the support of the French, to create for Cesare the kingdom of Central Italy. The ultimate goal of the pope and Cesare was to establish, under the rule of the Borgia and relying on papal authority, the political unity of all Italy.
In 1503, Cesare Borgia, being, in essence, the true master of the Church state, made an attempt to secularize it and establish a united Italy under his rule. Cesare himself wanted to become a pope as soon as possible in order to achieve his goal faster and easier. By this time, it had become obvious that the Church State was the main obstacle to the creation of an Italian nation-state. A united Italy was unthinkable under the leadership of the popes, since the state of the church cannot be part of the nation-state. If, however, the pope or his family becomes the head of aspirations for unity, then secularization is inevitable, the transformation of the Church state into a secular state is inevitable. Cesare was not only a real politician, but also a generous patron of the arts; So, Leonardo da Vinci was also in his service. However, Borj's aspirations were not destined to be realized due to the growing independence of the city-states; the bourgeois development of Italy continued to manifest itself not within the framework of a single national state entity, but within the framework of city-states.
However, the threat of enslavement by foreign invaders and the devastation and wars associated with this aroused national identity in Italians. It became obvious that political fragmentation leads to foreign domination. The political program for the creation of a united Italy was formulated by Machiavelli in his work "The Sovereign" ("Il Principe"), in which he brought Cesare Borgia as an example of a real politician. Machiavelli was the first who saw in the state not an eternal, God-given institution, but a historically established institution that exists on the basis of its own principles and laws, independent of religion and personal, individual morality. Thus, he substantiated modern politics as a science and shook the picture of the world that was created by St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, shook the Christian theory of the state. And this, in turn, justified the need for the separation of church and state and the expropriation of church lands (secularization).
However, the secularization of politics took place only during the French Revolution; before that, religion and politics were intertwined in some form. This was clearly manifested at the dawn of the New Age. This is especially evident in the example of the first colonial dispute and the role of the papacy in it. The beginning of the great geographical discoveries became a source of new contradictions between the Catholic powers. As the highest judge of the Catholic world, the pope, in his bull "Inter caetera divini", issued on May 4, 1493, announced his decision on the division of the world between Spain and Portugal. The meridian, passing between the islands of Cape Verde and Haiti, divided the globe in two and was a kind of demarcation line between the territories belonging to the Spaniards and the Portuguese. To the east of it, the Portuguese could expand their possessions, to the west - the Spaniards.
With the discovery of America in 1492, the papacy also had the opportunity to make the Catholic Church a truly universal church. Christian missionaries also set off on the ships of the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors. This then gave new impetus to the close alliance between the Spanish world power and the papacy, an alliance that lasted for several centuries.
Alexander VI, who took an active part in world politics, maintained contact with the monarchs of the early Renaissance. So, for example, he honored the cardinal's cap and his Hungarian "double", the favorite of King Matthias - Esztergom Archbishop Tamas Banots. And Alexander VI, while still a cardinal, received from Matthias the Petervarad Abbey, more precisely, the income from it, which he left for himself and became pope. Thus, Pope Alexander VI was simultaneously listed as the rector of the Petervarad Abbey.
Alexander VI, Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia not only eliminated their opponents from the path, but also ordered to kill, one by one, those whose fortune or income they wanted to get. They either left the benefices released in this way unoccupied - the income from them went to the pope, or they demanded huge sums to replace the beneficiaries. During the reign of Pope Alexander VI, in fact, without exception, only such cardinals were appointed who bought their dignity from the curia.
An approved means of assassinations inspired by the Vatican or carried out there was poison, which had such a property that its effect was felt only after 1-2 days. According to some sources, only from the College of Cardinals, four high clergymen were sent in this way to another world. The rumors about the cause of the death of Pope Alexander himself can be considered more like a legend about God's fair judgment, which punished him for the sins and crimes of Borj, than a reliable story. According to separate descriptions, Cesare and the pope wanted to destroy the Utrecht cardinal Adrian, the tutor of Charles V. To do this, they invited several cardinals to visit, among them Adrian. However, the servants mixed up the glasses and served the poisoned wine not to the cardinal, but to the pope and Cesare. The pope, who was already advanced in age, died the same night, and Cesare recovered. (More likely, however, that Alexander VI was decimated by a sudden outbreak of Roman fever.)
Immediately after the death of Alexander VI, the ecclesiastical state shook off the rule of the Borj. Cesare fled to France. Cardinal Giuliano Rovere played the main role in the overthrow of Borgia. After Pope Borgia, known for his scandalous life, Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, who was considered almost a saint, was elected pope at the conclave, who took the name Pius III. True, his reign lasted only 20 days, so he left no trace in the history of the papacy.
At the next conclave, which lasted only one day, the sworn enemy of Borgia, the nephew of Sixtus IV, Cardinal Giuliano Rovere, who had been in this dignity for 30 years, was elected pope. His election (he became Julius II) was also not without simony, but his personal life, one might say, was impeccable. Julius II was an outstanding personality of the Renaissance, but the bright colors and pomp that distinguished Borgia began to shine with a strict and cold beauty. Julius II, in accordance with the requirements of the time, was a versatile church sovereign (diplomat, philanthropist, politician), but above all he was a commander and statesman. With him, a tyrant sovereign, typical of Italy of the Renaissance, entered the papal throne. That is why he received the nickname Terrible from his contemporaries.
Julius II more moderately, but also more realistically pursued the Italian policy initiated by Borgia. He also relied on the power of the Rovere family, but acted by more peaceful means than his predecessors. So, he managed to get, for example, Urbino. Pope Julius II put into practice the plans and ideas of the Borja within a more limited framework, within the expanded borders of the Papal States. He organized from the papal possessions a single, modern state, standing at the level of its time, and made it a partner in the politics of the great powers. While Pope Alexander VI and Cesare were striving for a secular unified Italy, Julius II's goal was the territorial expansion and expansion of the Church state, turning it into the most powerful state in Italy. To achieve these expansionist aims, a strong papal army was necessary above all. Pope Julius himself often became the head of the troops, but Pompeo Colonna was his official commander. The name of Julius II is also associated with the creation of the Swiss Guard, which at first numbered 200 people and provided personal protection for the pope. On June 12, 1506, the guard entered Rome. Growing up to the "army", she then waged endless battles with the German landsknechts.
The policy of Julius II was consistently anti-French. In contrast to Borgia, he believed that the independence of Italy and the power of the pope were primarily threatened by the French conquerors. But in the fight against foreign invaders, with the French, the pope was not very inclined to rely on outside help, from another great power, because this would "hang another threat around the neck." Fighting for Italian hegemony, Pope Julius began with a war against France's ally, Venice. As a result of successful hostilities, he annexed Parma, Piacenza and Reggio to the Papal State. During the reign of Julius II, the ecclesiastical state achieved the greatest expansion of its territory in the entire medieval history of the papacy, and it is hardly possible to name another pope who would have wielded more real power than he. A well-organized state could indeed bring in large revenues if it is known that the pope, despite his costly wars and equally extensive philanthropic activities, left behind his successor 700,000 gold pieces! Even Machiavelli, who had previously been very sympathetic to Cesare Borgia, admitted that Julius II achieved greater political success than his ideal, Cesare.
The political goal of Julius II was the complete liberation of Italy from French rule. In the interests of this, he tried to "withdraw" Rome from the Italian local politics and from the rivalry for the power of the city-states. He pursued a policy that was truly European in scope. However, this required a well-organized and well-functioning diplomatic mechanism. Papal diplomacy in the Middle Ages grew out of the diplomacy of the ecclesiastical government of the popes. Papal ambassadors, called lateran legates, had specific tasks and at the same time performed inspection functions. The organization of permanent papal nunciatures began around 1500 (apostolic nuncios). The papal nuncios were also not purely secular ambassadors, they were at the same time church visitators (inspectors), who, under the pretext of church administrative assignments, also performed political functions - papal assignments of a diplomatic nature.
It soon became clear that, pursuing his great-power policy, Julius II also could not do without external allies; now he had already made an alliance with the Habsburgs. The Pope and Emperor Maximilian united in 1508 to counter Venice's overland expansionist aspirations. Along with other Italian cities, the French also became members of the Cambrai League they created. However, the defeat of Venice increased French influence in northern Italy. And yet the pope really benefited, because in 1509 he acquired Perugia and Bologna and conquered all of the Romagna.
After the victorious war against Venice, Julius II began to stir up Italian national feeling against the French conquerors. Of the Italian cities, only Venice took part in the new Holy League created on his initiative; thus, for the war against the French, outside help was needed. Switzerland, the Spaniards, then the German emperor and even the English king joined the Holy League. As a result of the military campaign of 1512, the French were driven out of Milan; only Genoa remained in their hands. The Medici returned to Florence (they also left the successor of Julius - Pope Leo X).
As a result of the anti-French policy of Julius II, Spanish influence again increased in Italy. The peculiar fluctuations in the foreign policy orientation of the popes were the result of the fact that the popes of the 16th century were looking for opportunities for their independence, balancing between the great powers.
While Julius II fought against "the Catholic king himself" by no means with ecclesiastical weapons, Louis XII used precisely pronounced ecclesiastical-political means against the pope, demanding an ecumenical council. On his initiative, the pro-French cardinals decided to convene an ecumenical council at Pisa in 1511, most likely with the aim of removing the pope. Before that, the popes avoided holding ecumenical councils in every possible way, since they saw them as a serious limitation of their power. From the demand for reforms, which clearly pursued political goals, Julius II could not completely evade, so he himself convened a council that was supposed to implement the reforms. Convened quite unexpectedly, the V Lateran Ecumenical Council opened in May 1512. It was mainly Italian and Spanish bishops who came to the Lateran Council. The emperor was at first a supporter of the French-backed Council of Pisa. The reason for this was primarily his hatred of Julius II, who unequivocally opposed any manifestation of imperial influence in Italy. So, in particular, he refused the coronation of the emperor; but already in 1508 he approved the actions of Maximilian I, who called himself "the chosen (chosen) German emperor." However, the Habsburgs were not interested in reviving the conciliarism fanned by the French; therefore, at the end of 1512, the Germans also joined the Lateran Council. After this, the Pisa Conference began to lose its significance more and more; in the end, the Anti-Council of Pisa, moved from place to place, was simply dissolved. Thus conciliarism suffered a final defeat. It is noteworthy that the Hungarian king Ulaszlo and the only serious Hungarian contender for the papal throne, Tamás Bakoc, even earlier took a neutralist position both in relation to Pisa and Lateran. This was due to the fact that Bakots had good ties with the French, he was on good terms even with Louis XII. In the end, Bakots decided to take the side of Julius II, and on January 26, 1512, he arrived in Rome. His solemn procession resembled an imperial procession - by this he seemed to want to show that the archbishop of distant Esztergom was born for the throne of St. Peter. The growth of Bakoc's authority was facilitated by his French connections, and his popularity - generously handed out to the right and left gold. Bakots actively participated in the meetings of the Lateran Council, which adopted a number of useful, but ultimately unfulfilled reform decisions. Among them, the most famous is the prohibition (for the umpteenth time!) of simony during the election of the pope. The edge of this decision was directed primarily against Bakots, who openly claimed the place of the old and sick pope. Thus, the council considered Bakots, who was committed to simony and represented alien interests (French, Venetian and Hungarian influence), unsuitable for carrying out the political line he proclaimed.
During the period of the pontificate of Julius II, it was well known that he supported art, the works of the Renaissance, not out of humanism and not out of love for art, but as one of the means of strengthening and strengthening papal power. In the eyes of Julius II, even the greatest artist was a servant, obliged to flawlessly carry out his orders.
While on his deathbed, Julius II still managed to warn the cardinals against electing the Hungarian archbishop as his successor. At the beginning of March 4513, the conclave was attended by 25 cardinals. Of these - 18 Italians, 3 Spaniards, as well as a Hungarian, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Swiss. A solemn mass on the occasion of the opening of the conclave was served in St. Peter's Cathedral by Tamas Bakots. During the first round of voting, the Venetian cardinal (Spanish) received 13 votes, and Bakots - 8. However, the Italians quickly rallied against the "alien", and in the second round Cardinal Giovanni Medici received the two-thirds majority necessary for election. When he was elected (he took the name of Leo X; 1513-1521), simony no longer played any role. (The first act of the new pope was to remove Bakots both from the cathedral and from Rome. As a legate for special assignments, he was sent to Buda to herald the start of a new crusade against the Turks. In March 1514, Bakots arrived in Buda, and on April 16 he read out a papal bull calling for a crusade, which turned into a peasant war for Hungary by György Dozsa.)
With Leo X at its head, the Renaissance papacy reached its true zenith. The Medici pope wittily characterized his reign during the conclave, declaring: "Let's enjoy the papacy that God sent down to us!" At the dawn of the Middle Ages, Gregory I called the papacy a service, a service, but at the end of the Middle Ages, in the eyes of Leo X, it looks like only a pleasure. Giovanni de' Medici was a completely secular man of the Renaissance, who, apart from the humanistic arts, culture and spiritual pleasures, was interested in little. Leo X - an aristocrat of the Florentine Renaissance; so he remained on the papal throne.
The reign of Leo X was truly the complete decline of the medieval papacy. He was very far from the new problems of the church, the reforms; in Luther's speech, Leo X for many years saw only the ordinary squabble raised around the German monk-confusion, which, they say, will subside on its own, like much before. He was not interested in the church, and he squandered the fabulous wealth squeezed out of the Christian world on the humanists crowding around at his court - often on epigones and flatterers unworthy of this. While the Medici pope was enjoying exquisite Latin verse, Luther translated Holy Scripture into German. At a time when the papal court found joy in the multiplication of refined spiritual and physical pleasures, the Reformation placed civic rationalism and conscientious work at the center of religious morality. Light and shadow never got along so well together in the Vatican as during the reign of Leo X.
However, the mood that preceded the storm, and in Rome, was by no means serene. When the Pope closed the Lateran Cathedral in 1517 without taking any decisions, the cardinals began to weave threads of a plot to assassinate him. At the head of the dissatisfied was Alfonso Petrucci. When the attempt to poison the Pope ended in failure. Leo X, this refined humanist, ordered Petrucci to be hanged, and his accomplices - among them Cardinal Rovere - to be defrocked, confiscate their income and oblige to pay heavy fines. In order to prevent the possibility of a new conspiracy, Leo X appointed 39 new cardinals, most of them his adherents, but in this case as recognition of their real merit, and not simply for the sake of material advantages.
The reign of Leo X was once again characterized by boundless nepotism. His goal was to place Italy in the hands of the Medici clan. For his brother, Giuliano de' Medici, he wanted to acquire the Neapolitan throne, which meant that his interests clashed with those of the French, who still claimed Naples. (By the way, the son of Giuliano Medici became pope under the name of Clement VII.) Leo X wanted to give his nephew, Lorenzo Medici, the Northern Italian kingdom, which would unite Milan, Tuscany, Urbino and Ferrara. The Papal State would then be "mounted" into this empire. To achieve these goals, Leo X intended to use the contradictions among the great powers.
Initially, Pope Leo X pursued the anti-French policy of his predecessor. The creator of the French absolute monarchy, the "Renaissance" king Francis I, having again concluded an alliance with Venice, conquered Milan in 1515 and wanted to be elected emperor. Leo X himself became the head of the papal army, but was defeated near Ravenna. According to the agreement signed in Bologna, he had to give up Parma and Piacenza in favor of the French. At the same time, the concordat concluded here canceled the Pragmatic Sanction in terms of the "Gallican freedoms" mentioned in it, but provided the king with the right to nominate candidates for bishops; their consecration remained behind the church.
Along with the strengthening of French domination in Italy, the world power of the Habsburgs rose at the same time, which soon began to pose a more real danger to papal independence than the French. Under Charles V (grandson of Maximilian), Spanish and Dutch possessions also passed into the hands of the Habsburgs. Emperor Maximilian I died in 1519. The pope tried by all means to prevent the owner of the Spanish crown, Charles, from being elected emperor.
But here the pope found himself in a difficult position: if, relying on the Habsburgs, the French could be expelled, then Italy would be surrounded by the Habsburgs both from the north and from the south. If, however, Francis I wins and captures Naples as well, then Italy will be under French domination. Neither smiled at Leo X. And he planned to use the Saxon elector Frederick the Wise against them, offering him even the imperial crown, and the "rebel" Luther - a cardinality. But Friedrich did not take on this unpromising role. Then the pope took the side of the French, who seemed to him less dangerous; but in the conditions of the anti-papal mood awakened by Luther, by this he only played into the hands of Charles, who, with the money of the Fuggers, bribed the princes who elected the emperor, and they elected him under the name of Charles V (1519-1556) to the imperial throne. Thus, the main power on the continent was in the hands of the Habsburgs. Spain, Burgundy, the Netherlands, the German-Roman Empire, the Czech Republic, the kingdom of Naples and both Sicilies fell under their domination. The Austrian branch of the Habsburgs was also awaiting the Hungarian throne. In a rapidly developing conflict, the last emperor of the Middle Ages, Charles V, and the last pope of the Middle Ages, Leo X, clashed with each other; this conflict will end in the defeat of both sides, and the Reformation and the national idea will come out victorious!
During the time of Julius II and Leo X, Rome took over from Florence the baton of the Renaissance. In the process of large-scale construction, remarkable masterpieces of ancient art were found: during the reign of Alexander VI, the figure of Apollo Belvedere in Porte d'Anzio; under Julius II, the Laocoön group and Venus Vaticanus were dug out from under the ruins. The Renaissance popes completely rebuilt Rome. It is characteristic that he himself Pope Julius II took the initiative to demolish the church of St. Peter, which had symbolized the papacy until now, and to build in its place a new, even more grandiose basilica in ancient style.The imposing and charming building to this day, in the language of art, symbolized the reorganized papal power, world glory. and the drawings of the new temple were made by Bramante, this temple was perhaps one of the most magnificent creations that expressed the idea of \u200b\u200bone power. The Church of St. Peter embodied two styles of art at the same time: the Renaissance and the Baroque. Starting in 1547, according to the plans of Michelangelo, the construction of the dome began, recreating the Pantheon. participation of great artists, mainly Raphael. On behalf of Pope Leo X, Raphael also prepared plans and drawings for the Renaissance reconstruction of the entire city of Leo.
During the reign of the "Renaissance" popes, the Vatican essentially took on its current form. Under Innocent VIII, the Belvedere was built, connected with the main buildings. Under Alexander VI, Pinturicchio decorated the walls of the Borgia apartments with his frescoes. Under Julius II, Raphael created his wonderful creations that decorated the halls of the Vatican, and under Leo X, they decorated the Vatican Loggias. At the direction of Julius II, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, likening it to the starry sky. In general, the Sistine Chapel keeps traces of the work of artists from different eras. Twenty-three years later, at the direction of Paul III, Michelangelo created a fresco "The Last Judgment" behind the main altar of the chapel, which depicts 300 figures. During the years of the counter-reformation, they did not spare her either: Paul IV, and then Pius IV, ordered to "dress" naked figures that shocked their chastity. (The artists who performed this "operation" were called "patchies" by art history.)
Such a titanic personality as Julius II was, was more impressed by the art of Michelangelo, close to him in character. This kinship of souls found its expression in the magnificent creation of Michelangelo - the tomb monument of Julius II, the central figure of which is Moses. On the instructions of Julius II, Bramante created the Belvedere galleries. Along with Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Titian, the sculptor Cellini also received wide opportunities for the disclosure of their creativity in Rome.
Raphael depicted in 1518 Pope Leo X sitting at the codex. This symbolized that the Medici pope patronized not only the fine arts, but also literature and the sciences. His author's works greatly enriched the Vatican Library. Leo X reorganized the University of Rome, Sapienza
Dad, a humanist, also loved light literature, entertaining music, he understood well and himself loved to let go of risky jokes. His immediate environment included, along with the "king of painting" - Raphael, also Machiavelli and Ariosto. The courtyard of Leo X already bore the features of the late Renaissance turning into the Baroque.
(1432, Genoa - 07/25/1492, Rome; before being elected pope - Giovanni Battista Cibo), Pope of Rome (since August 29, 1484). Genus. in the family of Arano Cibo, who, thanks to the patronage of Pope Callistus III (1455-1458), became Rome. senator, and Teodorina del Mare, who came from a noble Genoese family. In his youth, J. Cibo led a dissolute life and had several. illegitimate children, later 2 of them (son Franceschetto and daughter Teodorina) he recognized. Becoming a clergyman, J. Cibo received from the Neapolitan corporal who favored him. Alphonse I (1442-1458) canon in Capua, but after the death of the monarch, the archbishop. Mr. Capua Giordano Gaetano expelled J. Cibo. From 1458 he studied at the University of Padua, later moved to Rome, where he intended to complete his education. In Rome, he secured the patronage of the cards. Filippo Caladrini, half-brother of Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455), which later helped him to get Pope Paul II (1464-1471) appointed to the vacant episcopal see of Savona (November 5, 1466). In 1472, Pope Sixtus IV transferred him to the chair of Molfetta. In 1471-1473. J. Cibo acted as papal datarite. On May 7, 1473, he was elevated to the rank of Cardinal Presbyter of Rome. c. St. Balbina, in Jan. 1474 became the cardinal presbyter of the Roman church. St. Caecilia. In 1476, during the plague, J. Cibo was appointed papal legate in Rome (Pope Sixtus IV retired to Viterbo). J. Cibo's quick ecclesiastical career is probably due to his close friendship with kard. Giuliano della Rovere (later Pope Julius II (1503-1513)), who already then had considerable influence in Rome. Nevertheless, at the conclave, which met on 26 Aug. 1484, after the death of Sixtus IV, J. Cibo at first was not among the main contenders for the throne of Rome. In the 1st round of voting, the card became the favorite. Marco Barbo, however, he failed to gain the required 2/3 of the votes. The struggle flared up between Vice-Chancellor Rodrigo Borgia, who was supported by representatives of the influential Rome. the Orsini family, and card. Giuliano della Rovere, who enjoyed the patronage of Rome. Colonna family. Rev. Card. J. Cibo became a compromise candidate and on the night of August 29. was elected pope; he took the name Innocent in memory of his compatriot Pope Innocent IV (Sinibaldo Fieschi; Pope in 1243-1254). 12 Sept. In 1484, his solemn coronation took place in Rome.
The new pope was under the influence of J. della Rovere, at the direction of which he made most of the important political decisions. In 1485, at the insistence of Cardinal I., he supported the uprising of the Neapolitan barons against the core. Ferdinand, who during his reign managed to achieve a certain independence of the Kingdom of Naples from the Roman throne. The pretext for intervention was the refusal of the king to pay the Roman Curia a fee for the investiture of some of his entourage. Started in Sept. In 1485 hostilities were not in favor of the pope, in 1486 a truce was concluded between the Papal See and Naples. The confrontation between the pope, supported by the Florentine Republic, and Ferdinand, in alliance with the Crimea, was his son-in-law, the Hungarian. box Matthias Hunyadi, continued until the 90s. 15th century In 1489, I. excommunicated Ferdinand from the Church, citing his failure to fulfill his vassal obligations in relation to the Papal throne, and turned to the French. box Charles VIII, offering him the Kingdom of Naples. The rapprochement between Rome and France, as well as unsuccessful attempts to form an anti-papal coalition, forced Ferdinand to conclude peace with the pope (January 30, 1492), according to which all vassal obligations of Naples were restored.
In Apr. In 1488, an uprising took place in one of the important ports of the Papal States on the Adriatic m. - in the city of Ancona. The rebels took advantage of the conflict between the pope and Hungary and transferred the city under the protection of Matthias Hunyadi. He, however, did not provide military assistance to the rebels; despite this, until 1532 Ancona remained an independent city.
Italy's main ally in Italy was the Florentine Republic. Strengthening the alliance of the pope with Lorenzo de' Medici was facilitated by the prisoner in Jan. 1488 marriage of the Pope's illegitimate son Franceschetto to Lorenzo de' Medici's daughter Magdalena. Her brother Giovanni Medici (later Pope Leo X (1513-1521)) thanks to I. at the age of 13 became a cardinal. I. recognized after the end of the war the Scarlet and White Roses as King of England Henry VII Tudor (1485-1509) and blessed his marriage with Elizabeth of York, daughter of Cor. Edward IV.
Like his predecessors, I. tried to organize a crusade against the Turks. In March 1490, a council was convened in Rome to discuss a plan to attack the Ottoman Empire. If successful, Christ. armies I. planned to overthrow the tour. ruler Bayezid II and put his brother Jem, who was brought to Rome in 1489. Jem was supposed to lead the tour. troops from the Balkans and from the K-field. However, after the death of the Hung. box Matthias Hunyadi joint campaign of Christ. sovereigns proved impossible. I. entered into negotiations with Bayazid II, who did not skimp on generous gifts in order to avert the threat of a campaign from the West. In exchange for a promise to keep Jem in an honorable captivity in Rome and not hand over the prince to the enemies of the tour. Sultan Bayezid II undertook to pay the pope 40 thousand gold ducats annually, and also to send to Rome part of the sacred spear of Longinus the Centurion, to which, according to legend, Jesus Christ was pierced. A reliquary with a spear, created under I., was in the Cathedral of St. Peter until 1606
During the pontificate of I., the Roman Curia faced significant financial difficulties. The main items of expenditure were the war and the maintenance of the papal court. To cover the budget deficit, I. resorted to external loans, and the treasury received significant funds from the sale of church posts. Thus, in May 1486, the pope established a college of officials responsible for applying seals to papal bulls. Sale of 52 educated T.O. posts brought the papal treasury 26 thousand ducats. A year later, I. increased the number of secretaries at the Papal Throne from 6 to 30, and after some time added 30 posts of officials responsible for concluding contracts with the Roman Curia. Moreover, the price of existing positions was increased, and those of them that were previously “free” (for example, the position of librarian of the Vatican library) began to be transferred for money. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the management of the internal affairs of the Papal State actually passed into the hands of several. influential families, the Orsini and Colonna were especially powerful. The pope's attempts to strengthen his position were unsuccessful.
According to the Bull Summus Desiderantes Affectibus published by I., dated 5 December. 1484, the Inquisition was allowed to prosecute people for practicing witchcraft. After the publication of this document, the Dominicans Heinrich Institoris and Jacob Sprenger, having gained practical experience in the inquisition tribunals held in Germany, wrote and in 1487 published in Cologne Op. "Hammer of the Witches" (Malleus Maleficarum). As part of the fight against the Waldensians in 1487, I. sent inquisitor Albert Cattaneo to the French Alps, declaring a crusade against heretics. Despite the fact that the papal policy was supported by the French. box Charles VIII (1483-1498) and the fighting was generally successful, the Waldensian heresy was never eradicated. I. contributed to the condemnation of 900 theses Italian. natural philosopher Pico della Mirandola on dialectics, morality, physics, mathematics, etc. The Pope refused to publicly consider the theses and, without going into details, recognized the entire work as heretical (Aug. 4, 1486). Pico della Mirandola's attempts to justify his work were not successful.
Under I., the papal masters of ceremonies Agostino Patrici Piccolomini and John Burchard compiled a new book of ceremonies (liber ceremonialis), in which for the first time all the public rituals of the papal court, both church and secular, were collected, coordinated and streamlined. I. took measures to correct the mores of the Catholics. clergy: fought concubinage, condemned to death 2 clerics who forged and sold papal letters (one of them issued Norwegian presbyters permission to celebrate the Eucharist without wine). At the same time, contemporaries noted the general secularization and corruption common among the higher clergy.
During the pontificate of I., restoration work was carried out in the Lateran Cathedral, the c. Santa Maria in Via Lata. By order of the pope, Villa Belvedere (from Italian Belvedere - “beautiful view”) was built on the side of the papal palace in the Vatican. The building was intended for entertainment and recreation and was a low octagonal tower with wide windows, from which a panorama of the nearby gardens and Rome was opened. The interior of the villa was decorated with frescoes by A. Mantegna and Pinturicchio. In Rome at that time such painters as Filippino Lippi, A. Romano and Perugino worked. A. Poliziano completed, by order of the Pope, a translation into Latin of Op. "History from Marcus Aurelius" in Greek. historian Herodian.
Dad passed away after a long illness. Buried in the Cathedral of St. Peter, a bronze tombstone commissioned by his nephew was made by Antonio and Pietro Pollaiolo.
Source: Johannis Burchardi Diarium sive rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483-1506) / Ed. L. Thuasne. P., 1883. T. 1; Infessura S. Diario della citta di Roma / A cura di O. Tommasini. R., 1890. P. 190-277 (Russian translation: Infessura S., Burkhard I. Diaries: Documents on the history of the papacy of the XV-XVI centuries. M., 1939); Conti S., dei. Le storie de" suoi tempi dal 1475 al 1510. R., 1883. 2 t.
Lit.: Chacón A. Vitae, et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S. R. E. cardinalium. R., 1667. T. 3. P. 89-146; Serdonati F. Vita e fatti d "Innocenzo VIII Papa CCXVI: Coll" aggiunta dell "ordine di leggere gli scrittori della storia Romana. Mil., 1829; Pastor L., von. The History of the Popes. L., 1898. Vol 5. P. 227-372; Fedele P. La pace del 1486 tra Ferdinandio d "Aragona e Innocenzo VIII // Archivio storico per la provincie Napoletane. Napoli, 1905, vol. 30, pp. 481-503; Rodocanachi E. Histoire de Rome: Une cour princière au Vatican pendant la Renaissance. P., 1925; Paquier J. Innocent VIII // DTC. Vol. 7.Col. 2002-2005; Pfeffermann H. Die Zusammenarbeit der Renaissancepäpste mit den Türken. Wintertur, 1946; Caravale M., Caracciolo A. Lo stato pontifico da Martino V a Pio IX. Torino, 1978. (Storia d "Italia; 14); Nyberg T. Papst Innozenz VIII. u. Skandinavien // AHPont. 1984. T. 22. P. 89-152; A History of the Crusades / Ed. K. M. Setton. Madison, 1989, Vol 6, pp 337-343, Seiffer F Innozenz VIII // BBKL Bd 2 sp 1292-1293 Borgolte M Petrusnachfolge und Kaiserimitation: Die Grablegen der Päpste, ihre Genese und Traditionsbildung Gött., 19952. S. 286-288; Esposito A. Innocent VIII // The Papacy: An Encycl. / Ed. P. Levillain. N. Y., 2002. Vol. 2. P. 798-800; Chambers D. S. Popes, Cardinals and War: The Military Church in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, L.; N. Y., 2006, pp. 89-93.
M. V. Panfilova
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INNOCENT VIII (Gianbattista (Giovanni Battista) Cibo) - Pope of Rome from August 29, 1484 to July 25, 1492. Born in 1432 in Genoa in the family of Arano Cibo, who, thanks to the patronage of Pope Calixtus III (1455–1458), became Roman senator, and Teodorina del Mare, who came from a noble Genoese family of Doria. Having become a cleric, Gianbattista Cibo received a canon in the city of Capua from the Neapolitan king Alfonso I (1442–1458), who favored him, but after the death of the monarch, the archbishop of Capua, Giordano Gaetano, expelled him. In his youth, he studied in Padua and Rome, led a dissolute life and had several illegitimate children, his numerous illegitimate offspring populated the Vatican palaces during the pontificate. In Rome, they later joked that he was a real "daddy", since the streets of the capital are teeming with his children, and he diligently populates the earth. Innocent VIII did not hide his paternity (later he recognized two children: the son of Franceschetto and the daughter of Theodorina), thereby marking the beginning of the official recognition of the offspring of the popes (sometimes this gave positive results). From 1458, Gianbattista studied at the University of Padua, and later moved to Rome, where he intended to complete his education. In Rome, he secured the patronage of Cardinal Filippo Caladrini, half-brother of Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455), which later helped him to obtain from Pope Paul II (1464-1471) an appointment to the vacant episcopal see of Savona (November 5 1466). In 1472, Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) transferred him to the chair of Molfetta. In 1471–1473 Gianbattista Cibo acted as papal datarite. May 7, 1473 was elevated to the rank of cardinal presbyter of the Roman church of St.. Balbina, in January 1474 he became the cardinal presbyter of the Roman church of St. Caecilia. In 1476, during the plague, he was appointed papal legate in Rome (Pope Sixtus IV retired to Viterbo). Researchers explain his quick ecclesiastical career by close friendship with Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (later Pope Julius II; 1503–1513), who already then had considerable influence in Rome. However, at the conclave that met on August 26, 1484, after the death of Sixtus IV, Gianbattista Cibo was not at first among the main contenders for the throne of Rome. In the first round of voting, Cardinal Marco Barbo became the favorite, but he failed to gain the required 2/3 of the votes. The struggle broke out between Vice-Chancellor Rodrigo Borgia, who was supported by representatives of the influential Roman family of Orsini, and Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who enjoyed the patronage of the Roman family of Colonna. Cardinal Presbyter Gianbattista Cibo became a compromise candidate and was elected pope on the night of August 29, he took the name Innocent in memory of his compatriot Pope Innocent IV (Sinibaldo Fieschi; Pope of Rome in 1243-1254). On September 12, 1484, his solemn coronation took place in Rome. Since he was elected pope under the patronage of the della Rovere family, he was under the influence of Giuliano della Rovere, on whose instructions he made most of the important political decisions. Innocent VIII in no way changed the style of government of his predecessor. In an effort to enlist the support of the rich Medici, he married his illegitimate son Franceschetto to the daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492) - Magdalena Medici. The wedding took place in the Vatican. The descendants of one of the sons from this marriage took the name Malaspina and until the 18th century. ruled the principality (later the duchy) of Massa Carrera; one of Franceschetto's daughters is Caterina Cibo. The Pope appointed Lorenzo de' Medici's 14-year-old son (his son's brother-in-law) as cardinal. Busy with the affairs of his family, Innocent VIII did not pay due attention to the general religious and political situation, he tried to restrain the claims of the Ottoman court, holding the sultan's brother as a hostage at his court. In order to redeem his brother, Sultan Bayezid II (1481–1512) gave the pope a relic - a part of the sacred spear of Longin the Centurion, with which, according to legend, Jesus Christ was pierced (the reliquary with a spear, created under Innocent VIII, was in St. Peter's Cathedral until 1606). Dad accepted the gift, but still did not release the hostage. Like his predecessors, Innocent VIII tried to organize a crusade against the Turks. In March 1490, a council was convened in Rome to discuss a plan to attack the Ottoman Empire. In case of success of the Christian armies, Innocent VIII planned to overthrow the Turkish ruler Bayezid II and install his brother Jem, who was brought to Rome in 1489. It was assumed that Jem would withdraw Turkish troops from the Balkans and from Constantinople.
1484at birth:
Savona, Republic of Genoa
Rome, Papal States
Biography
Gianbattista Cibo was born in 1432 in Genoa. The Cibo family was related to the influential and wealthy Genoese family of Doria.
Innocent VIII in no way changed the style of government of his predecessor. In an effort to enlist the support of the rich Medici, he married his illegitimate son Franceschetto to the daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent - Magdalena Medici. The wedding took place in the Vatican; the descendants of one of the sons from this marriage took the surname Malaspina and ruled the principality (then the duchy) of Massa Carrara until the 18th century; one of Franceschetto's daughters is Caterina Cibo. The pope appointed the fourteen-year-old son of Lorenzo de' Medici—his son's brother-in-law—as a cardinal.
Busy with the affairs of his family, Innokenty did not pay due attention to the general religious and political situation. He tried to keep the claims of the Ottoman court in check by holding the sultan's brother as a hostage in his court. To redeem his brother, Sultan Bayazid II presented the pope with a relic as a gift - the sacred spear of Longinus, which, according to legend, pierced the side of Christ. Dad accepted the gift, but still did not release the hostage.
Propaganda
Leo Taxil retells the opinions of historians, from the fact that when Innocent VIII was dying, his doctor, trying to awaken the vitality in him, resorted to a criminal means - he let the blood of three boys into the veins of the dying man. Dad knew about the murder of these boys, and agreed to it. But it didn't save him. There is also a version about the soldering of the Pope with this blood. This legend was put into circulation by the Italian Renaissance historian Stefano Infessura ( English), hostile to the pope.
Mention in literature
Innocent VIII is mentioned in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray among "those whom Satiation, Vice and Bloodlust have turned into monsters or madmen":Gianbattista Cibo, who mockingly called himself the Innocent, that Cibo, into whose emaciated veins the Jewish doctor poured the blood of three youths.
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An excerpt characterizing Innocent VIII
- So, the Russians will be? the man asked.- How much of your power is there? asked another small man, approaching them.
“Many, many,” answered Rostov. - Yes, what are you gathered here for? he added. Holiday, huh?
“The old men have gathered, on a worldly matter,” answered the peasant, moving away from him.
At this time, two women and a man in a white hat appeared on the road from the manor house, walking towards the officers.
- In my pink, mind not beating! said Ilyin, noticing Dunyasha resolutely advancing towards him.
Ours will be! Lavrushka said with a wink.
- What, my beauty, do you need? - said Ilyin, smiling.
- The princess was ordered to find out what regiment you are and your names?
- This is Count Rostov, squadron commander, and I am your obedient servant.
- Be ... se ... e ... du ... shka! sang the drunk peasant, smiling happily and looking at Ilyin, who was talking to the girl. Following Dunyasha, Alpatych approached Rostov, taking off his hat from a distance.
“I dare to disturb, your honor,” he said with deference, but with relative disdain for the youth of this officer, and putting his hand in his bosom. “My lady, the daughter of General-in-Chief Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, who died this fifteenth day, being in difficulty on the occasion of the ignorance of these persons,” he pointed to the peasants, “asks you to come in ... if you don’t mind,” Alpatych said with a sad smile, “move off a few, otherwise it’s not so convenient when ... - Alpatych pointed to two men who were rushing around him from behind, like horseflies near a horse.
- Ah! .. Alpatych ... Huh? Yakov Alpatych!.. Important! sorry for Christ. Important! Eh? .. - the men said, smiling joyfully at him. Rostov looked at the drunken old men and smiled.
“Or maybe that’s a consolation to Your Excellency?” - said Yakov Alpatych with a sedate look, pointing at the old people with his hand not in his bosom.
“No, there is little consolation here,” said Rostov, and drove off. - What's the matter? - he asked.
“I dare to report to your excellency that the rude people here do not want to let the lady out of the estate and threaten to disown the horses, so that in the morning everything is packed and her excellency cannot leave.
- Can not be! cried Rostov.
“I have the honor to report to you the real truth,” Alpatych repeated.
Rostov got off the horse and, handing it over to the orderly, went with Alpatych to the house, asking him about the details of the case. Indeed, yesterday's offer of bread by the princess to the peasants, her explanation with Dron and with the gathering spoiled the matter so much that Dron finally handed over the keys, joined the peasants and did not appear at the request of Alpatych, and that in the morning, when the princess ordered to lay the mortgage in order to go, the peasants came out in a large crowd to the barn and sent to say that they would not let the princess out of the village, that there was an order not to be taken out, and they would unharness the horses. Alpatych went out to them, advising them, but they answered him (Karp spoke the most; Dron did not show up from the crowd) that the princess could not be released, that there was an order for that; but that let the princess remain, and they will serve her as before and obey her in everything.
At that moment, when Rostov and Ilyin galloped along the road, Princess Marya, in spite of Alpatych's, nanny's and girls' dissuadement, ordered to mortgage and wanted to go; but, seeing the galloping cavalrymen, they took them for the French, the coachmen fled, and the wailing of women arose in the house.
- Father! native father! God has sent you, - tender voices said, while Rostov passed through the hall.
Princess Mary, lost and powerless, sat in the hall, while Rostov was brought in to her. She did not understand who he was, and why he was, and what would happen to her. Seeing his Russian face, and recognizing him as a man of her circle by his entrance and the first spoken words, she looked at him with her deep and radiant gaze and began to speak in a voice that broke and trembled with excitement. Rostov immediately imagined something romantic in this meeting. “Defenseless, heartbroken girl, alone, left to the mercy of rude, rebellious men! And what a strange fate pushed me here! thought Rostov, listening to her and looking at her. - And what meekness, nobility in her features and expression! he thought as he listened to her timid story.
When she started talking about how it all happened the day after her father's funeral, her voice trembled. She turned away and then, as if afraid that Rostov would not take her words for a desire to pity him, looked at him inquiringly and frightened. Rostov had tears in his eyes. Princess Mary noticed this and looked gratefully at Rostov with that radiant look of hers that made her forget the ugliness of her face.
The Cibo family was related to the influential and wealthy Genoese family of Doria.
Gianbattista studied in Padua and Rome. The fruit of his turbulent youth was numerous illegitimate offspring, which during the period of the pontificate of Innocent settled in the Vatican palaces. Paul II appointed the young Cibo Bishop of Savona and later Cardinal. Under the patronage of the della Rovere family, he was elected pope.
Innocent VIII in no way changed the style of government of his predecessor. In an effort to enlist the support of the rich Medici, he married his illegitimate son Franceschetto to the daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent - Magdalena Medici. The wedding took place in the Vatican; the descendants of one of the sons from this marriage took the name Malaspina and ruled the principality (later the duchy) of Massa Carrara until the 18th century; one of Franceschetto's daughters is Caterina Cibo. The Pope appointed the fourteen-year-old son of Lorenzo de' Medici - his son's brother-in-law - as a cardinal.
Busy with the affairs of his family, Innocent did not pay due attention to the general religious and political situation. He tried to restrain the claims of the Ottoman court by holding the sultan's brother as a hostage in his court. To redeem his brother, Sultan Bayazid II gave the Pope a relic - the sacred spear of Longinus, which, according to legend, was pierced by the side of Christ. Dad accepted the gift, but still did not release the hostage.
In 1484, Innocent VIII issued the well-known bull against witches, which became the cause of many processes of the Inquisition in the countries of Christian Europe.
In 1492 the Spaniards occupied Granada, the last bastion of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula. At the initiative of Innocent VIII, Belvedere Palace was built next to the Vatican, which served as a venue for festivities and entertainment for the papal court. Now, on the site of the Belvedere dismantled in the 16th century, there is the Vatican Museum.
Propaganda
Leo Taxil retells the opinions of historians, from the fact that when Innocent VIII was dying in 1492, his doctor, trying to awaken the vitality in him, resorted to a criminal means - he let the blood of three boys into the veins of the dying man. Dad knew about the murder of these boys, and agreed to it. But it didn't save him. There is also a version about the soldering of the Pope with this blood.
This fact was described by the Italian Renaissance historian Stefano Infessura (), who was hostile to the pope.
