1. MedievWorld1_fm_4pp.qxd

Pius II, Pope 583

response. Realizing that peace within Europe was neces-
sary before rulers would contemplate a crusade, Pius II
sought to mediate among the Italian states and the
northern European states. He recognized Ferdinand I of
Aragon as the king of NAPLES. He further persuaded
King LOUISXI of France to agree to minor changes in
the PRAGMATICSANCTION OFBOURGESin 1461 limiting
the control of the French Crown over the French
church. He was unable to prevent the wars in GERMANY
and obliged to excommunicate the lord of the Tyrol for
an attack on NICHOLAS OFCUSA, Pius’s friend, and the
archbishop of Mainz.
The pope also had to deal with conflict in BOHEMIA
caused by George Pode ̆brady, the king of Bohemia, and
the hostility of the heretical UTRAQUISTS. When Pius II
revived the idea of a Crusade in 1462–63, Venice, George
SKANDERBEG OFALBANIA, and MATTHIASI CORVINUSOF
HUNGARYpromised their support. The discovery of alum
at Tolfa near ROME provided a new source of papal
income that could be used toward the expenses of a

crusade. Despite ill health, Pius II tried to travel to

Ancona on the Adriatic Sea, where he was supposed to

embark as a leader. Disappointed again, he found only a

few Venetian galleys and few crusaders there. He died

there on August 15, 1464. His heart was buried in

Ancona and his body was taken to Rome.

OTHER ISSUES OF THE PAPACY

Pius II as pope abandoned any pretense of support for

CONCILIARISMand published a bull on January 18, 1460,

in which he forbade the submission of any papal acts to

any scrutiny by a council. He spent most of his reign in

or near Siena, sometimes conducting papal business

under a tree in the open. He also badgered that city to

readmit his family, who had earlier made attempts to

establish a lordship over the city and been banished for

their schemes and uprisings, into its politics. By threaten-

ing to move the bishopric of Siena to Florence and by

promising to canonize CATHERINE OFSIENA, he persuaded

the COMMUNEto permit the Piccolomini to reenter its

The architectural remains for a massive expansion of the cathedral of Siena that had to be abandoned because of financial
difficulties resulting from the plague of 1347, among other causes (Courtesy Edward English)