Excerpt from Pius II (AEneas Silvius Piccolomini): The Humanist Pope Thus the story of [eneas Silvius affords unique insight into the phase of thought which we call humanism. It provides at once a clue to its meaning and an opportunity of estimating its value in the history of civilisation. From the day when the eager lad of eighteen left his home among the hills of Southern Tuscany to become a student at the University of Siena the gleaming banner of humanism was ever before his eyes. A ready pen and a persuasive tongue formed his chief equipment for the battle of life, and his rise by these means to the Papal throne is one of the most conspicuous triumphs of the new learning. The six years of his pontificate give us a practical example of the applica tion of Renaissance ideals to politics. In Pius ii's wise government of the States of the Church, and in his handling of the ecclesiastical problems of the day, we see the strength of humanism. His death at Ancona, on the eve of his departure for the East, and the shattering of his great crusading schemes show the limitations of humanism, which could not rekindle the vanished enthusiasms of Europe. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Written in the mid-fifteenth century, Pope Pius II’s Commentaries are the only known autobiography of a reigning pontiff and a fundamental text in the history of Renaissance humanism. In this book, Emily O’Brien positions Pius’ expansive autobiographical text within that century’s contentious debate over ecclesiastical sovereignty. Presenting the Commentaries as Pius’ response to the crisis of authority, legitimacy, and relevance that was engulfing the Renaissance papacy, she shows how the Commentaries function as both an aggressive assault on the papal monarchy’s chief opponents and a systematic defense of Pius’s own troubled pontificate and his pre-papal career. Illustrating how the language, imagery, and ideals of secular power inform Pius’ apologetic self-portrait, The Commentaries of Pope Pius II (1458–1464) and the Crisis of the Fifteenth-Century Papacy demonstrates the role that Pius and his writings played in the evolution of the Renaissance papacy.