Fi«I AHÜCÜCO- Sixtus 11 Gives the Treasures of the Church to the Deacon St
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Fi«i AHÜCÜCO- Sixtus 11 gives the treasures of the church to the deacon St. Lawrence ^detail) Frsi An^elico prohahly took Eugenius IV as his model for this fresco of Sixtus II, - .is lie took Nicholas V (at his command Iv executed these paintings) for the other papal iigure in the decoration of the chapel of Pope Nicholas in the Vatican. THE POPES THROUGH HISTORY edited hy RAYMOND H. SCHMANDT Loyola University, Chicago Volume 1 ;Eugenius IV .Pope of Christian Union by JOSEPH GILL, S. J. Professor of the Pontifical Oriented Institute, Rome LONDON .URNS & OATES împnmi potest: ALPHONSUS RABS, S.J. February 8, 196Î Nihil Obstat: EDWARD A. CBRNY, S.S. Censor Librorum Imprimatur: FRANCIS P. KEOUGH, D.D. Archbishop of Baltimore October 10, 1961 The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal and moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with the opinions expressed. Copyright © 1961 by THE NEWMAN PRESS Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-16572 Printed in the United States of America Introduction to the Series IHIS VOLUME initiates a new series, "The Popes Through History/* a series consisting of biographies of the most important popes who reigned in times of particular crisis for the Church, Too many of the really significant popes are unknown outside of scholarly circles. Others are scarcely or inaccurately understood even by professional historians. Still others have fared so badly at the hands of apologists or of critics of the Papacy as a Catholic institution that the common view dis- torts them beyond recognition. This situation "The Popes Through His tory " seeks to remedy. Whatever one may think of the Papacy, surely the popes have played a prominent role in the dramatic formation and dissemination of Western Civilization. Weak men or strong, wise or foolish, simple or magnificent, they have moved across the stage of history decade after decade in unending succes- sion. Each has left his individual mark, to the joy, pride, despair, or even contempt of subsequent generations. Each has influenced us modern men, living in the middle of the twentieth century, far more than we probably realize. In short, the popes deserve to be better known, not merely by vi INTRODUCTION the student of ecclesiastical history but by all who are genu- inely concerned about the problems confronting contemporary Christian society. As with all eminent historical figures, the popes must be seen amid their own times, trials, and tribulations. Their reaction to their own age and its problems reveals their char- acter and illustrates the perennial problem of the Christian man striving to come to grips with a world he did not fashion, but which he desires to redirect according to the precepts of the Gospels. Hence these volumes set the man against his background rather than isolate him from it—at least insofar as this can be done within a brief compass. The audience to which the Series appeals is the wide world of intelligent men and women who appreciate a significant tale well told. Biography seems a most apt medium for such purpose. Scholars who seek all the answers, and indeed all the questions too, will, it is anticipated, find at least some morsel here to merit their attention also. The authors are all experts in the period of their subject's life. While they write for those who wish an introduction to a group of complex and fascinating subjects, it is their hope that they will arouse their readers to penetrate beyond the limits of these small volumes. RAYMOND H. SCHMANDT Department of History Loyola University, Chicago Preß ace IN THE bibliography of the first volume of L Pastor's Lives of the Popes there is mention of a life of Eugenius IV—Albert, F. Ph., Papst Eugen IV. Ein Lebensbild aus der Kirchengeschichte des fünfzehnten Jahrhunderts, i Lief., Mainz, 1884. When I was writing my book, The Council of Florence* I was anxious to consult that work, but though I looked for it in some of the richest libraries of Europe, in none of them could I find it. This much I discovered: that it was a doctoral dissertation that had not been printed. A few copies, presumably, had been made by some simple process of multi- plication. It cannot, therefore, have had any great diffusion or have exercised any noteworthy influence on historical scholar- ship. That is the only reference that I have anywhere found to any special study on Eugenius, which means that his biogra- phy has not yet been published. From one point of view that is not surprising, because the whole of the fifteenth century has so far been inadequately studied. Some aspects, certainly, of its history, such as the development of Florentine art, have received much attention from scholars, and valuable collec- * Published by tîie Cambridge University Press, 1959. vii viii PREFACE tions of documents have been edited that can serve as the foundation of more general studies. But, compared with other centuries before it and after, the fifteenth remains relatively unexplored and its personalities unknown. On the other hand, one could justly have expected a bi- ography of Eugenius before this, if not for what he did him- self, at least for what he stopped others doing. He was Pope when the shadow of the Great Schism still hung over the Church and when good men were set on having general councils so often that they would have been virtually in permanent session, in order to replace the papacy as the highest authority and head of the Church on earth. Had the Conciliar Movement succeeded, not only Church history but the political history of all the nations would have been very different from what it has been. It did not succeed because Eugenius believed that it was wrong and at the cost of much suffering to himself opposed it with all his might. In other words, he turned the course of history by his action and on that account deserves to be better known. That is one reason why this biography has been written. Another reason is because Eugenius' Council of Florence brought the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople, procurators of the other three oriental patriarchates, and a group of about twenty metropolitans and bishops representing the Eastern Church into contact with the Latin Church. There resulted, after months of earnest discussion, union of the Eastern and Western Churches, a union that admittedly did not survive the fanatical opposition it encountered after- wards and the capture of Constantinople in 1453, but a union that was genuine while it lasted and permanent in some of its effects, because it was the fruit not of compromise but of harmony of principles. Schism again divided the Christian East from the Christian West within a few years after the council, as it had done before it That schism still continues. PREFACE ix Since the time of Eugenius no other great attempt has been made to heal it, though all good men deplore it. In our day there is among Christians a hunger for unity, as never before. This is signalized by the World Council of Churches whose origins go back to the years immediately following the first World War, and by the General Council summoned by Pope John XXIII. The Council of Florence offers guidance to the ecumenist of today. The Pope who convoked it, who nursed it, who brought it to its happy conclusion was Eugenius IV. That is another reason why his life should now be known. A third reason to justify this biography is the subject of it: the man Eugenius. If he was not a saint in the technical sense of the word, he was certainly a holy man, who managed to retain the contemplative spirit of the monastery in the bustle of public life, who was harassed by enemies and deserted by friends but in the end achieved his chief aims, who overawed people by his presence yet was easy of access, especially to the poor. There were more vicissitudes in his life than in the lives of most public men, and he bore them with fortitude. He was not perfect. He was somewhat undiscerning in his friendships, too easily assessing help received as worthiness of character. Some of his enemies he found it hard to forgive. His was a life of strong light and shade—more shade than light in his temporal fortunes, more light than shade in the qualities that made the man. Here are all the elements needed for an interesting biography. So, since in the course of my researches on the Council of Florence I had acquired much information about Eugenius and had come to regard him with respect and admiration, I set my hand to the task, with the.purpose not only of throwing a little more light on the history of the fifteenth century but also of making known the personal great- ness and achievements of a worthy man. JOSEPH GILL, S.J, Contents Preface vii chapter I The Background 3 chapter 2 Gabriel Condulmaro, Monk, Bishop, and Cardinal 15 chapter 3 Eugenius Fights a Losing Battle against J Basel 39 chapter ,φ The Tide Begins to Turn 69 chapter ζ The Council with the Greeks 99 chapter 6 Schism Again 133 chapter J Eugenius IV: The Man and His Work 169 chapter Ο Eugenius IV : His Lasting Achievements 203 Bibliography 213 Index 219 THE POPES THROUGH HISTORY Volume 1 Eugenius IV Pope of Christian Union chapter T The Background JLJLISTORY, EVEN when referred to some particular person or episode, does not then begin; it goes on.