JF. N E 



printed at Purls, fol. 1 609. See alio Fabr. Dibl. Crxc. 1. 



lii. c. so- f<-'c- 9- 



JEsvxs, Sylvius, Piccolomini, was born on tlie 

 1 8th of Oftobcr, 1405, at Corfigiii, a finall town in the 

 territory of Sienna, the name of which he afterwards 

 Ciianged into Pi-nza. His motlicr, when flie was preg- 

 nant with him, dreamed that (he fliould be dehvercd of a 

 mitred infant, and interpreting her dream by the mode of 

 degrading clergymen, which at that time was crowning 

 them with a paper mitre, the conceived her fon would be 

 a difgrace to her family, liut the dream proved to be a 

 prefage of his future advancement. Having been well edu- 

 cated, though in low circumltanccs, at a granmiar-fchool 

 in hi^ native town, he was enabled, by the aflittance of 

 friends, to go to the univerfity of Sienna, in 1423, where 

 he made great prolicitncy, and publillied feveral pieces in 

 the Latin and Tufoan langnages. In 14.^1, he attended 

 Cardinal Capranica, fnrnamed JDe Fermo, to the Council 

 of Uafil, as his fccrelary. He occupied the fame office 

 imder Cardinal Albergoti, wiio fent him to Scotland to 

 mediate a peace between the Engtifh and Scots. Upon 

 his return, he was appointed Stcretaiy to the Council of 

 Bafil, which he defended againft the authority of the 

 Popes, both by his fpeeches and writings. This Council 

 alTigned to him other offices of importance ; and lie was 

 employed in various embaffies ; in one of which, to Stialburg, 

 he is faid to have had an intrigue with a lady, by whom he 

 had a fon. For this adventure he has made an humorous 

 apologv, in a letter to his fatiier, prefervcd in Wharton's 

 Appendix to Cave's Hill. Liter, p. 114, anno 1458. In 

 J 439, he was crowned by the Emperor Frederic HL with 

 the poetic laurel; and, in 1442, appointed Secretary to 

 the Empire, and advanced to the fcnatorial order. Having 

 made his peace with Pope Eugenius 111, lie was honoured 

 ivith the office of ftcretaiy to his Holincfs, which he was al- 

 lov.-cd to retain witiiout reilgning his pod under the emperor. 

 Upon the deceafe of this pope, ^neas was chofcn by the 

 cardinals to prelide in the conclave till another pope lliould 

 be eleiiled. Pope Nicholas confeired upon him the bifliop- 

 ric of Triefte, and he was at the fame time appointed coun- 

 fellor to the emperor, and fuperintendant of the moil im- 

 portant concerns of the empire. He afterwards became 

 archbiihop of Sienna; and, m 1452, attended Frederic to 

 Rome, when he went to receive the Imperial crown. Upon 

 his return, he was named legate of Bohemia and Aulhia. 

 Jn 1456, he was made a Cardinal ; and, upon the deceafe 

 pf Cahxtus III, in 1458, elefted pope, by the name of 

 Pius II. Upon his advancement to the papal chair, hia 

 views and fentiments, like thofe of others in fmiilar circum- 

 ftanees, underwent 3 total revolution. He publidicd a bull, 

 retracing all he had written in defence of the Council of 

 Bafil, meanly apologized for his former conduft, and be- 

 came a ftrenuous advocate of the papal prerogatives. 



" We exhort and advife you in the Lord, (fays he) not 

 to pay any regard to thofe writings which injure in any 

 manner the authority of the apoflolic fee, and affert opinions 

 which the holy Roman church does not receive. If you 

 find any thing contrary to this in our dialogues or letters, 

 or in any other of our works, defpiie fuch notions, rejedl 

 them, follow what we maintain now. Believe what I 

 afTert now I am in years, rather than what I faid when I 

 was young ; regard a pope' rather than a private man ; in 

 fhort, rejecl JEiiias Syhhii, and revere J'ius II." On this 

 occafion, he declared appeals from the pope to a council 

 to be null, erroneous and deteftable, and contrary to the 

 iacred canons, 



iE N E 



Although he declaimed, with all the powers of hia 

 eloquence againft the Turkilh war, when he was fecretary to 

 the emperor, and defcribed, from liis own experience, the 

 repugnant Hate and fpirit of Chriilendom ; yet, when he 

 was raifed to tlie papal throne, he devoted iiis hfe to the 

 profccntion of this war. With this view, he attended a 

 convention of princes at Mantua ; but when the pontiff 

 appeared at Ancona, to embark in perfon with the troops, 

 engagements vaniflied in excufes ; a precife day was ad- 

 jom-Hcd to an indeilnitc term ; and his effeftive army con- 

 filled of lome German pilgrims, wlsom he was obhged to 

 dilband with indulgences and alms. The French, who had 

 incurred the the pope's difpleafnre by appealing to a council 

 in defence of the Piagmatic fanftion, oppofed this meafure ; 

 but he feems to have been placated by the confent of Louis 

 XI, in 1461, to aboliffi that cdift, which the parliament of 

 Paris had fo lately and fo vigoroufly fupported. In the 

 following year, 1462, he iiiterpofed in a difpute which took 

 place between the Cordeliers and Dominicans, and iffiicd a 

 bull forbidding them to brand one another with the odious 

 epithets of heretics. In the cxercife of his high office, 

 Pius exerted himfelf with fpirit and aftivity in bringing 

 many contells to a peaceful termination, and in fetthng the 

 claims of various princes. During his pontificate he re« 

 ceived ambafl'adors from the Patriarchs of the eaft ; wlio 

 profcffed their unanimous agreement to fubmit to the pope 

 as vicegerent of Jefus Chrill. At Ancona, whither he re- 

 paired for the purpofe of embarking in the profecution of 

 the Tuikifh war, he was feizcd with a fever, which ter. 

 minated in his death, on the 14th of Augull, 1464, in the 

 59th year of his age. 



Spondanus, in his ecclefiaftical Annals, fays, that he was 

 inferior to none in learning, eloquence, dexterity, and pru- 

 dence ; and the cardinal of Pavia, in his fpeech to the con- 

 clave, concerning the choice of a fucceflbr, pronounces this 

 eulogium on Pius II. that he was a pope who had all the 

 virtues in his charafter ; and that he had merited the ut- 

 moft commendation by his zeal for religion, his integrity of 

 manners, his folid judgment, and profound learning. Am- 

 bition, however, feems to have been his ruling principle ; 

 and his conduft furnifhes an example, in addition to many 

 others, of the verfatility which a change of circumftances 

 produces in perfons that are influenced by this principle. 

 The verfe of Virgil's ^neid, (lib. i. v. 382) which begins 



Sum plus JEncas and the end of the following 



verfe — - . _ . 



him. 



-fama fuper JEtheva nolus, have been applied ta 



A hiiloiy of his hfe, fuppofed to have been written by 

 himfelf, was publillied by his fecretary, John Gobehn. It 

 was printed at Rome in 4to. in 1584 and 1589, and at 

 Frankfort, in folio, in 16J4. We have an edition of 

 j^neas Sylvius's works, printed at Bafil, in folio, in 1551. 

 His life is prefixed to the edition of his works, printed at 

 Helmftadt, in folio, in 1700. 



Some apophthegms of ^neas are recorded, of which the 

 following are a fpecimen ; As a covetous man is never fa- 

 tisfied with money, fo a learned man ffiould not be with 

 knowledge — -Common men Should ellecm learning as filver, 

 noblemen prize it as gold, and princes as jewels. — The 

 laws have power over the commonalty, but are feeble to 

 the greater ones. — A citizen ffioidd look upon Ins family as 

 fubjeft to the city, the city to his countiy, the country to 

 tiic world, and the world to God,— The chief place with 

 knigs ia flippejy,— And as all rivers run into the fea, fo do 

 all vices into the court.— The tongue of a fycophant is a 

 king's grcatel'l plague.— «A prince who would truft nobody 

 4 '9 



