SIXTUS. 



Rome. He died in 440, after a reign of eight years, and 

 hie name has been enrolled among thofe of the faints of the 

 holy Roman fee. 



SixTus IV., pope, who affumed the name of Sixtus, in- 

 ftcad of Francis della Rovere, was defcended from a family 

 of the fame name in Savona, in the ftatc of Genoa. He was 

 born in 1414, and at an early age entered into the Francif- 

 can order. He ftudied in the univerfities of Pavia and Bo- 

 logna, and having taken the degrees of doAor of philofo- 

 phy and theology, he gave pubUc leftures in feveral of the 

 principal cities of Italy, and acquired great reputation for 

 learning. Having pafled through fome honourable offices 

 in his order, he was at length raifed to the head of it as ge- 

 neral ; and becoming known to cardinal Beflarion, through 

 his recommendation, and that of cardinal Gonzaga, he wa» 

 promoted by pope Paul II., in 1467, to the purple, by the 

 title of St. Peter ad Vincula. On tlv: death of the pope, in 

 147 1 , he was raifed to the pontifical chair ; but on his co- 

 ronation a tumult was excited that had nearly proved fatal 

 to him. Efcaping from the hands of the mob, he attempted 

 to form a league among the Chriilian princes againft the 

 Turks, who had made themfelves mafters of Bofnia, Iftria, 

 and great part of Dalmatia, and threatened Italy. With 

 this view he fent fome of liis moft diltinguiihed cardinals as 

 his legates to different courts, with intlrudlionsto endeavour 

 to compofe the difputcs exitting between the feveral fove- 

 reigns ; but, as ulual in fuch cafes, with fmall effeft. He 

 procured to be fitted out an allied fleet of gallies, which re- 

 covered Smyrna from the Turks, but he did little befides. 

 He was more fuccefsful at home, in an attempt to expel a 

 number of petty tyrants who had feized upon the cities be- 

 longing to the church, and governed them as independent fo- 

 vereigns. With the aid of Ferdinand, king of Naples, he 

 efFeftually cleared the ecclefiaitical ilates of thefe ufurpers, 

 and thereby almoll doubled his revenue. The year 1475 

 ■was that of the Jubilee, which was celebrated with great 

 magnificence by Sixtus, and was dignified by an unufual 

 aflemblage of crowned heads, though the refort of pilgrims 

 in general was lefs than on former occafions. 



This pontiff carried the vice of nepotifm to as great a de- 

 gree as any of his predeceffors, and it was one of his firfl ob- 

 jefts to make a fplcndid provifion for his natural children, 

 under the name of nephews, out of the dignities and offices 

 of the church. It is faid, that one leading motive for his 

 expelling the independent potFeirors of towns in the eccle- 

 fiaftical ilate was, that he might liave territories to form 

 principalities for his nephew ; and in purfuanceof this plan, 

 he fent Giulano de Rovere, afterwards Julius II., to take 

 the city of Caflello from Niccolo Vilelli. Niccolo, liaving 

 obtained the afliftance of the duke of Milan and the Floren- 

 tines, made a vigorous refiilance, but was at length obliged 

 to capitulate. This produced an alarm in the neighbouring 

 ftates, and occafioned a defenfive league between the duke of 

 Milan, the Venetians, and the Florentines. The latter people 

 were under the influence of Lorenzo de Medici, whofe po- 

 litical conduft could not but be highly difpleaCng to the 

 pope ; and he difplayed his refentment by depriving Lorenzo 

 of tlie office of treasurer of the holy fee, which he had con- 

 ferred upon him in the days of their friendfliip. This, how- 

 ever, was not fufficient, and he determined upon an attempt 

 entirely to fubvert the power of the Medici in Florence. In 

 conjunftion with his nephew, Girolamo Riario, he formed a 

 rooft deteftable confpiracy. By means of the powerful fa- 

 mily of the Pazzi, rivals to the Medici in Florence, a revo- 

 lution was to be effected in the government of that city, 

 commencing with the affaffination of Lorenzo and Giuliiin» 



de Medici, when ailifting at mafs in one of the churchej, 

 and the elevation of the hoil was to be the fignal. Fortu- 

 nately their plans mifcarried, but the pope thundered out an 

 excommunication againft Lorenzo and the magiftrates of 

 Florence, and laid the city and its territories under an inter> 

 dift. Having in vain endeavoured by menace to induce the 

 Florentines to deliver up Lorenzo, he formed a league with 

 the king of Naples, whofe troops, in conjunction with thofe 

 of the church, invaded the territory of Florence, andfpread 

 devaitation through it. They were, however, encountered 

 by an oppofite league, and tlie pope was at length, by the 

 interpofition of the king of France, and the alarm excited 

 throughout Italy in confequence of the capture of Otranto' 

 by the Turks, obliged to confent to a peace. Italy did not 

 long remain in peace. In 148^, Sixtus joined with the Ve- 

 netians in an attempt to difpoffefs the duke of Ferrara of 

 his territories, for which his motive was a hope of vetting the 

 government of that city in one of his own family. The 

 confequence was an invafion of the ecclefiaitical itate by the 

 duke of Calabria, fon of the king of Naples, which how- 

 ever terminated in the duke's total defeat. The fuccefs of 

 the Venetians rendering them formidable to their neighbours, 

 a league was formed againft them, which the pope was per- 

 fuaded to join, and he iftucd a folemn excommunication 

 againft iiis allies. The confederates, however, receiving 

 propofals from the Venetians, concluded a peace without 

 confulting Sixtus. This afl'efted his holinefs f'o much, that 

 it occafioned a fevere fit of the gout, which put an end to 

 his life in 1484, jult after he had completed his 70th year, 

 and in the 13th of his pontificate. " Sixtus IV." fays his 

 biographer, " ranks among the moft unprincipled of the Ro- 

 man pontiffs with refpeA to political conduft, which feems 

 to have been governed by no other motive than the paffion 

 for aggrandizing his family, and indulging a rapacious dif- 

 pofition. His concurrence in the deteftable confpiracy of 

 the Pazzi, and the eagernefs with which he fermented the 

 wars which difquieted Italy almoft through the whole of his 

 reign, fhew him to have been fleeted againft all fentiments of 

 pubhc juftice and humanity. He has been taxed with ava- 

 rice, but the imputation has been refuted by recounting the 

 fplendid edifices, and the numerous charitable and ufeful 

 eftablifhments of which he was the founder. He was, in 

 truth, liberal and magnificent in liis expenditure ; and having, 

 hke many other arbitrary princes of that character, ex- 

 hauited his refources, he fcrupled no means of replenifhing 

 them. In no pontificate were the offices and employments 

 about the papal court more fliamelefsly fet to fale, or the ex- 

 atlions in paffing bulls and other official inftruments from 

 that court more fcandaloufly augmented. The moft favour- 

 able light in v.-hich he can he viewed, is as a munificent en- 

 courager of literature. He may almofl be regarded as the 

 founder of the Vatican library, for he not only enriched it 

 with books, collected from various parts of tlie world, but 

 caufed them to be properly difpofed for the convenience of 

 the public, to which he opened the library, placed them 

 under the care of men deeply learned in different languages, 

 with competent falaries, and afligned funds for the purchafe 

 of new books. It is, on the other hand, to be mentioned, 

 that he was the firfl who inftituted inquifitors of the prefs, 

 without whofe licence no work was fuffered to be printed." 

 Sixtus was author of fome theological pieces : feveral of his 

 letters are extant, and he publifhed fome decrees, one of 

 which had for its objcft to put an end to the difputes then 

 fubfifting relative to the conception of the Virgin Mary. 



SiXTi/s v., pope, was born in 1521, in the Marche of 

 Ancona, at La Grotte, a village in the territory of Mon- 



talto. 



