HISTORY OF THE POPES

FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

DRAWN FROM THE SECRET ARCHIVES OF THE VATICAN AND OTHER

by

Dr. LUDWIG PASTOR

Author’s Preface

THE publication of a new History of the Popes from the Conclusion of the Middle Ages, drawn from original sources, cannot be considered a superfluous task. Apart from the special interest attaching to the annals of this the most ancient and still most vigorous of dynasties, from a purely scientific point of view, a new work embodying the substance of the numerous monographs of the last ten years, with additions and corrections from fresh original documents, seems urgently called for.

Ranke, the first in importance of all Protestant German Historians, owes his fame to his Lives of the Popes in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, which appeared in 1834-1836, and which, even in the most recent editions, essentially represents the state of historical research at that period. The alterations made by the aged author are, with the exception of its continuation to the year 1870, confined to a small number of points. He gives but a summary notice of the Renaissance age, our knowledge of which has been immensely increased during the last few decades by the labours of learned men in Italy, as well as in Germany and France; in the latter country especially, by those of the indefatigable Eugene Müntz. A thorough acquaintance with that period is an essential preliminary to the comprehension of the sixteenth century.

When his Holiness Pope Leo XIII generously opened the secret Archives of the Vatican to students, it became evident that the History of the Popes during the last four centuries would have to be rewritten. Ranke, Burckhardt, Voigt, Gregorovius, and Creighton all wrote on the Renaissance Age before these Archives were accessible, and even Reumont, whose trustworthy and exhaustive History of the City of Rome has been of the greatest use to me, gives but a few specimens of the rich treasures they contain. Accordingly my first task, during a somewhat prolonged residence on two occasions in the Eternal City, was to make myself thoroughly acquainted with them. My studies were greatly facilitated by the kind assistance afforded me by their custodians, and I soon became convinced that Pertz’s observation, the keys of St. Peter are still the keys of the Middle Ages, is also applicable to our own times.

In addition to the secret Archives of the Vatican, I found, while in Rome, partly by my own exertions, and partly by the aid of friends, historical materials of great value in a number of other Archives, which had hitherto been almost inaccessible. Among these are the Consistorial Archives, the Archives of the Lateran (which unfortunately have not been classified), of the Inquisition, of Propaganda, of the Sixtine Chapel, of the Secretaryship of Briefs, and of the Library of St. Peter's. Nor must the treasures of the Vatican Library be passed over, especially as Ranke and Gregorovius were only able to inspect a small number of these manuscripts.

My researches in the inexhaustible mine of the Papal collections were supplemented by those which I made in the Libraries and Private Archives of Rome. I visited the public or semi-public Libraries, which are celebrated throughout the literary world, as the Angelica, the Barberina, the Casanatense, the Chigi, the Corsini, and the Vallicellana Libraries, and also the less known Altieri, Borghese, and Boncompagni Libraries, the Archives of the Anima, of the Campo Santo al Vaticano, and of the Santo Spirito, as well as those of the Roman Princes, which, in many cases, are not easy of access. Among these the Archives of the Colonna, Gaetani, and Ricci families yielded an unexpected amount of treasure, while others, as, for example, those of the Odescalchi and Orsini, were comparatively barren.

The overwhelming mass of documents before me decided me only to begin my systematic investigation of the Roman Archives at the middle of the fifteenth century, which we may consider as the period closing the Middle Ages, and forming the transition between two great epochs.

Ample as are the historical materials to be found in Rome, I could not limit myself exclusively to these sources without incurring the danger of being one-sided.

I therefore extended my investigations to the other Archives in Italy, especially those of the more or less important Italian powers, which were in constant communication with the Holy See, and which sent Ambassadors to Rome at an earlier date, and more frequently than is generally supposed. The diplomatic correspondence of the Sforzas in the State Archives at Milan long detained me, and I was able to fill up the gaps existing in it from the Ambrosian Library, and afterwards from the National Library of Paris. Florence, Vienna, and Mantua furnished an unlooked-for amount of documents, most of which are still unknown. Lucca is not so rich, but from Modena and Naples I have gathered much that is of value for my work.

I need hardly say that in my various journeys I did not neglect the numerous rich Libraries and the important Municipal Archives which are scattered through Italy. I also investigated the collections of manuscripts in France and Germany, and at several places, as, for example, at Aix in Provence and at Treves, I made interesting and valuable discoveries.

I owe a debt of gratitude, in the first place to His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, who has most graciously been pleased to take an interest in my work, and to encourage me in its prosecution; then to their Eminences Cardinals Jacobini, Hergenröther, and Mertel, His Excellency Count Paar, Austrian Ambassador to the Holy See, Monsignori de Montel and Meszczynski, and Herr Wilhelm Hüffer in Rome; also to Fr. Ehrle, S.J., and Dr. Gottlob, the latter of whom placed at my disposal a number of documents relating to the war against the Turks.

I am also greatly indebted to the Minister of Public Worship and Education in Vienna for his kindness in regard to the transmission of manuscripts, and to the custodians and officials of the Archives and Libraries I have visited, for the assistance they have so obligingly afforded me in my investigations. I beg them all to accept my sincere thanks.

The second volume of this work will conclude the History of the Renaissance Age, and will appear as soon as possible. The subject matter of the four other volumes, which will probably complete my undertaking, will be the three great events of History since the Renaissance: the great disruption in the Western Church, the Catholic Restoration, and the Modern Revolution.

LUDWIG PASTOR.

15th August, 1885.