The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages

VOLUME II. BOOK 3

CHAPTER II.

THE HOLY SEE AND THE EASTERN QUESTION—

DANGER WITH WHICH THE TURKS THREATENED EUROPE.

 

The dangers to the Church and to civilization which troubled the latter days of Nicholas V had assumed yet more alarming proportions at the accession of Calixtus III. Torn by conflicting interests and internecine feuds, the West was ill-fitted to withstand the united and fanatical advance of Islam. The disastrous consequences of the fall of Constantinople had at once been felt, not only in the stagnation of trade with the East, but in the threatened hindrance by the Turks of free navigation in the Mediterranean. Servia and Hungary, Greece, the Christian Islands, especially Rhodes, and the Empire of the Comneni at Trebizond, were in imminent danger, and the colonies in the Black Sea were almost lost. Mahomet II was himself unremitting in his efforts to extend his dominion.

Nevertheless, the leading Princes and States of Europe, with scarcely an exception, displayed the most deplorable indifference to the welfare of Christendom. So grievous were their dissensions, and such the decay of zeal and heroism, that not one could rise above individual interests and animosities to gather round the banner of the Cross. The Holy See alone truly apprehended the importance of the situation, and while all others were swayed by selfish considerations, again showed itself to be the most universal and most conservative power on earth.

With her traditional wisdom, Rome appreciated the magnitude of the danger which menaced the Western world and its civilization. She also perceived that this victory of the infidel, like the loss in former days of the Holy Sepulchre, might be a means of reviving the zeal and loyalty of the faithful, and thus lead to further progress in the work of restoration already begun. The greater the spirit of dissension in the political and ecclesiastical sphere the more did it behove the Holy See to devote itself to the common interest.

Calixtus III was the man of all others to give a new and powerful impulse to the crusade. His duty and his inclination were in this matter identical. From the beginning to the end of his Pontificate, in public and in private, in his letters to Christian princes and prelates, and in his solemn Bulls addressed to all Christian people, he declared that he looked upon the defence of Christendom as the main object of his life. The crusade against the hereditary foe of the Christian name was the point upon which all his powers and efforts were concentrated.

The new Pope resolved to inaugurate his reign by a solemn vow which bound him to sacrifice everything—the treasures of the Church and, if necessary, his own life—in order to repel Islam and recover Constantinople. The words of this vow, copies of which were circulated in almost all countries to the joy and edification of the good, have been handed down to us. They are as follows :—"I, Pope Calixtus III, promise and vow to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the heavenly host, that I will do everything in my power, even, if need be, with the sacrifice of my life, aided by the counsel of my worthy brethren, to reconquer Constantinople, which in punishment for the sin of man has been taken and ruined by Mahomet II, the son of the devil and the enemy of our Crucified Redeemer. Further, I vow to deliver the Christians languishing in slavery, to exalt the true Faith and to extirpate the diabolical sect of the reprobate and faithless Mahomet in the East. For there the light of Faith is almost completely extinguished. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee. If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy, God and His holy Gospel help me.—Amen."

With the resolute tenacity of a Spaniard, the aged Calixtus laboured unremittingly to accomplish his vow.

Seven centuries of warfare with the Moors had left an indelible impress on the Spanish national character. The crusades form an episode in the history of other nations, but the very existence of the Spanish race was a perpetual crusade; and one consequence of this state of things was the development of a high-souled enthusiasm, which led each individual to look on himself as one of a chosen race, and especially called to be a champion of Christendom. That spirit of religious chivalry- which in other European countries had long since given place to more material views, or else degenerated into lawless feuds—still flourished in Spain. Like thousands of his fellow-countrymen, Calixtus III had from his earliest days imbibed sentiments of deadly hatred for the mortal enemy of the Christian name, and after his elevation to the highest dignity in Christendom he deemed it his first duty to combat that foe. The repeated declarations in his writings that, next to the attainment of everlasting life, he desired nothing so ardently as the accomplishment of his vow regarding the deliverance of Constantinople, were no mere figure of speech. He wished to make the most ample reparation for the shortcomings of his unwarlike predecessors, and as we read his fervent words we feel that years had done nothing to quell his ardent Spanish temperament. The union of Western Christendom against the power of Islam, the succour of imperilled Hungary, and the construction and equipment of a Papal fleet were the objects to be accomplished within the shortest possible space of time. With an energy which seemed to defy the advance of age, the Pope at once began to deal with the matter in all its aspects.

The history of the Papal power was materially affected by the action of Calixtus. The Papacy under Eugenius IV had been engrossed by Italian politics and contests with the Councils, and under Nicholas V it had been absorbed in literary and artistic interests. Now under Calixtus III it seemed to be roused to remorse by the fall of Constantinople, and, as in the days of Urban II, to realize the magnitude of the Eastern problem, whose solution might be the means of endowing it with fresh vigour. The warlike zeal and indomitable resolution displayed by Calixtus III, notwithstanding his age and infirmities, is justly characterized by ecclesiastical annalists as marvellous. "The Pope", writes Gabriel of Verona, "speaks and thinks of nothing but the crusade". For whole hours he used to converse with the Minorites on the subject, which seemed to him to surpass all others in importance.

"Other affairs," says the historian, "he despatches with a word, but he treats and speaks of the crusade continually." On the 15th May, 1455, Calixtus published a solemn Bull, by which all the graces and indulgences granted by Nicholas V on the 30th September 1454, to those who should take part in the crusade, were confirmed, and all other indulgences published since the Council of Constance repealed. New regulations were made concerning the tithes to be devoted to the war, and the 1st March of the following year was appointed as the day for the departure of the expedition against the common foe of Christendom. In order to restore unity among the Christian princes, and to incite them to hostilities against the Turks, the Pope determined to send special legates to the principal countries of Christendom. The Cardinal Archbishop of Gran, Dionysius Szechy, was appointed to Hungary; the indefatigable Cardinal Carvajal to Germany, Hungary, and Poland Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa to England and Germany; and Cardinal Alain to France. On the 8th September Calixtus III personally conferred the cross on Cardinals Alain and Carvajal, and on the Archbishop Urrea of Tarragona, who was to hasten with a naval force to the relief of the hard-pressed Christian islands in the Aegean and Ionian waters. This solemn ceremony was performed at St. Peter's. This was indeed fitting, as the place hallowed by the remains of him whom our Lord had made the rock and foundation of His Church. It was the scene of all the most important actions of the Popes, and as such it was also to witness a deed whose effects were destined to embrace the whole of Christendom. The Pope, as we learn from the Bishop of Pavia, manifested the greatest devotion on this occasion, and shed many tears. Calixtus III, he adds, is most eager to combat the Turks; anyone, who places obstacles in his way, is guilty of a great sin. As early as September 17th Alain entered on his office as legate, and a week later Carvajal left the Eternal City on his way to the North. Nicholas of Cusa apparently did not undertake the journey to England, for the negotiations with the Duke of Tyrol prove that he spent the whole of the year 1455 in his diocese of Brixen.

The deplorable issue of the Diet summoned in the time of Nicholas V to deal with the Turkish question determined Calixtus III to renounce the idea of any assembly of the kind, and to endeavour to deal directly with the individual potentates. He accordingly sent to the lesser European Princes and States, bishops, prelates, or monks who were to treat with the chief persons of the country regarding tithes, to call upon the people to contribute, to take part in the expedition, and to pray earnestly for the success of the Christian arms. He granted at the same time ample indulgences to those who should thus assist in the holy work. Anyone who has had the opportunity of looking through the thirty-eight thick volumes in the Secret Archives of the Vatican which contain the acts of Calixtus III's short Pontificate must be amazed at the immense energy manifested by the aged and sickly Pontiff.

Special envoys were dispatched, not merely to the larger Italian States, such as Naples, Florence, and Venice, but also to the smaller Republics and cities, and to the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. In the Regesta of Calixtus III we, moreover, find records of the appointment of preachers of the crusade and of tithe collectors for the several provinces of Spain and Germany, for Portugal, Poland, Dalmatia, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and an ambassador was sent even to Ireland and to the distant shores of Scotland.

Most of these envoys were chosen from among the Observantine Friars, who, as mendicants and as brethren of St. John Capistran, enjoyed the confidence of the people to a remarkable degree. The names of San Jacopo della Marca, of Roberto da Lecce, and of Antonio de Monte- falcone, on whom the cardinals in conclave had for a moment fixed their attention, are worthy of special mention. But other Orders were also called upon by the Pope to assist in the work he had at heart. Heinrich Kalteisen, a Dominican from the Rhenish province, who had already given proof of his zeal at the Council of Basle, and whom Nicholas V had appointed Archbishop of Drontheim,flaboured in Germany, preaching in Vienna, Ratisbon, Augsburg, Eichstadt, Nuremberg, and finally in his own Rhenish home, and had the honour of receiving a Brief of special commendation from the Pope.

Another instance of the extent to which the Pope claimed the assistance of the religious orders in the matter of the crusade against the infidels is to be found in the command addressed on the 4th May, 1456, to the General and Provincials of the Augustinians, whereby he required them, under pain of excommunication, to immediately detain all the preachers of the Order, to give up all other undertakings, and to devote themselves entirely to preaching the crusade.

The chronicler of Viterbo enables us to form a clear idea of the manner in which it was published. "On the 8th September," he says, "a Franciscan monk began preaching the crusade in the chief square near the fountain. First of all he caused drums and fifes to be sounded, and then a silver gilt cross with a figure of the Redeemer to be set up; afterwards he brought forth the Pope's Bull and thoroughly explained it."

Calixtus III guarded against the abuses which had frequently occurred on former occasions by the most exact directions respecting the collection and keeping of the tithes to be levied on all ecclesiastics for the Turkish War. In the march of Ancona, for example, it was decreed that, subject to the advice of the Bishop, one or two collectors and treasurers should be appointed for each city, and should keep duplicate accounts of the names of the contributors and the sums paid. The Papal envoys were empowered to inflict the severest ecclesiastical penalties on the refractory, and, if necessary, to invoke the secular arm. They were, moreover, carefully to examine the preachers and to insist upon their explaining the contents and the import of the Bull of the crusade. A chest with four locks was to be placed in the sacristy of the cathedral to receive the alms; one of the keys of this chest was to be kept by the Bishop, the second by the Papal Commissioner, the third by the two collectors, and the fourth by two notable citizens to be chosen by the congregation. A notary was to write down the names of the contributors and the amount paid, so that everyone might be sure that the funds were devoted exclusively to the object of the crusade.

Nevertheless, as nothing human is perfect, serious abuses occurred. Some of the collectors retained the funds entrusted to them; false collectors arose, as they had done in the time of Nicholas V, and cheated the people out of their money. Calixtus III, when informed of these malpractices, lost no time in proceeding against the offenders, yet it was impossible for him entirely to avert the discredit brought upon the whole enterprise in many cases by their misconduct.

Not content, however, with causing collections to be made in every country for the expenses of the Holy War, the Pope, like a true Spaniard, determined to devote all the pecuniary and military resources at his disposal to the same object.

He accordingly did not hesitate to alienate jewels from the Papal treasure and even Church property in order to provide the means required for warlike preparations. The long list of gold and silver plate bought by the art-loving King Alfonso of Naples from the Pope in the year 1456 is still extant, and mentions gilt amphorae and cups, a silver wine cooler, a table service for confectionery, and also a tabernacle with figures of the Saviour and of St. Thomas, chalices and instruments of the pax. It is easy to understand that such a Pontiff lost little time in dismissing the needy men of letters and most of the artists and craftsmen who had been constantly employed by his predecessor. Those whom he still retained in his service were required to labour in the cause of the crusade. The painters and embroiderers had to devote their skill exclusively to the fabrication of banners, and the sculptors to that of stone cannon-balls.

We can hardly wonder that the records of this Pontificate do not speak of any new buildings of importance. In Rome, however, the erection of fortifications was not altogether discontinued, and the works commenced by Nicholas V at the Ponte Molle, the Castle of St. Angelo, and on the walls of the city were continued. A medal of this period represents the Eternal City surrounded with great fortifications. But the ramparts of the Vatican seem to have been left as they were, and the Tribune of St. Peter's to have remained a ruin rising scarcely twenty feet above the ground. In vain did the Poet Giuseppe Brippi conjure the Pope to continue the building of St. Peter's. He merely placed a new organ in the church, restored the windows, and repaired the circular chapel of St. Andrew.

The architects who always found a welcome from Calixtus III were military engineers and ship-builders, and he willingly expended the treasure of the Church in remunerating their labours. Although the great projects of his predecessor remained in abeyance, the Pope caused some works to be undertaken in those churches of the Eternal City for which he felt some special attraction. He was not in reality indifferent to the state of the public buildings, but the war against the infidel absorbed his attention almost to the exclusion of every other subject. A Bull is still extant in which severe penalties are pronounced against the robbers who were in the habit of removing stones and ornaments from the churches of Rome.

Calixtus III, however, took no interest in an antiquarian discovery made in July, 1458. In preparing the grave of a Penitentiary in the Church of St. Petronilla, adjoining St. Peter's, a great marble sarcophagus was brought to light, which contained a large coffin and one for a child, both made of cypress wood and lined with silver. These coffins were so heavy that six men could with difficulty carry them. The bodies, which had been wrapped in rich,, gold-embroidered, silken fabrics, crumbled away when exposed to the air. As no inscription was found, many conjectures were made; some believed the remains to be those of the Emperor Constantine or of his son. Calixtus III had the coffins removed, and the gold of the embroidery, worth about a thousand ducats, was, by his desire, sent to the Mint to be made available for the Turkish war. Contemporary writers mention the circumstance without a word of disapproval; a century later the destruction of such a treasure would have elicited expressions of indignant protest.

It was the intention of the Pope to attack the Turks at once, both by land and sea, and by this combined assault he expected to recover possession of Constantinople. He mainly relied for the land forces on Duke Philip of Burgundy, who ruled the richest and most important countries of Western Europe. He had received the Cross from the hands of a Papal envoy, and accordingly had been favoured, as in the time of Nicholas V, with the grant of a plenary indulgence for his companions in arms, a tax on all reserved benefices, a tithe of the ecclesiastical revenues in his territory, and other privileges. Moreover, in order that he might devote himself without distraction to the crusade, the Pope, in July, 1455, confirmed the peace which had been concluded between Burgundy and France.

As no dependence could be placed on Venice, King Alfonso of Naples seemed pointed out as the leader of the attack by sea. His sway extended over Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Isles; in fact, with the exception of Corsica which belonged to the Genoese, he commanded all the western portion of the Mediterranean, and could have done more than any other Western Prince to stay the advance of the Turks. Accordingly the Pope spared no effort to induce him to take part in the expedition, and the intimate relations, which had subsisted between them, gave good grounds for expecting his hearty co-operation. The monarch was lavish of fair promises and begged the Pope to allow him to be invested with the Cross. Calixtus III gladly consented, and the ceremony was performed with great solemnity on All Saints' Day, 1455. Many of his nobles and barons also took the Cross on this occasion, and the hopes of the Pontiff rose high, soon however to be blighted by the troubles which Jacopo Piccinino excited in Central Italy.

Deprived of his livelihood by the peace of Lodi in 1455, this Condottiere had threatened Bologna and the Romagna. The Duke of Milan, however, by sending an army of four thousand men into the field, had made it evident that insurrection in these quarters would not be tolerated, and Piccinino crossed the Appenines and directed his course towards Siena. This Republic had in the last war been hostile to Florence and Venice, and had aiso offended King Alfonso of Naples. These circumstances emboldened Piccinino to advance against the Sienese, who at once appealed to all the powers who had joined the league, and more especially to the Pope, imploring assistance. Calixtus granted their request all the more willingly because the renewal of hostilities in Central Italy would necessarily have hindered his preparations for the crusade. In June, 1456, he informed the Venetian ambassadors that he would offer the same resistance to Piccinino as to the Turks, and would make an example of him, deeming the maintenance of peace in Italy to be a matter equal in importance to the defence of the Christian faith, and, indeed, inseparable from it. In order to protect Siena, he despatched the Papal forces which were in readiness to make war upon the Turks. Napoleone Orsini, Stefano Colonna, and Deifobo and Ascanio, sons of Count Everso of Anguillara, accompanied these troops, and their commander was the Sicilian, Giovanni Ventimiglia. Venice and Florence also declared against Piccinino, and Francesco Sforza desired his generals, Roberto di Sanseverino and Corrado Folliano, to start in his pursuit. King Alfonso alone remained passive, from which it was soon surmised that there was a secret understanding between him and the Condottiere.

The troops of the Duke of Milan joined those of the Pope near the Lake of Thrasymene. Piccinino boldly advanced and made an unexpected attack, which at first promised to be successful, but Roberto di Sanseverino soon rallied his forces and repulsed the enemy, who then fell back upon Castiglione della Pescaja. This fortress was situated between a marshy lake and the sea, and was almost impregnable. It belonged to King Alfonso, who caused his fleet to convey provisions to Piccinino. In consequence of this assistance afforded to the Condottiere by the King, and of the incapacity and indecision of Giovanni Ventimiglia the war was protracted to a disastrous length. This was exactly what the King of Naples desired, for it gave him time to place fresh obstacles in the way of the projected campaign against the Turks, and involved Calixtus III and his allies in great expense. Yet the Pope seems to have hoped that the influence of their ancient friendship would have enabled him to persuade Alfonso to second his efforts for the defence of Christendom. The King's pretensions on behalf of Piccinino were, however, little calculated to encourage such hopes. He required that the Italian league, into which he had entered, should consent to support a common army, and that Piccinino should be its general, and be always in readiness to resist the Turks. The Italian powers were called upon to promise a yearly payment of a hundred thousand florins to the army, and quarters for the soldiers. Francesco Sforza and Calixtus III indignantly rejected the proposal that Italy should be made tributary to one whom they justly regarded as a brigand. The attempt made by Piccinino to burn the papal crusading fleet at Civita Vecchia may enable us to estimate his fitness for the command of the army destined to make war upon the Turks.

Unspeakable mischief was clone to the Sienese by the petty warfare which Piccinino waged against them, and their hardships were increased when, in the October of 1455, he took possession of their port of Orbitello, and from its plunder derived means to maintain himself for a season. In despair they determined on sending an ambassador to the Court of King Alfonso, the source of all their troubles. But no agreement was arrived at, and early in April, 1456, afresh embassy, consisting of Galgano Borghese, Leonardo Benvoglienti, and Aeneas Sylvius, proceeded to Naples. Just at this time an open breach between Alfonso and the Pope seemed imminent. The King had been informed that Calixtus had on Maundy Thursday pronounced a sentence of excommunication against Piccinino, his partisans and protectors, and, enraged by these tidings, Alfonso had declared that he would have all the Pope's relations banished from his dominions. He also sent subsidies to Piccinino's adherents. He was satisfied, however, when it was pointed out to him that those who took arms against the Church had been excommunicated by previous Popes since the clays of Martin V, and that the action of Calixtus in this matter was nothing new.

This cause of discord having been set at rest negotiations were resumed, and on the 31st May were at last concluded. The following were the conditions of peace : Piccinino was to give up the places he had conquered, to evacuate Tuscany and retire into the domains of his patron Alfonso; the States of the League were to pay fifty thousand florins for the maintenance of his army, Alfonso undertaking to furnish a fifth part of this sum. The arrangement of details was confided to the Pope, who desired that twenty thousand florins should be paid out of the apostolic treasury; and Siena was to contribute a like amount. The admonitory briefs of Calixtus III preserved in its State Archives, bear witness to the dilatory discharge of this obligation by the exhausted city. Piccinino did not leave Orbitello until constrained to do so by King Alfonso in September, 1456, fifteen months after his disgraceful inroad into the territory of the unfortunate Sienese, who now sent Bishop Alessio de' Cesari of Chiusi as their ambassador to Rome to thank the Pope for the great services which he had rendered them during the continuance of the war.

Another circumstance which occurred in the first year of his Pontificate caused the Pope even greater distress than that occasioned by this war in Central Italy. In September, 1455, he had entrusted to Archbishop Pietro Urrea of Tarragona, Antonio Olzina, and Antonio de Frescobaldis the command of the vessels destined for the relief of the Christian islands in the Aegean Sea, which were at this time harassed by the Turkish fleet. The traitors, however, instead of employing the vessels which had been procured with money collected for the crusade in operations against the Turks, combined with King Alfonso's fleet, commanded by Villamarina, attacked the Genoese, devastated their coast, and waged war with the ships of other Christian powers. As soon as the first faint rumour of these events reached the ears of the Pope he at once despatched letters of urgent remonstrance to King Alfonso. "If only a few Christian galleys had shown themselves in the neighborhood of Ragusa,'' wrote the justly incensed Pontiff to his ambassadors at Naples, "the Hungarians would have taken fresh courage. As it is they hear nothing of our fleet, and break forth into bitter complaints. Oh, traitors! your ships might have discomfited the Turks, raised up the Christians of the East, and delivered Hungary from the danger which threatens her. Instead of this, you have shamefully betrayed us with the help of our own money. The vengeance of God and of the Holy See will surely overtake you! Alfonso, King of Aragon, help Pope Calixtus! If you refuse, you will incur the wrath of heaven! The Pope then issued orders removing Urrea and his accomplices from their posts, and entrusted the execution of the sentence to Cardinal Scarampo, who was nominated Admiral of the Fleet.

These disastrous occurrences, however, could not damp the courage of the Pope, on the contrary, difficulties only increased his zeal for the holy cause. The construction and equipment of a fleet in Rome was the object of his efforts, and it is the special glory of this Pope that he successfully carried into execution a project which had hitherto been scoffed at as hopelessly chimerical. The astonished Romans, who were soon to behold the baptism of a Turkish prince (March, 1456), suddenly witnessed the development of an unwonted activity on the banks of the Tiber : docks were constructed at Ripa Grande, and a wall for the mooring of the galleys erected at Sto. Spirito. In order to hasten as much as possible the completion of the naval preparations, the Pope caused carpenters and seamen to be brought from Spoleto and other places.

Cardinal Lodovico Scarampo was appointed Captain-General and Admiral of the Fleet. This warlike and wealthy prince of the Church, whose character had much in common with that of Vitelleschi, had already given proof of his military capacity in the time of Eugenius IV. Of all the Cardinals, he was perhaps the one best fitted for the conduct of this arduous enterprise, but he would have preferred remaining in Rome, where he occupied a most influential position at Court. This very circumstance, however, made the jealous members of the Borgia family anxious for his removal, and the Cardinal was finally compelled to depart.

  Scarampo's appointment as Legate and Admiral of the Papal Fleet took place on the 17th December, 1455, and was the occasion of magnificent festivities in Rome. A further decree then extended his authority as Legate over Sicily, Dalmatia, Macedonia, the whole of Greece, the Islands of the Aegean Sea, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, and the Asiatic Provinces, and declared that all places which he should conquer from the enemy were to be subject to his rule.

The arrangements for the construction of the ships of war were henceforth chiefly in Scarampo's hands; but a commission which had been formed by Nicholas V, and consisted of Cardinals Bessarion, d'Estouteville, Capranica, Orsini, and Barbo, shared his labours. The Pope's anxiety was increased by the frequent arrival of evil tidings from the East, and he unceasingly strove to push forward the works, and, in addition to the general tithe, required from the Cardinals a special contribution towards the cost of the fleet.

A Register marked with a red cross is preserved in the Roman State Archives, and furnishes us with an account of the arrangements concerning the sums expended on the construction of the fleet in 1455-1456. The insight afforded us into the warlike preparations so zealously carried on by the Pope is most valuable. The administrative labours were directed by the Surveyor-General, Ambrogio Spannochi, under the control of Cardinal Scarampo. From this Register we learn that the work was begun in the autumn of 1455, and carried 011 during the whole of the follow'ng winter. The cost of the iron, pitch, and timber required for ship building is accurately entered, as well as the amount spent in the purchase of stone and leaden cannon-balls, cross-bows, arrows, morions, coats of mail, lances, swords, pick-axes, chains, ropes, and anchors. We are made acquainted with the smallest details of the equipment of the expedition, including even the flags and banners, the tents, and the ship-biscuits. The very bill for five reams of paper, (sent from Rome to Ostia), for the future correspondence of the Papal fleet is before us

The eager Pontiff desired that the expedition should start on the 1st April, 1456, but the month of May had drawn to its close before the preparations were so far advanced as to render its departure possible. On the Feast of St. Petronilla (May 31) the Pope himself affixed the cross to the shoulder of the Cardinal Legate, who at once proceeded to Ostia with the ships which had been built in Rome. Three weeks more passed before they stood out to sea, for in an Italian Archive there are letters written by Scarampo 011 the 13th and 20th June, and dated from the mouth of the Tiber. According to the commonly received account, the forces under the Legate's command consisted of sixteen galleys; a recent historian, however, asserts that the fleet numbered twenty-seven sail, was manned by a thousand seamen, and conveyed five thousand soldiers with three hundred pieces of cannon.

The troops were gathered partly from Rome, Civita-vecchia, Ancona, and Perugia, and partly from Fermo and Bologna. Among them were the Counts of Anguillara and other leaders of the mercenary bands which had been engaged against Piccinino. Velasco Farigna, a Portuguese, was appointed by the Pope vice-admiral. Judicial functions were confided to Alfonso de Calatambio, of Aragon. By the month of August the cost of the fleet had amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand ducats.

The object of the expedition was twofold—firstly, to protect the harassed Christian populations of the islands in the Aegean Sea from the Turks; and, secondly, to divide the armed forces of the infidels by means of a sea attack. For the latter purpose the fleet was evidently inadequate, and accordingly the Pope's first care was to provide reinforcements. Scarampo, furnished with ample powers, directed his course at once to Naples, in order to take possession of fifteen galleys which had been promised the year before by King Alfonso. But the faithless monarch now made difficulties of every kind. As long as he could extort money from the churches and clergy of his realm he had been lavish of promises, but the money had been spent in the payment of his debts, squandered in splendid feasts, or employed in the prosecution of the war against the unfortunate Genoese. The departure of Scarampo was thus delayed so long that the Pope became extremely impatient. He sent a special messenger to Naples, requiring the legate to put to sea immediately, even if the King's galleys were not in readiness. Letters from Cardinal Carvajal had reached Rome with tidings that the Turks might be expected to attack Hungary unless their forces were shortly weakened by the operations of the fleet. Calixtus III shortly afterwards desired his ambassador to "constrain" the legate to depart, saying that in Sicily he would find money and the ships which had been commanded by the Archbishop of Tarragona. The Pope wrote himself imploring him to start without delay, and finally laid him under an obedience to do so. In one of the Papal Briefs he thus addresses him: "Gird yourself with the sword, beloved son; leave Naples and fulfil your promise. Then will God be with you, and neither money nor anything else that is necessary will be wanting."

Scarampo entered on the expedition with great and manifest reluctance, and endeavored as much as possible to defer its departure. The Pope was greatly incensed, and bitterly complained of the Cardinal, who only quitted Naples with a few of the King's galleys on the 6th of August. The persistent entreaties of the Pope, who had in an autograph letter urgently implored Alfonso to furnish the promised galleys, were at least effectual in bringing about a change in the mind of the King.

Almost as soon as the Pope heard that Scarampo had quitted Sicily he urged him to proceed to the Greek waters. His anxiety for immediate action was due to the continuance of disquieting reports from Hungary regarding Turkish preparations. He hoped that the appearance of his naval forces in the Aegean Sea would ultimately divert the attention of the Turks from that Kingdom, and meanwhile diminish their power of attacking it. Accordingly his lirst care was for the fleet. New ships for its reinforcement were built in Rome. Odoardo Gaetani, Count of Fondi, presented Calixtus with a vessel which, in company with one of these, was to proceed to the relief of Rhodes early in the year 1457. The command of these two ships was entrusted to two Knights of St. John.

The ardent desires of the Pope were at last fulfilled; the flag of St. Peter appeared in the Greek waters, and the Christian islands were in some degree defended against the advances of the Turks.

The Papal force under Scarampo first touched at Rhodes to supply the distressed Knights with money, weapons, and corn, and then proceeded to Chios and Lesbos. In vain did the Cardinal endeavour to incite the inhabitants of these two islands to refuse payment of the tribute imposed by the infidel. Dread of Turkish vengeance deterred them from joining the Christian cause. He was more successful in Lemnos, whence, as well as in Samothrace and Thasos, he expelled the Turkish garrison and left Papal troops in their place. He then established his head-quarters at Rhodes, where a large arsenal was at his disposal.

The hopes and expectations of Calixtus III were, no doubt, out of proportion with the strength of the fleet at his command. Yet he also clearly perceived that no decisive success was possible without the co-operation of some of the most powerful of the western princes. But the danger which threatened to annihilate all the great results of centuries of Christianity elicited from these princes nothing but fair words. In vain did the aged Pontiff raise his voice in favour of the Holy War; his fiery eloquence produced little or no effect.

It became more and more evident that the age of crusades was past, and that the ideas which for centuries had ruled the minds of men had now lost their power. Internal dissensions had destroyed the sentiment of the solidarity of Christendom and its interests as opposed to the infidel. The great cause of Eastern Christianity touched no chord in the heart of Europe.

Fruitless deliberations took place in Germany, where a portion of the clergy sought to veil their selfish dislike to the levy of tithes for the crusade under a show of zeal for the liberties of the German Church. The peace-loving Emperor Frederick III was by no means the man to rouse the empire to united and vigorous effort. Indeed its distracted condition would have made it an easy prey to any invader who once gained a footing in the realm. He would have found only isolated forces to resist him, each one of which could have been separately overcome.

The conduct of France was utterly unworthy of a Christian power. Repeatedly and in eloquent terms did the Pope appeal to the French King, particularly at the time of the departure of the fleet, but the weak and helpless Charles VII was indifferent to the exhortations by which he was reminded of his predecessors, and especially of St. Louis. He excused his failure to comply with the Papal demands on the ground of the uncertain state of his relations with England, and of the necessity of being on his guard against that State. In the first instance he had forbidden the passage of troops through France, the promulgation of the Bull of the Crusade, and the collection of the tithes for the war. These proceedings called forth just and serious complaints from the Pope, who used every effort to bring about peace with England, and so remove the King's pretext. His attempts were unsuccessful in this matter, as were also those which he made to reconcile Charles VII with his son. The Pope was much distressed by the manner in which Cardinal Alain neglected his duties as legate in France. There are a number of unpublished letters on this subject. In the first of these, which was written in September, 1456, Calixtus expresses his surprise at the conduct of the French King, who, notwithstanding the goodwill recently manifested towards him by the Pontiff, would not permit the collection of the tithes for the crusade or even the publication of the Bull concerning it. This unfriendly conduct at such a time was, Calixtus declared, most painful to him. In conclusion, Alain is urgently exhorted to show himself zealous in the fulfilment of the duties entrusted to him, so as to falsify the sneering remarks which were current in regard to the failure of his mission to France. In October of the same year the Pope again felt it necessary to write to him in a similar strain. "The Christian who does not now render assistance in following up the victory God has granted," he says, alluding to the battle at Belgrade, "proves himself unworthy of divine favors". To this exhortation was added a command to urge upon the King the repeal of the Pragmatic Sanction. The Knights of St. John at Rhodes were at this time endeavoring to secure a very large portion of the French tithes. In a long letter to Charles VII the Pope objected to this arrangement, inasmuch as a great deal had already been done for Rhodes, and the support of the fleet was now the first consideration.

In February, 1457, Alain was again urged in the strongest manner to forward the money for the crusade. That which had been collected in Italy was far from sufficient for the support and reinforcement of the fleet, and he was to take measures for the collection of the tribute, not merely in France, but also in England. "Woe, woe to those, whoever they may be," exclaimed the Pope, "who hinder the cause of the crusade!" At the end of March, 1457, Calixtus had not yet received a penny towards the war from the wide dominions of France. While he deplored this strange fact, he expressly blamed Alain for writing so little regarding the crusade. In the same brief he regrets the sluggishness of the Catholic princes; and in hopes of stirring up the French King to greater zeal, he this year sent him the Golden Rose. Afterwards when an agreement had been entered into between Charles VII and the Pope for the construction of a fleet of thirty sail from the proceeds of the tithe, fresh difficulties arose. The King expressly prohibited the export of the money collected for the crusade, and even detained the ships which he had engaged to send, and employed them, not against the Turks, but partly against the English and partly against Naples. This amounted to actual treason against the Christian cause.

Under these circumstances it can hardly be deemed surprising that a considerable proportion of the French clergy assumed an attitude of absolute opposition to the Papal demands.

As early as the year 1456 the University of Paris had ventured to appeal from the Pope to a council in regard to the tithe for the war imposed by Calixtus. The University of Toulouse and several ecclesiastical corporations in different dioceses of the kingdom joined in this appeal. Alain lost courage, and failed to act with the energy required. The appellants then presented a very violent memorial to the King, strongly urging him to resist the "presumption of the Pope in levying a tax on the Gallican Church without her consent", and to do this all the more zealously in view of the audacity with which the Pope had opposed the newest fundamental law of the French State, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1438. In August, 1457, the King answered by a declaration that "the levy of the tithe prescribed by the Pope was to take place, but that the rights of the French were in no way to be impaired."

In June, 1457, the University of Paris had even sent a special envoy to Rome to protest before the Pope and cardinals against the collection of the tithes, and at the same time to present eighteen anti-Papal articles and demand a general council. The reply of Calixtus was by no means wanting in decision. Alain was reproved for his negligence, and commanded to compel the University of Paris to withdraw the appeal, which was declared invalid on the score of "rashness and impiety," while the appellants were visited with ecclesiastical penalties

Notwithstanding all the grand promises made by the Duke of Burgundy, he did no more than Charles VII. to assist in the Holy War. None of the money collected in his dominions appears to have been transmitted to Rome, for, in the Register of Briefs of Calixtus III, we find one addressed to Philip regarding the large sums obtained in Burgundy for the crusade. The Pope here begs that, if not the whole, at least a portion of the amount may be sent to bim. In December, 1457, when alarming accounts of the immense warlike preparations of the Turks reached Rome, the Pope wrote a fresh letter of remonstrance to the Duke, but it proved equally fruitless.

King Christian of Denmark and Norway, and King Alfonso of Portugal, had also been lavish in promises of assistance against the Turks. But on the 2nd June, 1455, we find the former of these two monarchs providing himself with money by abstracting from the sacristy of the cathedral at Roskilde the pious offerings which had been collected for the expenses of the war and for the relief of the King of Cyprus.

The solemn promises made by the King of Portugal in the autumn of 1456 both by letters and by his envoys to Rome had filled the Cardinals, the whole Court, and the Pope himself with the brightest hopes, and Calixtus had felt no hesitation in leaving in his hands the tithe collected in his dominions in the years 1456 and 1457. King Alfonso certainly kept possession of the money, but was as far as his Neapolitan namesake from taking part in the crusade. Calixtus did not spare his exhortations, and continued to hope against hope for the ultimate fulfilment of the royal promise. A letter addressed to Cardinal Carvajal on the 23rd May, 1457, shows that he at that time expected the immediate appearance of vessels of war from Portugal and from Genoa. The nuncio to Portugal received repeated instructions to do everything in his power to hasten the King's arrival, but all was in vain. Towards the end of the year 1457 the Pope's patience was at length exhausted. He commanded his nuncio to return to Rome bringing all the money for the crusade with him unless Alfonso should set sail in the following April. When the month of April was near its close, and the Portuguese fleet had not started, Calixtus was constrained to carry his threat into execution. By this means he at least saved the money collected in Portugal, which was greatly needed for the reinforcement of the fleet.

Forsaken in this manner by all the European powers, the Pope could look for assistance to the Italian states alone. Here, however, he found the same indifference, the same treachery, in regard to the Christian cause. None of the Italian statesmen of the day could rise to the idea of a crusade. Their views were directed exclusively to their own immediate interests.

We have already spoken of the great difficulty which the faithless King Alfonso of Naples had, like "the most Christian Monarch," placed in the way of the crusade. Next to Alfonso, Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan was the most powerful of Italian potentates. The Pope's constant requests for the favourable reception of his envoys and for material help against the Turks were met by the fairest promises. In reality, however, the great general had no intention of heeding the Papal behests, nor of placing himself in the cause of the crusade at the head of an army against the Turks. The strengthening of his own rule in Lombardy was his constant and principal care, and all other interests were secondary to this object.

The Republic of Venice, wrhich was beyond all other States bound to take a decisive part in this struggle, turned a deaf ear to all the Pope's exhortations. The Signoria would not on any account compromise its commercial interests, and accordingly kept up constant and amicable relations with the Sultan.

Florence also used every effort to avoid any open espousal of the Christian cause. The envoy who in the autumn of 1445 went to Porto Pisano to meet the Cardinal Legate Alain on his way to France, was strictly admonished on no account to make any definite promise in regard to co-operation in the Turkish war. Love for the "cursed flower" as Dante called the Florentine golden florin, outweighed all else. A few of the smaller powers, like Mantua, supported Calixtus, but the words of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, "The Pope calls for help and no one listens to him; he threatens, and no one is afraid," may be taken as of a most universal application.

The courage of Calixtus III, in presence of such overwhelming difficulties, was marvellous. He continued to adjure the Christian princes and potentates to make peace among themselves, and take arms against the enemies of God. He still sent a number of ambassadors, chiefly selected from the Minorite friars, to collect money and troops for the holy war from every country in Europe. He himself gave the example of sacrifice by turning the treasures and jewels collected by Nicholas V into money, and finally giving up the silver plate used at his table. Brother Gabriel of Verona informed his friend, St. John Capistran, that one day when gilt salt-cellars and other valuable articles were placed on his table, the Pope exclaimed : "Away, away with these things! take them for the Turks Earthenware will do quite as well for me! In one of his briefs Calixtus expresses his willingness to have only a linen mitre for the sake of the defence of the Holy Gospel and of the true faith.

No danger or difficulty had power to subdue the fiery enthusiasm of the aged man. "Only cowards," he used to say, "fear danger; the palm of glory grows nowhere but on the battle-field." The epithet of "high-souled old man" has been well bestowed on Calixtus III by Palinieri, but the reproach uttered by Petrarch in the days of Urban V was still applicable to the European potentates.

Ye lords of Christendom! eternal shame

For ever will pursue each royal name,

And tell your wolfish rage for kindred blood,

While Paynim hounds profane the seat of God!