VOLUME I. BOOK II.

The Restoration of the Papal power and its struggle with the Council — The origin of the Renaissance in Rome, 1417-1447.

CHAPTER I

MARTIN V (1417-1431)

 

THERE was indeed cause for the unbounded rejoicings over the restored unity of the Church, which re-echo through the pages of the ancient chronicles of this period. "Men could scarcely speak for joy", says one of these writers. The Church had again a head - the great Western Schism was at an end. These nine and thirty years of division were the most terrible crisis the Roman Church had passed through during the long centuries of her existence. An uncompromising opponent of the Papacy has acknowledged that any secular kingdom would have perished; yet so marvelous was the organization of this spiritual dynasty, and so indestructible the idea of the Papacy, that the Schism only served to demonstrate its indivisibility.

The new Pope, a man in the full vigor of life, belonged to one of the highest and most powerful families of Rome; he was distinguished by his simplicity, temperance, purity, knowledge of Canon Law, and many other virtues, and had kept comparatively aloof from party questions. Without in any way sacrificing his dignity, he had been on friendly terms with all those assembled at Constance. The dispatches of Ambassadors present at the Council speak with the highest praise of the gracious bearing of the Pope. This noble Roman, in fact, seemed to combine all the qualities that could enable him worthily to fill his high position.

The election of Martin V might have been a source of unalloyed happiness to Christendom, if he had at once taken the crucial question of Church Reform vigorously in hand; but the Regulations of the Chancery issued soon after his accession showed that little was to be expected from him in this respect. They perpetuated most of the practices in the Roman Court which the Synod had designated as abuses. Neither the isolated measures afterwards substituted for the universal reform so urgently required, nor the Concordats made with Germany, the three Latin nations, and England, sufficed to meet the exigencies of the case, although they produced a certain amount of good. The Pope was indeed placed in a most difficult position, in the face of the various and opposite demands made upon him, and the tenacious resistance offered by interests now long established to any attempt to bring things back to their former state. The situation was complicated to such a degree that any change might have brought about a revolution. It must also be borne in mind that all the proposed reforms involved a diminution of the Papal revenues; the regular income of the Pope was small and the expenditure very great. For centuries, complaints of Papal exactions had been made, but no one had thought of securing to the Popes the regular income they required. The States of the Church could only be defended by mercenary troops; the Court and the Cardinals were a cause of great expense; a large outlay was needed for the Legations, and all these things were bound up with the centralized organization of the Church, which no one wished to attack. A Pope could not preside in Apostolic simplicity over Bishops who kept up a princely state. It must also be added that Italian affairs urgently demanded the speedy return of the Pope to Rome.

The delay of the reform, which was dreaded by both clergy and laity, may be explained, though not justified, by the circumstances we have described. It was an unspeakable calamity that ecclesiastical affairs still retained the worldly aspect caused by the Schism, and that the much-needed amendment was again deferred.

Sigismund made every effort to induce Pope Martin V to take up his abode in Germany; Basle, Mayence, and Strasburg were proposed to him as places of residence, and the French begged him to live in Avignon, as so many of his predecessors had done. But Martin would not on any account become dependent on a foreign power, and firmly declined all these proposals. In the absence of its chief Pastor, the inheritance of the Church was, he said, rent and despoiled by tyrants; the City of Rome, the head of Christendom, was devastated by pestilence, famine, sword, and revolt; the Basilicas and the shrines of the Martyrs were, some of them, already in ruins, and others about to fall into that state. In order to prevent complete destruction, he must go; he begged them to let him depart. The Roman Church being the head and mother of all churches, in Rome alone is the Pope at his post, like the pilot at the helm of the vessel.

The condition of the States of the Church undoubtedly demanded the return of the Pope, and Martin V acted prudently in resolving to make his way back to Italy and to his native city. Amidst the rejoicings of the people, he journeyed through Berne to Geneva. Here he heard of the disturbances which had broken out in Bohemia in consequence of the burning of Huss, and received the oath of allegiance of the Avignon Ambassadors. On the 7th September, 1418, it was determined to transfer the Papal Court to Mantua. On his way, Martin V tarried in Milan and consecrated the High Altar of the Cathedral. An inscription in the interior over the great portal, and a medallion of the Pope in the gallery of the choir, commemorate this circumstance.

The Pope remained in Mantua from the end of October, 1418, until the following February. The critical position of affairs in the States of the Church then compelled him to spend nearly two years in Florence. He lived in the Dominican Monastery of Santa Maria Novella, where the apartment prepared for him long bore the name of the Pope’s Hallt (Sala del Papa). Here Baldassare Cossa (John XXIII), having been at length released from his captivity, came humbly to throw himself at the feet of the Pope, showing more dignity in adversity than he had done in prosperity. Martin received him kindly, and appointed him Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum (June 23, 1419), but on the 22nd December, 1419, he died, so poor that there was hardly enough to pay the legacies he left! The costly monument erected to this unhappy man by Cosmo de Medici is still to be seen in the Baptistery at Florence. His recumbent statue rests on a sarcophagus beneath a canopy, and the short but pregnant inscription declares that “The body of Baldassare Cossa, John XXIII, once Pope, is buried here”. “This tomb”, a modern historian observes, “is the boundary mark of an important epoch in the life of nations, the monument of the great Schism and also the last grave of a Pope out of Rome”.

The better Martin V became acquainted with the condition of affairs in his native land, the more clearly did he perceive that nothing was to be accomplished by violence. Rome and Benevento were now in the hands of Queen Joanna of Naples. Bologna was an independent Republic, and other portions of the States of the Church had been usurped by individuals. The Pope had to deal with this hopeless situation by diplomatic measures. In the first place he succeeded in coming to an understanding with the Queen, to whom he promised the recognition of her rights and his consent to her coronation, which was performed by the Cardinal-Legate Morosini, on the 28th October, 1419; Joanna, on her part, bound herself to support the Pope in the recovery of the States of the Church, and to grant considerable fiefs in her kingdom to his brothers. In consequence of this agreement, Joanna, on the 6th March, 1419, ordered her General, Sforza Attendolo, to evacuate Rome. By the mediation of the Florentines, Martin V succeeded, in February, 1420, in coming to terms with the daring Condottiere, Braccio di Montone, who controlled half central Italy, and passed for one of the ablest military leaders of his day. Braccio, as Vicar of the Church, retained Perugia, Assisi, Todi, and Jesi, in consideration for which he gave up his other conquests, and in July, 1420, constrained the Bolognese to submit to the Pope. It was at length possible for Martin V to proceed to his capital; he left the city of Florence on the 8th September, 1420, reached Rome on the 28th, and made his solemn entrance into the Eternal City on the 30th. The people enthusiastically welcomed him as their deliverer.

Martin V found Rome at peace, but in such a state of misery that, as one of his biographers observers, "it hardly bore the semblance of a city". The world's capital was completely in ruins, its aspect was deplorable, decay and poverty met the eye on every side. Famine and sickness had decimated its inhabitants and reduced the survivors to the direst need. The towers of the nobles looked down upon foul streets, encumbered with rubbish and infested with robbers both by night and by day. The general penury was so extreme that, in 1414, even on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, no lamp could be lighted before the Confession of the Prince of the Apostles! A chronicler relates that many of the clergy had neither food nor raiment, from which the sad condition of the rest of the people may be imagined.

The city in which these poor creatures lived consisted of a few miserable dwellings scattered through a great field of ruins. Many monuments which had survived the calamities of the Avignon period, had been destroyed during the terrible years of the Schism. Amongst these was the Castle of St. Angelo, which, in the spring of 1379, was demolished, all but the central keep, containing the room where was the grave of Hadrian. The other relics of antiquity had met with the same barbarous treatment. Manuel Chrysoloras, who was in Rome towards the end of the fourteenth century, wrote word to his Emperor at Constantinople, that scarcely any ancient sculpture remained standing; it had been used for steps, for door-sills, for building and for mangers for beasts; the colossal figures of the Dioscuri were the only specimens of the work of Phidias and Praxiteles to which he could still point. If any statues were found, they were mutilated or completely destroyed as heathen; moreover, the ancient edifices were used as quarries for building materials, and for burning into lime. The other structures in the City had also suffered dreadfully during the vicissitudes of the Schism; most of the houses had fallen, many churches were roofless, and the others had been turned into stables for horses. The Leonine City was laid waste; the streets leading to St. Peter's, the portico of the church itself, were in ruins, and the walls of the City were, in this quarter, broken down, so that by night the wolves came out of the desolate Campagna, invaded the Vatican Gardens, and with their paws dug up the dead in the neighboring Campo Santo.

Such was the condition of Rome at the time when Martin V returned; everything, so to speak, had to be restored. The Pope devoted himself to the work before him with a zeal and resolution which revealed the born Roman. Even while at Florence, he had appointed a Commission to superintend the restoration of the Roman churches and basilicas, and had furnished considerable sums for the purpose. The work was commenced in good earnest, after he had taken up his residence in Rome; he began with those things which were most necessary. The public parts of the Vatican, as, for instance, the Consistorial Hall and the Chapel, as well as the Corridor connecting the latter with the Loggia of Benediction, were repaired, and windows were put in everywhere. The first thing to be done in the city was to clear away the filth and rubbish, which filled the streets and poisoned the air. Martin V accordingly revived the ancient office of Overseer of the Public Thoroughfares (Magistri viarum) by appointing two Roman citizens, whose duty it was to make the streets again passable. At the same time he gave them absolute powers of expropriation and demolition, available against all previous appropriation of public spaces and buildings, and all grants of exemption, even when they were protected by the threat of excommunication. Strong measures were taken against the brigandage which had become a real plague in the City and its neighborhood. We find documents in which mention is made of the regulation of prisons; and a Papal Minister of Police, under the name of “Soldanus”, appears on the scene. For the sake of example, some of the robbers' nests in the neighborhood of Rome were razed to the ground. The frugal Pope did not care to keep up a large standing army; even the Body-Guard for the defense of the Palace was very modest. It consisted chiefly of subjects of the Pope, and was the predecessor of the Swiss Guard. A strong tower was built at Ostia to prevent smuggling, and to serve as a watch tower against pirates and enemies by sea.

Of all the buildings in Rome, the Pope made the neglected churches the object of his special care. Perceiving the impossibility of himself providing for them all, he turned to the Cardinals and urged them to restore their titular churches; the appeal was not made in vain. The Pope himself undertook the parochial churches and the chief basilicas, and did everything on a magnificent scale. He contributed the enormous sum of 50,000 golden florins for a new roof to St. Peter's; the portico was also completely restored, and, according to some accounts, decorated with paintings representing the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Martin V.'s restorations in St. John Lateran, the cathedral church of the Popes, were even more important. This noble basilica, which had been terribly injured by fire, was newly roofed with wood and floored with a beautiful inlaid pavement, the ruinous churches of the more distant parts of the City and neighborhood being, for this purpose, despoiled of their porphyry, granite, and serpentine. For the painting of the walls of the nave he summoned the famous Gentile da Fabriano, who was employed here from the year 1427. Vittore Pisanello was afterwards associated with him. Gentile was munificently paid by the Pope; he received a yearly salary of three hundred golden florins, while Bevilacqua, of San Severino, the cannon-founder and engineer, had only a hundred and twenty; and, at a subsequent period, the justly celebrated Fra Angelico da Fiesole received but two hundred. The mural paintings in the Lateran, which were completed under Eugenius IV, were unfortunately destroyed by damp during Pisanello’s life­time. They were, however, seen by the eminent painter Roger van der Weyden, when he made a pilgrimage to Rome and visited the Lateran basilica in the jubilee year of 1450; on which occasion he pronounced Gentile to be the first among Italian painters.

Masaccio, the great Master of the Tuscan School, in the first half of the century, and teacher of the later painters, was also attracted to Rome by Martin V. In Vasari's time, two of his works, a Madonna and a painting of Pope Liberius with the features of Martin V, were still to be seen in the Church of Sta. Maria Maggiore.

Afterwards, during the peace with which Martin’s prudence blessed the States of the Church, the financial position of Rome improved and the walls of the capital were restored, the Palace of the Conservators was rebuilt, and many gates and bridges over the Tiber were placed in a proper condition. Martin V erected for himself a modest Palace on the western slope of the Quirinal, near the Church of the Holy Apostles Saints Philip and James, and this was his favorite residence from the fourth year after his arrival in Rome. He also built a strong and stately castle in the picturesque village of Genazzano, which is situated on a tufa rock at the beginning of the Aequi and Hernici hills, at no great distance from Palestrina, the ancient stronghold of the Colonna family, and there the Pope and his nephews often spent the summer. But, with these two exceptions, the works which he accomplished were rather works of restoration, imperatively demanded by the circumstances of his time, than original creations.

It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that Martin V was devoid of the taste for splendor. On the contrary, while his frugal mode of living laid him open to the imputation of parsimony, he made a great point of appearing with the utmost magnificence in religious ceremonies. While at Florence, he ordered a richly embroidered cope and a golden tiara, whose beauty was spoken of after the lapse of a hundred and fifty years. For the tiara eight delicately wrought little golden figures between leaves of the same metal were supplied by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and a costly clasp for the cope, representing our Saviour giving His blessing. But the regular commissions which the Pope gave for certain constantly-recurring occasions did even more for the encouragement of artists than those of so exceptional a nature. Caps and swords of honor were presented each New Year to Princes or other distinguished personages; every Cardinal received a ring on his creation, and golden roses were bestowed each year on Laetare Sunday, hence called Rose Sunday, on Princes or eminent men, and ladies of high rank, churches, or municipalities whose loyalty the Pope desired to secure. These roses had golden stems, and were set with precious stones. We must also mention the many richly-embroidered banners, bearing the arms of the Pope and the Church, and sometimes the figures of Saints, which were generally given to ensign­bearers and Captains of the Church. Martin V was obliged to go to Florence for almost all these things. Art could not flourish in a city so impoverished as Rome had become, and there was no demand for it. But the impulse given by his munificence could not fail in time to tell on the Eternal City. The Papal mint at this time attained a degree of excellence which it never lost, even during the subsequent decay of taste.

Notwithstanding the solicitude with which Martin V watched over every branch of the administration, the recovery of the Eternal City was extremely slow. The work of destruction had been so terrible, that, even in the days of his successor, a historian described Rome as a city of cowherds. Yet it cannot be denied that a general change for the better set in from the time that the Papacy was again permanently established there. Martin V devoted his whole attention to the restoration of prosperity and order, and it was no flattery which bestowed on him the name of the Father of his country. The political independence of the city of Rome was indeed at an end, but it retained ample liberty of action in all internal affairs. Martin V left the municipal constitution of his native city absolutely untouched; by his desire, the rights and privileges of Rome were recorded by the Secretary of the Senate, Niccolo Signorili, in a book, of which copies are preserved in several of the Roman Archives and Libraries. The Romans easily forgot their loss of political independence, beneath the sway of a Pope whose one object was to heal the wounds inflicted on their unhappy city during the prolonged absence of his predecessors. He showed how much could be accomplished by an energetic Prince: even the plague of brigandage, which has always been so prevalent among the races of Latin origin, seemed to have been completely banished from the States of the Church by his vigorous measures. “In the time of Martin V”, to quote the words of a Roman chronicler, “a man might travel by day or by night through the country, miles away from Rome, with gold in his open hand”. “So great were the quiet and peace all through the States of the Church”, says a biographer of the Pope, “that one might have imagined the age of Octavianus Augustus to have returned”.

But Martin V not only laid the foundations of the restoration of the Eternal City, but also those of the Papal monarchy, and his action in this respect is of the highest importance. The Schism had utterly disorganized the States of the Church; they existed only in name, a motley mixture of governments, constitutions, rights, privileges, and usurpations. The task which devolved on the new Pope was little short of superhuman, but he undertook it with a courage and energy which were equalled by his skill and prudence. He has the great merit of having been the first to prepare the way for transforming this conglomeration of communities and provinces, with their particular rights, heterogeneous constitutions and indefinite pretensions, into a united monarchy. He limited and curbed the power of the independent princes who ruled the cities, a hundred years before they were completely done away with. It has been justly observed that his labours would have been still more effectual, if a consistent course had been pursued in the States of the Church, and if the unquiet and troubled rule of his successor had not in great measure destroyed what he had accomplished.

Circumstances favored the Pope to a remarkable degree. The man from whom he might have apprehended the ruin of all his projects, Braccio di Montone, who had threatened to compel the Pope to say mass for a bajocco, died in the June of 1424. In consequence of his death, which was a cause of great rejoicing in Rome, Perugia, Assisi, Jesi, and Todi again submitted to the direct authority of the Holy See. From this moment may be dated the steady growth of Papal power, which was also favoured by the family feud that divided the great house of Malatesta, and by the fact that many cities were weary of the galling yoke of their tyrants. Martin's course for the next few years was a series of successes. Imola, Forli, Fermo, Ascoli, San Severino, Osimo, Cervia, Berinoro, Citta di Castello, Borgo San Sepolcro and many other cities gradually submitted to him. Bologna, which had been brought into subjection by Braccio di Montone, again revolted in 1428. The gates of the Palace were burst open, the Palace itself was plundered, and the Papal Legate constrained to fly. By the mediation of the Venetians and Florentines, terms were made in the following year between the Pope and the revolted Bolognese. Both Martin and his Ambassador, Domenico Capranica, evinced great moderation and forbearance in the negotiations, for even after the second insurrection they allowed the city to retain its own constitution.

Martin V also strengthened his temporal power by family alliances. By the union of his niece Caterina with Guido da Montefeltre, he won that powerful house completely to his interests. His sister Paola was married to Gherardo Appiani, Lord of Piombino, and endowed with lands. The Pope provided for his relations in the most munificent manner.

It has been the custom to condemn the excessive nepotism of Martin V with great severity, but the circumstances of the time diminish the blame that may be due to him in this respect. These circumstances cast the Pope upon his nephews for aid, for when he came to Italy, a landless ruler whom the urchins in the streets of Florence derided in their songs, where could he look for support except to his relations? Little was to be expected from the other Roman nobles, whose strongholds were like nests of robbers, and whose life was one of wild warfare; from the leaders of mercenary bands, who were wont to leave their troops in the lurch, if their own safety required it or the hope of richer gain attracted them; or, again, from Queen Joanna of Naples, the most inconstant of women. It cannot be denied that the affection of Martin for his family was inordinate, but self-preservation, even more than family affection, was the motive which impelled him to seek the exaltation of the Colonnas. In the midst of a powerful and quarrelsome aristocracy, at the head of a hopelessly distracted State, in an unquiet city always ready for revolt and riot, it was but too natural that Martin V, if he wished to keep a firm footing, should lean on his kindred and increase their power.

The aggrandizement of the Colonna family began when Queen Joanna, in return for her recognition and coronation, invested the two brothers of the Pope with important Neapolitan fiefs. On the 12th May, 1418, Giordano Colonna was created Duke of Amalfi and Venosa, and on the 3rd of August, 1429, Prince of Salerno; the other brother, Lorenzo, became Count of Alba, in the Abruzzi. At a later date, we find him also in possession of Genazzano in the Aequi Hills, which is full of reminiscences of the Colonnas. Death soon carried away both Giordano and Lorenzo from their riches and honors; the latter was miserably burned in the tower of one of his castles in 1423, and Giordano died of the plague in the following year, leaving no heir. By his marriage with Sveva Gaetani, Lorenzo left three sons, Antonio, Odoardo, and Prospero. Antonio became Prince of Salerno and head of the family, Prospero was a cardinal, and Celano and Marsi fell to Odoardo.

The Neapolitan fiefs were but a portion of the landed possessions which the Colonna family acquired by means of Martin V. Great additions were made to the considerable estates they already enjoyed in the near and remote neighborhood of Rome; the stronghold of Ardea, the ancient capital of the Rutuli, Marino, which commanded the shortest route to the south, Nettuno, beautifully situated on the shores of the Mediterranean, Astura, which formerly belonged to the Frangipani, Bassanello in the Sabine valley of the Tiber, Soriano in the territory of Viterbo, Paliano in the valley of the Sacco, afterwards the most important of their strongholds, Frascati, Petra Porzia and Rocca di Papa were all conferred by the Pope on his kindred, and most of these castles were exempted from the salt tax, the hearth tax, and all other taxes whatever.

The list we have given, although not a complete one, shows that Martin went beyond the bounds of justice and the necessity of circumstances, in favoring his relations. The honors and riches heaped upon the Colonnas excited the jealousy of the other ambitious nobles of the States of the Church, and more especially that of their hereditary foes, the Orsini. Martin V was prudent enough to treat this powerful family with the utmost consideration. Even before his arrival he had invested them with the vicariate of Bracciano for three years, and he afterwards endeavoured to secure their goodwill by the marriage of his niece Anna with Gianantonio Orsini, Prince of Tarento.

The life of Martin V. was simple and regular; the only recreation he cared for was to retire to the delicious solitude of his family property, when the heat of summer or some pestilential epidemic made Rome insupportable.

Sometimes he visited other spots in the neighborhood of the Eternal City, on several occasions making a lengthened sojourn at Tivoli. In his later years, he showed a marked preference for the Castle of Genazzano. He repeatedly varied his place of abode in Rome; in the earlier years of his Pontificate spending the winter months at the Vatican, and the summer and autumn at Sta. Maria Maggiore. In May, 1424, he removed to the newly-erected Palace of the Holy Apostles, which henceforth became his favorite residence. In the autumn of 1427 Martin V went for a short time to the Lateran, which shows that at least some rooms there must have been restored.

His energy as a reformer was displayed in the sphere of religion, no less than in that of politics. Very soon after his return to Rome he took measures against the heretical Fraticelli, who were at work chiefly in the Marches; he endeavored to reform the clergy of St. Peter's, and to do away with the worst abuses at the Court. In the early part of his Pontificate, he made constant efforts not only to protect the clergy from the aggressions of the temporal power, but also to amend their lives. As time went on, other interests unfortunately became predominant, and withdrew him more and more from the work of reform. The remarkable energy which he manifested in this cause during the first half of his reign has, however, been little appreciated.

Martin V also sought to increase devotion to the relics existing in the Eternal City, and carefully provided for their fitting custody. A new and precious relic, the body of St. Monica, the mother of the great St. Augustine, was brought to Rome, from Ostia, by his desire. He caused its arrival to be celebrated by a special solemn function, at which he himself offered the Holy Sacrifice. Afterwards he addressed a striking discourse to the Augustinian Hermits whom he appointed guardians of the sacred remains, and to the assembled crowd. A passage in this discourse has a peculiar interest, inasmuch as it proves Martin V to have been completely uninfluenced by the Humanistic tendencies of his day. After describing the virtues of St. Monica, her sweetness, her patience, her maternal solicitude, which found its reward in the holiness of such a son, he exclaims, “then, while we possess Augustine, what care we for the sagacity of Aristotle, the eloquence of Plato, the prudence of Varro, the dignified gravity of Socrates, the authority of Pythagoras, or the skill of Empedocles? We do not need these men; Augustine is enough for us. He explains to us the utterances of the prophets, the teaching of the Apostles, and the holy obscurity of Scripture. The excellences and the doctrine of all the Fathers of the Church and all wise men, are united in him. If we look for truth, for learning, and for piety, whom shall we find more learned, wiser, and holier than Augustine?”. After this discourse, which may be considered as St. Monica’s Bull of Canonization, Martin V proceeded to place the precious remains in a sculptured sarcophagus of white marble. This had been provided, at great cost, by Maffeo Veggio, a pious Humanist, and two noble Roman ladies also gave three silver-gilt lamps, which were lighted before the sacred relic and kept burning night and day.

We must not omit to mention that the Pope took great pains to promote Devotion to the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. His Brief on this subject is a beautiful example of his piety.

The great Jubilee, which he proclaimed for the year 1423, must also have done much to encourage religious feeling. Unfortunately but scanty notices of this important event have been handed down to us, and it has therefore been supposed that few pilgrims came to Rome to gain the proffered Indulgence. This, however, is a mistake. The Humanist Poggio, in one of his letters, complains that Rome was "inundated by Barbarians", that is to say, by non-Italians, who had thronged there for the Jubilee, and had “filled the whole City with dirt and confusion”. The Chronicle of Viterbo also speaks of the great number of Ultramontanes who had hastened to Rome to gain the Jubilee Indulgence.

The following year brought St. Bernardine of Siena, one of the greatest saints and preachers of his age, to Rome. This hero of unworldliness and self-sacrificing charity had devoted himself to the care of the sick during the great plague of 1400, when he was but twenty. He afterwards preached penance to the Roman populace, who had grown wild and lawless during the absence of the Popes. A pure and saintly life gave double power to his words, and the success of his preaching was immense. Bloody feuds which had lasted for years, were brought to an end, atonement was made for great crimes, and hardened sinners were converted. “On the 21st June, 1424”, writes the Secretary of the Senate, Infessura, “a great funeral pile of playing-cards, lottery tickets, musical instruments, false hair, and other feminine adornments, was erected on the Capitol, and all these things were burned”. A few days later a witch was also unhappily burned, and all Rome crowded to the sight.

In 1427, St. Bernardine came again to Rome to clear himself of the charge of heresy, of which he had been accused to the Pope. The occasion was as follows: when the Saint entered a city, he had a banner carried before him on which the Holy Name of Jesus was painted, surrounded by rays. It was set up near the pulpit when he preached; sometimes also, when speaking of the Holy Name, he held in his hand a tablet, on which it was written in large letters visible to all. By his earnest persuasion many priests were induced to place the Name of Jesus over their altars, or to have it painted on the inner or outer walls of their Churches; and it was inscribed in colossal letters outside the Town Hall in many Italian Cities, as, for example, in Siena, where it is to be seen to this day. St. Bernardine’s enemies had accused him to the Pope on account of this veneration paid to the Holy Name, misrepresenting the facts. As might have been expected, the investigation which Martin V instituted, resulted in his triumphant justification; the Pope permitted him to preach and display his banner wherever he chose. Moreover, in order to manifest his innocence the more clearly in Rome, where he had been slandered, the Pope himself, with his assembled clergy, made a solemn procession in honour of the Name of Jesus amidst universal rejoicings. He also commanded the Saint to preach in St. Peter’s, and then in other Churches in the Eternal City. For eighty days St. Bernardine devoted himself to these Apostolic labours, which were crowned with the greatest success. Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius II, writes: “All Rome flocked to his discourses. He frequently had Cardinals, and sometimes even the Pope himself, amongst his audience, and all with one voice, bore witness to his marvelous power and success”"

St. Bernardine can only be regarded as a passing guest in Rome, but St. Frances of Rome belonged completely to the Eternal City. Even before the days of Martin V, the charity of this noble Roman lady had been actively engaged in alleviating the miseries of her native City. The congregation which owes its origin to her zeal, and which still flourishes under the name of “Oblate di Tor de Specchi”, was founded in the year 1425, during the Pontificate of Martin V.

From her childhood, St. Frances had been in the habit of frequenting the old Church of Sta. Maria Nuova, at the Forum, which was served by the Benedictines of the Mount of Olives (Olivetans). In prosperity and adversity she had always kept up this pious custom, and was daily to be found there in company with other Roman ladies of rank, her friends and imitators. Here one day she proposed to her companions that they should adopt a common rule of life, such as could be observed by people living in the world, and thus share in the merits of the Olivetans. The ladies welcomed the idea, and the General of the Order soon consented that, under the name of "Oblates of St. Mary", they should be affiliated to the monastery of Sta. Maria Nuova, and participate in the prayers and merits of the Monks. The deep veneration entertained for St. Frances by all her companions, the works of mercy which they performed in common, and their regular visits to the Church of Sta. Maria Nuova, where they received Holy Communion on all feasts of Our Lady, at first constituted their only bond of union.

Such was the origin of the congregation of the Oblate di Tor de Specchi, which was afterwards confirmed and solidly established by Eugenius IV. The name of Oblate has reference to the simple vow made by those who enter; the offering of themselves for works of piety; while the surname is derived from an extensive building at the foot of the hill of the Capitol, once the home of the Specchi family. St. Frances bought this house, and established the Community in it, and after the death of her husband, Lorenzo Ponziani, she humbly sought admission as an ordinary postulant into her own foundation. Notwithstanding her opposition, she was elected Superior. The Community lived in great poverty; the means which the first Oblates had brought with them were expended in the purchase of the house and the erection of a little chapel. St. Frances had indeed made over to the congregation two vineyards which she possessed outside the city, but the small return which they brought in bore little proportion to the needs of the Sisters, who went through the streets of the city and the hospitals like ministering angels, dispensing consolation and alms. Death overtook the Saint, not amidst her Oblates, but in her former palace in the Trastevere, where she had gone to take care of her son in his serious illness. Here, surrounded by a multitude of devout persons, she died, on the 9th March, 1440, at the age of fifty-six, after a life spent in prayer, contemplation, and works of mercy. The mortal remains of the “poor woman of Trastevere”, as St. Frances loved to be called, were laid in Sta. Maria Nuova. In 1608, when she was canonized by Paul V, the Church took the name of Sta. Francesca Romana. Anyone who has been in Rome on the 9th March, and has visited her tomb, round which eighteen bronze lamps are burning, or gone to the venerable Convent of Tor de Specchi, and seen the chamber with pointed windows which she inhabited for four years, and which is now a chapel, will be able to bear witness that the memory of this noble Roman lady and model Christian matron, is still deeply revered.

As soon as Martin V felt that his position in Italy was more firmly established, he turned his attention to the restoration of Papal supremacy abroad. The abolition in France and England of the Anti-Papal legislation, consequent on the confusion of the time, was one of his special objects, and in France his efforts were crowned with success. In February, 1425, the young King Charles VII published an Edict by which the rights of the Pope were completely restored. Martin V also zealously defended the liberties of the Church against the Governments of Portugal, Poland, and Scotland, and against the Republics of Venice and Florence. His energetic resistance to any interference with her rights was manifested when Charles of Bourbon, Count of Clermont, ventured to imprison Martin Gouge de Charpaigne, his Bishop. Almost as soon as the tidings reached the Pope he made the greatest efforts to procure the Prelate's liberation, and after a time he was successful. His resistance to the Conciliar movement was equally resolute.

According to the decisions of the Synod of Constance, Councils were henceforth to be held at appointed periods. The extraordinary remedy which had hitherto been employed only in desperate crises or at rare intervals, and which could prove beneficial only under such circumstances, was to be brought into constant use. Instead of once in a century, or, at most, once in fifty years, it was now to be resorted to every five or ten! The aim of this innovation was to substitute constitutional for monarchical government in the Church.

Martin V was absolutely opposed to any attempt of the kind, and from his point of view he was no doubt perfectly right. Erroneous ideas regarding the constitution and position of a Council were at this time widely diffused, threatening the very foundations of the Papal power, and it was his duty to consider how they might be set right. The endless disputes as to whether the Pope or the Council was to have the first place in the Church, and the pretensions of the Synods of Pisa and Constance to dictate to the Pope, had not only filled him with distrust, but inspired a real horror of the very name of a Council. He could not, however, venture openly to oppose the movement, and accordingly summoned a Council to meet in the year 1423 at Pavia. Circumstances were most unfavorable for such an assembly. England and France were engaged in a bloody conflict, Germany was laid waste by the Hussites, and war with the Moors was raging in Spain. It was evident that the Council, which opened at Pavia in April, 1423, could not be numerously attended. In June it had to be transferred to Siena, on account of an outbreak of the plague, and here it soon became plain that its purpose in regard to the Pope was identical with that of the Council of Constance, and that those principles and ideas which had so seriously imperilled the monarchical character of the government of the Church and the authority of the Pope, and had occasioned the deposition of John XXIII, were again asserting themselves. Matters were made yet worse by the hostile attitude of King Alfonso of Aragon, who endeavored to incite the Council against the Pope. Martin V accordingly made the small attendance of Prelates and their divisions a pretext for suddenly dissolving it. On the 7th March, 1424, in the evening, his Legates secretly posted up a Decree, to the effect that by virtue of the Pope's authority it had been dissolved on the 26th of February, and that all Arch­bishops, Bishops, and others were strictly forbidden to attempt its continuance; and, having done this, they hastily left the city. Before the publication of the Decree, Basle had been selected as the place of meeting for a fresh Synod, and the Pope had confirmed the choice.

The Council of Basle was not to meet for seven years; a thorough reform of ecclesiastical affairs might in this interval have been undertaken, but Martin allowed the precious time to pass by almost in vain, as far as that important work was concerned. The reformatory Provisions of the Bull which he published on the 16th May, 1425, were certainly admirable, but they were far from being sufficient, and we do not hear that they were really carried into effect. In the Pope's justification it must indeed be alleged, that the restoration of the States of the Church fully occupied him, and that this restoration was a matter of urgent importance. The events of the preceding century, the consequences of the sojourn of the Popes at Avignon, had proved beyond all doubt the necessity that the Holy See should possess temporal sovereignty, and be established on its own territory.§ Yet in Rome itself at least, Martin V. ought to have remedied the most crying abuses, and his negligence on this point can neither be excused nor denied.

The picture which confidential letters, especially the reports of Envoys of the Teutonic Order to their Superiors, the Grand Masters in Prussia, give of the state of things in Rome at this period, is a very gloomy one. In the year 1420, one of these Envoys wrote to Prussia: “Dear Grand Master, you must send money, for here at the Court all friendship ends with the last penny”. In another letter, the writer says that it is impossible to describe all the devices used in Rome to get money; that gold is the only friend and the only means for getting any business done. In a report of the year 1430 we read: “Greed reigns supreme in the Roman Court, and day by day finds new devices and artifices for extorting money from Germany, under pretext of ecclesiastical fees. Hence much outcry, complaining, and heart-burnings among scholars and courtiers; also many questions in regard to the Papacy will arise, or else obedience will ultimately be entirely renounced, to escape from these outrageous exactions of the Italians; and the latter course would be, as I perceive, acceptable to many countries”.

It is possible that certain statements in these reports are to be rejected, or considered as exaggerated, yet on the whole, the picture they present must be a true one, for Swiss, Poles, and even Italians of that day have all borne similar testimony.

It has repeatedly been asserted that the Roman Court has assumed a more and more Italian character ever since the time of Martin V. This, however, is quite a mistake, for at the very period in question the composition of the Papal Court was eminently international, and may be said to have in this respect reflected the image of the Universal Church. Spain, France, England, Germany, and Holland are all represented. Even during the Avignon exile the international character of the Papal Court had not been completely lost. In one of the volumes containing the registers of Gregory XI we have a list, drawn up by his command, of the Court officials at Avignon at the time of the departure of the Court (September, 1376). The immense number of German names in this list is very remarkable. We are also indebted to two Germans in the Papal service, Dietrich von Nieheim and Gobelinus Persona, for the best descriptions of the changeful times of the Schism.

The number of foreigners in Rome in the time of Martin V was very large, and among them were a great many Germans, who held positions at the Papal Court and in various administrative and legal offices in the Chancery, Datary, Penitentiary, Apostolic Chamber and Rota. During the whole of the fifteenth century, foreigners -Netherlanders, Frenchmen, and afterwards Spaniards- formed the majority in the Papal Chapel. Some of the foreigners filled most influential positions; the important post of Master of the Sacred Palace (Counsellor of the Pope in all theological and legal questions), for example, was, from the time of Martin V to that of Calixtus III, held three times by a Spaniard, once by a German, Heinrich Kalteisen from the Rhenish provinces, and once by an Italian.

Hermann Dwerg (in Latin, Nanus), like Nieheim and Persona, of Westphalian origin, was Protonotary in the time of Martin V, and much esteemed at his Court. He enjoyed the special favour and confidence of the Pope, and, as Envoy of the Teutonic Order, was freely admitted to his presence during his illness, when even a Cardinal rarely ventured to appear. At the time of his death, on the 14th December, 1430, Dwerg had the reputation of being one of the richest, most influential, and most highly respected men in the Eternal City. But amidst all his riches he retained a spirit of evangelical poverty and was a most devout priest. His will, which is still preserved in his native town of Herford, bears witness to his piety, his pure love of God and of the Church, and his generous unselfishness. It also shows that all the splendor of his position beyond the Alps never alienated his heart from his German home. Beginning with a prayer, he desired that his funeral should be simple, and that no monument should mark his resting-place; then he disposes of his property principally for the benefit of his native town and of the University of Cologne, in which he founds two scholarships, leaving a house in Herford and the sum of 10,000 florins to defray the expense. Another house which he possessed in Herford he appoints to be an asylum for the poor. He bequeaths 400 Rhenish dollars to each of the principal churches of his native town, as an endowment for a mass to be said in each, and “to that of Saints John and Denis, in which”, he says, “the bodies of my parents repose, 200 more”. Two hundred dollars are to be employed in the completion of the tower of this church. His books are left to the church at Pusinna. His truly Catholic will concludes with these words, “Whatever is left over of my goods and possessions, my executors are to distribute secretly amongst the poor, remembering the account they will have to render to God”.

The Germans were greatly favored by Nicholas V as well as by Martin V. Nicholas V indeed deemed it impossible to do without them, and in 1451, when the plague had carried off almost all the German Abbreviators, he desired the Envoy of the Teutonic Order to bring before him the names of a number of his countrymen, whose virtues and abilities might fit them to fill the vacant posts.

The number of German tradesmen, artizans, and crafts­men, settled in Rome in the fifteenth century, strikes us as even more surprising than that of the officials employed in the Court. In the nineteenth century thousands of Germans yearly leave their homes for America; at that period, Italy, with its great and wealthy cities and, above all, Rome, exercised a similar attraction. We find Germans occupying all manner of positions in Rome; they were merchants, innkeepers, money changers, weavers, gold and silver-smiths, book copiers and illuminators, blacksmiths, bakers, millers, shoemakers, tailors, saddlers, furriers, and barbers. While German prelates occupied the highest positions at the Roman Court, German bankers and merchants, especially those from Bavaria and the Netherlands, became prominent in the commercial life of the city. The earliest printers in Rome were Germans.

That the German colony during the fifteenth century was extremely numerous and important is evidenced by the fact that the shoemakers of that nation formed a special guild, whose statutes were confirmed by Eugenius IV in 1439, and that even its journeymen bakers had a guild of their own. The Statute Book of the shoemakers, dating from the end of the fifteenth century, is still preserved. The ancient list of members up to the end of that century contains, according to Monsignor de Waal, one thousand one hundred and twenty names, to which, by the year 1531, one thousand two hundred and ninety more were added, so that within a century, more than two thousand four hundred shoemakers had entered the brotherhood. They had their special guildhall, with a chapel dedicated to Saints Crispin and Crispinianus, and to this day the stonework over the door bears the inscription "House of the true German Shoemakers." There were many more German than Italian master bakers settled in Rome at the beginning of the sixteenth century. They formed a joint guild, presided over by two Consuls, one of whom was German, and the other Italian. The journeymen, or Peckenknechte, had also their confraternity with its special chapel in the Church of the Anima, and a chaplain of its own. In the year 1425 an agreement was drawn up between masters and journeymen, in regard to work and wages. At a later period they combined to found a School, or guildhall, near the little Church of St. Elizabeth, where they hence­forth assembled for the worship of God, and for consultation on matters affecting their common interests; they also erected a hospital there.

The Germans who sojourned for a while in Rome were far more numerous than those who actually made their home there. An historian, who has the merit of being the first to investigate the subject thoroughly, says that "No nation has in all times kept up such an intercourse with Rome as the German; no other has in peace and in war exercised such influence on the fate of the city and of the Papacy; an influence sometimes evil, but more often salutary and happy; no other has enjoyed so large a share of the paternal care and affection of the successors of St. Peter". Countless German pilgrims have left no trace behind them in Rome, but the authenticated number of those who visited the city of the seven hills in the fourteenth and fifteenth century is very considerable. In the Confraternity books of the Anima and of the Hospital of Sto. Spirito there are long lists of German names, some of them belonging to the highest ranks of society, and similarly, in the ancient Martyrology of St. Peter's, among the benefactors for whom anniversary services are to be held on appointed days, Germans are mentioned on almost every page, and also Bavarians and many Hungarians. Considering the difficulties of the journey, the number of pilgrims who went to Rome in the fifteenth century is surprising. Many made the pilgrimage of their own free will, but in many cases it was imposed as a penance, or undertaken as such. Others, again, who had been at the Italian Universities and had there become acquainted with Romans of high position, afterwards followed them to the capital of Christendom. Then, if we also take into account Papal confirmations, nominations, dispensations, appeals, reserved cases, and absolutions, we may form some idea of the immense number of persons whom business attracted to Rome. Flavio Biondo, the Humanist, estimates the ordinary number of pilgrims to Rome during Lent or Eastertide at forty to fifty thousand, and at the time of a Jubilee they were much more numerous.

The immense intercourse of other nations with Rome was the origin of the many national foundations in the Eternal City for the reception and care of weary and sick pilgrims. The Popes bestowed many privileges and favors upon all these institutions. In Rome, the common home of all Christians, everyone was to feel welcome, and to find among his own fellow countrymen provision for all his temporal and spiritual necessities.

A survey of these various foundations of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries shows the German nation again in the foremost place. The still flourishing Institutions of the Anima and the Campo Santo date from the fourteenth century.

The origin of the Pilgrim's Hostelry of Our Lady at the Campo Santo, near St. Peter's, is unfortunately wrapped in obscurity. Most probably it is the continuation of the ancient school of the Franks, which was founded by Charles the Great and Pope Leo III, on the southern side of St. Peter's, and whose church and buildings had gradually passed into the possession of its Chapter. Notwithstanding the change of ownership, which must have taken place during the Avignon period, the Canons of St. Peter's by no means denied the historical claim of the German nation to their ancient foundation, and made no difficulties when some Germans undertook the erection of a new hospice and church within the domain of the School of the Franks, but nearer the Basilica. They seem, indeed, to have made over to them the remains of some former buildings. The hospice was placed under the patronage of Our Lady. The end of the choir of its little church is still standing. More exact details regarding this hospice are not as yet forthcoming; the only information we possess is derived from a brief of Pope Calixtus III, in the year 1455, which says that Germans had founded it a long time before, in their solicitude for their fellow countrymen.* Its origin has been assigned to the beginning of the fourteenth century, and even to the Jubilee year of 1300, but this is uncertain. There is no doubt, however, regarding the foundation of a second German hospital in the interior of the City, in the Jubilee year, 1350. The Church of Sta Maria dell Animal is familiar to all German visitors to Rome. Johann Peters, of Dortrecht, and the celebrated Dietrich von Nieheim were its real founders. The former, whose long residence in Rome in the service of Pope Boniface IX had given him every opportunity of knowing the needy and forlorn position of pilgrims, in the year 1386 made a vow that he would found a hospice for the Germans. To this object he devoted three houses which he possessed in the Rione Parione; the middle one was to be a chapel, and the other two for the separate lodging of men and women. The hospice owes its organization and the Papal approbation of the Brotherhood connected with it to Dietrich von Nieheim. He himself drew up its first statutes, and besides bestowing on it during his lifetime many gifts, left to it in his will seven houses, a vineyard, and other property.

Pope Boniface IX had granted an Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines to all who should contribute to this benevolent work. The conditions were thus furnished for the erection of a Brotherhood, according to the common practice of the Middle Ages when a work of great general utility, especially if it had also a religious character, was to be accomplished. By the erection of the Confraternity which took place either at this time, or it may be previously, the supporters of the Anima entered into a bond of spiritual union, those who enjoyed the benefits of the hospice being bound to pray, or, if priests, to say Mass for its Founders and Benefactors. The Book of this Confraternity, a small folio of 291 pages, written on parchment, and bound in red leather, with a clasp, is still preserved in the Archives of the Anima. It begins in the year 1463 with names taken from older lists, and is continued until 1653. The number of members inscribed exceeds three thousand, more than a third part of whom were ecclesiastics, and about half belong to the fifteenth century.

The German Hospice of the Anima enjoyed the peculiar favour of Popes Innocent VII and Gregory XII; they confirmed its foundation, placed it under the protection of the Papal Vicar, and granted to it the parochial right of free burial and a special cemetery. On account of its increasing importance, its church was, during the reigns of Martin V and Eugenius IV, enlarged by the addition of the two houses which had hitherto served for the male and female pilgrims, and thus two aisles were added to the nave. It is evident that by this time further space must have been acquired so as to allow of this extension of the church, without prejudice to the accommodation for pilgrims; its property continued to increase, for in the year 1484 it owned twenty-two houses.

Other German foundations were also made in the fifteenth century. By a deed dated August 2nd, 1410, Nicolaus Herici, priest of the Diocese of Kulm and Chaplain of the Church of S. Lorenzo in Paneperna, gave two houses in the Rione Regola for the use of Poor Germans. This hospice at first bore the name of St. Nicholas, and afterwards that of St. Andrew. In 1431 its administration was united with that of the Anima. In the middle of the century a Convent of German nuns of the Order of S. Francis was also founded in Rome, and rapidly became very flourishing. We must not close the list of German foundations without mention of the hospital near the Church of San. Giuliano de Fiaminghi, destined for the benefit of Flemings and Walloons, and dating from the days of the Crusades.

The other nations of Christendom also possessed charitable institutions for their own pilgrims in the Eternal City. The little Church of St. Bridget, on the Piazza Farnese, preserves the memory of the House for Swedish Students and Pilgrims which the Saint established (1373). The Bohemian Pilgrims' House, with St. Wenceslaus for its Patron, is about equally ancient, and it seems probable that Charles IV, when in Rome for his coronation, first conceived the idea of its foundation; an old tradition indeed says that the hospice originally occupied the very house where, disguised as a pilgrim, he spent the last days of the Holy Week in 1355. The Document, however, which records its actual opening, bears date March, 1378, and informs us that in the year 1368, during his second sojourn in Rome, Charles IV had bought a spacious house, not far from the Campo di Fiore, and devoted it to the reception of all poor, needy, and sick pilgrims from Bohemia, Moravia, and Lower Silesia. The Papal Confirmation was not given till the 1st August, 1379, the delay being probably due to the troubled state of the times, which, together with the disturbances in Bohemia, brought about the ruin of this house. From an inscription which still exists, we learn that its restoration was undertaken by Heinrich Roraw in 1457.

The celebrated Dietrich von Nieheim built a house for poor priests from Ireland, and a national hospice for English pilgrims was founded in 1398, in the Via de Sta. Maria di Monserrato. This was changed into a college for the education of priests of that nation by Gregory XIII, as but few pilgrims came to Rome from England in his time. A noble Portuguese lady, Juana Guismar, who came to visit the holy places in Rome about the year 1417, established an institution for female pilgrims of her own nation. Twenty years later this hospice was enlarged by Cardinal Antonio Martinez de Chiaves, of Lisbon, and a church was built adjoining it under the title of St. Antonio de Portoghesi. The restoration of the Hungarian Pilgrims' House from a state of complete ruin had already been undertaken in the time of Martin V. In the Jubilee year of 1450, Alfonso Paradinas, Bishop of Rodrigo, erected a Spanish Hospital, which, with its Church, was dedicated to St. James the Apostle and St. Ildephonsus (San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli). In the neighborhood of Chiesa Nuova was a hospital for pilgrims and sick persons from the Kingdom of Aragon, to which at this period Sicily belonged; it had been founded in 1330 by two pious ladies from Barcelona, and was subsequently united with the Hospital of San Giacomo. The little Church of San Pantaleone, near the Tiber, whose site is now occupied by the magnificent Church of St. John (San Giovanni de Fiorentini), was bestowed by the Chapter of San Celso on the Brotherhood of the “Pieta della nazione Fiorentina”, a confraternity which had its origin during the terrible outbreak of the plague in 2448.

The generosity of Nicholas V provided for the erection of a church and hospital for the Dalmatians and Illyrians in 1453; this foundation (San Girolamo degli Schiavoni) was enlarged in the time of Sixtus IV and is still extant. At the prayer of Cardinal Alain, Calixtus III, in the year 1456, assigned a Church, Sant Ivone de Brettoni, to the Bretons, and a hospital for the sick and for pilgrims of that nation was afterwards built near it (2512). It may here be observed that a number of new foundations, similar to these which we have mentioned, came into being in the time of Sixtus IV. Churches, attached to national hospices, were, during his Pontificate, granted to the Lombards, Genoese, French, and others. “There is”, says one acquainted with the Eternal City, “something beautiful in these National Churches. Far from his fatherland, the wanderer, in meeting with so many familiar names, feels that he is at home. In San Giovanni de' Fiorentini we are entirely surrounded by Florentines, in San Carlo al Corso by Lombards, in San Marco by Venetians, and in Santa Maria dell Anima by Germans, and the subjects of the Low Countries. This peculiarity forms no small part of the charm of Rome”.

The Humanists who, during the time of the Schism, had made their way into the Papal Court, formed a distinct, and in many ways incongruous, element in a body composed of ecclesiastics.

Personally, Pope Martin V kept completely aloof from the movement. In order to understand the position which the representatives of the literary Renaissance nevertheless attained at his Court, we must remember that the Council of Constance had given an immense impulse to Humanism. The world had never before beheld an assembly at once so numerous and intellectually so brilliant, and this latter fact gave it a weight far beyond that derived merely from numbers. The opportunities of intercourse between learned and cultivated men, afforded by these Councils, exercised an important influence on general civilization, and especially on the Renaissance in literature. “The Council of Constance”, as the Historian of Humanism observes, inaugurates a new epoch in the history of the search throughout Europe for Manuscripts, while the impetus given to the interchange of thoughts between different nations by the two great Synods of Constance and Basle cannot be exaggerated. The dawn of Humanism, north of the Alps, dates from this period.

Among the Papal Secretaries present at the Council of Constance were many Humanists. The most remarkable of them were the learned Greek, Manuel Chrysoloras, who, however, died (15 April, 1415) soon after his arrival; the well-known Lionardo Bruni, who also was but a short time at the Council, and Poggio. Among the non-official Humanists who came to Constance, we may mention the Poet Benedetto da Piglio, Agapito Cenci, and the jurists, Pier Paolo Vergerio and Bartolomeo da Montepulciano. With the assistance of the two latter, Poggio, much wearied by the endless theological discussions, began to search the libraries of Reichenau, Weingarten, St. Gall, and other monasteries in the neighborhood, for manuscript copies of the Latin classics. It is to the honor of Germany that these precious memorials of antiquity were preserved in some of her cloisters. The recommendations with which, as Papal Secretary, Poggio was furnished, enabled him to gain access to the most jealously-guarded collections, and to bring to light a number of classical masterpieces. The delight occasioned among his fellow-countrymen by these discoveries cannot be described, and the self-esteem in which the Humanists had never been deficient, was notably increased. This was manifested on the occasion of the Enthronement of Martin V, when they claimed precedence for the Secretaries over the Consistorial Advocates, and were, it appears, successful.

Evidently this action of the Humanistic Secretaries displeased the Pope, and it may have been one of the reasons why he never, in any way, favoured them. He certainly saw that they were necessary to him, and employed many of them in his service, which Poggio entered in the year 1423. The critical state of affairs at the opening of Martin's Pontificate had induced this remarkable man to seek his fortunes in England. His hopes were sadly disappointed, and, turning his back on the "land of Barbarians," he again repaired to Rome. Within a short time after his arrival there, he was able to inform his friends that he had found little difficulty in obtaining the position of Papal Secretary. It is hard to understand how Martin V, who was so exceedingly strict in regard to the moral conduct of his dependents, could admit a man of Poggio’s character into his service. For the new Papal Secretary was what he had ever been. He himself tells us how, when the dull day's work at the Chancery was over, he and his friends amused themselves by telling disedifying stories. They called their meeting-place “the forge of lies”" and we may form a fair estimate of Poggio from the fact that, at the age of fifty-eight, he published a selection of these anecdotes. The frivolous, absolutely heathen spirit of this partisan of the false Renaissance is but too plainly manifested in this work. With the exception of a few jests which are harmless, it is entirely made up of coarse innuendoes and scandalous and blasphemous stories. All ecclesiastical things and persons are turned into ridicule; priests, monks, abbots, hermits, bishops, and cardinals appear in motley procession, and Poggio has a tale to tell of each. Naturally, the monks come off worst. Jokes and ribaldry of this description formed the evening amusement of the men whose pens were employed in the composition of the Papal Bulls and Briefs. When Valla produced his Dialogue on Pleasure " in this circle, he knew his audience. These doings were carefully concealed from the Pope, whose name was by no means respected in their conversations. The reproach, however, remains, that such men were his servants and were retained in his employment. The improvement in the Latinity of the Papal documents was too dearly purchased at the cost of such scandal.

At the time of the reorganization of the Court, and even before Poggio had entered his service, Martin V had nominated Antonio Loschi, Secretary. The selection of this man, who was repeatedly sent on embassies, was disastrous, for he, too, belonged to the false Renaissance.

The versatility of the Humanists made their position at Court more and more secure. They were of use on every occasion; in the composition of Bulls and Briefs as well as in that of purely political documents, at the receptions of Princes and Ambassadors, and when appropriate discourses were required, either for festival or funeral. It was thought well to treat men who rendered such varied services with extreme consideration.

By nominating a number of distinguished men to the Sacred College, and by effacing the last traces of the Schism, Martin V conferred great benefits on Christendom. These two subjects demand a more detailed investigation.

The number of the Cardinals had greatly increased during the time of the Schism, for each one of the opposing Popes had formed a College of his own, and Popes and Anti-Popes alike had endeavored to strengthen their positions by a liberal use of the hat. Urban VI, created sixty-three Cardinals, the Anti-Pope Clement VII, thirty-eight. The three successors of Urban VI appointed thirty-three; Benedict XIII, twenty-three; Alexander V and John XXIII, forty-four. Of all these there were but twenty-eight living at the time of the election of Martin V. This number, however, was in the opinion of the majority of the assembly at Constance, excessive; and with the view of increasing the power of the Sacred College so as to counterbalance that of the Pope, the Synod decided that for the future it should consist of twenty-four members. This measure was a decided attack on Papal rights, and was all the less justified, inasmuch as naturally the Cardinals, who had survived the stormy period of the Schism while the holder of the Papacy had been changed, had, unlike the Pope, become more powerful than ever. The regulations of the Council regarding the qualifications of Cardinals and the representation of the different nations in the highest senate of Christendom, were, however, beneficial.

Martin V, on whom devolved the difficult task of doing justice to the Cardinals of both obediences, and who also received into the Sacred College five former adherents of Benedict XIII, was so moderate in making appointments that at the time of his death there were but nineteen Cardinals. Although fully resolved to do away with their undue ascendancy, he from the first proceeded in this matter, as in all others, with the greatest prudence. Almost six years elapsed before any creation took place (July 23rd, 1423), and the names of the two then chosen for the dignity, Domingo Ram and Domenico Capranica, were only made known in a secret Consistory to the Cardinals: the publication was reserved till a later period, and accordingly in the open Consistory no mention was made of the creation. Three years later, on the 24th May, 1426, Martin V for the second time created Cardinals. On this occasion the nomination of Ram and Capranica was confirmed, and Prospero Colonna and Giuliano Cesarini were created. The Consistorial decree concerning this secret nomination is extant, and is signed by all the Cardinals; it expressly provides that in case the Pope should die before the publication of these four Cardinals, this is to be considered as equivalent to publication, and they are to be admitted to take part in the election of his successor. The Pope personally informed Capranica of his nomination, but strictly forbade him in any way to let his elevation be known. In order, however, to set him completely at ease on the subject, he admitted him to the ceremony of kissing the feet, followed by the customary embrace from the older Cardinals. Of the ten new Cardinals actually published on the 24th May, 1426, three were French (Jean de la Rochetaillee, Louis Allemand, and Raymond Mairose, Bishop of Castres), and three Italian (Antonio Cassini, Ardicino della Porta, and Niccolo Albergati). The others were an Englishman (Henry Beaufort), a German (Johann von Bucca, Bishop of Olmfitz), a Spaniard (Juan Cervantes), and a Greek (Hugo of Cyprus).

Even before his creation of Cardinals in 1426, Martin V had published admirable regulations for the reform of the Sacred College, which at that time was composed of Prelates who had belonged to three different obediences. In order that their light may again shine before the world, and that they may be fit for the management of the affairs of the Church, this Constitution exhorts the Cardinals to be distinguished above all other men by moral purity; to live simple, upright, holy lives, avoiding not only evil, but even the appearance of evil; to walk humbly, and not to be haughty in their bearing towards other Prelates or priests. They are to govern their households with due care, and to see that their retainers are chaste and honorable in their conduct. They are not to seek after Court favor, or the patronage of Princes, but, undistracted by worldly interests, to consecrate themselves with their whole souls to the service of God.

That such admonitions should be needed implied the existence of deplorable abuses in the highest Senate of the Church. How, indeed, could it have been otherwise? The Schism had disorganized the Sacred College, and produced a baneful spirit of independence. Martin V's projected restoration of the Papal power naturally involved a change in this state of things, but, if we are to rely on the account given by an Envoy of the Teutonic Order, it would seem that the Pope went too far in his endeavours to repress the autonomy of the Cardinals. In a letter written in 1429, this Envoy gives the following particulars regarding his audience of the Pope: “When the Lord Bishop of Courland presented me to the Pope and to the Cardinals, they received me kindly and gave me good words; but little or nothing followed, for when the opponents of the Order came to them, they give them the same. Five Cardinals : de Ursinis, Arelatensis, de Comitibus, who was Protector of the Order and is now Legate at Bologna, Rhotomagensis, and Novariensis, are well inclined towards it and towards myself personally. But they dare not speak before the Pope, save what he likes to hear, for the Pope has so crushed all the Cardinals that they say nothing in his presence except as he desires, and they turn red and pale when they speak in his hearing”. This treatment was resented by the Cardinals, and its evil consequences became manifest immediately after the death of Martin V.

Early in November, 14, Martin's last creation of Cardinals took place. A Spaniard (Juan Casanova) and a Frenchman (Guillame de Montfort) were nominated, and Ram, Prospero Colonna, Cesarini, and Capranica were published. The titular Churches of the last four were San. Giovanni e Paolo, San. Giorgio in Velabro, St. Angelo in Pescaria, and Sta. Maria in Via Lata. As it was the custom to send the red hat only to Cardinals occupying important legations, Capranica, who was at this time Legate in Perugia, did not receive it. Authentic evidence regarding these proceedings is preserved; nevertheless, more recent historians have involved them in the greatest perplexity. To this circumstance was due the difficulty experienced by Capranica in inducing Eugenius IV, after the death of Martin V, to recognize his position as Cardinal. This Pope, influenced by his enemies and falsely advised, denied him his dignity, and he was forced to repair in haste to the Council of Basle to assert his rights.

The action of Eugenius was unjust, and all the more unfortunate, inasmuch as notwithstanding his youth, Capranica was one in every respect worthy to be a member of the Sacred College. All his contemporaries are unanimous in their praise of this noble Roman, who combined deep piety with great learning. In the course of this history we shall often have to refer to his valuable services. He died at the very moment when his elevation to the Papacy was a certainty. Had Martin V created no Cardinal but Capranica, the highest praise would still be due to him, but all the others whom he raised to the purple were worthy of the dignity. “Martin V”, says a writer who is generally little ready to speak in favor of a Pope, “has the real merit of having placed in the Sacred College men whose virtue or culture soon won high esteem in the Church”.

Among the Cardinals appointed by Martin V, Giuliano Cesarini undoubtedly stands next to Capranica in regard to talent and capacity. Cesarini (1389-1444), like many a great man, raised himself from poverty by his own industry. His biographer, Vespasiano da Bisticci, tells us that, when a student at Perugia, he lived on alms and collected candle-ends in order to be able to study by night.

After taking his Doctor’s degree, he became Professor of Canon Law at Padua; Capranica, only his junior by two years, and Nicholas of Cusa were amongst his pupils. Cardinal Branda, in whose house he lived, brought him to Rome, where he soon won the favour of Martin V. The Pope proved his high esteem by entrusting to him two tasks of exceptional difficulty: that of inducing the German Princes to undertake a Crusade against the Hussites, and that of presiding as Legate at the Council of Basle. “In Cesarini”, to quote the biographer of Pius II, “were united all the natural gifts and all the talents which mark the born ruler. Admiration was his, although he sought it not. A lasting impression was made on everyone who approached him, and there was an irresistible charm in his intellectual and beautiful features. He was grave and dignified in the presence of Princes, affable and genial with men of low degree. In social intercourse, the Cardinal seemed to give place to the man, and in the discharge of the high duties of his office, the man of the world, to the Prelate. His zeal for the Faith and for the Church, and his courteous manners, his deep and solid learning and his humanistic culture, his impassioned eloquence and the easy flow of his conversation, seemed each in turn to be a part of his nature”. Vespasiano da Bisticci cannot say enough in praise of his piety and purity of life. From him we learn that the Cardinal always slept in a hair shirt, fasted every Friday on bread and water, spent part of every night with his chaplain in the church, and every morning went to confession and said Mass.

Cesarini’s generosity was boundless; he gave all he had for the love of God, and no one went away from him unheard. The remembrance of his own early hardships made him take a special interest in poor and gifted youths. He sent them at his expense to study at Perugia, Bologna, or Siena, and provided in the most ample manner for all their needs. As Cesarini would not accept any benefice besides his Bishopric of Grosseto, the exercise of such liberality would have been impossible but for the simplicity of his own mode of life. More than one dish never appeared on his table; the wine which he drank was but colored water. His care for his household was most touching. On one occasion when all its members at once were taken ill, he went to see them all every morning and evening, to make sure that no one wanted for anything. Even the stable-boy was daily honored by the Cardinal's visit. He was full of the most ardent zeal for all the interests of the Church, especially for reform, for the conversion of Jews and heretics, and for the union of the Greeks. Cardinal Branda used to say that if the whole Church were to become corrupt, Cesarini by himself would be able to reform it. “I have known a great many holy men”, says the worthy Vespasiano da Bisticci, “but among them none who was like Cardinal Cesarini; for five hundred years the Church has not seen such a man!”

An essential feature in the description of Cesarini would be wanting if we omitted all mention of his relation to Humanism. Like Capranica, he was a warm friend of classical studies. “To them”, it has been said, “he owed those graces of mind and speech which so enhanced his physical advantages”. Cicero, Lactantius, and St. Augustine were his models. Cesarini was overwhelmed with business, and he was poor - even after he had been promoted to the purple. Vespasiano da Bisticci saw him sell duplicates from his library in order to give alms; consequently it was impossible for him to come forward as the generous patron of Humanism, but his interest in these studies was so great that even on his journeys as Legate he found time to search diligently for old manuscripts. This we learn from Cardinal Albergati, who shared his tastes.

Niccole Albergati, though less cultivated than Cesarini, held constant intercourse with the partisans of the new studies, and did what he could to further them. Filelfo, Poggio, Eneas Sylvius Piccolomini, and especially Tommaso Parentucelli, enjoyed his favor. Albergati, who had entered the austere Carthusian Order and afterwards become Bishop of his native city, Bologna, was a model of all priestly and episcopal virtues. When created a Cardinal, in his humility he assumed no armorial bearings, but simply a cross, an example which was followed by his old companion, Parentucelli, on his elevation to the Papacy. The high dignity to which Albergati had been promoted did not interfere with his observance of his Rule. He slept upon straw, never ate meat, wore a hair shirt, and rose at midnight to pray. “Entrusted with numerous and arduous Embassies, this Cardinal furnished an example of the combination of the greatest prudence in difficult matters of worldly policy with a perfect uprightness and integrity of character”.

Antonio Correr, Cardinal of Bologna, was also a man of great worth. To quote the words of Vespasiano da Bisticci, "Messer Antonio, of the House of Correr, a nobleman, and nephew of Pope Gregory XII, led a holy life, and, like Pope Eugenius, in his youth entered a religious Order in an island of Venice called San Giorgio in Alga. He was led to take this step by the boundless zeal for the Christian Faith and for his own salvation, which filled his soul. After he had spent many years in the Order, it came to pass that his uncle was elected Pope (1406) and determined to make him a Cardinal, although he would not leave his monastery for anything in the world. At last, being constrained by the Pope, he consented on one condition: this was that Messer Gabriel (Condulmaro), who afterwards became Pope Eugenius, should also receive the purple, and the Pope agreed that it should be so for his sake. After both had become Cardinals, Messer Antonio and all who belonged to his household lived most virtuously and were a pattern to others. The Cardinal held, as benefices, two abbeys, one in Padua and the other in Verona. In both of these he introduced the Observance of the rule and gave a part of the revenues to the monks, reserving to himself only what was needed for his support. He also provided that, after his death, both should belong to the religious, free from all charges. He lived in piety and holiness to the age of eighty, and when Pope, Eugenius returned from Florence to Rome, resolved to leave the Court and retire to his Abbey at Padua. After he had dwelt there for some time, he undertook to set his affairs in order. Year by year he had kept an account of the sums which he drew from his benefices. One day he summoned to his dwelling the Procurators of the two monasteries and caused all his property to be gathered together in a great ball; he had an inventory taken of his plate, books, household furniture, and even of his clothes, and every separate article valued. After this had been done he sent for his account books, in which the revenues received from his benefices were entered, and, by his command, a list of the objects before him, with their valuation, was written at the opposite side of the page. He then told one of the Procurators that he might take the books and half of the silver plate and of the other objects, as he had arranged them. He addressed the like request to the other Procurator, with the words: Take and carry away what belongs to you. In this manner, before leaving the apartment, he disposed of all his goods, and kept nothing but a chalice, a vestment, and four silver vessels. After all this was finished, he said to the Fathers of the two monasteries: “I have had various goods delivered to you whose value amounts to so much; so much have I drawn from the benefices bestowed upon me. If I had more, I would give it to you; have patience with me and pray to God for me”. The monks were above measure astonished at the Cardinal’s action, and thanked him most warmly. But he rose from his seat and said: “Thanks be to God for that which He has ordered. Lords and Prelates may learn from this Cardinal that it is better for a man himself to do what is to be done than to entrust it to his heirs. He lived four months after this distribution of his property. He paid his servants their wages every month and gave them clothing twice a year. He would not be a burden to anyone, and left bequests to his servants and for pious purposes as his conscience suggested. He ended his days like a Saint. I learned all this from his nephew, Messer Gregorio, who was present at the division of his property and deserves all credit. Such Prelates of God’s Church are worthy of everlasting remembrance”.

“It was of inestimable importance to the Church to have again men of such piety, learning, and activity, employed in the Supreme Council of the Pope, men who were convinced that they were bound by their own example to quash the accusations made against the clergy, and to meet the ever-increasing pressure of the new intellectual culture, by themselves taking part in the restoration of classical literature and of the sciences”.

Besides those of whom we have spoken, Humanism had other patrons in the Sacred College. Honorable mention is due to Branda Castiglione, Cardinal of Piacenza, a man noted for his simplicity, and to the nephew of Martin V, Cardinal Prospero Colonna. The latter possessed a library of some importance, and to him Poggio dedicated his table-talk regarding avarice, a sure sign that among men of letters he was not notorious for this vice.

But the most zealous promoter of literature and art in the Rome of that day was the rich Cardinal Giordano Orsini. He had pictures of the Sibyls painted on the walls of his reception-room, with inscriptions containing their prophecies of Christ. He spared no trouble or cost in forming a valuable collection of manuscripts of the Greek and Latin classics. Amongst other treasures which it included were the Cosmography of Ptolemy, acquired by the Cardinal in France, and a precious Codex, with twelve hitherto unknown Comedies of Plautus, purchased from Nicholas of Treves, a German dealer in manuscripts. The Cardinal himself endeavored to restore the corrupt text of these Comedies, and intended to publish them, with some verses composed by Antonio Loschi. Poggio, who on this account was denied access to the manuscript, revenged himself by describing the Cardinal as a selfish hoarder of treasures which he could not appreciate. Time, however, proved that the judgment of the irritable philologist was unfounded. Before his death (1438), Cardinal Orsini devoted his literary treasures to the general good, by making them over to the library of St. Peter’s. There were in all 254 Codices, most of them extremely valuable. Considering the unwearied labor and the large amount of money expended in the formation of this collection, the high praise bestowed on the Cardinal by Lapo da Castiglionchio, in the dedication of his translation of a Biography of Plutarch, is not unfounded. “In the irreparable loss”, he says, “which we have suffered by the destruction of so many works of antiquity, my only comfort is that Providence has bestowed you upon our age. You are the first for many centuries, who has endeavored to revive the Latin tongue and in great measure succeeded. In your declining years, you have undertaken most costly and dangerous journeys to far distant places, in order to find the buried treasures of antiquity. You alone have rescued many great men of former days from oblivion, and have brought to light not only unknown works of known authors, but also works by writers whose names we had never yet heard or read. By your exertions such a multitude of useful writings have been brought together as are enough to give occupation to the learned men of more than one city”.

The crowning point of Martin V's work of restoration was the removal of the last traces of the unhappy Schism, and his labors for this object were unwearied and widespread. The Spanish peninsula necessarily claimed his chief attention: Benedict XIII had died at Peñiscola in the November of 1424, clinging to the very end to his usurped dignity. One of the last acts of this obstinate man had been the appointment of four new Cardinals; in 1425 three of these, probably instigated by King Alfonso, elected Egidius Munoz, a Canon of Barcelona, who called himself Clement VIII. To complete the Comedy of the Schism, Jean Carrer, a Frenchman and one of Benedict XIII’s Cardinals, on his own independent authority, elected a new Pope, who took the name of Benedict XIV. Both of these elections were ridiculous rather than dangerous, and Clement VIII would, like Benedict XIV, have vanished from the page of history, leaving no trace behind, had not political circumstances given him an importance which by no means belonged to him as an individual. Alfonso V of Aragon was a bitter enemy of Martin V, because the Pope did not support his pretensions to the Kingdom of Naples, but acknowledged his rival Louis of Anjou. Clement VIII was a useful tool in Alfonso’s hands for the purpose of causing constant annoyance to the Pope. Reconciliation with this monarch was an indispensable preliminary to the extirpation of the Anti-Papal succession, but the prospect in this direction was at first very discouraging.

As early as January, 1425, before the election of Clement VIII, Martin V had entrusted Cardinal Pierre de Foix, a very skillful diplomatist, and a relation of Alfonso’s, with an Embassy to Spain. But the King of Aragon had assumed an attitude which at once rendered all negotiations impossible. He forbade his subjects to hold any intercourse with Rome, prohibited the publication of Papal Bulls, and let the Cardinal-Legate know that in the event of his presuming to enter his Kingdom, he would have his head cut off. The Anti-Pope was, by the command of Alfonso, solemnly crowned.

The rupture with Rome was thus made definite. It was then expected that the Governments of France and England, who were much irritated against Martin V regarding the question of the Council, would join the new Schism. The Pope and his court were in consternation. Happily this danger was averted, and Count Jean d'Armagnac alone took part in the revival of the deplorable Schism of Peñiscola.

On the 15th July, 1426, Martin V summoned King Alfonso to Rome to answer for his support of the Anti-Pope and his other attacks on the liberty of the Church. This measure did not fail to produce an effect. Alfonso perceived that many, even among his own subjects, disapproved of his schismatical position and dreaded ex­communication and interdict. The wary King may also have seen that he could only be a loser by his isolation from the rest of Europe, and that, in the end, more was to be gained from Martin V than from the powerless Clement VIII. He accordingly sent an Embassy to Rome and promised to admit the Legate into his kingdom. Cardinal de Foix hereupon undertook his second mission to Spain, and was received with all honor. His ability and wise moderation, seconded by the efforts of King Alfonso’s Secretary, Alfonso (Alonso) de Borjia, succeeded in the year 1427 in laying the foundations of an agreement between him and Martin V. The Cardinal then returned to Rome to give an account of his proceedings, bringing the Pope letters from the King, in which he declared himself ready to render obedience and to forsake the Schism. The outbreak of the plague in Rome, in 1428, caused some delay in the negotiations, but early in the year 1429 Cardinal de Foix went a third time to Aragon and brought the whole affair to a happy conclusion. The King made complete submission, and called on Clement VIII to resign, which he readily did (26th July, 1429). The pseudo-Cardinals solemnly went into conclave at Peñiscola, and elected Martin V Pope, and so this attempt at a Schism ended as absurdly as it had begun. Count Jean d'Armagnac, whom Pope Martin V had excommunicated in 1429, made his submission and was absolved in the following year. And thus Martin V succeeded in completely restoring the unity of the Church after it had been for two and fifty years rent by Schism.

His Pontificate, although marked by this happy event, was in other respects by no means unclouded. The affairs of Bohemia, where the Hussite heresy had widely spread, caused him grave anxiety. Before the dissolution of the Council of Constance he called alike upon the dignitaries of the Church and upon the Secular Authorities to enforce the legal penalties against this heresy. On the 1st March, 1420, he published a Bull in Florence, calling all Christendom to arms for the “extirpation of the Wycklifites, Hussites, and other heretics”. Martin V held to his purpose of overcoming the Bohemians by force with all the tenacity and persistency of his nature, and would not hear of negotiations with these heretics, who constituted a danger not only to the Church, but to the very foundations of civil society.

The complete failure of the Crusade against the Hussites, and its result in stimulating the demand for the Council which was so greatly dreaded by the Pope is a matter of history. The pressure began towards the end of the year 1425, when Ambassadors from the King of England appeared before Martin V, praying and requiring that, within a year at furthest, he would open the Council at Basle, undertake the reform of the Church, and appear in person with all his Cardinals. At this audience, an English Prelate said bluntly to the Pope: If the abuses of the Church are not removed by Your Holiness, the necessary reforms will be taken in hand by the secular powers. On the 7th December, the Pope answered the Ambassadors in a Consistory, defended the course of action which he had hitherto pursued, and declared that it was not now opportune to shorten the period decided upon at Siena. In July, 1426, it was reported that an Embassy from the French King had gone to Rome to demand the holding of the Council. Subsequently the Dominican, Giovanni di Ragusa, came to Rome for the same object.

In face of this pressure, which was not always sincere, Martin V's attitude was one of the greatest reserve. Long consultations were daily held by the Cardinals in the latter part of the year 1429, but he uttered not a word on the subject. The party which looked on the Council as the universal remedy for all evils became more and more uneasy. The Council became almost a mania among the learned men of the universities. With many of them, indeed, the object was, not the return of the Bohemians to the Faith or the reform of the Church, but a transformation of her constitution to the prejudice of the Papacy, and this it was that alarmed Martin V.

The most unscrupulous measures were employed by this party. On the morning of the 8th of November, 1430, placards were posted up on the Papal Palace and on many other public places in Rome, asserting the necessity of the Council, and threatening the Pope, that if he did not shortly summon it, obedience would be withdrawn and he would be deposed. The sensation caused was immense; no one knew who were the authors of the placards, although mention was made in them of two princes, by whose desire they were put up. According to Giovanni di Ragusa, from this time forth the friends of the Council in Rome became more confident, and urged the matter on the Pope himself. On the 1st January, 1431, he appointed Cardinal Cesarini Legate of the Apostolic See for the forthcoming crusade against the Hussites. A month later he also decided that this Cardinal, who was on the side of reform, should preside over the Council at Basle, from the moment of its meeting, and should undertake its guidance. Two Bulls were prepared for Cesarini, the first of which authorized him to open the Council and preside over it; and the second, in case of necessity, to dissolve it or transfer it to another city. The latter Bull, which has come down to us through Giovanni di Ragusa, clearly indicates the attitude which Martin V intended to assume towards the Council. He justly apprehended further encroachments on the Papal authority, which had already been seriously impaired by the Schism, but before the necessity for extreme measures had arisen, he died of apoplexy on the 29th February, 1431

Martin V, “the second founder of the Papal Monarchy, and the Restorer of Rome”, was buried in the Lateran, where his monument, erected in the time of Eugenius IV, is still to be seen, with his effigy in bronze and an inscription from the pen of the Humanist, Antonio Loschi, who describes him as the happiness of his age.

This praise is not unmerited, for whatever Martin may have had to answer for in the way of inordinate love for his relations and of evasion of the demands for reform, it is certain that during the period of his Pontificate, Rome and the States of the Church enjoyed an amount of prosperity which had not been their lot for more than a century before his accession, and which contrasted favorably with their condition in the troubled reign of his successor. This Colonna, who was highly endowed with a peculiar capacity for ruling, a keen understanding, political sagacity and determination, has the unquestioned merit of inaugurating the restoration of the spiritual and temporal power of the Papacy after years of confusion; of giving back to the Eternal City her ancient splendor, and to the States of the Church their importance, and of procuring for them a golden age of peace. This is undoubted, even though we may agree with Cardinal Egidius of Viterbo, in lamenting that from henceforth virtue was too often sacrificed to the acquisition of power and wealth.