Pope Pius III

Pope Pius III

Infobox Pope
English name=Pius III


birth_name=Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini
term_start=September 22, 1503
term_end=October 18, 1503
predecessor=Alexander VI
successor=Julius II
birth_date=birth date|1439|5|29|mf=y
birthplace=Siena, Italy
dead=dead|death_date=death date and age|1503|10|18|1439|5|29|mf=y
deathplace= Rome, Italy
other=Pius

Pope Pius III (May 29, 1439 – October 18, 1503), born Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, was Pope from September 22 to October 18, 1503.

He was born in Siena, the nephew of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, the future Pope Pius II, by his sister Laodamia. He was received as a boy into the household of Aeneas Silvius, who permitted him to assume the name and arms of the Piccolomini family (his brother Antonio being made Duke of Amalfi during the pontificate of Pius II). Pius II appointed him in 1460, when only 22 years of age, to the see of Siena, which he had just raised to an archbishopric and made him a cardinal, at his first consistory, 5 March 1460. Within months he sent him as legate to the March of Ancona, with the experienced bishop of Marsico as his counsellor. He proved studious and effective.

Cardinal Piccolomini participated in the conclave that elected Pope Paul II (1464–71) in 1464 but was absent when Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84) was elected in 1471. He was employed in several important legations, as by Paul II at the Imperial diet at Regensburg/Ratisbon, and by Sixtus IV to secure the restoration of ecclesiastical authority in Umbria. He participated in the conclave of 1484 which elected Innocent VIII and in the conclave of 1492 which elected Alexander VI. The cardinal was involved in Alexander's brief-lived effort to reform the Roman curia, following the murder of his son Giovanni Borgia (1474) in 1497.

In 1502 the Cardinal commissioned a library with access from an aisle of the Duomo di Siena, which was intended to house the library of humanist texts assembled by his uncle, and commissioned the artist Pinturicchio to fresco its vault and ten narrative panels along the walls depicting scenes from the life of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini. Though Pinturrichio labored for five years, in the event, the books never reached their splendid destination; yet the Piccolomini Library is a monument of the High Renaissance in Siena. It gives an edited version of Pius' life, passing over his former support of the antipope Felix V.

Amid the disturbances consequent upon the death of the Borgia Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), it took the combined pressures of all the ambassadors to induce Cesare Borgia to withdraw from Rome, so that an unpressured conclave might take place. In it, Cardinal Piccolomini was elected Pope Pius III on September 22, 1503. This selection can be seen as a compromise between factions, Borgia and della Rovere, picking a frail cardinal with long experience in the Curia over the kin of either Sixtus IV or Alexander VI. His coronation took place on October 8, 1503. He at once took in hand the reform of the papal court and arrested Cesare Borgia; but after a brief pontificate of twenty-six days he died (October 18, 1503) of an ulcer in the leg, or, as some have alleged, of poison administered at the instigation of Pandolfo Petrucci, governor of Siena.

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12128a.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia":] Pope Pius III
* [http://www.stjohnxxiii.com/Cardinals/The_Cardinals_of_the_Church/consistories-xv.htm Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church:]
* [http://www.thais.it/speciali/Piccolomini/introduzione.htm Frida De Salve, "The Piccolomini Library"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pope Pius III —     Pope Pius III     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Pius III     (Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini).     B. at Siena, 29 May, 1439; elected 22 Sept., 1503; d. in Rome, 18 Oct., 1503, after a pontificate of four weeks. Piccolomini was the son of… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pius III —     Pope Pius III     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Pius III     (Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini).     B. at Siena, 29 May, 1439; elected 22 Sept., 1503; d. in Rome, 18 Oct., 1503, after a pontificate of four weeks. Piccolomini was the son of… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pope Alexander III —     Pope Alexander III     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Alexander III     Pope from 1159 81 (Orlando Bandinelli), born of a distinguished Sienese family; died 3 August, 1181. As professor in Bologna he acquired a great reputation as a canonist …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pope Pius II — Infobox pope English name=Pius II birth name=Enea Silvio Piccolomini term start=August 19, 1458 term end=August 14, 1464 predecessor=Callixtus III successor=Paul II birth date=birth date|1405|10|18|mf=y birthplace=Corsignano, Italy… …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Pius — There have been 12 Popes of the Roman Catholic Church who were named Pius: *Pope Pius I (c. 140 ndash;154, but Vatican lists 142/146 ndash; 157/161) *Pope Pius II (1458 ndash;1464) *Pope Pius III (1503 ndash;1503) *Pope Pius IV (1559 ndash;1565)… …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Alexander III — Alexander III Papacy began September 7, 1159 Papacy ended August 30, 1181 Predecessor Adrian IV …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Clement III — Clement III Papacy began December 19, 1187 Papacy ended March 20, 1191 Predecessor Gregory VIII …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Victor III — Victor III Papacy began May 24, 1086 Papacy ended September 16, 1087 Predecessor …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Nicholas III — Nicholas III redirects here. See also Patriarch Nicholas III of Constantinople. Nicholas III Papacy began November 25, 1277 Papacy ended August 22, 1280 Predecessor …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Callixtus III — Infobox Pope English name=Calixtus III birth name=Alfonso de Borja term start=April 8, 1455 term end=August 6, 1458 predecessor=Nicholas V successor=Pius II birth date=birth date|1378|12|31|mf=y birthplace= Xàtiva, València, Spain dead=dead|death …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”