The Renaissance Papacy was a period of papal history between the Western Schism and the Reformation. From the election of Pope Martin V of the Council of Constance in 1417 to the Reformation in the 16th century, Western Christianity was largely free from schism as well as significant disputed papal claimants. There were many important divisions over the direction of the religion, but these were resolved through the then-settled procedures of the papal conclave.
The popes of this period were a reflection of the College of Cardinals that elected them. The College was dominated by cardinal-nephews (relatives of the popes that elevated them), crown-cardinals (representatives of the Catholic monarchies of Europe), and members of the powerful Italian families. There were two popes each from the House of Borgia, House of della Rovere, and House of Medici during this period. The wealthy popes and cardinals increasingly patronized Renaissance art and architecture, (re)building the landmarks of Rome from the ground up.
The Papal States began to resemble a modern nation-state during this period, and the papacy took an increasingly active role in European wars and diplomacy. Popes were more frequently called upon to arbitrate disputes between competing colonial powers than to resolve complicated theological disputes. To the extent that this period is relevant to modern Catholic dogma, it is in the area of papal supremacy. None of these popes have been canonized as a saint, or even regarded as Blessed or Venerable.
Overview
The period from end of the Western Schism in 1417 to the Council of Trent (1534–1563) is a rough approximation used by scholars to date the Renaissance Papacy and separate it from the era of the Counter-Reformation.
In 1420, the papacy returned to Rome under Pope Martin V. Generally speaking, the Renaissance popes who followed him prioritized the temporal interests of the Papal States in Italian politics.[1] In addition to being the head of the Holy Roman Church, the Pope became one of Italy's most powerful secular rulers, signing treaties with other sovereigns and fighting wars. In practice though, much of the territory of the Papal States was only nominally controlled by the Pope, and in actuality was ruled by minor princes. Control was often contested; indeed it took until the 16th century for the Pope to have any genuine control over all his territories.
Numerous popes during this period used Papal finances and armies to enforce and expand upon the longstanding territorial and property claims of the papacy as an institution, e.g. Pope Julius II and the League of Cambrai; Pope Clement VII and the War of the League of Cognac.[2] Before the Western Schism the papacy derived much of its revenue from the "vigorous exercise of its spiritual office;" however, during the Renaissance, popes were largely dependent on financial revenue from the Papal States themselves.[3] In attempting to increase the territory of the Papal States, Pope Julius II became known as "the Warrior Pope" for his ongoing military campaigns.[1] He continued the consolidation of power in the Papal States and continued the process of rebuilding Rome physically. His most prominent architectural project was the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica.
Certain Renaissance popes used papal finances and armies to enrich themselves and their families; for example, Pope Alexander VI used the power of Papal patronage to fund his son Cesare Borgia's wars throughout Italy.[4][5] Likewise, Pope Leo X embroiled papal armies in fighting the protracted War of Urbino, an effort to secure the Pope's nephew Lorenzo II de Medici's rule over that city. The War of Urbino contributed, in large part, to driving the papacy into deep debt.[6]
With ambitious temporal agendas ranging from military campaigns to the arts, Renaissance popes widened the scope of their sources of revenue. Famously, Pope Leo X expanded the sale of indulgences and bureaucratic and ecclesiastical offices to finance the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica.[3] Controversy over these practices reached their zenith in 1517, when Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation, ultimately splintering Western Christendom into many denominations.[7]
The popes of this period ruled as absolute monarchs, but unlike their European peers, they were not hereditary rulers, so a plurality of them promoted their family interests through nepotism.[8] (The word nepotism originally referred to the practice of Popes creating cardinal-nephews, when it appeared in the English language about 1669).[9] According to Duffy, "the inevitable outcome of all of this was a creation of a wealthy cardinalatial class, with strong dynastic connections."[10] For example, in 1517, Pope Leo X made his cardinal-nephew Giulio de Medici vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (second-in-command); and ultimately, following the former's death in 1521, in 1523 the latter became Pope Clement VII.[11]
According to Eamon Duffy, "the Renaissance papacy invokes images of a Hollywood spectacular, all decadence and drag. Contemporaries viewed Renaissance Rome as we now view Nixon's Washington, a city of expense-account whores and political graft, where everything and everyone had a price, where nothing and nobody could be trusted. The popes themselves seemed to set the tone."[10] Exemplary of the time and place, Pope Leo X is said to have famously remarked: "Since God has given us the Papacy, let us enjoy it."[8] Several of the Renaissance popes took mistresses, fathered children, engaged in intrigue, and even murder.[10] For example, Alexander VI had four acknowledged children, including the infamous murderer Cesare Borgia. Not all historical commentators take such a grim view of the Renaissance papacy though, noting that the "misdeeds (largely exaggerated) of some of the pontiffs of this era have caused many people to dismiss all of the “Renaissance Popes” as corrupt and worldly when, in fact, their ranks included men who were personally upright, modest and virtuous."[12] The author goes on to cite Clement VII as "a very upright man, devout and not at all licentious, lavish or cruel as so many of his fellow “Renaissance Popes” are often thought of as being;" likewise, he praises Adrian VI's "holiness and moral integrity."[12][13]
The Renaissance papacy began to decline when the Protestant Reformation splintered Western Christianity into denominations, and as nation-states (e.g. France, England), began asserting varying degrees of control over the Church in their territories.[14] Other factors contributed as well; for example, by the early 1520s, after years of immoderate spending, the Holy Roman Church was nearing bankruptcy; in 1527, the armies of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sacked Rome, causing the city's population to dwindle from 55,000 to 10,000 in a single year; and in 1533, Henry VIII of England broke away from the Catholic Church so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, initiating the English Reformation.[14] Cumulatively, these events changed the complexion of the Church, moving it away from the humanistic values exemplified by Popes like Leo X and Clement VII, toward the religious orthodoxy that would become synonymous with the Counter-Reformation, and Roman Inquisition. Following the Council of Trent in 1545, the humanism once encouraged by the Renaissance papacy came to be regarded as against the teachings of the Church.[15][14]
Art and architecture
Because the popes had been in Avignon or divided by schism since 1309, Rome remained architecturally underdeveloped from both a utilitarian and artistic perspective.[16] According to Duffy, "Rome had no industries except pilgrimage, no function except as the pope's capital."[16] The patronage of arts and architecture was both a matter of papal policy – to increase the prestige of the institution as a whole—and the personal preferences of individual popes.[8]Pope Leo X is well known for his patronage of Raphael, whose paintings played a large role in the redecoration of the Vatican. Pope Sixtus IV initiated a major drive to redesign and rebuild Rome, widening the streets and destroying the crumbling ruins, commissioning the Sistine Chapel, and summoning many artists from other Italian city-states. Pope Nicholas V founded the Vatican Library.
The "inquisitorial machinery" to deal with heresy remained largely unchanged from the thirteenth century.[1] The two main movements unsuccessfully suppressed during this period were John Wycliffe's Lollardy and Jan Hus's Hussitism.[1] Voices critical of the worldliness of the papacy—such as Savonarola in Florence—were excommunicated.[17] Critics such as Desiderius Erasmus, who remained committed to reform rather than schism, were treated more favorably.[18] The revival of Greek literature during this period made Platonism fashionable again in Catholic intellectual circles.[10]
This was a period of declining religiosity among popes. Although Adrian VI said mass every day for the year he was pope, there is no evidence that his two predecessors—Julius II and Leo X—ever celebrated mass at all.[19]
The reforms of the Council of Constance were unambitious and unenforced.[1]Conciliarism—a movement to assert the authority of ecumenical councils over popes—was also defeated; papal supremacy was maintained and strengthened at the expense of the papacy's moral prestige.[1] The role of the College of Cardinals in theological and temporal policy making also declined during this period.[20] According to Duffy, "the one place where the cardinals were supreme was in Conclave."[10]
The perceived abuses of this period, such as the selling of indulgences, were piled upon pre-existing theological differences and calls for reform, culminating in the Protestant Reformation.[21] Leo X and Adrian VI "failed utterly to grasp the seriousness" of the support of Martin Luther in Germany, and their response to the rise of Protestantism was ineffective.[22]
Pope Alexander VI (epithet: Valentinus was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into the prominent Borgia family in Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia under the Crown of Aragon, Rodrigo studied law at the University of Bologna. He was ordained deacon and made a cardinal in 1456 after the election of his uncle as Pope Callixtus III, and a year later he became vice-chancellor of the Catholic Church. He proceeded to serve in the Curia under the next four popes, acquiring significant influence and wealth in the process. In 1492, Rodrigo was elected pope, taking the name Alexander VI.
Pope Clement VII was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death, on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of the popes", Clement VII's reign was marked by a rapid succession of political, military, and religious struggles—many long in the making—which had far-reaching consequences for Christianity and world politics.
Pope Julius III, born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death, in March 1555.
Pope Julius II was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, Battle Pope or the Fearsome Pope, he chose his papal name not in honour of Pope Julius I but in emulation of Julius Caesar. One of the most powerful and influential popes, Julius II was a central figure of the High Renaissance and left a significant cultural and political legacy. As a result of his policies during the Italian Wars, the Papal States increased their power and centralization, and the office of the papacy continued to be crucial, diplomatically and politically, during the entirety of the 16th century in Italy and Europe.
Pope Leo X was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death, in December 1521.
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon rather than in Rome. The situation arose from the conflict between the papacy and the French crown, culminating in the death of Pope Boniface VIII after his arrest and maltreatment by Philip IV of France. Following the subsequent death of Pope Benedict XI, Philip forced a deadlocked conclave to elect the French Clement V as pope in 1305. Clement refused to move to Rome, and in 1309 he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. This absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian captivity of the Papacy".
Pope Paul III, born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549.
Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed an anti-Spanish outlook that later coloured his papacy. In response to an invasion of part of the Papal States by Spain during his papacy, he called for a French military intervention. After a defeat of the French and with Spanish troops at the edge of Rome, the Papacy and Spain reached a compromise: French and Spanish forces left the Papal States and the Pope thereafter adopted a neutral stance between France and Spain.
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the building as the Palace of Sixtus V, in honor of Pope Sixtus V, who built most of the present form of the palace.
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378, was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon both claimed to be the true pope, and were joined by a third line of Pisan claimants in 1409. The schism was driven by personalities and political allegiances, with the Avignon Papacy being closely associated with the French monarchy.
Saeculum obscurum, also known as the Pornocracy or the Rule of the Harlots, was a period in the history of the papacy during the first two thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896 which saw seven or eight papal elections in as many years. It began with the installation of Pope Sergius III in 904 and lasted for 60 years until the death of Pope John XII in 964. During this period, the popes were influenced strongly by a powerful and allegedly corrupt aristocratic family, the Theophylacti, and their relatives and allies. The era is seen as one of the lowest points of the history of the papal office.
According to Roman Catholicism, the history of the papacy, the office held by the pope as head of the Catholic Church, spans from the time of Peter to the present day.
The Bad Popes is a 1969 book by E. R. Chamberlin that documents the lives of eight of the most controversial popes :
A cardinal-nephew was a cardinal elevated by a pope who was that cardinal's relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The last cardinal-nephew was named in 1689 and the practice was abolished in 1692. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to this practice, when it appeared in the English language about 1669. From the middle of the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) until Pope Innocent XII's anti-nepotism bull, Romanum decet pontificem (1692), a pope without a cardinal-nephew was the exception to the rule. Every Renaissance pope who created cardinals appointed a relative to the College of Cardinals, and the nephew was the most common choice, although one of Alexander VI's creations was his own son.
The Cardinal protector of England was an appointed crown-cardinal of England from 1492 until 1539. A cardinal protector is the representative of a Roman Catholic nation or organisation within the College of Cardinals, appointed by the pope. The role was terminated as a result of the English Reformation.
The Renaissance in Rome occupied a period from the mid-15th to the mid-16th centuries, a period which spawned such masters as Michelangelo and Raphael, who left an indelible mark on Western figurative art. The city had been a magnet for artists wishing to study its classical ruins since the early 15th century. A revived interest in the Classics brought about the first archaeological study of Roman remains by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi and the sculptor Donatello. This inspired a corresponding classicism in painting and sculpture, which manifested itself in the paintings of Masaccio and Uccello. Pisanello and his assistants also frequently took inspiration from ancient remains, but their approach was essentially cataloguing, acquiring a repertoire of models to be exploited later.
The history of the papacy from 1046 to 1216 was marked by conflict between popes and the Holy Roman Emperor, most prominently the Investiture Controversy, a dispute over who— pope or emperor— could appoint bishops within the Empire. Henry IV's Walk to Canossa in 1077 to meet Pope Gregory VII (1073–85), although not dispositive within the context of the larger dispute, has become legendary. Although the emperor renounced any right to lay investiture in the Concordat of Worms (1122), the issue would flare up again.
Perugia was a long-time papal residence during the 13th century. Five popes were elected here: Pope Honorius III (1216–1227), Pope Clement IV (1265–1268), Pope Honorius IV (1285–1287), Pope Celestine V (1294), and Pope Clement V (1305–1314). These elections took place in the Palazzo delle Canoniche adjoining the Perugia Cathedral.
Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Clement VII by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI and was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France. His election led to the Western Schism.
References
Baumgartner, Frederic J. 2003. Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal Elections. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN0-312-29463-8.
Duffy, Eamon. 1997. Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press.
Jackson J. Spielvogel. 2008. Western Civilization: Alternate Volume: Since 1300.
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