Oration "Si quis me roget" of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (4 April 1438, Basel). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Final edition, 2nd version. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 2)

Michael Cotta-Schønberg (1)

1 UCPH - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet

On 4 April 1438, the Feast of Saint Ambrose of Milan, Enea Silvio Piccolomini gave an oration, or rather a sermon, on Saint Ambrose to the Fathers at the Council of Basel. A couple of months before, the council had initiated the procedure for deposing Pope Eugenius IV and electing a new pope. In the sermon, Piccolomini gives a sketch of the life of Saint Ambrose, with special emphasis on his literary activities, his example of poverty as opposed to the vice of greed, and his independence vis-à-vis princes, i.e. the Roman Emperor. He also defends the use of classical pagan authors. His main sources are Paulinus’ biography of Saint Ambrose, the Historia Tripartita, some letters of Jerome, a number of classical authors, numerous quotes from the bible (several via Jerome), and the contemporary humanist, Poggio Bracciolini. In contrast with medieval hagiography, he does not greatly dwell of Ambrose’s miracles.

Keywords: Greed; Pope Pius II; Avarice; Poverty; Renaissance; Use of classical pagan authors; Saint Jerome; Saint Ambrose; Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini; Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini; Enea Silvio Piccolomini; Papa Pio II

Domains: History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences

Michael Cotta-Schønberg. Oration "Si quis me roget" of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (4 April 1438, Basel). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Final edition, 2nd version. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 2). 2019. ⟨hprints-00857755⟩