Oration “Quid est” of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (27 April 1438, Vienna). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Final edition, 2nd version. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 3)

Michael Cotta-Schønberg (1)

1 UCPH - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet

In April 1438, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, then official at the Council of Basel, accompanied Bishop Bartolomeo Visconti of Novara, on a voyage to Vienna. The bishop represented the Duke of Milan at the events leading to the acceptance by Albrecht V, Duke of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, of his election as Holy Roman Emperor (as Albrecht II). During their stay in Vienna, Piccolomini wrote an oration or memorandum, in the name of Visconti, urging Albrecht to accept the imperial election. The reasons advanced in the oration were Albrecht’s obligations towards the Empire, his eminent qualifications, and the advantages to Hungarians, to Albrecht’s family, to Albrecht himself, to the Church, and to the Empire.

Keywords: Albert II; Albert V; Enea Silvio Piccolomini; Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini; Bishop Bartolomeo Visconti; Orations; Albrecht II; Albrecht V; Holy Roman Empire; Imperial election 1437; Kingdom of Hungary; Turks; Habsburg Dynasty; Papa Pio II; 1438; 15th century; Renaissance orations; Renaissance rhetorics; Renaisasance oratory; Duke Filippo Maria Visconti

Domains: History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences

Michael Cotta-Schønberg. Oration “Quid est” of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (27 April 1438, Vienna). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Final edition, 2nd version. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 3). 2019. ⟨hprints-00927272v1⟩