Oration “Si ea quae justa” of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1438, Basel). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Final Version. 2024. (Collected Orations of Pope Pius II; 4)

Michael Cotta-Schønberg (1)

1 UCPH - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet

In 1438, the Council of Basel undertook to confer ecclesiastical offices and benefices instead of the pope, whom it had deposed. It therefore became necessary to establish proper procedures, especially for the appointment of bishops. The Council’s Committee of Twelve, of which Enea Silvio Piccolomini was a frequent member, drafted a decree requiring commissioners to hear testimonies about candidates for episcopal office and to report back to the council under oath. As the recommendation met with resistance among the council fathers, Piccolomini undertook to defend the motion in an oration to a General Congregation. He was not successful, and the proposed decree was not passed.

Keywords: Provision of ecclesiastical benefices; Appointment of bishops; Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini; Renaissance rhetorics; 1438; Pope Eugene IV; Council of Basle; Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini; Pope Pius II; Pope Eugenius IV; Enea Silvio Piccolomini; Renaissance oratory; Papa Pio II; Papa Eugenio II; Council of Basel; Renaissance orations; 15th century

Domains: History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences

Michael Cotta-Schønberg. Oration “Si ea quae justa” of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1438, Basel). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Final Version. 2024. (Collected Orations of Pope Pius II; 4). 2019. ⟨hprints-00941529v2⟩