Lecture 03 - The Renaissance Papacy PDF

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27/02/2017 Lecture 3: The Renaissance Papacy Rome stands out as the most distinctive city within Italy. Unlike Milan, Florence and Venice the ruler of Rome and it’s region is a churchman, the pope rather than a layperson. The churchman makes the city standout although not unique in Europe, Bishops and Prince Bishops are also around in Europe. But the ruler of Rome is unique, however he claims authority over all Christians in the World in 1450 the pope’s claim is that he is the head of the Christian Church and that he is accepted by everyone. There is no opposition from anyone that there is a Catholic Church manned by the Pope. Burckhardt states that the tradition of focus on the renaissance is in Florence, he sees Florence as the Renaissance City. But many triumphs in humanist discovery and artistic development does take place in Rome. There is more money and a greater level of patronage, demand for scholars and artists in Rome than anywhere else. Examples of these is The Sistine Chapel by Michelagelo, The design for the Dome of St Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Also Raphael in Rome where he painted frescos and he was great of that and he paints Christian scenes, the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament with the mass. He also depicts the School of Athens at the centre of the image is Plato (looks like Da Vinci) and Aristotle (Michelangelo) his image is classical. Raphael was commissioned to paint St Peter and St Paul by Pope Leo X in 1515. The keys are being handed to St Peter by Jesus. It has a powerful subtext as Peter is considered to be the first pope of Rome and he is trying to paint the justification of papacy in Rome. The power over the spiritual. Raphael’s paintings were created and sliced up so that they could be turned into tapestry’s. The Borgia Papacy: Alexander VI, before he became pope Rodrigo and he was criticised by Pope Pius II for attending an orgy in Siena and taking part in licentious dances he was also said to have had involvement in 250 murders! The Borgias were originally Spanish, Alexander VI was the penultimate non-Italian pope to occupy the papacy before John Paul II. Alexanders illegitimate sons and daughters have been vilified with murder, incest, ruthless and self-serving. The Warrior Pope Julius II a member of the Della Rovere family who loved the smell of smoke and the blood of battle. Commissioned work by Michelangelo and Raphael. The Medici Popes Pope Leo X formally Giovanni de’Medici became a cardinal at thirteen, Leo invested lots of money in seeking artistic projects. His striking failure was his inability to placate the German monk Martin Luther. *BACKGROUND* The Medieval Papacy: In the early Middle Ages the pope possessed a technical primacy but did not enjoy a particularly powerful position. This changed in the mid-11th century a series of reforming popes took control of the papacy. The first and most notable was Gregory VII. These popes set out to reform the church and in particular throw off lay control. Under these later popes such as Innocent III the power of the papacy expanded considerably and they had the right to not only govern the Church but also to interfere into lay affairs and asserted these with some success. The edifice of papal power collapsed in the early 14th century. Pope Boniface VIII became involved in power struggles with the French king,

the struggle leads to the pope being physically assaulted in 1303 which leads to his death. In which things go from bad to worse, the Christian West gets worse. In 1305 Bonifaces successor Clement V moved the papacy to Avignon. The papacy remains at Avignon until 1376 and Petrach states that the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy played on the story of the imprisonment of the Jews by the Babylonians. In this period the Papacy comes back to Rome in 1376 and the Pope who brought it back, Gregory XI died in 1378. The election Urban VI leads to the Great Schism of the Church and at the time there are three or more people based in different cities claiming to be the pope. The council at Constance arranges the deposition and elects Martin V in 1417 (the first of the Renaissance Pope’s). The Schism is ended by holding a general council of the Church but those who attend decide that it would be a great idea to watch the pope. He would need to check to make sure that the decisions made are decent. This threatens the power of the Popes before they get back to Rome. There are issues with Martin V taking the Pope role but there are issues, a loss of moral authority and prestige, a loss of practical authority over the west, threat of Conciliarism. When he returns in 1420 the city is in ruins, the population of the city has shrunk to 25,000. The city is mostly unoccupied. There are no aristocracy left, most of the seven hills of Rome have been transformed into gardens and vineyards, the Roman Forum was used for grazing cattle. There was also an issue with the papal states, the pope usually controls Rome and by 1420 the Papal States have fallen into chaos and were dominated by a mixture of minor barons and outright criminals. The popes had put a gloss on the problem by granting the de facto rulers of the Papal States the tile to papal vicars. The Pope as Patron? From Re-builder of Rome to Italian Prince Papal patronage of art and architecture in Rome is explained by the need to rebuild the city. Such patronage is also explained by the need to restore the visible signs of the Papacy’s power. In the age of Michelangelo and Raphael papal patronage appears less about rebuilding Rome and more about simple magnificence. The Popes are getting 25% of their income from the Papal States. The rest is due to a financial fixture and taxes across the west. They need to make up the other 75%. Direct taxation in the mid to late 15th century and from 1480-1481 the secular taxes on Papal States produce 60% of papal revenue. More and more seculars’ need to be introduced because government is more complicated. There is a need for a Papal Army and there is a need to pacify the papal states. Which is why the pope Julius II (Warrior Pope) provide a model for the Italian Princes. Family Interests or Papal Intrests? Cesare Borgia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI took full advantage of his father’s accession to make his own slice. But his sister Lucrezia had been promised to an Aragonese count, this was broken off at Alexander’s accession and Alexander annulled the marriage 4 years later and this was to create a papal alliance. Alexander switches sides and the marriage is useless so Lucrezia’s 2 nd husband is killed and her third marriage to Alfonso d’Este the heir to the duchy of Ferrara. This marriage works and the pope looks similar to an Italian Prince. There are similarities but at the same time there are profound differences some is the existence of the cardinals as they can be difficult for the popes. They can be conspiring too. Renaissance popes do not forget the wider role they inherit from the Middle Ages as they cast themselves as the leaders of the crusade movement particularly in the wake of 1453 conquest of Constantinople. Calixtus III is extremely active in attempting to arrange peace settlements in Italy. He arranges a naval expedition to attack Lesbos and retake Athens. Pius II in 1459 and Leo X in 1517 both attempt to rally a new crusade but find secular leaders reluctant to take part.

The Ottoman Threat: Pope Sixtus IV plays a role in the defeat of the Turks at Otranto in 1481 and although the Renaissance Popes were able to raise large sums of money it was icomparable to the amounts that could be raised in a kingdom such as France. The popes do not possess the resources to properly fund a crusade without the operation of the rulers of the west. They have the finances to fix Rome not war. The papacy works with Venice and Spain to destroy 70 Ottoman galleys, 160,000 participants and 400 ships in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The Turks simply built more ships, it is an important confrontation between the Christian and Muslim forces in the 16th century. Is Renaissance Rome different from other Italian Principalities? In certain respects the state-building, patronage of art and scholarship) and the papacy often seems to resemble secular Italian principalities. Yet Rome is different the Renaissance is an age of transition for the Popes, one in which they need to rebuild Rome and their reputation. The papacy changes in this period but while in some respects it begins to imitate secular Italian princes it maintains a wider, distinctive persepective. The Popes have their eye on the defence of Christendom....