Piccolomini, Enea Silvio#
b. Corsignano (Pienza, Italy), Oct. 18, 1405, d. Ancona (Italy), Aug. 14, 1464, theologian, poet, statesman, historian, pope. 1432 secretary of the Council of Basle: Came to Vienna in 1437, 1442 was crowned poet laureate by King Friedrich IV and called to the court as secretary. 1445 became a priest, obtained the parishes of Sarnthein (South Tyrol), Aspach (Upper Austria), Irdning and Altenmarkt (Styria) as prebends, 1447 became Bishop of Trieste, 1449 of Siena. 1448 P. arranged the Vienna Concordat. 1455 left the imperial court, became a cardinal in 1456 and on August 19, 1458, Pope Pius II. Died during the preparations of a crusade against the Turks. With him the lineage of the P.s in the male line died out, the name passed over to 2 collateral lines.
In Austria became a pioneer of humanism through his speeches, letters
and poetry; his "Historia Austrialis", a history of Austria written
for Friedrich III in 1453-1458, is an important source of history of
the period. In April 1438 he described Vienna in a letter in a
detailed and critical manner.
Works#
Opera quae extant omnia, 2 vols., 1551/1571; Geschichte Ks. Friedrichs III., 2 vols., 1889/1890; Briefwechsel, published by R. Wolkan, 3 vols., 1909-18; Briefe, translated by M. Mell, 1911; Briefe, Dichtungen, with an epilogue by G. Buerck, 1966.Literature#
H. Rupprich, Die Fruehzeit des Humanismus und der Renaiss. in Deutschland, 1938; H. Diener, E. S. P. Weg von Basel nach Rom, Festschrift G. Tellenbach, 1968; Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters (lex.).