[hprints-00683151, v2] Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pius II ... - Hprints.org

hprints-00683151, version 2 - 19 Mar 2013
[46] We could say much about his elevated sense of justice and his piety, but above
all we take note of his achievements for the universal Church and the Holy Council.
At one point there was disagreement between the pope and you: you maintained
that the council was to be here 480 , and the pope refused it. 481 The king consulted
the Gallican Church, and when it declared that the council was here, he decided to
favour your cause in every way. So, very soon 482 he sent you his envoys, eminently
learned and virtuous men of archiepiscopal and episcopal rank who have now been
toiling together with you in the field of the Lord for more than four years. He
allowed money to be sent for the use of the council; he ordered prelates to go to
the council; whatever aid you asked for, he gave.
[47] What else can I say about this king except that we are particularly obliged to
him for his help and support. As Cicero says: What better type of nature therefore
can we find among human beings than the men who regard themselves as born into
the world to help, guard and preserve their fellowmen? 483
Oh, glorious King! Oh, excellent Prince! Oh, truly Most Christian Defender of the
Faith! You defend the Church; you care about the Faith; you venerate the council. It
is you that we should honor and acclaim with perpetual praise.
480 i.e. in Basle
481 In 1431 and 1432 the pope, Eugenius IV, tried to transfer the Council from Basle to a city in Italy, but the council
would have none of it and in the end the pope gave in. However, the venue of the council became an issue again some
years later in connection with the negotiations of Church union with the Greeks
482 Among them the Archbishop of Lyon, Amédée de Talaru
483 Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 1, 14, 32. Quoted from the Loeb edition of 1927
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