Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini and Women

Abstract

The hero of this text is one of the most colorful figures of the 15th century. His life and career were extremely rich and full of unexpected turns. The descendant of an old aristocratic family had seventeen siblings, studied in Siena and Florence, and then became secretary to Cardinal Domenico Capranica. He was not characterized by steadiness of views, first a supporter of the superiority of the council over the pope, with time he changed his mind and recognized the primacy of the popes. An important step was entering the service of the Reich King Frederick III, but then he turned towards the Church, was ordained a minor priest, in 1456 he became a cardinal, and the crowning of his career was the election of the pope in 1458, where he took the name Pius II. The content of the text are 3 episodes from Piccolomini’s life related to 3 women. They were, in order: the wife of the King of Hungary and the Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg, Barbara of Cilesia, Joan of Arc, whose fascinating portrait was sketched by Aeneas in his „Memoirs”, and a certain woman whose interesting fate he heard as the pope during the audience. All three images show the author as a good observer and an outstanding humanist.