Central Europe and the Late Medieval Papal Chancery

CENTRAL EUROPE
AND THE LATE MEDIEV AL P AP AL CHANCERY
Jadranka Nera/ic
In my contribution, I will examine the relations between the late medieval ·
papal chancery and men from the East Central European nations: Croatians,
Hungarians, Bohemians and Poles. By studying the documents in some of the
most valuable sets of registers of late medieval papal letters, Vatican and Lateran
registers and the petitions in the registers of supplications, I have tried to
trace their careers. Some of them made a supplication for a simple benefice in
their diocese, while others – with degrees in theology in their pockets – applied
for the post of a penitentiarius minor in the great Roman basilicas. Some followed
well-programmed paths towards the highest posts in the ecclesiastical
hierarchy – starring from a low curial officer to become an archbishop or a cardinal.
Some had a decisive role in the governments of their dioceses or countries,
others had important and influential posts in the curia. This paper will be a
sketch of some of the most prominent biographies or curious situations seen in
the Chancery registers, but not an exhaustive list of all persons working for the
Apostolic Chancery and their relations with the East Central Europe in the fifteenth
century.
How did the curiafimction?
As the central judicial, financial, and administrative body of the Church,
the Roman curia functioned through numerous and various offices with specific
jurisdiction. The most important offices until the fourteenth century were the
Consistory, the Apostolic Chancery (administration), and the Apostolic Chamber
(fmancial), all of which operated along hierarchically organized lines of
authority; subordinates answered to specifically designated superiors in performing
their duties. The very complex structure required a large number of learned
men to do the paper work and to settle legal disputes. A talented young man
with a good knowledge of Latin or with a degree in law, especially if he bad
good connections or, in the second half of the fifteenth century, enough money
to buy an office, could find a socially and financially rewardin g post in Rome.
The functions of the curia increased enormously throughout the Middle
Ag es. It grew as a result of the position of the papacy as the court of final appeal
in spiritual matters (its prerogative to dispense from ecclesiastical or civil cen-
71
sures or impediments) and temporal matters (its claims to control the distribution
of a wide variety of ecclesiastical offices throughout Europe). Historically,
these powers and prerogatives evolved in response to Cbristians‘ seeking forgiveness
for their sins or legitimization of their ecclesiastical authority from the
pope. In order to meet these requests, the papacy and the canon lawyers created
a variety of rules and exceptions that could be applied only by the Holy See and
through the machinery of the curia. The normal procedure consisted of the petitioner
submitting a request or supplicatio to the pope, who then issued bis decision
in the form of a littera apostolica, which was then communicated to the interested
party. For the requested justice or favour a tax was charged; in theory,
this was a eh arge for the document containing the dispensation of favour and not
for the act itself. Originating as free will donations, they subsequently becarne
standardized and obligatory. This arrangement must have appealed to many
Christians because the initiative for most papal documents came from outside
the curia.
The products of the Consistory, the Chancery and the Chamber were recorded
in the Vatican registers. Between the beginning of the fourteenth century
and the Council of Trent, new departments were founded or developed: the Sacra
Romana Rota, the Datary,1 the Sacred Penitentiary, and the Secretariate of
State. Their records occur in one or other, and sometimes several, of the various
sets of registers of the period: Vatican registers, registers of supplications/ Lateran
registers/ and the cameral register, registers ofbriefs.
1 Traces of the office of datarius are found in the pontificate of Martin V (1417-1431). Its
origin was due to the distinction introduced at the beginning of the Great Schism between
the signatura on papal letters and the actual dating of the Ietter, the fixing of wbich was
entrusted to a specific person. Under Sixtus N (1471-!484) bis duties expanded so that by
the end of the fi.fteenth century he directed the office Dataria, where grants of favour,
especially of non-consistoria1 benefices reserved to the Holy See and certain dispensations
were prepared and dated. The archives of the Datarai were set up in 1671 by Clement X
(167{}–1676) and were later housed in the Lateran Palace. The early volumes of the
Registers ofSupplications come from the period when the Datary was developing out ofthe
Cbancery. Otber volumes come from the period after the establishment of the Datary as
such (c. 145{}–1500), when it had full powers to handle al1 the graces which did not fall
within the competence of the Penitentiary or that of the Sacra Romana Rota (disputed
benefices ). As a result of the vast amount of business which the Datary eventually had to
deal with (supplications, collations to benefices, dispensations, pensions, informative
processes relative to episcopal appointments, validation of graces, exchanges of benefices ),
new sets of registers were introduced over and above the old Registers of Supplications,
and, as the volume of bus.iness grew, more expeditious forms of letters of grace were
devised and registered in the Registra brevium.
2 The set of registers known under the name of Registra Supp/icationum (Registers of
Supplications) begins with the first year of the pontificate of Clement VI (1342-1352) and
is composed of7,365 paper volumes in folio format (for the period from 1342 until 1899).
Each register contains an integral copy ofthe supplication submitted to the pope in order to
get some kind of favour, grace or privilege. Prevalently, one finds supplications for
provisions in extemal tribunals, granted by the pope bimself or by the vice-chancellor until
72
At the head of the curia stood the Pope and bis assistants, the cardinals.
Naturally, not all the cardinals resided in Rome and assisted in the administration
of the curia. Those who lived in Rome helped the Pope govem the Church
and supervised the curia by participating in the Consistory which made policy
and decided in certain legal questions, in provisions for the beneftcia maiora
(bishops‘ and abbots‘ appointments).
Some cardinals supervised specific offices: for example, the cardinal vicechancellor4
directed the Chancery, the cardinal-camerarius or chamberlain, Iead
the fifteenth century. From the fifteenth century onwards they were granted through the
Datary. The registration ofthe supplications guaranteed the interested party the existence of
the text, especially if the original were lost. Throughout the fourteenth century they were
kept in the Apostolic palace in Avignon. Two volumes of supplications for the Iands of the
Crown of St. Stephen were edited by Azpad Bossänyi as Rege.sta Supp/icatümum, vol. 1,
Clement VI (1 342-1 352) (Budapest: Stephaneum Nyomda, 1916), and vol. 2, Innocent VI
(1352-1362) and Urban V (1 362-1370) (Budapest: Stephaneum Nyomda, 1918).
3 When the Great Schism began in 1378 the paper registers of common letters, known as
‚Avignon Registers‘, remained in Avignon (in 1419, after the termination of the Schism,
the registration in this series was abandoned). The popes of Roman obedience, beginning
with Boniface IX ( 1 389-1404), established the practice of registerlog common 1etters of
grace in a new series of paper registers now called the Registra Lateranensia; these
volumes were simply a continuation ofthe o1d Avignon registers. From then on the Vatican
Registers series lost its contact with the Chancery, and most of the registers from this
period actually camc from the Camera. The Lateran Registers form, in effect, an original
and independent series of Chancery registers, generally of common letters, nice1y grouped
under headings in each volume: benefices, pardons, dispensations, indulgences. Since many
of the outgoing 1etters of grace and justice were occasioned by supplications, the text of the
original supplication and papal rep1y that prompted a given Ietter may often be checked in
the Registers of Supplications. The common letters registered in the Lateran Registers
originated in the Chancery, but the Datary was the custodian from the secend half of the
fifteenth century and they were eventually housed in the Archivum Bullarum of the Datary
in the Cortile of Sixtus V in the Vatican. Thus, although they really be1onged to the
Chancery in origin, because they were sent out per cancel/ariam, by provenance they
belonged to the Datary. This Ieng and consistent connection with the Datary often created
the impression that they, too, originated from the Datary.
4 Ludwig Pastor, Storia dei Papi,. vol. 1 : Storia dei Papi nel periodo del Rinascimento ftno
all’elezione di Pio ll (Rome: Desclee E. E. editori, 1925), 683-684: “L’ufficio piu
ragguardevole, importante e lucruoso in Curia era quello del vicecancelliere, ehe, siccome
capo della cancelleria apostolica, aveva a 1ato una grossa schiera di impiegati: un
ambasciatore afferma addirittura, ehe era 1a prima dignitA dopo il papa.“ Throughout the
fiftcenth century the most prominent figures to direct this important office were the
cardinals Johannes de Rupescissa (cardinal from July 6, 1427; died March 24, 1437); for
more information see: Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia Catho/ica Medii Aevi sive summarum
pontiftcum, S.R.E. cardina/ium, ecclesiarum antistitum serie.s ab anno 1431 usque ad
annum 1503 perducta ex documentis tabularii praesertim vaticani co/lecta, vol. 2
(Münster: Regensberg, 1914; reprint Passau: „ll Messaggero di S. Antonio“ [hereafter HC
2], 6); Francesco Condulrner and Roderigo Lanzol-Bmja (cardinal from September 17,
1456; appointed vicecancellarius on May 1, 1457 by bis unc1e, Pope Ca1ixus ffi; he
remained in office until August 1 1 , 1492, when he was elected pope ); for more information
73
the Apostolic Chamber,6 the cardinal-nephew was in charge of the Secretariate
of State whereas the cardinal penitentiarius maior directed the Sacred Penitentiary.
7
see: Thomas Frenz, Die Kanzlei der Päpste der Hochrenaissance (1471-1527) (Tübingen:
Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1986), 439, n. 2035.
5 The Cancellaria Apostolica bad the responsibility for expediting or issuing papal letters,
especially the solemn bulls, on which it bad a monopoly until the beginning of the fifteenth
century. However, as the various other departments began to issue their own bulls and some
papal correspondence becarne the duty of the papal secretaries, the chancery retained
control of only those bulls reflecting public decisions made in the Consistory (its judicial
statements and the nominations of cardinals and bishops), certain decisions f.rom other
offices, and the graces granted by the pope. As the Chancery lost many of its duties and the
popes reformed it under pressure from the councils, the nurober of its employees actually
increased. Below the vice-chancellor were twelve apostolic protonotaries, functionary and
honorary. The other members bad specific duties relating to producing or policing the bulls.
For exarnple, the abbreviatores litterarum apostolicarum composed the minuta, the
concept, and were responsible for the legal contents of the documents issued by the
Chancery; the correctores litterarum apostolicarum corrected legal documents ( one of the
main requirements for this post was a degree in law); the collectores taxae plumbi guarded
the bulls until they were retrieved by the interested party and the taxes were paid; E.
Fournier, „Abbreviatores ou abbreviateurs de Jettres apostoliques“, Dictionnaire de Droit
Canonique 1 , col. 98-106; Thomas Frenz, „Die Gründung des Abbreviatorenkollegs durch
Pius Il. und Sixtus IV.“, in Miscellanea M Giusti 1 (CittA del Vaticano: Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana, 1978), 297-329; Brigide Schwarz, „Abbreviature officium est
assistere vicecancellario in expeditione litteramm apostolicarum: Zur Entwicklung des
Abbreviatorenamtes vom Grossen Schisma bis zur Gründung des Vakabilistenkollegs der
Abbreviatoren durch Pius Il.“, in Römische Kurie. Kirchliche Finanzen. Vatikanisches
Archiv. Studien zu Ehren von Hermann Hoberg, ed. Erwin Gatz, Miscellanea Historiae
Pontificiae 46 (Rome: Pontificia UniversitA Gregoriana), 789-823 (hereafter Schwan,
„Abbreviature officiurn“); eadem. „Die Abbreviatoren unter Eugen IV.“, Quellen und
Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 60 (1980), 200-274; eadem, „Der
Corrector litterarum apostolicarum: Entwicklung des Karreetoramts in der plipsiliehen
Kanzlei von Innocenz ill. bis Mactin V.“, Quellen und Forschungen aus Italienischen
Archiven und Bibliotheken 54 (1974), 122-191.
6 The Camera bad the responsibility of collecting funds due to the Holy See such as annates
and Peter’s pence from spiritual and temporal sources, of directing the pope’s personal
finances and governing the papal states. Some of the more important duties of the
cbamberlain were the appointment and control of the activities of collectors in their turn
responsible for collecting the numerous papal taxes in partibus. The chamberlain with the
treasurer-general of the Roman Church (thesaurarius generalis Ecclesiae Romanae) and
the clerics of the Camera, seven active members (de numero) with assistants and other
(supranumerarii) members formed the Collegium Camerae. The Camera controlled the
revenues accruing from the papal state; these funds became the major source of money for
the Renaissance papacy, outdistancing the funds collected for the pope’s spiritual gifts.
Other offices in the curia, such as the Datary and the Penitentiary, also bad financial
aspects.
The reports ofthe collectors and other documents issued in the Camera not only register the
tax payment, but sometimes they reveal the reasons for which the payment did not happen,
thus making it possible to intuit whether a papal provision was successful or not. The
74
The cardinal-priest of Saint Clemens, Francesco Condulmer, vice chancellor
during the pontificate of Eugene IV and bis nephew, was sent as the
pope’s Iegate and commander ofthe papal fleet against the Turks in 1443-1444;
he personally organized the project ofthe crusade, in which the most active roles
were played by the pope, the Venetian senate and Philipp, the duk:e of Burgundy.
8
Pope Eugene IV’s personal physician and chamberlain, the cubicularius,
Ludovico Trevisan (often even better known as Scarampi Mezzarota) was appointed
papal treasurer, camerarius, on January 1 , 1440. He was very active in
the affairs of the curia for many years. Under Calixtus Ili he was a conspicuous
figure in the Levant (1456-1458) as the commander of the papal fleet sent on a
crusade against the Turks.9
In the Vatican and the Lateran registers, there are also records of cardinals
being appointed bishops in the Central European dioceses. I have divided them
into two groups:
First, there were those for whom being appointed cardinal was the highest
point in their career: they bad started at some lower level in their diocese and
progressed in the hierarchy within it. They generally remained in their bishoprics,
even after having become cardinals, and sometimes assumed the administration
of nearby bishoprics. This was the case of several ecclesiastical persons.
financial documentation produced by the Camera throws light on some ofthe procedures in
the Chancery. Numerous registers which make up part of the Vatican Registers set today
actually come from the Apostolle Chamber. Short notices registered in the Oblgi ationes et
So/utiones, Obligationes pro communibus servitiis, Annatae, Introitus et Exitus-registers of
the Camera can be of greater importance than the registers ofbulls themselves. See Martino
Giusti, I Registri Vaticani e le loro Provenienze originarie. Miscellanea Archivistica
Angelo Mercati, Studi e Testi 165 (CittA del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,
1952), 383-459.
7 Prominent cardinals led this office throughout the fifteenth century: Jordanus de Ursinis (HC
2, 3), Dominicus de Capranica (HC 2, 6), Johannes de Tagliacotio (HC 1, 7), Philippus
Calandrini (HC 2, 11), and Julianus de Rovere (who became Pope Julius ß in 1503; HC 2,
16;HC3, 9).
8 On February 12, 1444, Pope Eugene IV wrote to Cardinal Cesarini that tbe Christian
successes in Centrat Europe betokened the coming Iiberation of those parts of Greece and
Europe which were occupied by the Turks, so that the Greeks and other eastemers would
soon enjoy the fruits of the union of the Churches proclaimed in Florence. The pope also
assured the cardinal that plans were going forward for sending a papal fleet to the Levant to
be commanded by his nephew, Cardinal Francesco Condulmer, for service against the
Turks: ASV, Reg. Vat., 382, fol. 206v-208v. HC 2, 7: Franciscus Condulmarus, Venetus,
nepos, protonot. apost. = tit. S. Clementis, dein. (c. a. 1445) ep. Portuen. (Venetiarum),
vicecancel/arius (nominated in 1439), died October 30, 1453 (card. in prima promotione
die 19 Sept. 1431 habita); Achille Oli vieri, „Francesco Condulmer“, Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani 27 (Rome: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, 1982), 761-765, especially 763.
9 ASV, Reg. Vat., 382, fol. 1 1 lr, 144v-145r; see also Kenneth M. Setton, The Papacy and the
Le11ant (1204-1571), vol. 2: The Fifteenth Century (Philadelphia: The American Philosophical
Society, 1978), 54-55 (hereafter Setton, The Papacy).
75
The decretorum doctor Dionysius, son ofNicholas Szech, for instance, followed
a well programmed path to a successful career. On April 2 1 , 1438, he was appointed
bishop of Nitra; on June 5, 1439, bishop of the diocese of Eger, void
since the death (per obitum) of Peter and the removal (amotio) of master
Wenceslas, and on March 9, 1439, provost of the church of S. Thomas in promontorio
of Esztergom. He kept the bishopric even after December 1 8, 1439,
when he was appointed cardinal priest of S. Ciriaco in Tennis by Eugene IV. He
was made archbishop ofEsztergom on February 15, 1440,10 and already on February
25 his proctor Tadeo de Aldemariis – artium et medicinae doctor, penitentiarius
apostolicus and scriptor – applied on bis behalf for the pallium. The
bishops of Györ and Vac were entrusted with handing over the pallium, whereas
the apostolic penitentiarius, Valentinus de Kapos, got the mandate to bring it
personally to the newly appointed archbishop.1 After a supplication ofthe Hungarian
King Ladis1as, on March 24, 1452, Pope Niebolas V confumed all the
legate faculties and primatial jurisdiction that Cardinal Dionysius and his successors
on the Esztergom See would have, both in foro conscientiae and contentioso.
12 Dionysius bad the cathedral, which had deteriorated over the years, rebuilt
with financial assistance from govemor, Janos Hunyadi, and in 1453 consecrated
it amid great celebration.13 With the Turkish threat looming, he tried to
bring about an agreement between the country’s quarrelsome oligarchs using his
superb diplomatic skills, but had little success.14 He died on February 1, 1465.15
Another interesting path to the top of the ecclesiastical career ladder, the
cardinalship, was that of Johannes de Bucca (Bucka). In 1388, he was appointed
10
ASV, Reg. Lat., 365, fol. 216v; Päl Lukcsics, Diplomata pontificum saeculi XV, 1 :
Martinus papa V. (Budapest: Academia scientianm Hungarica, 1931); 2 : Eugenius papa
IV., Nicolaus papa V. (Budapest: Academia scientianm Hungarica, 1938) 2, n. 672
(hereafter Lukcsics, Diplomata ). 11 The Pauline friar V alentinus, son of Laurentius de Kapos, was appointed penitentiarius in
the Basilica Principis Apostolorum and in the Roman curia, as well as apostolic chaplain,
on August 10, 1439: ASV, Reg. Lat., 382. fol. 92r: Lukcsics, Diplomata 2, n. 665. On
February 25, 1440, it was decided that Valentin de Kapos brought the pallium. ASV, Reg.
Lat., 365, fol. 218r: Lukcsics, Diplomata 2, n. 675. Frater Valentinus procurator ordinis
fratrum B. Pauli primi heremitae sub regula S. Augustini, who together with the generat
prior of the Order applied on January 10, 1448, that the church of Sl Blase de Anulo sub
titulo S. Laurentii in Damaso de regione S. Eustachii be given to their order might be the
12 same person. ASV, Reg. Suppl., 422, fol. 135v; Lukcsics, Diplomata 2, n. 998.
ASV, Reg. Vat., 398, fol. 185r; ASV, Reg. Vat. , 420. fol. 36r; Lukcsics, Diplomata 2, n.
13 1252.
Margit Beke, „Esztergom – the Hungarian Zion“, in A Thousand Years of Christianity in
Hungary, ed. lstvän Zsombori et al. (Budapest: Hungarian Catholic Episcopa1 Conference,
2001), 184.
14 ASV, Reg. Vat., 438, fol. 79v, 129r-129v: Rome, September 1, 1455. Calixtus m hirnself
wrote to Dionysius Szechy on August 5, 1456, that up to the preceding May 31 the crusade
had cost him, Deo teste, more than 150,000 ducats: ASV, Arm. XXXIX, vol. 7, fol. 25r.
15 HC 2, 242; ASV, Reg. Lat., 365, fol. 216v. Rome, February 15, 1440. Lukcsics, Diplomata
2, 672.
76
bishop of the Bohemian diocese of Litomy§l. On December 14, 1416, the conciliar
fathers gathered in Konstanz appointed him Iegate of the Council to the
Kingdom,16 to the diocese of Olomouc, to administer it until the new pontiffbe
elected. 17 In fact, quite soon after bis consecration, on February 14, 1418, Martin
V appointed him bishop of Olomouc.18 He retained the administration of Litomy
§l until May 13, 1420, when Albertus A1son, the canon of St. Peter’s church
in Vy§ebrad near Prague, was appointed its new bishop.19 During the second
promotion of Martin V, on May 24, 1426, he was created cardina1 priest of S.
Ciriaco.20 On September 24, 1427, he was appointed provost in Transy1vania
with an annual income of 200 silver marks; the office became void after the
promotion of Provost George Lepes to bishop.21 Before bis death on October 9,
1430, the cardinal administered the dioceses ofOlomouc, Vac, and Prague (from
August 13, 1421, after the suspension of bis predecessor Conrad de Vechta).22
His successor, Kun§o (Conrad) de Zwola, provost of 01omouc, doctor of canon
law, papal chaplain and auditor causarum Palatii apostolici, was appointed on
January 10, 143 1 , to the bishopric of Olomouc, and on January 24, 1431, to the
bishopric of Prague.23
The second, and throughout the fifteenth century more numerous category
of cardinals ( elevated to the cardinalate solely on the recommendation of kings
or princes or because they were nephews of the reigning pope or sons of great
baronial Roman or Italian families), pursued a career in the curia, in the vicinity
of the pope. For them, the appointment to bishop in East Central European dioceses
was only a reward for some service affered to the pope or the curia or a
sinecure wbich did not even oblige them to reside in their diocese.
Three cardinals were appointed bishops in Dalmatian bishoprics. In
Trogir, one finds two curial officials in search of benefices to increase their
revenues and in pursuit of a successful ecclesiastical career. For the medicinae
doctor Ludovico Trevisan (Scarampi Mezzarota) the bishopric in Trogi?4 was
only one step in an extremely successful carreer. During bis lifetime he was ap-
16
Jaroslav Eclil, Acta Summarum Pontificum res gestas Bohemicas aevi praehussitici et
hussitici illustrantia 2 (Prague: Academia, 1980), n. 1096: Constance, March 27, 1416
(hereafter Eclil, Acta).
17 Ibidem, n. 1099.
18 Jaroslav Eclil, Monumenta Vaticana Res Gestas Bohemicas il/ustrantia 7: Acta Marlini V:
1417-1431 , I : 1417-1422 (Prague: Academia, 1996), n. 208-2 10.
19 HC 1, 3 1 8 (Luthomus/en.). Jaroslav Er§il, Monumenta Vaticana Res Gestas Bohemicas
i/lustrantia 7: Acta Martini V: 1417-1431, 2: 1423-1431 (Prague: Academia, 1998), 7, 1 , n.
20 609 (hereafter Edil, Monumenta).
21 HC2, 34; Er§il, Monumenta, n. I580.
HC I, 493; ASV, Reg. Suppl., 216, fol. 6v; Lukcsics, Diplomara 1, n. 964: Bisbop George
Lepes was killed in a battle on March I8, 1442.
22 HC I, 409; HC 2, 6.
23 HC 1, 376 (01omouc); Emil, Monumenta, n. 2237; HC I, 409 (Prague); Er§il, Monumenta,
n. 2251.
24 The appointment is dated October 3I, 1435.
77
pointed patriarch of Aquileia and cardinal of S. Laurence in Damaso on July 1 ,
1440. Above all, he directed the Apostolic Chamber. He died very rieb on
March 22, 1465.25 Giovanni Viteleschl, on the other band, although he also pursued
a brilliant ecclesiastical career, preferred the military career of a generat in
Eugene lV’s army against the duke of Milan.26 Pietro Riario, one of Sixtus IV’s
nephews, was given in commendum the archbishopric of Split on April 28,
1473?7 This was only one in a long series that the illustrious uncle gave in commendum
to the spendthrift nephew: on September 4, 1471, Treviso; September
25, 1472, Vanence and Die in France; June 25, 1473, Seville; July 20, 1473,
Florence; November 3, 1473, Mende in France.28 On November 23, 1472, followed
appointment to the patriarchate of Constantinople, void after the death of
Cardinal Bessarion.Z9 Obviously, Pietro Riario was never in bis commenda, to
him they were only a source of revenues to pay hls numerous gambling debts.
The Franciscan friar, Gabriele Raugone from Verona, made hls way to the
cardinalate starting with an inquisitorial mission to Bohemia on March 20, 1467,
sent by Pope Paul II . .. ad extirpationem heresium et precipue n7:handae Hussitarum
septe … per Boemie regnum et partes illi adiacentes .. . . On December
16, 1 472, he was appointed bishop of Alba Iulia (Transylvania),31 and on April
24, 1475,32 he assumed possession of the diocese of Eger, whlch he retained
even after having become cardinal deacon of SS. Sergii et Bacchi in 1477.33
25 HC 2, 8; ASV, Reg. Lot., 329, fol. 158r-v: Rome, October 3 1 , 1435; HC 2, 235: (transfertur
ad Florentinam diocesim); Ludwig von Pastor describes him as short, vain, and gloomy
(„piccolo, superlm e dallo sguardo cupo“). His portrait, painted by Andrea Mantegna, is
kept in Berlin. It secms that he bad managed to eure cardinal Gabriele Condulmer (the
future Pope Eugcne IV) from some illness. After Cardinal Vitelleschi’s death, Trevisan
(Scarampi) assumed the governmcnt of Rome; von Pastor, Storia dei papi 1, 272-273; Pio
Paschini, „La Famiglia di Lodovico Cardinal Camerlcngo“, L ‚Arcadia. Atti dell’Accademia
26 e scritti dei .soci 5 (1926), 91-101.
Danie1e Far1ati, fl/yrici Sacri 4: Ecclesiae sufafr ganeae metropolsi Spalatensis (Venice,
1769), 406. As apostolic notary he was appointed bishop ofMacerata-Recanati on April 16,
1431: HC 2, 220. The appointment as patriarch of Alexandria came on February 21, 1435:
HC 2, 85; on 15 October 1435 as archbishop of Florcnce; on August 9, 1437, he was both
appointed cardinal priest of S. Laurcntii in Lucina and administrator of the Trogir
bishopric. Viteleschi, above all, was a soldier, a commander in the papal army.
2271 HC2, 240 (Spa/aten.sis).
29 HC 2, 248 (Treviso), 262 (Valence and Die), 165 (Sevilla), 154 (F1orcnce), 192 (Mende).
HC 2, 135.
30 ASV, Reg. Vat., 519, fol. 250v. See also the bull against the Hussites addressed to Gabriele
Rangoni on March 15, 1467 (ASV, Reg. Vat., 519, fol. 235r-236v). Contemporary texts
sbow the importance of Gabriele da Verona during this period, when Paul II’s concern with
the Hussite king was an impedimcnt to the crusade.
31 HC2, 254.
32 HC2, 82.
33 HC2, 18.
78
Cardinals as commendatary administrators of monasteries
Cardinals were frequently provided with monasteries in commendum.
Several records of these appointments are preserved in the Vatican and Lateran
registers. Gabriete Condulmer, Pietro and Marco Barbo34, Pietro Foscari35, or
Giovanni Michieli are frequently mentioned as administrators (commendatarii)
of the Benedictine abbeys of S. Grisogonus in Zadar, S. Ambrogio in Nin, S.
John the Baptist in Trogir, S. Niebolas de portu in Sibenik, S. Cosmas and
Darn.ian on the island of Pa􀃛man, and S. Stepben de pinis in Split. Cardinal Bessarion
also beld the latter in commendum. From 1458 until bis death be received
a yearly pension of 1 5 0 florins from its revenues.36 At the council ofMantova in
1459 Pope Pius II Piccolomini appointed him bis legatus a Jatere for the crusade
against the Turks.
Dip/ornats and collectors
Jobannes Dominici,37 now revered as blessed, was appointed Iegate of
Pope Gregory XII to the Polisb King Ladislas Jagello and the Hungarian King
Sigismund. On bis way be stopped at the castle of the count of Celje to secure
the latter’s support of Gregory’s party. This could partly explain bis absence
when Gregory XII fled from Gaeta to Rimini. Jobannes went to Bobemia, too, to
34 Cardinal of St Marco, Marco Barbo, nephew of Pope Paul II, bishop of Vicenza and the
patriarch of Aquileia, received the Benedictine abbey of St. Michael in Trogir, void after
the death of its abbot, barely a year after his appointment. Its revenues were estimated at
only 40 srnalllibras ofTours. Marco Barbo died on 1 1 March 1491. HC 2, 15.
Js HC 2, 1 8 (20): appointed cardinal on November 10, 1477; died on August 1 1 , 1485. He was
also a papal notary and the primicerius of S. Marco in Venice and held in commendum the
benedictine abbey of S. Cosmas and Damian on the island of Pdman. Through his vicar
Franciscus Damiani (who hirnselfwas closely related to the curia being the archideacon of
Zadar, papal acolyth and chaplain, nucio and collector for the Camera) he invested a !arge
sum of money in 1461 for the reconstruction of the abbey) ASV, Reg. Vat., 516, fol. 37r.
Rome, August 1, 1461.
36 ASV, Reg. Vat., 464, fol. 104r-105r: Rome, March 31, 1458.
37 Johannes Dominici (F\orence, 1357 – Buda, June 10, 1419) entered the Dominican order in
1374. He lived in a Yenetian friary from 1387 to 1399 and founded the nunnery of Corpus
Christi in Yenice. Until 1406 he preached in Florence and was elected prior of Fiesole.
From 1415 to 1416 he was councilor to Gregory XII, who appointed him archbishop of
Dubrovnik in 1408 and Cardinal of Saint Sixtus on March 26, 1408 (after which he was
known as Cardinalis Ragusinus). Gregory XII sent him to the Council of Constance.
Martin V comissioned him to arrange affairs in Bohemia, where he stayed from 1417 to
1419, but the mission ended in total failure; Pino da Prati, Gi ovanni Dominici e
l’Umanismo (Naples: Mezzogiomo, 1965); Thomas Kaeppeli, Scriptores Ordinis
Praedicatornm Medii Aevii 2 (Rome: Sabinae, 1975), 406-4 13. Giorgio Cracco, „Giovanni
Dominici e un nuovo tipo di religiosita“, in Conciliarismo, Stati nazionali, inizi
del/ ‚Umanesimo. Atti del XXV convegno storico internazionale. Todi 9-12 ottobre 1988,
Atti dei convegni dell ‚Accademia Tudertina e del Centro di studi sulla spiritualita
medioevale, n.s. 2 (Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 1990), 1-20.
79
control the situation after the condemnation and execution of Jan Hus.38 In
summer 1414, Cardinal Dominici was sent on another mission to Sigismund, but
all his efforts were already in vain because the king was preparing for the
council. After the end of council, on February 1 , 1418, Cardinal Dominici set
out on a journey to Constantinople, where he was supposed to convince
Emperor Manuel ll Paleologus (1391-1425) and Patriarch Joseph (1416-1439)
to join the negotiations on the reunion. Because of his sudden death in Buda, on
June 10, 1419, he never reached Constantinople.
The cardinal of S. Angelo in Pescheria, the Spaniard Juan de Carvajal/9
papal chaplain and auditor, legatus a latere to Emperor Frederick III and to the
Hungarian kingdom, was an able and eminent figure despite his badly managed
anti-Utraquist mission to Prague,40 which failed in May 1448. He was sent to
Gerrnany, Hungary, and Poland41 on another mission and was present at the
Great Diet assembled in Buda on February 6, 1456. There he described the papal
preparations for the fleet to attack the Turks, as well as the aid that was expected
from King Alfonso V and from Duke Philip of Burgundy. A plenary indulgence
was offered to every soldier who would bear arms against the Turks. It was at
this diet that Carvajal bestowed a cross sent by the pope on the famous Minorite
friar Giovanni da Capistrano and gave him a special papal brief to preach the
crusade. In 1459, Carvajal continued his efforts to make peace between Emperor
Frederick and Mathias Corvinus. He also played a role with regard to the problern
of continuing Turkish attacks.42 On August 27, 1457, he was granted numerous
important faculties, among them those of dispensation and absolution.43
38 Augustin Theiner, Vetera Monumenta Slavonnn Meridionalium 1 (Rome, 1863; reprint
Osnabrück: Zeller, 1968), n. 499: 8 January 1409 (hereafter Theiner, Monumenta S/avorum
Meridionalium).
39 HC 2, 9: Placentin., Diaconus Tituli S. Ange/i, dein Portuen. He died on December 6, 1469.
4ll He was sent by Niebolas V on August 4, 1447. Lukcsics, Diplomata 2, n. 969-970: ASV,
Reg. Val. , 386. fol. 7r-8r. Augustin Theiner, Vetera Monumenta historica Hungariam
sacram illustrantia, maximam parlern nondum edita ex tabulariis Vaticanis deprompta,
co/lecta ac serie chrono/ogica disposita 2: Ab lnnocentio papa VI. usque ad C/ementem
papam VII (1352-1526) (Rome: typis Vaticanis, 1860). On bis activities see also: Lukcsics,
Diplomata 2, n. 981, 1021, 1092, 1246, 1308, 131 1 .
41 ASV, Reg. Vat., 438. fol. 212r-2 13v, 233v-234v. The date of bis departure from Rome is
fixed by an entry in the Acta Consistorialia (1439-1486) for the year 1455. ASV, Arm.
XXXI, vol. 52, fol. 58r: Recessus domini cardina/is Sancti Ange/i: Anno et pontificatu
predictis [1455 de Iernpore Calixti lii] die vero XXV. Septembris, que fuit dies Jovis, fuit
factum consistorium secretum, et reverendissimus dominus cardinalis Sancti Angeli recessit
/egatus in Alamaniam et Ungariam de mane per portam Sancte Marie de Popu/o. See also
HC 2, 31a.
42 Cf. Pius II’s Ietter to Carvajal, dated Mantua, June 11, 1459 (ASV, Arm. XXXIX, vol. 9, fol.
47v: Ex /itteris tue Circumspectionis in Nova Civitate [Wiener Neustadt] ultimo datis
inte/leximus que de tenenda inter imperatorem et regem Ungarie dieta deque novo ac
repentino Turcorum adventu significas: fuerunt nobis hec nova satis molesta et dolemus.
Note the 1etters ofthe same date to Frederick m and the Venetians; ibid. fol. 48r-49r; and
those of almost a year later, dated Siena, April 25, 1560, to Carvajal and Frederick; ibid.
80
Branda Castellione was one of the cardinals renowned as apostolic nuncios
in the Hungarian kingdom. He was appointed cardina1 by the schismatic
Pope John XXIII on June 6, 141 1 , and, also by the latter, administrator of the
Veszprem churcb (which be resiffed on May 5, 1424, when Peter Ladislai de
Rosgon became the new bisbop). Giuliano Cesarini, another cardinal and nuncio,
was k.illed at the battle of Varna on November 10, 1444, together with the
young King Ladislas and numerous bisbops.45
On February 1 , 1444, the cardinal priests Gerardo of S. Marie in Transtiberim4()
and Ludovicus of S. Laurentii in Damaso47 were authorized by Eugene
IV to exact tithes in the territories subject to them. The money collected was to
be given to Giuliano Cesarini, mentioned above, auditor of the Roman Rota and
cardinal priest of Santa Sabina, 48 for the sustaining the army against the Turks in
the k:ingdoms of Hungary, Poland, and Wallachia.49 On January 10, 1448, the
cardinal treasurer Ludovico Trevisan (Scarampi Mezzarota) agreed tbat the
church of S. Blasius de Anulo in the regio S. Eustachii in Rome be given to the
Pauline friars, after a supplication by their prior general and fiiar Valentin,
proctor of the Order, who propter continuum ad Urbem accessum Ungarorum
fol. 185v-187r: … lterum atque iterum rogamus tuom Excel/enciam ut omnibus tuis
desideriis quamquam etiam iustissmi is orthodoxam nostram Christianae religionis .fidem et
eius defensionem maxime nunc dum periculum immineaf, ut decet religiossisimum
imperatorem pro Dei et tua gloria et cunctorum tibi subdictarum salute, anteponas … ; to
Frederick, fol. 186v. A Ietter to Carvajal, dated May 2, 1461, noted the expectation of
another Turkisb siege of Belgrade: … Turchum magnis apparatibus ad obsidendam
Nandoralbem venturum … ; ibidem, fol. 21lr.
43 ASV, Reg. Vat., 449, fol. 133v-135r. See also: Lino G6mez Canedo, Un Espaiiol a/ servicio
de Ia Santa Sede. Don Juan de Carvaja/, cardenal de Sant ‚Ange/o, legato en Alemania y
Hungria. (1399?-1469) (Madrid: Consejo superior de investigaciones cientificas. Inst. J.
Zurita, 1947), 22-23, 105, 113-1 19. On Carvajal’s Hungarian mission, wbicb Iasted from
1455 to 1461, see 153-185, and on bis becoming protector of tbe Hungarian nation, 187-
219.
44 ASV, Reg. Lat., 239, fol. 46v; Luk.csics, Diplomara I, n. 739.
45 See Setton, The Papacy, 82-107.
-«i HC 2, 8, 63: Gerardus Landrianus, bisbop of Curna, created cardinal priest of S. Marie in
Transtiberim on September 19, 1439.
47 HC 2, 8: Ludovico Scarampi.
48 HC 2, 6 (43): Julianus de Cesarinis, auditor Rotae, diaconus S. Angeli, presbiter S. Sabine,
episcopus Tusculanus, poenitentiarius maior March 7, 1444; died on November 10, 1444.
According to Setton, cardinal Cesarini was a m.ilitarist at beart and bis determination to
suppress tbe Hussite beresy by „crusades“ provided clear evidence ot this; Setton, The
Papacy, 78. On Cesarini’s career see Roger Mols, Dictionaire d’histoire et de geographie
ecc/esiastiques 12 (1953), col. 220-249.
49 ASV, Reg. Vat., 376, fol. 10r: Rome, February 1, 1444. Luk.csics, D i plomata 2, n. 804:
Julianus, tituli S. Angeli. Between April 20, 1431, and November 12, 1431, be was given
vast powers to act in tbe territories of bis Iegation (Luk.csics, Diplomata 2, n. 2, 3, 28, 65).
ln tbe meantime be was promoted to cardinal ofSt. Sabina, legatus to Hungary and Poland.
About bis actions see Lukcsics, Diplomara 2, n. 746, 771, 781, 790, 802-804, 809, 833,
835, 865, 1282, 1308.
8 1
apud quos ordo fundatus et honoratus existit, cupiunt unum locum in urbe Romana
habere. The cburcb was a curata with two simple benefices with revenues
estimated at 50 florins in recompense for the cbureb of S. Savior prope pontem
ruptum in the very eenter of Rome, wbieb the order bad owned for quite a long
time (per plura tempora canonice habuit).50
Niebolas (1427-1480), bisbop of Senj and Modru§, was sent twiee to the
last Bosnian King Stepban Toma§evic. During the first mission, wbicb began in
September 1460 and ended in August 1461, be was to crown the young king.
His second mission started on Deeember 1 1, 1462,51 and ended with the feroeious
death ofthe k.ing and most members ofNiebolas‘ bousebold in June 1463.
Niebolas deseribed tbe events immediately preeeding the disastraus fall of the
Kingdom into Turkisb bands in bis work Defensio Ecclesiasticae Libertatis,
kept in the Vatican Apostolic Library.52 Soon after June 1463, Niebolas was sent
to the court of Mathias Corvinus, bis main task being to be1p the king reorganise
the resistanee and defenee in Bosnia and to eonvinee him to Iead a military expedition
there. Niebolas bimselfwent to Venice on Oetober 1 3 , 1463, to ask for
financial and military support and to inform tbe senate about the further aetions
that the king planned. By the end of Oetober, be bad reaebed the king in Belgrade
and continued to follow him during bis three-montb-long winter eampaign
in Bosnia, in wbieb some seventy fortresses, towns and villages (including the
royal town of Jajce) were liberated. The newly eleeted pontiff, Paul ll, must
bave been satisfied with the serviees that Niebolas bad offered to bis predeeessor,
beeause be entrusted him numerous important publie offiees of the papal
state. Starting from September 18, 1464, until January 17, 1468, he beeame
castellanus ofViterbo; on February 5, 1468, be was appointed govemor of Ascoli,
on October 3 1 , 1470, govemor of Fano, Sinigaglia, and Montefiore, and on
January 1 1 , 1471, govemor of Sassoferrato; during the sbort vacancy between
the death of Paul ll and the eoronation ofSixtus IV, July 26 – August 25, 1471,
Niebolas was govemor of Cesena.
Clerics employed as collectors
Nurnerous bulls of appointment to apostolie colleetors in Dalmatian
dioceses can be found in the Vatican registers: Secundus, bisbop of Argos, was
appointed nuncio and eolleetor in the dioceses Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, and
50 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 422, fol. 135v: January 10, 1448, Fiat ut petitur. T.
51 ASV, Reg. Vat., 508. fol. 102r-v: December 11, 1462, Ietter ofappointment.
52 BAV, Vat. Lat., 8092. See Jadranka Neralic, „Udio Hrvata u papinskoj diplomaciji“ (The
Role of the Croatians in the papal Diplomacy), Hrvatska srednjovjelwvna diplomacija.
Zbomik Diplomatske Akademije 4 (1999), 89-118, esp. 100-102 (hereafter Neralic, „Udio
Hrvata“), and eadem, “Nicholas of Mo􀄗 (1427-1480): Bishop, Man of Letters and
Victim of Circumstances,“ Bulletin of the Society for Renaissance Studies 20, no. 2 (2003 ),
15-23.
82
Bar53 (and became bishop of Kotor soon after), the abbot of the Benedictine
monastery of S. Stephen de pinis in Split was appointed collector in Dalmatia on
August 19, 1432;54 Paganino, the bishop of Ulcinj, was appointed nuncio and
collector in Zadar, Osor, and other dioceses il/arum partium on March 20,
1445;55 Jacobus de Cadaporto was appointed collector for Istria and Dalmatia on
January 12, 1455;56 finally, there is the bull of appointment for Ivan Tolinic, the
primicerius and canon of Sibenik, to become nuncio and collector in Istria,
Dalmatia, and Dubrovnik, dated June 1 8, 1473.57
On April 20, 1455, Pope Calixtus appointed Niebolas Spitzinuri (the
name occurs in the registers with different spellings ), cantor of the church of
Cracow and decretorum doctor, as collector and receiver general for the Holy
See in Poland;58 on 21 December of the following year, he granted him the
faculty of giving absolution to those who rendered military service in the war
against the Turks or contributed money thereto.59 Similar grants had been given
to Spitzinuri by Niebolas V five years before.60 Spitzinuri’s activity continued
into the reign of Pius 11, who informed the Polish episcopacy in a Ietter of
August 24, 1459: . .. disponimus enim auxi/iante Deo pro viribus nostris frenare
superbiam et insolentiam horum perfidorum Turcorum propter quod iam
p/urimas in terrestribus et maritimis expeditionibus expenere [sie] pecunias non
desinimus . .. . 61 On 17 May 1465 Paul II appointed Spitzinuri to be generat
collector for the Holy See in Poland, .. . Romane Ecclesie ac camere aposto/ice
inibi debitorum et debendorum collector ac generalsi receptor usque ad nostrum
et diele sedis benep/acitum, the papal concem beinf especially for the ob/ata et
data pro Cruciata in subsidium contra Turchorum.6
Members of the cardinals ‚ households
Cardinals had their households composed of various ecclesiastical persons
in their service. In the registers of the Chancery I have traced some clerics
serving in them. The sine euro chapel of St. Peter super platea in Zadar, void
due to the promotion of its last rector Angelo Cavazza to the bishopric of Rab,
was given to the master of arts Aloisius Blasii, the protegee of Gabriete
53 ASV, Reg. Vat., 352, fol. 237v-239r: March 18, 1419.
54 ASV, Reg. Vat., 381, fol. 185v-186r.
55 ASV, Reg. Vat., 382, fol. 255r.
56 ASV, Reg. Vat., 465, fol. 141r-143r.
51 ASV, Reg. Vat., 567, fol. 162v-164r.
58 ASV, Reg. Vat., 465, fol. 3 1r-32r.
59 ASV, Reg. Vat., 440, fol. 89r-90r. 60 ASV, Reg. Vat., 393, fol. 297r-300r; documents dated January 9, 1451.
61 ASV, Arm. XXXIX, vol. 8, fol. 67v-68r, where a Ietter ofthe same tenor is also addressed
62 to King Casimir IV of Po land; seealso fol. 68v, a Ietter to Spitzinuri himself.
ASV, Reg. Vat., 542, fol. 65r-67r.
83
Condulmer, eardinal priest of S. Clement and future Pope Eugene IV, who
recommended bis supplieation.63
The Dominiean friar Dominico de Ragusio, professor of theology and one
of the minor penitentiaries in the Lateran basilica, applying for the benefiee in
the sine cura ehureh called ruralis abbatia S. Dumnii de Pontis in the diocese of
Senj (void after the death of its late reetor Antonio Morade de Modrusio), stated
that be was a member of the housebold of cardinal viee-ebaneellor Roderigo
Borgia.64 Dominieo de Ragusio was already in offiee in 1469 when be applied
for the Benedietine abbey of S. Niebolas in the Senj diocese.65
In the late 1460s, Luca Dominici, a priest in the diocese of Split, was a
ehaplain in the bousehold of Cardinal Bessarion Trapezuntinus. He applied for
an archdeaeonry in Nigropontensis diocesis, void after the resignation of its last
archdeacon George de Crescencia.66 The cardinal personally reeommended the
supplication ofbis cbaplain.
Cardinal Pietro Barbo personally recommended to Pope Niebolas V two
supplications by Mareo Mauroceno, a noble clerie from Castellan diocese, both
for the Benedictine abbey of S. Ambrogio in Nin, void after the death of its last
abbot. Gregorius Conradi, a clerie from Chulm applying for the post of a canon
in the church of Warmia (Ermland) on December 2, 1460, declared himselfto be
the farniliaris of John, tituli S. Marci presbyteri cardinalis.61
Before being appointed arebbisbop of Dubrovnik, Johannes Venerius,
nephew to cardinal Antonio Giacomo Venier, was scriptor litterarum apostolicarum
in the chancery.68 His brother Matthew, doctor in canon law and cleric,
was a scriptor penitentiarie and familiaris et cubicullarius to Pope Sixtus IV;
upon the recommendation of bis protector, penitentiarius maior Cardinal Pbilippus
Calandrini,69 brother of Pope Niebolas V, he was given a portio of the
church of All Saints in Dubrovnik, in lay patronage ofthe noble family Gu􀂉etic.
Even the low ranked curial officials were provided with benefices: they
became papal ebaplains and auditors in the Sacra Rota/0 papal notaries, seribes
63 ASV, Reg. Lat. , 278, fol. 191r-192r. Rome, February 29, 1428. Ange1o Cavazza was appointed
thesaurarius on September 4, 1441. See: ASV, Reg. Vat., 382, fol. 167r and
Theiner, Monumenta Slavorum Meridionalium 1, n. 545.
64 ASV, Reg. Lat. , 770, fol. 92r-93r: Rome, November 29, 1471.
65 ASV, Reg. Lat., 700, fol. 2lr-v: Rome, October 10, 1469.
66 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 645, fol. 47v-48r: Rome, March 5, 1469.
67 At that time the only cardinal of S. Marco was Pietro Barbo, nephew of Pope Eugene IV,
protonotarius apostolicus; cardina1 deacon of S. Maria nova from Ju1y 1 , 1440 (fourth
promotion), promoted cardina1 priest ofS. Marco on June 16, 1451, e1ected Pope Paul ß on
August 30, 1464. He died on July 26, 1471 (HC 2, 8, 14).
68 ASV, Reg. Suppl. , 722, fol. 60v (June 29, 1475): Antonius Iacobus Venier was appointed
cardinal ofS. Vito on May 7, 1473. He died on August 3, 1479. (HC 2, 17).
69 HC2, 1 1 .
7° For examp1e, Fantino de V alle, one ofthe 1 2 auditors mentioned i n the constitution Romani
Pontificis indefessa sollicitudo issued on May 14, 1472, by Sixtus IV, was also sent on a
dip1omatic mission to the Bohemian king George Podiebrad and was a beneficiary in
84
and abbreviators.71 Some of them had legal disputes running for years before
various auditors of the Sacred Rota. An example of a long process in the rota is
that of Master Peter de Casaciis, bacallarius in canon law, scriptor et abbreviator
of apostolic letters in the chancery, member ot the household of Martin V
and archdeacon of Cuma, 72 against another member of the same household and
scrpi tor in the chancery, Master Antonio de Pago, canon of 􀁿ibenik cathedral.
On October 25, 1447, Master Guillermo de Fondera, chaplain and auditor ofthe
Rota, was given the mandate to decide in their dispute for a provision ofthe sine
cura parochial church of the Blessed Mary of Stomorie in the diocese of
Sibenik, resigned by Antonio Gazzari. The church was still the object of
numerous dioceses throughout Dalmatia and the Veoetian Republic. Neralic, “Udio
Hrvata“, 99-100.
71 Master Paulus Stanghe de Leghendorff, canoo of the diocese of Wannia (Ermland) and
/itterarum apostolicarum scriptor et abbreviator, applied oo October 23, 1453 for the
canonry in the diocese of Wroclaw, void after the death in the Roman court of Marcus
Bonfilii, member of the household of Cardinal S. Grisogoni (ASV, Reg. Suppl., 470, fol.
19r-v). Ludovichus de Orto, scriptor litterarum apostolicarum and familiaris Sedis
Apostolicae, was granted the faculty to receive the income of his office although he had
beeo sent to Huogary and Bohernia with an apostolic maodate issued on March 14, 1426
(ASV, Reg. Suppl., 196, fol. 196r; Lukcsics, Diplomata 1, o. 861). Nicolaus de Costen,
licenciatus in decretorum, employed as abbreviator of papal letters in the Chancery and
present in the curia, applied for the office of dean in Poznan cathedral, void after the
resignatioo of lohannes de Sprowa, ASV, Reg. Suppl. , 468, fol. 250v-251r; Bul/arium
Poloniae litteras apostolicas aliaque monumenta Poloniae Vaticana continens, VI: 1447-
1464, ed. Irena Sulkowska-Kura8, Stanislaus Kura§ et al. (Rome and Lublin: Katollelei
Uniwersytet Lubelski, 1998), n. 708.
72 Petrus de Casaciis, cleric from the Milan diocese, was active in the curia from 1426, when
one finds hirn as scriptor cancel/ariae, a post which he resigned in 1433; from 1436 he is
only mentioned as abbreviator (ASV, Reg. Suppl., 320, fol. 72v; see Schwarz,
„Abbreviature officium“, esp. 823. For himselfhe claimed the ecclesia S. Marie Stomorie
de Campo inferiori de Verpoglo Sibenicensis diocesis uoder lay patronage and void after its
last rector, the secular priest Jacobus Mikitich, was ordained and appointed to the post of
abbot in the Benedictine monastery of S. Niebolas de portu in Sibenik. The bishops of
Civitä Castellana and Cittä di Castello as weil as the abbot of the monastery of S.
Ambrogio in Nin were appointed executors of the papal mandate. The yearly income of the
church was estimated at 24 florins. Peter de Casaciis already owned two benefices: the
church of S. Nazarius in Brolio in Milan and that of Saint Trinity in Pavia, a canonry with a
prebend, the altar of S. Dionisius in the church of S. Iohannis de Varisio, the archdeaconry
in Cuma, whereas he still had not taken possession ofthe benefices in the parochial church
of S. Maria de Mezzocorone in Milan and in Trento bad a legal dispute in the curia (cuius
possessionem nondum est assecutus in Romana Curia noscitur litigare). These benefices
assured him a yearly income of approximately 200 florins. Two processes in the curia had
already been decided in his favour and letters in form of gratia expectativa for the
canonries with a prebend in Todi and Torino bad already been written; ASV, Reg. Lat.,
278, fol. 39v-40v: Genzano, July 27, 1428; ASV, Reg. Lat., 278, fol. 238v-239v: Rome,
April 21, 1428 (the yearly income of S. Mary’s church was estimated at 40 florins); ASV,
Reg. Lat., 279, fol. 1 1 6v. Rome, January 3, 1428.
85
contention four years later, and three more auditors were engaged: Stephano de
Paperonibus, Agapito de Rusticis,73 and Gaspare de Teramo.74
Johannes de Tremosnicz, canon of Prague cathedral, scriptor and member
of Pope Alexander V’s household, applied for the custody, a simplex officium
sine cura, with the yearly income of 45 silver marks. He already owned the
canonry with the prebend in the cathedral and the chapel of S. Maurice in the
castle of Prague with 26 silver marks, and bad a legal dispute in partibus about
the canonry and prebend in Wissegrad and Olomouc with the yearly income estimated
at 60 silver marks.75
Even the nephew of a scriptor in the Chancery made good use of bis
connections with a curial official to be provided with several benefices, one of
them in Dalmatia. Johannes Dominicus, a priest from Venice and nephew of
Dominicus Petri, received from Pope Sixtus IV personally a provision for a
beneftcium simplex clericatus nuncupatus in the church of SS. Cosmas and
Damian in the diocese of Hvar, and the priory of the collegiate church of SS.
Apostles in Venice, void after the death of the curial official, Cristofor de
Ubertis.76
Penitentiarii minores in the Chancery registers
In the fifteenth-century registers of supplications, (for the supplication) as
weil as in the Lateran and Vatican registers (for the Ietter of appointment), there
are also records of clerics from East-Central-European countries applying for the
post of penitentiarius minor11 in various Roman basilicas: the Augustiman professor
Johannes de Cormentino was recommended on June 2, 1 423, by Duke
Peter in Trecz de Ungaria from the diocese of Györ for the post in the Basilica
Principis Apostolorum because of the Iack of confessors able to speak Hungarian.
78 On the same day, the priest Andreas Galli of the Order of S. Paul first
hermit, de natione Ungarica, applied for the same post and got it.79 Some years
later Andreas Galli was an acolyte in the diocese of Zagreh and rector ofthe pa-
73 He was also involved in numerous legal disputes for Polish beneficial cases in the period
1447-1464; see Bullarium Poloniae VI, n. 1029, 1212, 1240, 1397, 1425, 1430, 1437,
1461.
74 ASV, Reg. Lat., 441, fol. 248r-25lr: Rome, October 25, 1447; ASV, Reg. Lat., 473, fol.
98r-100r: Rome, May 25, 1451.
15 ASV, Reg. Lat., 138, fol. 19r-20r; Eclil, Acta I (Prague: Academia, 1 980), n. 433.
76 ASV, Reg. Suppl. , 706, fol. 278r: Rome, May 23, 1474.
n Throughout the fifteenth century there were eleven penitentiary offi.ces in St. Peter’s
(Principis Apostolorom) in Rome, divided among the nations: two each for Germany,
France, Spain, and ltaly, and one each for England, Poland, and Hungary.
71 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 168, fol. 60v; ASV, Reg. Lat., 234, fol. 1 56r: Rome, June 2, 1423;
Lukcsics, Diplomata 1 , n. 599.
79 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 168, fol. 85v; ASV, Reg. Lat., 234, fol. 83r: Rome, June 2, 1423;
Lukcsics, Diplomata 1, n. 600.
86
roehial ehureh of S. Niebolas de Lovaz80 when he applied to be ordained a priest
in the euria: the grant was eonceded with the only eondition that he be liable –
atratus – for the ordination.81 Only a few days before the death of Martin V, the
nobleman Emeric Gregorii de Cberdy, son of Gregory de Cberdy, canon ofPecs
eathedral, cbaplain in the ebapel of S. Ladislas in Buda, and magister artium,
applied for the post of penitentiarius minor, although be did not have the required
qualifications for the post (non obstante quod in aliquo iurium seu theo/
ogie magistratus aut licentiatus non existat). In bis supplication, he informed
those who were to decide in his case that for some years (diversis anni temporibus)
huge numbers of people (maxima multitudo populz) bad been coming to
Rome applying to the Penitentiary for indulgencies and absolutions of their sins,
so that now one or two penitentiarii no Ionger sufficed to satisfy the need.82 He
was appointed on November 14, 1432, by Eugene IV.83 He acted as proctor in
the Roman curia on May 20, 1433 in the case of the Pecs priest Martin Stephani,
wben the latter resigned the offi.ee of rector to the altar of S. Mary in the Bosnian
Cburcb, immediately applied for by its canon Jobannes Fabian (with a
revenue estimated at 30 florins).84
On January 19, 1449, Niebolas V proclaimed a jubilee for the following
year, when thousands of pilgrims flocked to Rome, to be deeimated by a violent
outbreak of the plague and to witness the pope’s tirnorous flight (on July 15)
from the Etemal City. During the jubilee, however, the needs of Hungary were
kept in mind, and a special indulgenee was proclaimed for the arcbbisbops,
bisbops, abbots, and other prelates, the barons, knights, nobles, and lesser folk of
the kingdom, with speeial mention of John Hunyadi. They were dispensed from
the visit to Rome and the prineipal basilicas of the city to eam the plenary remission
of sins because they had to defend the country against the Turks, „so
that the rest of its inhabitants … might be able to live in sweet seeurity without
fear and peril … „.8s A special bull dated April 12, 1450, was sent to bonor Hunyadi
and extend to him and his farnily omnium peccatorum suorum remissio plenaria
under the same eonditions as those noted above. 86
A Pauline hermit, Valentinus Laurentii de Kapos, was appointed poenitentiarius
in the Basilica Principis Apostolorum and apostolic chaplain on
10
ASV, Reg. SuppT., 239, fol. 276r: Rome, March 22, 1429; Lukcsics, Diplomata 1 , n. 81 1223.
ASV, Reg. Suppl., 234, fol. 41r; ASV, Reg. Lat. , 290, fol. 281v-282v: Rome, March 24,
82 1429; Lukcsics, Diplomata 1 , n. 1229.
ASV, Reg. Suppl., 265, fol. 279v; ASV, Reg. Lat., 299, fol. 272v-273r: Rome, Janua.ry 16,
83 1431; Lukcsics, Diplomata 1, n. 1440.
ASV, Reg. Vat., 381, fol. 147r: Rome, November 14, 1432; Lukcsics, Diplomata 2, n. 122.
8-4 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 286, fol. 232v; ASV, Reg. Lat. , 320, fol. 271r-272r: Rome, May 20,
85 1433; Lukcsics, Dip/omata 2, n. 151 .
For the bull in question see ASV, Reg. Vat. , 391, fol. 252v-254r. lndulgentia pro nobilibus
et prelatis Regni Hungarici … [in the margin of fol. 252v]: … pro parte … nobi/i.s viri
86 Johannis de Hunniad, gubematori.s ac rectori.s … [fol. 253r].
ASV, Reg. Vat., 391, fol. 249r.
87
August 10, 1439.87 There is also a supplication88 with a concession to Dyonisius
Johannis de Henne, priest in Veszprem diocese and scriptor of letters in the Sacred
Penitentiary, to be provided with the office ofprovost in the chapter ofthe
Bosnian diocese (de Diaco) – its yearly income was estimated at 70 golden florins
– and the canonry (estimated at 30 florins) void after the death outside the
Roman Court of Jacob, its last holder. Dyonisius Johannis de Henne was already
in possession of the canonry in Eger with the yearly income estimated at 40 florins,
but there was a legal dispute, a process going on over it in the Apostolic
Palace. The original Ietter bad been lost somewhere during the process of making
and expedition, so that Dyonisius demanded another one. Pope Eugene N
ordered that the new Ietter be written with the same old date of provision, out of
the registers of bis predecessor Martin V (ut e registris Martini pape V litterae
provisionales sub dato Rome apud Sanetas Apostolos 6. Kai. Maii an. 10 ei de
predicta prepositura confecte transcriberentur). 89
A very interesting supplication with a curious report on the work of the
minor Penitentiary for the Polish nation office can be found in the supplication
register.90 Namely, a French religious person (religiosus), Master Jacob, professor
of theology, was provided with the post in the office for the Polish nation,
although he did not speak the language. He was also provided with two benefices
in the diocese of Ferrara, which kept him constantly absent from his Penitentiary
office in Rome. Since Polish pilgrims coming to Rome to confess were
not adequately taken care of, Paulus Polonus de Xansch, rector of the parochial
church in Wiszkocz in the diocese of Poznan, decretorum doctor, and the substitute
of the Polish nation, applied for the post. Another piece of curious information
from this supplication is that three more nations, Slavonica (probably the
Croatians), Bohemica, and Russa, were counted under the Polish nation. Because
of the insufficient nurober of confessors and their inadequate linguistic
preparation, many penitents left the Office unsatisfied.
87 ASV, Reg. Vat., 382, fol. 92r: Florence, August 10, 1439; Lukcsics, Diplomara 2, n. 665.
88 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 212, fol. 128r; ASV, Reg. Lat., 275, fol. 1 81v-182v: Rome, April 27,
1427; Lukcsics, Diplomata 1, n. 931.
89 ASV, Reg. Lat., 303, fol. 164r- 165r: Rome, May 12, 1431; Lukcsics, Diplomara 2, n. 43.
90 ASV, Reg. Suppl., 542, fol. 3 lr-v: Tivoli, August 1, 1461; Bullarium Poloniae 6, n. 1641.
88
The Long Arm ofPapal Authority
Edited by
Gerhard Jaritz, Torstein J.ergensen. Kirsi Salonen
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
SONDERBAND XIV
Gedruckt mit Unterstützung der Kulturabteilung
des Amtes der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung
nlederösterreicll kuHur
CEU MEDIEV ALIA 8
TheLongArm
of Papal Authority
Late Medieval Christian Peripheries
and Their Communication
with the Holy See
Edited by
Gerhard Jaritz, Torstein J0rgensen, K.irsi Salonen
Bergen · Budapest · Krems
2004
Copy Editor: Judith Rasson
Cover lliustration: Pope Pius II, Hartmann Scbedel, World Cbronicle (Nuremberg, 1493), fol. 250
Joint Publlcation by:
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T ABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations related to the collections of the Vatican Secret Archives . . ….. … 7
Preface . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. . . . . . . 8
Piroska Nagy, Peripheries in Question in Late Medieval Christendom . . ….. .. . 11
Kirsi Salonen, The Penitentiary under Pope Pius TI. The Supplications
and Their Provenance . . . . . . … . . . . . . . .. … . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Torstein Jergensen, At the Edge ofthe World: The Supplications
from the Norwegian Province of Nidaros . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. . . … . … 29
K.irsi Salonen, The Supplications from the Province of Uppsala.
Main Trends and Developments . . . .. . .. . . . . . … . . . . . . . . . . . . . … . . . . . . .. . . . . 42
Irene Fumeaux, Pre-Reformation Scottish Marriage Cases
in the Archives of the Papal Penitentiary . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Jadranka Neralic, Central Europe and the Late Medieval Papal Chancery . . … 71
Etleva Lala, The Papal Curia and Albania in the Later Middle Ages . …. . . . . . . . 89
Piroska N agy and Kirsi Salonen, East-Central Europe
and the Penitentiary (1458-1484) ……………………………………. 102
Lucie Dolezalova, „But if you marry me“: Reflections
on the Hussite Movement in the Penitentiary (1438-1483) ………….. 113
Ana Marinkovic, Socia1 and Territorial Endogamy
in the R.agusan Republic: Matrimonial Dispenses
during the Pontificates ofPaul li and Sixtus IV (1464-1484) ……….. 126
Gastone Saletnich and Wolfgang Müller, Rodolfo Gonzaga (1452-1495):
News on a Celebrity Murder Case . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . 145
5
Blanka Szegbyovä, Church and Secular Courts in Upper Hungary
(Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 151
Ludwig Schmugge, Penitentiary Documents
from Outside the Penitentiary . . . . . . . . . . … . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . .. .. : …………… 161
Gerhard Jaritz, Patternsand Levels ofPeriphery? ………………………….. 170
List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. .. . . . . . . 173
6
ABBREVIATIONS RELATED TO TBE COLLECTIONS OF THE
V ATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES
ASV = Archivio Segreto Vaticano
Arm. = Armadio
Congr. Vescovi e Regolari, Visita Ap. = Congrega zione dei Vescovi e Regolari,
Visita Apostolica
Instr. Mise. = Instrumenta Miscellanea
Penitenzieria Ap., Reg. Matrim. et Div. = Penitenzieria Apostolica, Registra
Matrimonialium et Diversorum
Reg. Vat. = Registra Vaticana
Reg. Lat. = Registra Lateranensia
Reg. Suppl. = Registra Supplicationum
Reg. Aven. = Registra Avenionensia
RPG = Repertorium Poenitentiariae Germanicum
7
PREFACE
The present publication contains selected papers from two international
conferences: the first was held at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of
Bergen (Norway), in October, 20031 and the second at the Department of Medieval
Studies, Centrat European University, Budapest (Hungary), in January,
2004.2 The purpose of these meetings was to gather researchers interested in the
history and significance of the papal curia and, in particular, the Apostolic Penitentiary,
in the later Middle Ages. The main emphasis was placed on a comparative
approach and on the role of peripheral areas of Western Christendom in
their communication with the Holy See.
There are various kinds of centre-and-periphery hierarchies.3 There are
geographic, social, economic, and cultural peripheries and centres.“ The generat
textbooks … address materials from the geographical and social peripheries of
privileged cultures only as adjuncts to their central narrative …. The history of
Scandinavia and Eastern Europe become excursus to a central narrative.'“‚
However, conceming the communication of the Holy See with various areas
of Christendom in the Middle Ag es, the irnpact of ‚peripheries‘ has attracted
a new interest in recent years. Since the opening of the archives of the Apostolic
Penitentiary to researchers in 1983 relatively few scholars have exploited the
sources, but recently their number has increased. Most of them have studied the
supplications to the Penitentiary of petitioners from their own home countries
and edited material on a national basis. The German Historical Institute, under
the leadership of Ludwig Schmugge, has already published several volumes of
entries concerning German-speaking territories. Also, the Norwegian and Icelandic
material has recently been released by Torstein Jßi’gensen and Gastone
Saletnich. Sirnilar enterprises are in process in several other countries: Poland,
Denmark, Sweden and Finland, England and Wales. The examination of territo-
1 „The Lote Middle Ages and the Penitentiary Texts: Centre and Periphery in Europe in the
Pre-Refonnation Era.“
2 „Ad Confines. The Papal Curia and the Eastern and Northern Peripheries of Christendom
in the Later Middle Ages(l41h
– 151h c.).“
3 For this and the following, see Teofilo F. Ruiz, „Center and Periphery in the Teaching of
Medieval History,“ in Medieval Cultures in Contact, ed. Richard F. Gyug (New York:
Fordham University Press, 2003), 252.
4 Ibidem, 248.
8
ries on the geographic peripheries in their relation to Rome has been a main focus
in these studies.
The archival material of the Penitentiary and the communication of the
papal curia with the various regions of late medieval Europe should, however,
not be studied only on national Ievels. There is an increasing need for such
studies to be supplemented by comparative searcbes for differences and analogies
in how Christians from different corners of Europc used the papal offices
and were treated by them. It is well known that even though the regulations of
canon law were in theory the same for everyone, regional differences in interpreting
and applying them emerged in the Late Middle Ages. The need to turn to
the papal authority in matters of canon law varied depending on the role of local
bishops and the presence or absence of papal Iegates or collectors, who often
bad the power to deal with similar matters in partibus. Also, people in the
centml territories of Christendom bad different opportunities for turning to the
papal curia with their requests than those living on the peripheries of the
Christian world.
Questions like these played the central role in the discussions of the two
conferences noted above. In this book we will render an overview of the present
status of this new field of research. As an introduction, Piroska Nagy deals with
the question of how to apply centre-periphery models to a comparative analysis
of the sources. Kirsi Salonen uses the Penitentiary registers from the period of
Pope Pius II to analyse the supplications, their provenance, and the role of peripheries.
Two peripheral parts of late medieval Europe and their significance concerning
the communication with the Holy See represent the main part of the
publication: Northem Europe and East Central Europe. Comparative analyses of
Scandinavian and Scottish source material from the Penitentiary Registers are
made by Torstein Jsrgensen, Kirsi Salonen, and lrene Fumeaux. The studies on
East Central Europe are introduced by an inquiry concerning the general importance
of the area for the papal curia (Jadranka Neralic), and an overview of the
communication of the Holy See with Albania (Etleva Lala). Piroska Nagy and
Kirsi Salonen offer a quantitative analysis of East Central Europe and the Penitentiary
(1458-1484), followed by contributions on individual territories, such
as the Czech Iands (Lucie Dolezalova) and Dalmatia (Ana Marinkovic). The
contribution by Gastone Saletnich and Wolfgang Müller indicates that in any
studies of the roJe of peripheries one must not neglect the more central areas.
Blanca Szeghyova and Ludwig Schrnugge show that local archives and their
contents are an indispensable additional source for comparative analyses.
Many friends and colleagues have helped in preparing this book for print.
We are pleased to thank the personnet of the Penitenzieria Apostolica, especially
Padre Ubaldo Todeschini, for reading the manuscript and suggesting useful corrections.
We are also much obliged to the skilled staff of the Sala di Studio in
the Vatican Archives, who patiently brought us volume after volume of the reg-
9
isters and helped with other problems. Judith Rasson from Central European
University deserves our gratitude for copyediting our text.
Finally, we wish to thank the academic institutions which in a more direct
way have promoted this project: the Centre for Medieval Studies at the
University of Bergen, the Department of Medieval Studies at the Central
European University in Budapest, the Institut filr Realienkunde of the Austrian
Academy of Seiences and the Academy of Finland, and the Department of History
at the University ofTampere.
Bergen, Budapest, and Tampere, November 2004
Gerhard Jaritz, Torstein Jergensen, Kirsi Salonen
10