Sixtus IV

Early career

Francesco della Rovere was born July 21, 1414 in Savona , near Genoa , in an impoverished noble family, and was the son of Leonardo della Rovere and Lucina Monleoni ^[1] . He joined the Franciscan Order , which sent him to study law in Padua and Bologna ^[2] . In 1464 he was elected general of the order, and three years later was appointed cardinal . In 1467 , he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Paul II with the title church of San Pietro in Vincoli . He was the author of several treatises on church law. Tiara received as a result of steps not devoid of the nature of bribery ^[3] .

Election

After being elected pope, della Rovere adopted the name Sixtus, which has not been used since the 5th century. One of his first actions was the announcement of a new crusade against the Ottoman Turks. However, after the conquest of Smyrna, the fleet was disbanded ^[4] . Sixtus also made some fruitless attempts to unite with the Greek Church.

Nepotism

Having become a dad , tirelessly cried out about the interests of his own family. His nephew Cardinal Pietro Riario became one of the richest people in Rome and actually led the foreign policy of Pope Sixtus. In 1474 , Pietro died young, and his role passed to Giuliano della Rover .

The ideal of della Rovere was the creation of a secular monarchy from the papacy (modeled on the other principalities of Italy), ruled by cardinals connected by paternal ties. Sixtus IV raised to cardinal dignity five of his nepotism , and ten others appointed to high church posts. Dad began to promote his relatives along the secular career ladder. He helped his nephew Giovanni to become Signor of Senigallia , organized his marriage with the daughter of Federigo da Montefeltro , Duke of Urbino , from this union went the line of the Dukes of Urbino della Rovere ^[5] .

Sixtus patronized the son of his niece, Cardinal Rafael Riario , who was the leader unsuccessful “ Pazzi Conspiracy ” of 1478 with the aim of killing Lorenzo Medici and his brother Giuliano to transfer power in Florence to another papal nephew, Girolamo Rario . Francesco Salviati , Archbishop of Pisa and the main organizer of the conspiracy, was hanged on the walls of the Florentine Palazzo Vecchio . Sixtus IV responded to this with an interdict and a two-year war with Florence .

According to a later chronicle by the Italian historian Stefano Inessura, "The Diary of the City of Rome," Sixtus was a "lover of boys and sodomites," giving beneficiaries and episcopal departments in exchange for sexual services ^{[6] [7]} . However, it should be remembered that Infessura was a supporter of the Colonna family and therefore was not impartial to the popes ^[8] .

Foreign Policy

Sixtus' generic ambition was the cause of serious conflicts with Milan and Venice , which anxiously watched the growth of the power of the della Rovere family. The intervention of King Louis XI of France and the Neapolitan monarchy added more fuel to the fire. The papal family was drawn into various local military conflicts, which the pope did not approve of, but did nothing to prevent them.

So Sixtus continued the argument with King Louis XI, who upheld the Pragmatic Sanction ( 1438 ), according to which papal decrees had to receive royal sanction before they could be promulgated in France ^[2] . This document was the cornerstone of the privileges of the Gallic church, and the king tried to maneuver in relations with the pope, hoping to replace King Ferdinand I of Naples with a French prince. Louis was in conflict with the papacy, and Sixtus could interfere with the king's plans.

On November 1, 1478 , Sixtus published the papal bull Exigit Sincerae Devotionis Affectus, which created the Inquisition in the Kingdom of Castile . Sixtus agreed to publish it under political pressure from Ferdinand of Aragon . However, the pope quarreled with the king over the prerogatives of the Inquisition and condemned the most egregious abuses in 1482 ^[9] .

As ruler of the Papal Region, Sixtus persuaded the Venetians to attack Ferrara , which he wanted to transfer into the hands of his nephew. Ercole I d'Este , Duke of Ferrara, was associated with the Sforza families in Milan and the Medici in Florence, as well as with the King of Naples , who was considered the protector of the papacy. Angry Italian princes forced Sixtus IV to make peace to his great displeasure ^[2] . For refusing to stop the hostilities, which he himself initiated, Sixtus imposed an interdict on Venice in 1483 ^[4] .

Church affairs

In 1482, Sixtus IV published rules defining the boundaries of the Inquisition in Spain , subordinating it to the management of the great Inquisitor, the first of which was the Dominican Torquemada . In 1482 he canonized Bonaventure - a medieval Franciscan theologian.

The first to announce the introduction of preliminary censorship of books (spiritual content) in 1471 . In 1475 he began preparations for calendar transformations and the correction of Easter . For this purpose, an outstanding astronomer and mathematician Regiomontan was invited to Rome from Nuremberg (Johann Muller, 1436 - 1476 ). In 1476 Sixtus IV introduced the feast of the Immaculate Conception ( December 8 ).

Patron of the Arts

Much attention was paid to the development of dad by art The Sistine Chapel at the papal chambers in the Vatican and the main hall of the Vatican Apostolic Library are named after him.

Sixtus IV rebuilt 30 dilapidated churches of Rome, including San Vitale ( 1475 ) and Santa Maria del Popolo , and also built seven new ones. At the beginning of his papacy in 1471 , Sixtus donated several historically valuable Roman sculptures that laid the foundation for the papal art collection, which ultimately grew into the world's first public museum - the Capitoline .

In addition to this, Sixtus was the patron of sciences. He issued a papal bull, allowing bishops to transfer the bodies of executed criminals and unidentified corpses to doctors and artists for autopsy. It was this access to the corpses that allowed the anatomist Vesalius to complete the revolutionary treatise on the structure of the human body .

Death

The tomb of Pope Sixtus was destroyed during the plunder of Rome in 1527 . Now his remains, along with the remains of his nephew Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere) are buried in St. Peter's Basilica. A simple marble tombstone marks the burial place.

A bronze monument by Antonio del Pollayolo in the form of a giant casket is located in the basement of the Treasury of St. Peter's Basilica. Its upper part depicts the pope in a supine position. On the sides are relief panels depicting allegorical female figures of art and science (grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, painting, astronomy, philosophy and theology). Each figure includes an oak ("Rover" in Italian) - a symbol of Sixtus IV.

Sixtus IV had one brother, Raphael della Rovere, a Roman senator, and five sisters. The eldest of them, Lutsina, had three sons from Giovanni Basso. Sixtus made Girolamo Basso Cardinal the Archbishop of Genoa, and Antonio Basso the Count of Sora. Another papal sister, Bianca, was married to Paolo Riario, who helped his wife's brother when he was a student. Her sons Girolamo and Pietro , the favorites of Sixtus, persistent rumors called not even nephews, but the bastards of the pope, although there is no evidence of this. Through the efforts of his uncle, Girolamo became the standard bearer of the pope’s troops , the lord Imola and Forlì and the son-in-law of the Duke of Milan Galeazzo Sforza , and Pietro became the cardinal.

Of the sons of the papal brother, one became a cardinal, and later a pope , the second - the Duke of Sora, the third - Signor Sinigaly and the ancestor of the Dukes of Urbinsk .

Despite the undoubted merits in the development of Renaissance culture, the pontificate of Sixtus IV, which greatly contributed to the secularization of the papal curia , was generally critically evaluated by many church writers and historians. “Papa,” wrote Machiavelli , - was the first to prove how much power he has and how many cases that later turned out to be mistakes can be hidden under the cloak of papal authority. ”

• Sixtus IV is the first pope named Sixtus. Sixtus I , Sixtus II , Sixtus III officially bear the name Xystus. In Russian literature, you can find both names - Sixt and Xist.
• Pope Sixtus IV - Uncle of Pope Julius II ;
• It was Pope Sixtus IV who decided to conduct the Conclave in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace .

• Sixtus IV is depicted on the 1975 Vatican Postage Stamp.
• In the series “ Da Vinci 's Demons, ” Sixtus IV has a son, Girolamo Riario, and a twin brother, who was imprisoned in the Castle of the Holy Angel , taking his place. He is played by James Faulkner .
• In season 2 of the series Medici: The Lords of Florence , Sixtus IV was first an ally and then an adversary of the Medici. He is played by Raul Bova .

• Sixt // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.