Pope Pius III (, ; 9 May 1439 – 18 October 1503),It is frequently stated that Piccolomini was born on 29 May. This is an error. His memorial inscription from St. Peter's Basilica states that he died at the age of 64 years, 5 months, and ten days, which fits with 9 May, but cannot be reconciled with 29 May. The inscription is quoted by born Francesco Todeschini, then Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 22 September 1503 to his death. At just twenty-six days, he had one of the shortest pontificates in papal history.Hendrix, p. 173.
Francesco was the nephew of Pope Pius II, who granted him the use of the family name "Piccolomini", and appointed the twenty-one-year old Francesco as Archbishop of Siena. He served as papal legate in a number of places. In 1503, the now-frail Francesco, known as Cardinal Piccolomini, was elected pope as a compromise candidate between the Borgia and della Rovere factions. Although he announced plans for reforms, he died less than a month later.
Life Early life Francesco Todeschini-Piccolomini, a member of the House of Piccolomini was born in SarteanoD. Bandini (1950), "Memorie Piccolominee in Sarteano", Bullettino Senese di Storia Patria Anno LVII (1950), pp. 107–130. on 9 May 1439,The earliest biography of Pius III, written by the Vatican Library employee, Onuphrio Panvinio, states that Piccolomini was born on 9 May, not 29 May: "Ipse natus erat vij idus Maij." The same is said by (among others) ; and by Matteo Sanfilippo (2015), "Pio III, papa." Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 83 (Treccani 2015). as the fourth child of Nanno TodeschiniFor the Todeschini family, see Domenico Bandini, "Gli antenati di Pio III," Bulletino senese della storia patria 25 (1966–1968), pp. 239–251. and Laudomia Piccolomini, the sister of Pope Pius II.
Francesco was received as a boy into the household of Aeneas Silvius who permitted him to assume the name and arms of the Piccolomini family. He studied Canon law at the University of Perugia, and obtained a doctorate after the completion of his studies.Richardson (2003), "The housing opportunities of a Renaissance cardinal," pp. 607–608.
Cardinalate
In 1457,Sanfilippo (2015), "Pio III, papa." Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 83, places the date of the investiture after the coronation of Pius II on 3 September 1458. Todeschini-Piccolomini was granted the office of Provost of the Collegiate Church of Sankt Viktor in Xanten (later Xanten Cathedral), which had been a benefice of his uncle. Francesco held the benefice from 1457 to 1466, and again from 1476 to 1495.
Cardinal Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini was elected pope as Pius II on 19 August 1458. In the excited tumult following the announcement, the Roman mob sacked his house, which was located near the church of S. Agostino, not far from the north end of the Piazza Navona; even the marble stones were taken. When the Piccolomini family arrived in Rome, therefore, they had no palazzo of their own to use as their base of operations. Francesco moved into the Vatican Palace with his uncle.Richardson (2003), p. 608. Pius II was aware that this was a temporary situation; he remarked in a letter to his nephew Antonio that "One is not the nephew of a pope forever (non-semper pontificis nepos).Richardson (2003), p. 608 with note 6, quoting from an unpublished letter in the Bibliotheca Angelica in Rome. In 1461, the Pope authorized Cardinal Francesco to purchase a property near the Campo de' Fiori in Rome which had belonged to the recently deceased Cardinal Giovanni Castiglione. The documents made it clear that it was not the Pope or the Papacy which were buying the property, but the Piccolomini family, and that it was private property, not property of the Church, even though Cardinal Francesco's deaconry was not far distant. On this land, Cardinal Francesco, with the Pope's help, built the Piccolomini Palace. In 1476, Cardinal Francesco deeded the palace to his brothers Giacomo and Andrea, and their descendants, on the condition that it not be alienated from the male line. The Palazzo Piccolomini no longer survives, having been razed to make room for the new church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, which was begun in 1591.The palace was still standing in 1592. Richardson (2003), pp. 609–610.
Piccolomini already held the office of protonotary apostolicSanfilippo (2015), "Pio III, papa." Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 83, places the grant in October 1458, a few weeks before being appointed Administrator of Siena. at the time that he was appointed the administrator of the Archdiocese of SienaPius II had raised the diocese of Siena to the status of an archbishopric in 1459. in 1460.The Archbishop of Siena, Antonio Piccolomini, had died on 8 November 1459; Francesco made his arrangements with the Apostolic Camera for his bulls and fees on 6 February 1460: Eubel II, p. 235. Pius II makes clear in his Commentarii that Francesco was only the Administrator. Carol Richardson, "The Lost Will and Testament of Cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini (1439–1503)," Papers of the British School at Rome Vol. 66 (1998), p. 193, note 3. Francesco was only 21 when he was appointed, which was far below the canonical age for episcopal consecration. Williams, p. 50. He was granted the title and the insignia of an archbishop, but he did not receive episcopal consecration until a week before his coronation as pope. The episcopal duties at Siena were carried out by an auxiliary bishop, Antonio Fatati.Novaes, Elementi VI, p. 127.
Pope Pius II, who was visiting Siena at the time, appointed his nephew a cardinal on 5 March 1460, naming him Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Eustachio on 26 March.Francesco was not in Siena at the time, and arrived there only on 19 March. He received his red hat on 21 March, and was assigned his deaconry on 26 March. Eubel II, p. 13, no. 5, with note 6.
He was also named commendatory abbot of the monastery of San Vigilio, Siena.Sanfilippo (2015), "Pio III, papa." Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Volume 83, places the grant in October 1458. He reconstructed and extended the residence next to the church, which he continued to use throughout his life.Nevola, pp. 120–121, 167, 243 note 34.
In 1460, the Pope appointed him legate of the March of Ancona, with the experienced Bishop of Marsico as his counsellor. He departed Rome on 30 April, and returned on 1 February 1461 for consultations; he returned to Ancona on 1 June 1461, and was back in Rome on 8 November.Eubel II, pp. 32–34, nos. 205, 209, 211, 214. He proved studious and effective in his job.
Piccolomini was made the archdeacon of Brabant in Cambrai in 1462 and he held that benefice until 1503.His appointment was confirmed on 23 April 1463, and he was obligated for annates from 9 January 1462; see: Richardson (1998), p. 203, note 49, gives the date 1461. In his Will of 1493, Piccolomini granted the archdiaconate of Brabant a cope worth fifty gold florins de camera. On 26 March 1463, Pope Pius II granted Cardinal Francesco the monastery of San Saba on the Aventine Hill in commendam. The cardinal immediately began extensive restoration, construction, and decoration works on the ancient buildings, spending at least 3,000 ducats on the work.Carol Richardson (2003), "The housing opportunities of a Renaissance cardinal", pp. 612–625. She points out that the 3,000 ducats was three-quarters of what an acceptable minimum annual salary of a cardinal was deemed acceptable.
Piccolomini was named Vicar of Rome and the rest of the Papal States on 21 June 1464, as Pius II departed Rome for Ancona, where he intended to meet the Venetians and launch a crusade in the Balkans. However, Pius II died at Ancona on 14 August 1464, terminating the project.Eubel II, p. 34, nos. 249, 251.
Conclaves of 1464 and 1471
Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini participated in the conclave that elected Pope Paul II in 1464. As a nephew of the late pope, he should have had considerable influence in the politics of the election. Of the twenty cardinals who participated, however, the twelve who had not been named by Pius II agreed among themselves that they would not vote to elect anyone except one of themselves. This excluded Francesco Piccolomini and all of his uncle's cardinals. As it happened, the first vote was still in progress when Cardinal Pietro Barbo of Venice received the required two-thirds of the votes, and the scrutiny was quickly made unanimous. He chose the name Paul II (1464–1471).F. Petruccelli della Gattina, Histoire diplomatique des conclaves Volume I (Paris: 1864), pp. 273–283. Pastor, History of the Popes, Volume III (1906), pp. 348–374; Volume IV (1894), pp. 3–35.
Cardinal Piccolomini was named Legatus de latere in Germany on 20 February 1471.Franz Wasner, "'Legatus a latere': Addenda varia," Traditio 16 (1960), pp. 405–416, at 413-414. Hermann Diemar, "Kõln und das Reich, II Theil, 1452–1474," Mittheilungen aus dem Stadtarchiv von Koln 9, Heft XXIV und XXV (Köln 1894), p. 327.( He was accompanied as his secretary by Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini, the former private secretary of Pius II, who wrote an account of the mission.H. Kramer (1949), 'Agostino Patrizzis Beschreibung der Reise des Kardinallegaten Francesco Piccolomini zum Christentag in Regensburg 1471," Mitteilungen des Österr. Staatsarchivs, Erganzungsband 2 (Festschrift 1; 1949) 549-565. He departed on 18 March,Eubel II, p. 37, no. 302. and served in this important legation for the Imperial diet at Regensburg/Ratisbon,Franz Wasner, "Fifteenth-century Tests on the Ceremonial of the papal 'Legatus a latere'," Traditio Vol. 14 (1958), pp. 295–358, at pp. 335–339. and was still there when the Pope died on 26 July 1471. Consequently, he was absent for the Conclave of 1471 which elected Pope Sixtus IV. He returned to Rome on 27 December 1471.Eubel II, p. 37, no. 312.
He succeeded to the position of Cardinal Protodeacon in 1471, upon the promotion of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia to the see of Albano on 30 August 1471.
Francesco served in a new legation for Pope Sixtus IV, to restore ecclesiastical authority in Umbria.The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.19, Ed. Thomas Spencer Baynes, (Henry G. Allen Company, 1890), 153.
Conclaves of 1484 and 1492
Todeschini-Piccolomini participated in the conclave of 1484 which resulted in the election of Pope Innocent VIII, and as the protodeacon he made the first public announcement of the election and crowned the new pope. According to Stefano Infessura, he was one of the half-dozen cardinals who had slept soundly in their beds on the night between 28 August and 29 August, and had not participated in the clandestine midnight conferences that produced a two-thirds majority for Cardinal Giovanni Battista Cibo. Neither had he engaged in the extensive simoniac trading that took place.
He was made the administrator of Fermo in 1485; he resigned the position in 1494, in favor of Agostino Piccolomini. He was reappointed when Agostino resigned in 1496, and he kept that post until his election to the Papacy.
He was appointed papal legate to Perugia on 5 November 1488, and departed Rome on 15 November. He served in Perugia until 1489.Eubel II, p. 49, no. 532.
Todeschini-Piccolomini participated in the conclave of 1492 which elected Pope Alexander VI. He belonged to the faction of the more senior cardinals who gathered around Cardinal Oliviero Carafa of Naples. Cardinal Francesco was sufficiently respected that he received six votes at the first scrutiny (Sixteen were needed to elect), seven on the second, and one on the third. He resisted the election of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia almost to the end, as one of the five hold-outs. As Cardinal Protodeacon Piccolomini announced and crowned the new pontiff.
He served as the protector of England at the Roman Curia from 1492 to 1503,Wilkie, 1974, p. 18. and of Germany.