Decline of the Republic of Siena

After a number of different governing bodies (a pun will become clear once you read this), Siena turned to Gian Galeazzo Visconti to lead them against the threat of Florentine expansion. He was thrust out of power five years later, however, and they went back to a council, in this case the Ten Priors. In an even more surprising move, they allied with Florence against Naples' King Ladislaus.

Also, although the Noveschi families had been exiled, a prominent Sienese named Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini became Pope Pius II, and his influence allowed the nobles to return. The head of the Noveschi was Pandolfo Petrucci, who spent his time gathering political power until finally he was able to set himself up as a tyrant.

As with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, sometimes a strong individual is needed to get a government back on track. (Machiavelli's advice on this came about a decade after Petrucci's coup.) He did lead Siena back to greatness, promoting arts and sciences. Unfortunately, the Petrucci family was power-hungry. Pandolfo was succeeded by his son Borghese, but four years later Borghese was ousted by his cousin Raffaello. Raffaello was a cardinal, and his duties forced him to hand the control his nephew Francesco, who managed a year before Pandolfo's youngest son Fabio ousted him. Fabio was not well-liked, and in 1525 Siena exiled him.

With the Petrucci family gone, Siena saw even more internal strife. Once again the Noveschi were ousted. They were supported by Pope Clement VII, who sent an army to Siena, but it was defeated. Taking advantage of the chaos, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V installed a Spanish garrison about 1529, but Siena got rid of them in 1552 with help from France. Charles sent an army with Florentine help to lay siege to Siena, who endured for 18 months before giving up, surrendering to Spain. Since King Philip II of Spain owed large sums to the Medicis, he gave Siena to Florence. Self-rule was denied them for a long time.

One of the creations of the Republic was the Monte di Pietà or "mount of piety," founded in 1472, where poor people could get loans with manageable interest. It got its funds from charitable donors, and loans would be assured by the borrower handing over possessions as collateral. Yes, it functioned more like a pawnbroker, or an organized charity, but it helped numerous people and inspired similar arrangements all over Europe. This Siena institution never stopped functioning. Today it is called the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and qualifies as the oldest continuously functioning bank in the world.

Pope Pius II has been mentioned before, once even involving politics, but I'd like to look at him more closely, especially because he has a link to an even more interesting character that you all have heard of, but has not yet been mentioned here. More tomorrow (and, of course, the next day).

A Jewish Physician

Article One of King Henry III's 1253 Statute of Jewry allowed Jews to stay in England so long as they served the king in some capacity. There were financial advantages to having Jews around, since they were not limited by the Biblical injunction against usury (charging high interest on loans) when lending to non-Jews. Usury created a dilemma for many: usury was not to be allowed, and yet Jewish lenders were an important source of funding for some.

Another dilemma for Christian Europeans in the Middle Ages was the idea that Jews were not to be fraternized with, and yet they were often the best physicians. One example of this was mentioned here, Jacob Mantino ben Samuel (died 1549).

Jacob's family was from Tortosa, Spain, but were forced to flee in 1492 because of the Alhambra Decree. Jacob studied medicine at Padua and Bologna, staying in Bologna to set up his practice. His translations of scientific works from Hebrew to Latin brought him to the attention of the court of Pope Clement VII. War in 1527 (between the Holy Roman Empire and Protestants) caused him to settle in Verona, where the Catholic bishop protected him. When the bishop went to Rome, however, Jacob left Verona and settled in Venice.

Jacob had many influential clients: ambassadors from France and England, papal dignitaries, and other wealthy local patrons. Despite medieval culture's antipathy toward Jews, his clients made an appeal to Venice's ruling Council of Ten. The appeal—which was granted—was to exempt Jacob from wearing the yellow that was intended to denote Jews in public. Originally this was temporary, but later was made permanent.

Jacob later went to Rome, acquiring great influence and becoming personal physician to Pope Paul III in 1534. In 1544 he returned to Venice, where once again he was exempted from wearing yellow. Accompanying the Venetian ambassador to Damascus, he died in 1549.

Why was he exempted from wearing yellow? Was it a desire on the part of his clients to not be seen associating with a Jew? Or was it for a slightly more kind-hearted reason: they understood the insult of being forced to wear yellow and wanted to spare the feelings of a man they had come to respect? Perhaps a little of both. He was not unique in the Middle Ages: Jewish doctors and Jewish medicine were regarded very highly. We'll delve into that a little more deeply tomorrow.

The Western Schism

When Pope Clement V decided he wanted to live in his home country, France, he moved the papal offices from the Vatican in Rome to Avignon in 1309. The papacy returned to Rome in 1377 by Gregory XI—who was French himself, but was persuaded that the papacy should reside in its original home, perhaps through the efforts of Catherine of Siena—but French cardinals were not happy with that. When Gregory died a year later, Romans were determined that they would have an Italian pope who would stay in Rome and never move the papacy again, so they started a campaign of pressure. Cardinals in Rome elected the Archbishop of Bari, the well-respected Bartolomeo Prignano, to become Pope Urban VI, on 8 April 1378.

Papal authority went to Urban's head, and his attempts at reform and his outbursts of temper did not sit well with the college of cardinals, who soon began to regret their decision. In an extraordinary move, several of them met in Anagni in central Italy and had a second election on 20 September. They claimed that the election of Urban was illegitimate because it was due to threats of intimidation and violence, and so they justified themselves in electing Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII. Unable to reside at the Vatican due to Urban's presence, Clement and the supporting cardinals returned to Avignon.

Thus was born the Western Schism, also called the Papal Schism or the Schism of 1378. The world had no choice but to take notice, and to take sides. Rome had the support of the Italian states, the Holy Roman Empire, England, and much of Eastern Europe and the Scandinavian countries. Avignon was supported by France, the kingdoms on the Iberian peninsula, Scotland, and several Mediterranean countries. Some nations shifted their allegiance over timeNaples, Bohemia, Flanders and Portugal (among others), started with Avignon and later switched as Rome seemed to be a safe, traditional choice.

Urban vs. Clement was only the start. Urban was succeeded by Boniface IX, then by Innocent VII, then by Gregory XII. Clement was replaced by Benedict XIII.

Now we come to Peter of Candia: had been made a cardinal by Innocent VII in 1405, and his greatest desire was to reconcile the schism. When Innocent was succeeded by Gregory, Gregory made a move that shocked both Avignon and Rome, and would lead to the next step: a solution put forth in Pisa.

By 1409, the Italian city-state of Pisa had had enough of the controversy. They decided that 30 years of papal confusion and chaos needed to be resolved, and the only way they could think of to do so was . . . (wait for it) to elect another pope!

And that story will have to wait until tomorrow.