Oration ”Ut apertum vobis” of Pope Pius II (10 October 1458, Rome). Edited and translated by Michael v. Cotta-Schönberg. 4th version. With the papal bull “Vocavit nos Pius”. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 29)

Published as part of project Edition and Translation of the Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius IIImmediately after his election in August 1458, Pope Pius II began to plan for a crusade against the Turks, a cause he had worked for tirelessly since the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He soon decided that the most effective way would be to summon the European kings and princes to a congress on the matter, to be held in a city in Northern Italy which would be more accessible for the participants from beyond the Alps than the City of Rome. After intense consultations with the cardinals, the pope formally submitted the matter to a conference of ambassadors and curials in the chapel of the Apostolic Palace on 10 October 1458, directly requesting their advice on whether Udine or Mantua should be selected as the venue for the conference