Oration “Claritudo sanguinis” of Pope Pius II (17 June 1460, Siena). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. 5th version. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius; 59)

Published as part of project Edition and Translation of the Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius IIDuring his protracted stay in Siena, in 1460, Pope Pius II received an embassy from King Enrique IV of Castile. In his reply to the ambassadors, the pope acknowledged that the Congress of Mantua had failed to unite the European kings and princes in a common crusade against the Turks. Undaunted, he expressed his conviction that God Himself would cause the kings and princes to later join the crusade – it was after all God’s own cause