Oration “Solent plerique” of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (13 August 1455, Rome). Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. 5th version. (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 26)

Published as part of project Edition and Translation of the Orations of Enea Silvio Piccoloimini / Pope Pius IIIn March 1455 Pope Nicolaus V died and was succeeded by Pope Calixtus III. After intense discussions at the Imperial Court whether or not to take advantage of the occasion to loosen the ties between Germany and the Papacy, Emperor Friedrich III decided to maintain his close alliance with the pope. Bishop Enea Silvio Piccolomini, an imperial top diplomat, was despatched to Rome to present, in time-honoured fashion, the imperial declaration of obedience to the new pope. Piccolomini did this in the oration, “Solent plerique”, which he also used to exhort the pope to organize a crusade against the Turks. In doing so, he pursued a course of shifting the responsibility for the crusade from the Empire and Emperor Friedrich III to the Papacy and Pope Calixtus