Pits

PITS, the name of nine among the Roman pontiffs, of whom the following only appear to call for particular noticc.—Prus II., originally known as zEneas Sylvius, was a member of the noble family of Piccolomini, and was b. (1405) at Corsignano, in the duchy of Sienna. His early life was not free from serious irregularities, but he made amends by his subsequent decorous conduct; and his eminent abilities as a canonist led to his being employed, when but 26 years of.age, as secretary of the cardinal of Fenno, in a post of the highest confidence at the council of Basel (q.v.). He was intrusted by that council—the views of which, in its conflict with the pope, he fully shared—in sev eral commissions of great importance; and on the election of the antipope Felix V., .2Eneas Sylvius was chosen as his secretary. But having been sent by him as ambassa dor to the emperor Frederick he was induced to accept office in the imperial court, Mid served on several embassies and other missions of importance on behalf of the emperor. In the difficulties between Frederick and the pope Eugenius IV., which arose after the council of Florence, tEneas conducted so skillfully a negotiation with which lie Was intrusted that the pope was induced to retain him in his own court, in the capacity of secretary. His views of church matters having undergone a considerable change, he continued in equal favor under the successor of Lugenius, Nicholas V., 1447; and under Callistus III. he was elevated to the cardinalate. On the death of Callistus in 1958, lie was elected pope, and took the name of Pius II. His pontificate was embarrassed by sonic contests on German affairs, but it is chiefly rendered memorable by the sustained efforts which Pius—the first in this policy of a long line of pontiffs, to whom the public security of Europe owes a deep obligation—inade to organize an armed confederation of Christian princes to resist the progress of the Turkish arms. This organization, how ever, for a long time did not tend to any considerable results. Pius died Aug. 14, 1464. The literary reputation of the scholar .2Eneas Sylvius has partially eclipsed the histori cal fame of the pope Pius. He was one of the most eminent scholars of his age. His works were published at Basel (1 vol. fol., 1551), but many of his works are not included in that edition. They consist chiefly of histories, or historical dissertations and mate rials of history; but the most interesting portion of his collected works arc his letters, which are very numerous, and full of details, characteristic as well of the writer as of the age. The same may be said of a biographical commentary, which is in truth an auto biography, being chiefly written from his own dictation, by his secretary, John Gobel linus, published at Frankfort in 1614. See Voight's Life of Pins (Berl. 1856).—P:us IV., Giovanni Angelo Medici, uncle of saint Carlo Borromeo, deserves to be noticed from his connection with the celebrated creed known under his name. He was elected in 1560; and his pontificate is chiefly memorable as that in which the protracted deliberations of the council of Trent (q.v.) were brought to a close. Pius had the duty, in Dec., 1563, of issuing the bull confirmatory of its decrees. The well-known creed called the creed of Pius IV., and sometimes the Tridentine creed, was issued by Pius IV. as an embodi ment of all the doctrines defined in that council. Pius died Dec. 8, 1565, in the arms of his nephew, Carlo Borromeo.—Pies V., a saint of the Roman Catholic church, originally named Michele Ghisleri, wash. of poor parents, in the village of Bosco, near Alessandria, in 1504, and at the age of 14 entered the Dominican order. His emiuent merits were recognized by Paul IV., who named him bishop of Satri in 1556. and cardinal in the followiug year. Of austere and mortified habits, he carried into his administration the same rigor which distinguished his personal conduct; and when appointed inquisitor general for Lombardy he employed the most rigorous measures in repressing the progress of the reformation, which had begun to effect an entrance. He was afterwards trans lated to the see of Mondovi; and immediately after the death of Pius IV. he was chosen unanimously as his successor, Jan. 8,1566. Pius carried into his pontifical life the same personal austerity and administrative rigor which he had evinced as a bishop. Apply ing to others the same fides which he enforced upon himself, lie enacted a number of severe laws for the regulation of public morals, prohibiting bull-fights, suppressing pros titution, and proscribing a variety of popular but demoralizing exhibitions. The Roman inquisition, too, under his government, exercised a severity of which no other pontificate has shown any example. He endeavored to enforce everywhere the disciplinary decrees of the council of Trent; and the whole spirit of his pontificate is most strikingly exhib ited in the decree by which he ordered the yearly publication of the celebrated bull, In Gana Domini (q.v.). It was an application to the 16th c. of the principles and the legislation of the Hildebrandine epoch. But the most momentous event of the pontifi cate of Pius was the expedition which lie organized, with Spain and Venice. against the Turks, and which resulted in the great naval engagement of the gulf of Lepanto, on Oct. 7, 1571. Pius died in the following May, 1572. He was canonized by Cletnt tit XI. in 1712.—Pirs VI., originally named Angelo Braschi, was b. at Cesena, Dee. 27, 1717. He was selected by Benedict XIV. as his secretary; and under Clement XIII. he was named to several important appointments, which led finally, under Clement XIV., to his elevation to the cardinalate. On the death of Clement XIV. cardinal Brasehi was chOSen to succeed him, Feb. 15, 1775. The conflict with the civil power in the various states of Europe, in which, from the, days of Innocent XL, the Roman see hail been almost unceasingly involved to a greater or less degree, assumed under Pies what may be called its complete and scientific development. His relations to the emperor Joseph of Austria and the grand duke Leopold of Tuscany, who persisted in the refor mation of the religious orders, etc., were far from amicable. The internal adminis tration of Pius, however, was enlightened and judicious. To him Rome owes the drainage of the Pontine marsh, 1.1 e improvement of the port of Ancona, the completion of the church of St. Peter's, the foundation of the new museum of the Vatican, and the general improvement and embellishment of the city. These and other similar projects were interrupted by the outbreak of the French revolution. In 1793 a popular tumult at Rome. which was caused by the imprudence of a French political agent named De and which resulted in his death, gave the French directory an opportunity of hostile demonstrations against the pope. In 1796 Bonaparte took possession of the legations, and afterwards of the march of Ancona, and by a threatened advance upon Rome extorted from Pius, in the treaty of Tolentino, the surrender of these provinces to the Cisalpine republic, together with a heavy war contribution. The year 1797 was marked by a continuance of the same vexatious measures; and at length the directory ordered the invasion of Rome; Berthier entered the city, Feb. 10, 1798, and took possession of the castle of St. Angelo. Pius was called on to renounce his temporal sovereignty, and on

his refusal was seized, Feb. 20, and carried away to Sienna, and afterwards to the cele brated Certosa, or Carthusian monastery of Florence. On the threatened advance of the Austro-Russian army in the following year, he was transferred to Grenoble, and finally to Valence on the Rh me. where, worn out by age and by the rigor of confinement, he died in Aug., 1799, in the ;,..2d year of his age and the 24th of his pontificate.—Pws VII., originally Gregory Barnabas Chia ramonte, was b. at Cesena in 1742. He entered the Ben edictine order at an early age, and was employed in teaching philosophy and theology at Parma, and afterwards at Borne. He was appointed bishop of Tivoli ; and afterwards, being created cardinal, was translated to the see of Imola. After the death of Pius VI., cardinal Chiaramonte was chosen his successor (Mar. 14, 1800). Rome, which, up to this time, had been in the occupation of the French, was now restored to the papal authority, and in the July of that year Pius VII. entered into his capital; and in the following year the French troops were definitively withdrawn from the papal territory, with the exception of the legations. From this time forward Pius, ably seconded by his secretary of state, cardinal Consalvi, was destined to occupy a prominent place in the political as well as the ecclesiastical affairs of Europe. Bonaparte had resolved to restore religion in France on the ancient basis of connection with Rome. With this view, he entered into negotiations with Pius VII. for the establishment of a concordat suited to the new order of things which had arisen. These negotiations were conducted at Paris, and were attended with many difficulties and delays, until at length cardinal Consalvi repaired in person to the conference, and, by his en2rgy and decision, disentangled the compli cated embarrassments in which it was involved. It was agreed to at Paris, July 15, 1801; ratified in Rome, .Aug. 14; and published in Notre,Dame on Easter Sunday, 1802. But, simultaneously with the concordat, and as if forming part of the same arrangement, was published a code of what were called "organic laws," seriously affecting the disci pline of the church on marriage, on the clergy, and on public worship, which had never been submitted to Pius, and to which he not only had not consented, but to which lie found himself compelled to offer every opposition. For the first year which succeeded the publication of the concordat, no occasion of difficulty arose; but conflict of principles was in the end inevitable. In 1804, Bonaparte having resolved on assuming the imperial crown, invited Pius to come to Paris for the purpose of crowning him, and the pane, although with much hesitation, consented. He took advantage of his visit to demand the recall or modification of the articles, but without success; and although, during his visit to Paris, he was treated with great distinction and reverence, his relations with Napoleon from that date began to assume a less character. The French emperor now proceeded from one petty outrage to another, until finally, in Feb., 1808; the French troops, under gen. Miollis, entered Rothe, and took possession of the castle of St. Angelo; and on the 2d of April, a decree was issued annexing the provinces of Ancona, Fenno, Urbino, and Macerata to the kingdom of Italy. Pins, besides protesting against the usur pation, declared himself a prisoner in the French hands, and confined himself to his palace. The papers of the cardinal secretary were violently seized, and the pope was compelled to appoint a pro-secretary; and finally (May 17, 1809). the usurpation was con summated by a decree annexing Rome and all the remaining papal territory to the French empire. This was the signal for the pope abandoning his lengthened policy of forbearance. On June 10, Pius issued a hull of excommunication, directed (without naming Napoleon) against the perpetrators and abettors of the invasion of the rights and the territory of the holy see.. Soon afterwards, the French general ordered the removal of the pope from Rome; and Pius, without offering any resistance beyond the declara tion that he yielded to force, was removed, first to Florence, then to Grenoble, thence for a longer time to Savona, whence, in June, 1812, he was finally transferred to Fon tainebleau. During this prolonged captivity Pius firmly but quietly resisted every effort to compel or seduce him from his policy. At Fontainebleau he was treated with much external respect; and on Napoleou's return from the Russian campaign, in Dec., 1812, orders were given that the cardinals, with certain exceptions, should be admitted to the presence of the pope. Under much pressure, both from the emperor himself—who is alleged by some to have acted with great rudeness, and even with personal violence—and from the ecclesiastics to whom the emperor confided his plans, Pius was induced to sign a new concordat, an important provision of which was the recognition of the annexation of the Roman states to the empire. Having obtained the concession, Napoleon at once permitted the absent cardinals to return, and of these many remonstrated so earnestly against the concordat, that, on March 24, Pius wrote to revoke his consent. Napoleon took no notice of the revocation; nor was it till after the disasters of 1813 that he began to seek an accommodation. Pius refused to treat until he should be restored to Ronne; and on Jan. 22, 1814, orders were sent for his immediate return to his capital. Unat tended by his cardinals, he was escorted to Italy, and remained at Cesena until the fatal campaign of the spring of 1814 placed Paris in the hands of the allies, when Pius re-en tered Rome amidst the gratulations of the people on May 24, 1814—a day since that time held sacred in the Roman calendar. During the Hundred Days, he was again compelled to leave Rome; but, after the campaign of Waterloo, he finally resumed possession, which was undisturbed for the rest of his life, and which extended to the whole of the ancient territory, including the Legations.

The last years of his pontificate were devoted to measures of internal administration; and under the enlightened government of cardinal Consalvi, were marked by much wis dom and moderation. But the administration chiefly by ecclesiastics and the secrecy of law procedure were resumed. Pius repressed, too, with great vigor the disorder and brigandage which the long wars had introduced, and a whole village of notorious and incorrigible criminality, that of Somma, was razed to the ground in 1819. He was equally vigorous in repressing secret societies, especially that of the Carbonari (q.v.). 'lie ecclesiastical measures of his later period were also of much importance. In 1814 lie formally restored the suppressed order of the Jesuits (q.v.). In 1817 and the follow ' mg years le concluded concordats with Naples, with Russia, Wurtemberg, mid other courts of Germany. Iu this and every other period of his life Pius was a model of gentleness, simplicity, benevolence, and Christian charity. In July, 1823, having reached the patriarchal age of 81, he fell accidentally and broke his thigh. He sank gradually, and died Aug. 20, 1823.