Pope Nicholas V, the Modern Church Begins

Tomasso Parentucelli, a brilliant scholar, served as pope from 6 March 1447 to 24 MRCH 1455. He is a key figure in the Roman Renaissance, making Rome a center of art, architecture and literature.

Born 15 November 1397 to Andreola Basi and physician Bartolomeio Parentucelli, he grew up in Sarzana, a coastal town in the northwestern part of Italy. It was a center of confusion, since Florence and Genoa had both claimed it recently.

Tomasso’s father died when he was nine. He did not have the funds to go to college, so the young man moved to Florence to tutor the children of the Strozzi and Albizzi families. This gave him the chance to meet with the leading humanists of the city. His interest in this subject remained with him the rest of his life.

Eventually, he studied at both Bologna and Florence, earning a degree in theology in 1422. The bishop of Bologna, Niccolo Albergati, was impressed with the young man. Taking Tomasso under his wing, he hired the young man to go on diplomatic missions in Germany, England and France. This furthered his education and turned him into a passionate book collector.

He also accompanied Albergati to the Council of Florence where the definition that no one but Catholics can get to Heaven was defined.

In 1444, Albergati died and Tomasso replaced him. But, due to the civil disorder in the city, he could not enter. Pope Eugene IV named him a papal legate to Frankfort. Here he assisted in negotiating between the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire to contain some of the reform decrees the Council of Basel that were not favorable to the papacy.

Two years later, as a reward for his diplomatic activity, Bishop Parentucelli became Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna.

Pope Eugene IV died on 23 February 1447. Two weeks later, on 6 March, Cardinal Parentucelli was noted in as the next pope. He took the name Nicholas, in honor of his late patron.

He helped negotiate treaties to settle peace with France, to settle the difficulties with Basel and to force Antipope Felix to resign in 1449.

The next year, Pope Nicholas announced a big jubilee in Rome. Thousands of pilgrims came. They spent much money and made large donations to the Church. There was enough money for Nicholas to start building a Roman culture, again. Living among ruins, Nicholas wanted to rebuild Rome by reinforcing fortifications, cleaning and paving streets, and restoring the water supply with rebuilt aquaducts, He rebuilt the Ponte Sant’Angelo which collapsed in 1450. And he restored some major Roman basilicas and other churches. Nicholas wanted the basilica on Vatican Hill to be the official residence of the popes, not the Lateran. He began design plans. It was going to cost a small fortune!

Nicholas made humanism a tool for the cultural improvement of Christianity’s center. He sent emissaries to the East to attract Greek scholars. They were all too happy to move away from the constant attacks of the Moslems. He hired people to translate old Greek works into Latin. Then he founded a library to house 5000 thousand volumes, including manuscripts rescued from Constantinople.

He tried to stop the attack on the Byzantine capital in 1453 by sending ten galleys from Venice to help the defense. But they were too late. Nicholas was bitterly disappointed and saw this as a big blow to Christianity and to Greek literature. He preached a crusade but only the Hungarians had responded and were routed in a battle in Bulgaria.

Bulls issued by Nicholas ultimately gave the Portuguese the right to trade slaves along the African coast. After the Americas were settled, this grew out of hand.

Unfortunately, Nicholas failed to address the real religious reforms needed, rather than the improved appearances of the individual churches. This led to the Protestant reformation fifty years later. The modern world was beginning.