POPE PIUS III, A VERY SHORT REIGN

One of the shortest pontificates on record was Pope Pius III’s, lasting from September 22 to October 18, 1503.

Francesco Todeschini was born 9 May 1439. His parents, Nanno Todeschini and Laudomia Piccolomini died young and Francesco was sent to live with his mother’s brother, Aneas Silvius Piccolomini, later Pius II. The child took his uncle’s surname. A bright boy, he studied canon law at U. of Perugia and received a doctorate.

At age 18, still at the university, Francesco was granted the office of provost of the Collegiate College of St. Viktor at Xanten from 1457 to 1466 and, again, 1476 to 1495. He got the benefices but another did the work.

The very next year, his uncle Aneas was elected pope and took the name Pius II. A riot after the election caused the new pope’s home to be damaged. When the family came into town, there was no house to stay at. So, Francesco moved into the Vatican Palace, a temporary arrangement.

In 1460, Francesco became the archbishop of Siena. At 21, he was already a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Curia. Although he was granted the title and insignia of archbishop, he was not ordained. The actual episcopal duties were carried out by an auxiliary. When Pope Pius Ii visited Siena that March, he appointed Francesco cardinal of St. ‘Eustachio, then named him a cardinal deacon 21 days later. At the same time, he was named commendatory abbot of the monastery of San Vigilio in Siena. He reconstructed and expanded the residence next to the church, then called it home the rest of his life. 1460 was a very important year in other ways. Pius II named him legate of the March d’Ancona, with the older, experienced Bishop of Marsico as counselor. He was a very effective legate, traveling there twice, in 1460 and 1461.

When Francesco returned, he was offered the position of archdeacon of Brabant in Cambrai, which he kept until his election as pope. The next year, he was granted commendatory abbot status at a monastery on Aventine Hill. He chose to fix that place up too.

In June of 1464, Pius II departed Rome to meet with the Venetians and launch a crusade in the Balkans. He died in Ancora that August, destroying the chance of that crusade going forward. Before he left, he named Francesco Vicar of Rome and the Papal States. In the conclave that followed, Cardinal Barbo of Venice became Pope Paul II.

In 1471, Francesco was the papal legate to Germany where he attended the imperial diet at Ratisbon. He returned too late to attend the conclave where Sixtus IV was elected. He served as Sixtus’s legate to Umbria.

In 1484, he did attend the conclave where Pope Innocent VIII was elected. An honest man, he was not accused of engaging in the simoniac trading that occurred. In 1485, he was the administrator of Fermo until 1494 in favor of Agostino Piccolomini, a cousin. He received the job back in 1498 and held it until his election. In 1488, he became papal legate to Perugia and left the Vatican for a year.

In 1492, Borgia was elected pope, taking the name Alexander VI. Francesco resisted voting for Borgia but had to crown him. Alexander VI named Francesco protector of England that same year. Then legate to King Charles VIII of France two years later. Three years later he was on the commission to investigate the assassination of Giovanni Borgia, the Pope’s son. At the turn of the century, he was on the commission to finance a crusade.

Pope Alexander died 18 August 1503. Another conclave was set up. There was trouble with the Orsini and Colonna factions. They were asked to stay away from Rome. But they wanted to avenge their old grievances. Negotiations to pacify them held up the conclave until 16 September. The election took place 22 September, when Francesco was chosen as a compromise between the Borgia and the Della Rovere parties. He was a frail man with much experience.

Being politically astute, Francesco, now Pius III, was pressed by the Spanish ambassador. He held an emergency consistory meeting on the 25th, even before the coronation. The French army was on its way to attack Naples, a Spanish governed area. But Naples was a papal fief. The French wanted to go through Rome. Pius wanted peace. The next day he had surgery on his ulcerous leg. On the 30th, he had to be ordained a priest and the next day consecrated a bishop. News was already out that the Pope would not last long. His coronation on the 8th saw him sitting to celebrate Mass. On the 12th, the doctors put him on medicine for the leg, which surely had begun to fester. He died on the 18th, having been pope less than a month. He was only 64, but exhausted.