This revelation of disaffection, together with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, darkened the last years of Pope Nicholas. The council prohibited simony and lay investiture, declaring that no priest or cleric could accept a church from a layman.

Saint Nicholas I, byname Nicholas the Great, (born c. 800, Rome—died November 13, 867, Rome; feast day November 13), pope from 858 to 867, master theorist of papal power, considered to have been the most forceful of the early medieval pontiffs, whose pontificate was the most important of the Carolingian period and prepared the way for the 11th-century reform popes.

[18] The Pope himself was a man of vast erudition, and his friend Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II, said of him that "what he does not know is outside the range of human knowledge". Pope Nicholas V (Latin: Nicholaus V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death. Upon this John fled from Rome.

Nihil Obstat. Kirsch, J.P. (1911). In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Politically, he needed to repair relationships which had broken down in the pontificate of Eugene IV. Christianity in Western Europe was then in a most melancholy condition.

He took his name Nicholas in memory of his obligations to Niccolò Albergati. [5], In undertaking these works, Nicholas was moved "to strengthen the weak faith of the populace by the greatness of that which it sees". Born in a region near Cluny, Gerard was most likely exposed to the reformist zeal of the monastery there. MLA citation. The pontificate of Nicholas saw the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks and the end of the Hundred Years War.

Archbishop John of Ravenna oppressed the inhabitants of the papal territory, treated his suffragan bishops with violence, made unjust demands upon them for money, and illegally imprisoned priests. Conc. Shortly before the pope’s death in 1061, the German bishops declared all Nicholas’s decrees void and broke off relations with Rome. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11054a.htm. Christian morality was despised; many bishops were worldly and unworthy of their office.

868, in "Mon.

A much discussed question and one that is important in judging the position taken by this pope is, whether he made use of the forged pseudo-Isidorian papal decretals. At his first council, held in the Lateran at Easter in 1059, Nicholas issued a decree on papal elections, which was intended to prevent interference by the nobility and to regularize the succession. Kirsch, Johann Peter. Nicholas’s short but eventful reign left a profound mark on the medieval church and papacy. [14] The decoration of the Niccoline Chapel by Fra Angelico demonstrated this message through its depictions of St Lawrence (martyred for refusing to hand to the Roman state the wealth of the Church) and St Stephen.[15]. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). At the papal conclave of 1447 he was elected pope in succession to Eugene IV on 6 March. Enrique IV of Castile threatened war. When Pope Stephen IX (or X; 1057–58) fell ill, he requested that no election of a successor be held until his legate Hildebrand (later Pope Gregory VII) returned from Germany. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Chris Hidley. At Rome, Nicholas rebuilt and endowed several churches, and constantly sought to encourage religious life.

He was escorted to Rome by Godfrey and the German chancellor for Italy, Wibert of Ravenna (later antipope Clement [III]).

Nicholas answered these inquiries exhaustively in the celebrated "Responsa Nicolai ad consulta Bulgarorum" (Mansi, "Coll. Pope Nicholas V (Latin: Nicholaus V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death. Nicholas II, pope from 1059 to 1061, a major figure in the Gregorian Reform. Issued less than a year before the fall of Constantinople, the bull may have been intended to begin another crusade against the Ottoman Empire. Already distinguished for his piety, benevolence, ability, knowledge, and eloquence, he entered, at an early age, the service of the Church, was made subdeacon by Pope Sergius II (844-47), and deacon by Leo IV (847-55). [21] The geographical area of the concession given in the bull is not explicit, but historian Richard Raiswell finds that it clearly refers to the recently discovered lands along the coast of West Africa. He took the name Nicholas in honour of his early benefactor, Niccolò Albergati. Three days after, he gave a farewell banquet to the emperor, and afterward, accompanied by the Roman nobility, visited him in his camp before the city, on which occasion the emperor came to meet the pope and led his horse for some distance. He was of a distinguished family, being the son of the Defensor Theodore, and received an excellent training. He added a substantial new wing including a private chapel to the Vatican, and – according to [[ Giannozzo Manetti], biographer of Nicholas – planned substantial changes to the Borgo district.

Pope Eugene made him a cardinal in 1446 after successful trips to Italy and Germany, and when Eugene died the next year Parentucelli was elected in his place.

Afonso V appealed to the Pope for moral support of Portugal's right to a monopoly of trade in lands she discovered. Nicholas showed the same zeal in other efforts to maintain ecclesiastical discipline, especially as to the marriage laws. Corrections? "As Thomas of Sarzana", he said, "I had more happiness in a day than now in a whole year". Pope St. Nicholas I. Damian’s departure was most damaging to Benedict’s succession because, as bishop of Ostia, Damian was responsible for consecrating the new pope. He was filled with a high conception of his mission for the vindication of Christian morality , the defence of God's law against powerful bishops . ", XV, 401 sqq.).

The concessions given in them were confirmed by bulls issued by Pope Callixtus III (Inter Caetera quae in 1456), Sixtus IV (Aeterni regis in 1481), and they became the models for subsequent bulls issued by Pope Alexander VI: Eximiae devotionis (3 May 1493), Inter Caetera (4 May 1493) and Dudum Siquidem (23 September 1493), in which he conferred similar rights to Spain relating to the newly discovered lands in the Americas. In 1454 a fleet of caravels from Seville and Cádiz traded along the African coast and upon their return, were intercepted by a Portuguese squadron. Frankish bishops had excommunicated Judith, and Hincmar of Reims had taken sides against her, but Nicholas urged leniency, in order to protect freedom of marriage. [3], In only eight years, his pontificate delivered important achievements in the political, scientific, and literary history of the world. [23], The Portuguese claimed territorial rights along the African coast by virtue of having invested time and treasure in discovering it; the Castilian claim was based on their being the heirs of the Visigoths. As soon as the new pontiff was firmly seated on his throne, it was felt that a new spirit had come into the papacy. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Verso. The Aqua Virgo aqueduct, originally constructed by Agrippa, was restored by Nicholas and emptied into a simple basin that Alberti designed, the predecessor of the Trevi Fountain. Transcription. [2] The Lunigiana region had long been fought over by competing Tuscan, Ligurian and Milanese forces.