Pope Paul II

Venice-born Pietro Barbo's adoption of a spiritual career, after having been trained as a merchant, had been prompted by his maternal uncle's election as Pope Pope Eugene IV in 1431.

Barbo’s consequent promotion has been rapid; he had become a cardinal in 1440 and has gained popularity through his tenderhearted generosity.

He is elected Pope by the accessus in the first ballot, by a majority of fourteen of the nineteen cardinals in conclave on August 30, 1464, to succeed Pope Pius II.

Beforehand, in order to secure to the cardinals a greater share of power than they had enjoyed under Pius II, a capitulation had been subscribed by all except Ludovico Trevisan; it binds the future pope to continue the Turkish war, but he is not to journey outside Rome without the consent of a majority of the cardinals, nor to leave Italy without the consent of all.

The maximum number of cardinals is limited to twenty-four, and any new pope is to be limited to only one cardinal-nephew.

All creations of new cardinals and advancements to certain important benefices are to be made only with the consent of the College of Cardinals.

Upon taking office as Paul II, the Pope is to convene an ecumenical council within three years.

But these terms of subscription are modified by Paul II at his own discretion, and this action loses him the confidence of the College of Cardinals.

The justification for setting aside the capitulations, seen to be under way by the Duke of Milan's ambassador as early as September 21, lies in connecting any abridgment of the pope's absolute monarchy in the Papal States with a consequent abridgment of his sole authority in spiritual matters.

Almost from his coronation, Paul had withdrawn and become inaccessible: audiences are only granted at night; even good friends wait a fortnight to see him; his suspicious nature is widely attested.

Regiomontanus builds a portable sundial for Pope Paul II in 1465.

In Epytoma in almagesti Ptolemei, he critiques the translation of Almagest by George of Trebizond, pointing out inaccuracies.

Later Nicolaus Copernicus will refer to this book as an influence on his own work.

George of Podébrady refusal of the Pope's command to abolish the “Compactata,” which had legitimized the Utraquist Hussite faction, had cost the him the support of the nobles of the papal party, who assemble at Zelená hora (Grüneberg) on November 28, 1465 to voice their grievances and conclude an alliance against the Bohemian king.

The confederacy is from its beginning supported by Pope Paul.

Pope Paul II, declaring George a heretic, excommunicates the Hussite monarch on December 23, 1465, along with other Hussites and pronounces his deposition as king of Bohemia, releasing all subjects of the Bohemian crown from their oaths of allegiance to George and ordering all the neighboring princes to depose him.

Emperor Frederick III and King Matthias of Hungary, George's former ally, join the insurgent Bohemian nobles.

Tensions with the College of Cardinals come to the fore in 1466 when Paul II, in an attempt to downsize redundant offices,  proceeds to annul the college of abbreviators, whose function it is to formulate papal documents.

A storm of indignation arises, inasmuch as rhetoricians and poets with humanist training, of which Paul deeply disapproves, have long been accustomed to benefiting from employment in such positions.

Bartolomeo Platina, who is one of these, writes a threatening letter to the Pope, and is imprisoned but later discharged.

The Second Peace of Thorn of 1466, a peace treaty signed in the Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń) on October 9, 1466 between the Polish king on one side, and the Teutonic Knights on the other, concludes the Thirteen Years' War that had begun in February 1454 with the revolt of the Prussian Confederation, led by the cities of Danzig (Gdańsk), Elbing (Elbląg), Kulm (Chełmno) and Thorn, and the Prussian gentry against the rule of the Teutonic Knights in the Monastic state.

Both sides agree to seek confirmation from Pope Paul II and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, but the Polish side stress (and the Teutonic side agrees) that this confirmation will not be needed for validation of the treaty.

In the treaty, the Teutonic Order cedes the territories of Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania) with Danzig, Chełmno Land with Kulm and Thorn, the mouth of the Vistula with Elbing and Marienburg (Malbork), and the Bishopric of Warmia (Ermland) with Allenstein (Olsztyn).

The Order also acknowledges the rights of the Polish Crown for Prussia's western half, subsequently known as Polish or Royal Prussia.

Formerly limited to Germans, the order is forced to accept Polish members.

As a consequence of the treaty, Warmia becomes an autonomous region ruled by bishop of Warmia.

Eastern Prussia, later called the Duchy of Prussia, will remain with the Teutonic Order until 1525; the Grand Master is supposed to swear a personal oath (the Prussian homage) to the king of Poland and to furnish him with military.

In order to avoid giving the oath, the new Grand Masters will simply make it their practice not to visit Prussia.

Platina is again imprisoned in 1467 on the charge of having participated in a conspiracy against the Pope, and is tortured along with other abbreviators, like Filip Callimachus (who will flee to Poland in 1478), all of whom have been accused of pagan views.

Pope Paul’s abuse of the practice of creating cardinals in pectore, without publishing their names, raises another sore point with the College of Cardinals.

Anxious to raise new cardinals to increase the number who are devoted to his interests, but restricted by the terms of the capitulation, which gives the College a voice in the creation of new members, in the winter of 1464-65 Paul had created two secret cardinals both of whom had died before their names could be published.

In his fourth year, on September 18, 1467, he creates eight new cardinals; five are candidates pressed by kings, placating respectively James II of Cyprus, Edward IV of England, Louis XI of France, Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Ferdinand I of Naples; one is the able administrator of the Franciscans; the last two elevate his old tutor and a first cardinal-nephew.

The papacy persuades Uzun Hasan, leader of the Ak Koyunlu (“White Sheep”) Turkmen tribal federation and a major opponent of the Ottomans, to join with the Timurid principality of Karaman in fighting Istanbul from the east during the middle phase of the current war between the Ottomans and Venice.

Ottoman sultan Mehmed II captures Karaman, then drives Hasan’s forces eastward until 1473, when his defeat of the white sheep at Bashkent forces them into Persia and angers the Mamluks of Syria and Egypt.

The moderate rule of George of Podebrady, king of Bohemia, is seldom peaceful, but he apparently embodies the religious and national aspirations of his people.

An early champion of European unity, he proposes a league of princes to deal with general European problems.

George’s continued allegiance to Hussitism has earned him papal excommunication and alienated most of his Catholic neighbors.

Bohemia’s Catholic nobility, in opposition to their excommunicated king, had elected George's former ally, Hungarian monarch Matthias Corvinus, king of Bohemia on May 3 of 1467.

King Matthias and Emperor Frederick III join the insurgent Bohemian nobles, starting the Bohemian War in 1468.

The ambitious Matthias, at the pope’s behest, expels the Czech troops from Austria and invades Moravia and Silesia, conquering the Moravian capital of Brno in 1468 in a crusade against the “heretical” Bohemian monarch.

George’s son Victor leads troops into Hungary, lifting the morale of his nationalist supporters.