Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Abbreviations xiii
5. The Commentaries of Pope Pius II (1458–1464) and the Crisis of the Fifteenth-Century Papacy 1
6. Introduction 3
7. 1. An Institution in Crisis: The Papal Monarchy on the Eve of Pius II’s Pontificate 18
8. 2. The Conciliar Crisis in the Career of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini and the Pontificate of Pius II 45
9. 3. Papal Sovereignty and the Challenge of Princes: The Experience of Aeneas and Pius 86
10. 4. Pius II and the Triumph over Conciliarism: A New Reading of the Commentaries 113
11. 5. The Triumph over the Princes and the Triumph of a Prince 156
12. 6. Portraits of Princes in the Portrait of Pius II 189
13. Conclusion 221
14. Notes 225
15. Bibliography 297
16. Index 317