Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini and Tendencies towards a National Church during the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

The relationship between political and religious authorities, or more simply between the State and the Church, is one of the most popular themes in ecclesiastical historiography, at least in the tradition of Western Christianity. It was in the context of this discussion that the notion of Staatskirchentum was hatched. In the present paper, we consider an earlier phase of the phenomenon, tracing it from the beginning of the 14^th to the middle of the 15^th century. With the gradual emergence of states in the present sense of the word in Europe, it was only then that it could be established for the first time.

As a participant and voice at the Council of Basel, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini was an important co-creator of the moment when Staatskirchentum was emerging as a welcome alternative (at least in the eyes of the Basel ‘Council fathers’) to papal absolutism. As a diplomat in the service of Frederick III and Pope Eugene IV, he left his mark on the Vienna Concordat as a document that is seen by many as one of the highlights of the early phase of Staatskirchentum in the area of Western Christendom. Thanks to his often visible sparring with the aforementioned Frederick III, it is even possible to regard his ecclesiastical career as a practical realisation of the concept. The foundation of the Ljubljana diocese can be placed in the same context as well. But on the other hand, Piccolomini, by then Pius II, took several decisive steps away from Staatskirchentum, which clearly showed the limitations of the model in European Catholicism.