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Apostolic Majesty

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His (Royal) Apostolic Majesty was a styled title used by the Kings of Hungary , in the sense of being latter-day apostles of Christianity .

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124-574: The origin of this title dates from about A.D. 1000 when Pope Silvester II conferred it upon Saint Stephen I (975–1038), the first Christian king of Hungary in recognition of the king's promotion of the introduction of Christianity into Hungary and of his zeal in seeking the conversion of the heathen. According to tradition, Stephen also received the ecclesiastical title of " Apostolic Legate ". The Habsburg dynasty , after its members became Kings of Hungary from 1526, saw themselves as heirs of Saint Stephen (reigned ca. 997–1038), inheritors of

248-524: A bloodless revolution permitted the return of the Medici. Giovanni's younger brother Giuliano was placed at the head of the republic, but Giovanni managed the government. Giovanni was elected pope on 9 March 1513, and this was proclaimed two days later. The absence of the French cardinals effectively reduced the election to a contest between Giovanni (who had the support of the younger and noble members of

372-553: A capital value of approximately 3,000,000 ducats and a yearly income of 328,000 ducats. Leo X raised the Church to a high rank as the friend of whatever seemed to extend knowledge or to refine and embellish life. He made the capital of Christendom , Rome, a centre of European culture . While yet a cardinal, he had restored the church of Santa Maria in Domnica after Raphael's designs; and as pope he had San Giovanni dei Fiorentini , on

496-449: A contemporary and eye-witness at Leo's Court (Matteo Herculaneo), emphasized his belief that Leo was chaste all his life. Historians have dealt with the issue of Leo's sexuality at least since the late 18th century, and few have given credence to the imputations made against him in his later years and decades following his death, or else have at least regarded them as unworthy of notice; without necessarily reaching conclusions on whether he

620-406: A crusade. A truce was to be proclaimed throughout Christendom; the pope was to be the arbiter of disputes; the emperor and the king of France were to lead the army; England, Spain and Portugal were to furnish the fleet; and the combined forces were to be directed against Constantinople . Papal diplomacy in the interests of peace failed, however; Cardinal Thomas Wolsey made England, not the pope,

744-524: A fine ear and a melodious voice, loved music to the pitch of fanaticism". As pope he procured the services of professional singers, instrumentalists and composers from as far away as France, Germany and Spain. Francesco Canova da Milano , the foremost lute composer of his time, was prominent in his musical establishment. Next to goldsmiths, the highest salaries recorded in the papal accounts are those paid to musicians, who also received largesse from Leo's private purse. Their services were retained not so much for

868-595: A group cause of martyrs. The most notable canonization from his papacy was that of Francis of Paola on 1 May 1519. That Leo did not do more to check the anti-papal rebellion in Germany and Scandinavia is to be partially explained by the political complications of the time, and by his own preoccupation with papal and Medicean politics in Italy. The death of the Emperor Maximilian in 1519 had seriously affected

992-417: A letter of 984, Gerbert asks Lupitus of Barcelona for a book on astrology and astronomy , two terms historian S. Jim Tester says Gerbert used synonymously. Gerbert is sometimes credited with the invention of the first mechanical clock in 996, though it was perhaps only an elaborate water clock , as the verge and foliot does not appear to have been invented until the 13th century. Gerbert may have been

1116-524: A measure that cardinals should restrict the number of boys they kept for their pleasure, "otherwise it would have been spread throughout the world how openly and shamelessly the pope and the cardinals in Rome practice sodomy." Against this allegation is the papal bull Supernae dispositionis arbitrio from 1514 which, inter alia , required cardinals to live "... soberly, chastely, and piously, abstaining not only from evil but also from every appearance of evil" and

1240-523: A monk named Raimund, who admired his desire of knowledge and assisted him in his studies. Around 963, he entered the Monastery of St. Gerald of Aurillac . In 967, Count Borrell II of Barcelona (947–992) visited the monastery, and the abbot asked the count to take Gerbert with him so that the lad could study mathematics in Catalonia and acquire there some knowledge of Arabic learning. While away from

1364-409: A number almost unprecedented in the history of the papacy . Among the nominations were such notable men such as Lorenzo Campeggio , Giovanni Battista Pallavicino , Adrian of Utrecht , Thomas Cajetan , Cristoforo Numai and Egidio Canisio . The naming of seven members of prominent Roman families, however, reversed the policy of his predecessor which had kept the political factions of the city out of

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1488-540: A partisan of Emperor Henry IV who opposed Pope Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy . According to the legend, Gerbert, traveled to Spain in order to further his knowledge of the lawful arts, as defined by the quadrivium. Gerbert quickly became more knowledgeable than anyone around him in mathematics, astronomy, and astrology. This is the point in William of Malmesbury's testimony where Gerbert

1612-515: A period for 15 years from 22 October 1513. In addition to fostering the performance of sung Masses, he promoted the singing of the Gospel in Greek in his private chapel. Even those who defend him against the more outlandish attacks on his character acknowledge that he partook of entertainment such as masquerades, "jests," fowling, and hunting boar and other wild beasts. According to one biographer, he

1736-569: A plan by which a formal state church should be established in Denmark, all appeals to Rome should be abolished, and the king and diet should have final jurisdiction in ecclesiastical causes. Leo sent a new nuncio to Copenhagen (1521) in the person of the Minorite Francesco de Potentia, who readily absolved the king and received the bishopric of Skara . The pope or his legate, however, took no steps to correct abuses or otherwise discipline

1860-527: A practice that was soon challenged by Martin Luther 's 95 Theses . Leo rejected the Protestant Reformation , and his Papal bull of 1520, Exsurge Domine , condemned Luther's condemnatory stance, rendering ongoing communication difficult. He borrowed and spent money without circumspection and was a significant patron of the arts. Under his reign, Marco Girolamo Vida began composing at

1984-458: A shieldmaker of Rheims. According to his pupil Richer, Gerbert could perform speedy calculations with his abacus that were extremely difficult for people in his day to think through using only Roman numerals . Due to Gerbert's reintroduction, the abacus became widely used in Europe once again during the 11th century. Bernelinus of Paris, who was probably a pupil of Gerbert, wrote a book called

2108-495: A story that when someone had quoted to Leo a passage from one of the Four Evangelists , he had replied that it was common knowledge "how profitable that fable of Christe hath ben to us and our companie". These aspersions and more were examined by William Roscoe in the 19th century (and again by Ludwig von Pastor in the 20th) and rejected. Nevertheless, even the eminent philosopher David Hume , while claiming that Leo

2232-465: A textbook for his pupils that would illustrate proper letter writing. His books on mathematics and astronomy were not research-oriented; his texts were primarily educational guides for his students. Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( Italian : Leone X ; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici , 11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of

2356-476: A treaty of alliance was signed at Rome between him and the emperor. Milan and Genoa were to be taken from France and restored to the Empire, and Parma and Piacenza were to be given to the Church on the expulsion of the French. The expense of enlisting 10,000 Swiss was to be borne equally by Pope and emperor. Charles V took Florence and the Medici family under his protection and promised to punish all enemies of

2480-432: A wide variety of western European authors. He wrote to many monks and abbots in Europe requesting classical literature from their monasteries. Gerbert was also able to acquire some work from earlier era authors such as Cicero and Statius . Two specific requests Gerbert made that documentation exists for are letters sent to Lupitus of Barcelona and Bishop Miró Bonfill of Girona, asking the former for an astrology book and

2604-404: A wooden bridge, where, suspended between heaven and earth, he was invisible to the magician. Gerbert was supposed to have built a brazen head . This "robotic" head would answer his questions with "yes" or "no". He was also reputed to have had a pact with a female demon called Meridiana, who had appeared after he had been rejected by his earthly love, and with whose help he managed to ascend to

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2728-549: Is a good-natured and extremely free-hearted man, who avoids every difficult situation and above all wants peace; he would not undertake a war himself unless his own personal interests were involved; he loves learning; of canon law and literature he possesses remarkable knowledge; he is, moreover, a very excellent musician. Leo is the fifth of the six popes who are unfavourably profiled by historian Barbara Tuchman in The March of Folly , and who are accused by her of precipitating

2852-458: Is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" [Rom. 9:16]; and according to the testimony of Daniel: "He changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings and setteth up kings; he revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness" [Dan. 2:21, 22]; for in him is that light which, as John teaches, "lighteth every man that cometh into the world" [John 1:9]. Therefore we first give thanks to God

2976-491: Is noted by the 19th-century historian Lewis L. Kropf as a possible forgery of the 17th century. Likewise, the 20th-century historian Zoltan J. Kosztolnyik states that "it seems more than unlikely that Rome would have acted in fulfilling Stephen's request for a crown without the support and approval of the emperor ." Though the testimony of William of Malmesbury did much to discredit and defame Gerbert, there were many important intellectual distinctions made from it. For example,

3100-503: Is recorded as 580,000 ducats, of which 420,000 came from the states of the Church, 100,000 from annates , and 60,000 from the composition tax instituted by Sixtus IV. These sums, together with the considerable amounts accruing from indulgences, jubilees, and special fees, vanished as quickly as they were received. To remain financially solvent, the Pope resorted to desperate measures: instructing his cousin, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici , to pawn

3224-633: Is reminiscent of the "Tironian note" for the Latin word "ter" from the Roman shorthand. The reason for this is not known, but it is speculated that Bernelinus did not want to use an "unbeliever" symbol to indicate the number that represents the Holy Trinity. Although lost to Europe since the terminus of the Greco-Roman era, Gerbert reintroduced the astronomical armillary sphere to Latin Europe via

3348-474: Is said to have begun learning the dark arts. During Gerberts time in Spain, he was said to live with a Saracen philosopher, who was responsible for giving this knowledge to Sylvester. This knowledge was first obtained through using money and promises as bartering chips for the philosoper's books, which Gerbert translated and learned from. Despite his efforts, there was one book that Gerbert was not able to coax from

3472-582: The Augustinians to impose silence on his monks . On 24 May, Luther sent an explanation of his theses to the pope; on 7 August he was summoned to appear at Rome. An arrangement was effected, however, whereby that summons was cancelled, and Luther went instead to Augsburg in October 1518 to meet the papal legate, Cardinal Cajetan ; but neither the arguments of the cardinal, nor Leo's dogmatic papal bull of 9 November requiring all Christians to believe in

3596-616: The College of Cardinals . Early on in his rule he oversaw the closing sessions of the Fifth Council of the Lateran , but struggled to implement the reforms agreed. In 1517 he led a costly war that succeeded in securing his nephew Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici as Duke of Urbino , but reduced papal finances. In Protestant circles, Leo is associated with granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica ,

3720-524: The Habsburg monarchy seemed to give some promise of a Christendom united against the Turks, Leo obtained 150,000 ducats towards the expenses of the expedition from Henry VIII of England , in return for which he entered the imperial league of Spain and England against France. The war lasted from February to September 1517 and ended with the expulsion of the duke and the triumph of Lorenzo; but it revived

3844-484: The Liber Abaci where he discussed the abacus' design. In this book, he individually introduced the "Hindu-Arabic" symbols the abacus used and related them to the more common Latin numerical nouns. Bernelinus' Liber Abaci has survived in 11 manuscripts from the 11th and 12th centuries. In two of them, probably the oldest ones, the number 3 is reproduced in a form that differs from the other manuscripts. This symbol

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3968-590: The Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death, in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Medici family of Florence , Giovanni was the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici , ruler of the Florentine Republic , and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1489. Following the death of Pope Julius II , Giovanni was elected pope after securing the backing of the younger members of

4092-585: The Protestant Reformation . Tuchman describes Leo as a cultured – if religiously devout – hedonist . Leo X's love for all forms of art stemmed from the humanistic education he received in Florence , his studies in Pisa and his extensive travel throughout Europe when a youth. He loved the Latin poems of the humanists, the tragedies of the Greeks and the comedies of Cardinal Bibbiena and Ariosto , while relishing

4216-517: The Reformation sparked by Martin Luther . In response to concerns about misconduct from some indulgence preachers, in 1517 Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-five Theses on the topic of indulgences. The resulting pamphlet spread Luther's ideas throughout Germany and Europe. Leo failed to fully comprehend the importance of the movement, and in February 1518 he directed the vicar-general of

4340-542: The Via Giulia , built, after designs by Jacopo Sansovino and pressed forward the work on St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican under Raphael and Agostino Chigi . Leo's constitution of 5 November 1513 reformed the Roman university, which had been neglected by Julius II. He restored all its faculties, gave larger salaries to the professors, and summoned distinguished teachers from afar; and, although it never attained to

4464-626: The abacus , armillary sphere , and water organ , which had been lost to Latin Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire . He is said to be the first in Christian Europe (outside of Al-Andalus ) to introduce the decimal numeral system using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system . Gerbert was born about 946, or at any rate between 945 and 950. His exact birthplace is unknown, but it must have been in what

4588-479: The cathedral school of Rheims where he was soon appointed a teacher by Archbishop Adalberon in 973. He remained in this position until 989, with the only gap being his time as the head of the monastery of Bobbio from 981 to 983. When Otto II became sole emperor in 973, he appointed Gerbert the abbot of the monastery of Bobbio and also appointed him as count of the district, but the abbey had been ruined by previous abbots, and Gerbert soon returned to Rheims. After

4712-745: The Catholic faith. Leo agreed to invest Charles V with the Kingdom of Naples , to crown him Holy Roman Emperor , and to aid in a war against Venice. It was provided that England and the Swiss might also join the league. Henry VIII announced his adherence in August 1521. Francis I of France had already begun war with Charles V in Navarre , and in Italy, too, the French made the first hostile movement on 23 June 1521. Leo at once announced that he would excommunicate

4836-501: The Church. To the virtues of liberality, charity, and clemency he added the Machiavellian qualities of deception and shrewdness, so highly esteemed by the princes of his time. The character of Leo X was formerly assailed by lurid aspersions of debauchery, murder, impiety, and atheism. In the 17th century it was estimated that 300 or 400 writers, more or less, reported (on the authority of a single polemical anti-Catholic source)

4960-544: The Curia. Other promotions were for political or family considerations or to secure money for the war against Urbino. The pope was accused of having exaggerated the conspiracy of the cardinals for purposes of financial gain, but most of such accusations appear unsubstantiated. Leo, meanwhile, felt the need of staying the advance of the Ottoman sultan , Selim I , who was threatening eastern Europe , and made elaborate plans for

5084-517: The Father, and to our Lord Jesus Christ, because he has found in our time another David, and has again raised up a man after his own heart to feed his people Israel, that is, the chosen nation of the Hungarians. Secondly, we praise you for your piety toward God and for your reverence for this apostolic see, over which, not by our own merits, but by the mercy of God, we now preside. Finally, we commend

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5208-541: The Hungarian nation; and we now give it back to you and to your heirs and successors to be held, possessed, ruled, and governed. And your heirs and successors, who shall have been legally elected by the nobles, shall duly offer obedience and reverence to us and to our successors in their own persons or by ambassadors, and shall confess themselves the subjects of the Roman church, who does not hold her subjects as slaves, but receives them all as children. They shall persevere in

5332-561: The Hungarians. Leo treated the Eastern Catholic Greeks with great loyalty, and by a bull of 18 May 1521 forbade Latin clergy to celebrate mass in Greek churches and Latin bishops to ordain Greek clergy. These provisions were later strengthened by Clement VII and Paul III and went far to settle the constant disputes between the Latins and Uniate Greeks. Leo was disturbed throughout his pontificate by schism, especially

5456-591: The Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus, which was at that time at the "cutting edge" of civilization. The details of Gerbert's armillary sphere are revealed in letters from Gerbert to his former student and monk Remi of Trèves and to his colleague Constantine, the abbot of Micy , as well as the accounts of his former student and French nobleman Richer, who served as a monk in Rheims . Richer stated that Gerbert discovered that stars coursed in an oblique direction across

5580-623: The King of Hungary bore this title after his coronation , though it did not extend to the King's spouse ( Empress-consort of Austria), nor to his heir, who was crowned rex junior during the King's lifetime. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Franz Joseph I of Austria was titled "His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty" ( Seine Kaiserliche und Königlich Apostolische Majestät, Hungarian: Ő császári és apostoli királyi Felsége ) along with his consort Empress Elisabeth , who

5704-594: The Papal jewels; palace furniture; tableware; and even statues of the apostles. Additionally, Leo sold cardinals' hats; memberships to a fraternal order he invented in 1520, the Papal Knights of St. Peter and St. Paul ; and borrowed such immense sums from bankers that upon his death, many were ruined. At Leo's death, the Venetian ambassador Gradenigo estimated the number of the Church's paying offices at 2,150, with

5828-653: The Pope's request a Virgilian Latin epic poem about the life of Jesus called the Christiad , progress was made on the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica , and artists such as Raphael decorated the Vatican rooms . Leo also reorganised the Roman University , and promoted Renaissance humanist study of literature, poetry, and Classics . He died in 1521 and is buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva , Rome. He

5952-620: The Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", was posted on a Church door in Wittenberg, Germany in October 1517 just seven months after the Lateran V was completed. But Pope Leo X's attempt to prosecute Luther's teaching on indulgences, and to eventually excommunicate him in January 1521, did not get rid of Lutheran doctrine but had the opposite effect of further splintering the Western church. Leo

6076-680: The Reformation but to fuel it. A key issue was that his pontificate failed to bring about the reforms decreed by the Fifth Lateran Council (held between 1512 and 1517) which aimed to deal with many of their political problems as well as to reform Christendom, specifically relating to the papacy, cardinals, and curia. Some believe enforcing these decrees may have been enough to dampen support for radical challenges to church authority. But instead under his leadership, Rome's fiscal and political problems were deepened. A major contributor

6200-629: The Scandinavian churches. The pope created 42 new cardinals in eight consistories including two cousins (one who would become his successor Pope Clement VII) and a nephew. He also elevated Adriaan Florensz Boeyens into the cardinalate who would become his immediate successor Pope Adrian VI. Leo X's consistory of 1 July 1517 saw 31 cardinals created, and this remained the largest allocation of cardinals in one consistory until Pope John Paul II named 42 cardinals in 2001. Pope Leo X canonized eleven individuals during his reign with seven of those being

6324-634: The accession of Pope Julius II to the pontificate; the death of Piero de' Medici in the same year made Giovanni head of his family. On 1 October 1511, he was appointed papal legate of Bologna and the Romagna , and when the Florentine republic declared in favour of the schismatic Pisans, Julius II sent Giovanni (as legate) with the Papal army venturing against the French. The French won a major battle and captured Giovanni. This and other attempts to regain political control of Florence were frustrated until

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6448-663: The accounts sent back by the explorers of the New World . Yet "Such a humanistic interest was itself religious. ... In the Renaissance , the vines of the classical world and the Christian world, of Rome, were seen as intertwined. It was a historically minded culture where artists' representations of Cupid and the Madonna , of Hercules and St. Peter could exist side-by-side". Pastor says that "From his youth, Leo, who had

6572-467: The actual 66° 33'. His positioning of the Tropic of Cancer at 24 degree was nearly exact, while his positioning of the equator was correct by definition. Richer also revealed how Gerbert made the planets more easily observable in his armillary sphere: He succeeded equally in showing the paths of the planets when they come near or withdraw from the earth. He fashioned first an armillary sphere. He joined

6696-713: The agitation of Girolamo Savonarola and the invasion of Charles VIII of France , until the uprising of the Florentines and the expulsion of the Medici in November 1494. While Piero found refuge at Venice and Urbino , Giovanni traveled in Germany, in the Netherlands , and in France . In May 1500, he returned to Rome, where he was received with outward cordiality by Pope Alexander VI, and where he lived for several years immersed in art and literature. In 1503 he welcomed

6820-682: The apostolic see, the right to have the cross borne before you as a sign of apostleship,{68} after you have been crowned with the crown which we send and according to the ceremony which we have committed to your ambassadors. And we likewise give you full power by our apostolic authority to control and manage all the churches of your realm, both present and future, as divine grace may guide you, as representing us and our successors. All these things are contained more fully and explicitly in that general letter which we have sent by our messenger to you and to your nobles and faithful subjects. And we pray that omnipotent God, who called you even from your mother’s womb to

6944-571: The arbiter between France and the Empire; and much of the money collected for the crusade from tithes and indulgences was spent in other ways. In 1519 Hungary concluded a three years' truce with Selim I, but the succeeding sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent , renewed the war in June 1521 and on 28 August captured the citadel of Belgrade . The pope was greatly alarmed, and although he was then involved in war with France he sent about 30,000 ducats to

7068-694: The author of a description of the astrolabe that was edited by Hermannus Contractus some 50 years later. Besides these, as Sylvester II he wrote a dogmatic treatise, De corpore et sanguine Domini —On the Body and Blood of the Lord. The legend of Gerbert grows from the work of the English monk William of Malmesbury in De Rebus Gestis Regum Anglorum and a polemical pamphlet, Gesta Romanae Ecclesiae contra Hildebrandum , by Cardinal Beno ,

7192-464: The authority of omnipotent God and of St. Peter, the prince of apostles, we freely grant, concede, and bestow with our apostolic benediction all that you have sought from us and from the apostolic see; namely, the royal crown and name, the creation of the metropolitanate of Gran, and of the other bishoprics. Moreover, we receive under the protection of the holy church the kingdom which you have surrendered to St. Peter, together with yourself and your people,

7316-475: The bull Decet Romanum Pontificem or It Befits the Roman Pontiff , on 3 January 1521. In a brief, the Pope also directed Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to take energetic measures against heresy. Leo was pope during the spread of Lutheranism into Scandinavia . The pope had repeatedly used the rich northern benefices to reward members of the Roman curia, and towards the close of the year 1516, he sent

7440-419: The cardinals. The sacred college had allegedly grown very worldly and troublesome since the time of Sixtus IV , and Leo took advantage of a plot by several of its members to poison him, not only to inflict exemplary punishments by executing one ( Alfonso Petrucci ) and imprisoning several others, but also to make radical changes in the college. On 3 July 1517, he published the names of thirty-one new cardinals,

7564-469: The catholic faith and the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and strive always to promote it. And because you have fulfilled the office of the apostles in preaching Christ and propagating his faith, and have tried to do in your realm the work of us and of our clergy, and because you have honored the same prince of apostles above all others, therefore by this privilege we grant you and your successors, who shall have been legally elected and approved by

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7688-509: The city. In another version, he was even attacked by the Devil while he was reading the Mass, and the Devil mutilated him and gave his gouged-out eyes to demons to play with in the Church. Repenting, Sylvester II then cut off his hand and his tongue. The inscription on Gerbert's tomb reads in part Iste locus Silvestris membra sepulti venturo Domino conferet ad sonitum ("This place will yield to

7812-402: The college) and Raffaele Riario (who had the support of the older group). On 15 March 1513, he was ordained priest, and consecrated as bishop on 17 March. He was crowned pope on 19 March 1513 at the age of 37. He was the last non-priest to be elected pope. Leo had intended his younger brother Giuliano and his nephew Lorenzo for brilliant secular careers. He had named them Roman patricians ;

7936-485: The crown and title of King, returned the kingdom he had offered to the Holy See and granted administrative authority over bishoprics and churches, nevertheless made no mention of this particular title, though granting "you and your successors, who shall have been legally elected and approved by the apostolic see, the right to have the cross borne before you as a sign of apostleship". The Letter of Pope Sylvester II to Stephen of Hungary, 1000 AD . Sylvester, bishop, servant of

8060-447: The crown over the Catholic Church in Hungary were not based upon the title "Apostolic Majesty", but upon the supreme royal right of patronage . The title has not been used since the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. Although Hungary was again called a kingdom between 1920 and 1946 , it was led by a regent and did not have a monarch to whom the title could apply. The monarchs of other countries have received similar titles from

8184-596: The day; and as there are various duties incident to". His father prevailed on his relative Pope Innocent VIII to name him cardinal of Santa Maria in Domnica on 9 March 1489 when he was age 13, although he was not allowed to wear the insignia or share in the deliberations of the college until three years later. Meanwhile, he received an education at Lorenzo's humanistic court under such men as Angelo Poliziano , Pico della Mirandola , Marsilio Ficino and Bernardo Dovizio Bibbiena . From 1489 to 1491 he studied theology and canon law at Pisa . On 23 March 1492, he

8308-496: The death of Otto II in 983, Gerbert became involved in the politics of his time. In 985, with the support of his archbishop, he opposed King Lothair of France 's attempt to take Lorraine from Emperor Otto III by supporting Hugh Capet . Hugh became king of France , ending the Carolingian line of kings in 987. Adalberon died on 23 January 989. Gerbert was a natural candidate for his succession, but King Hugh appointed Arnulf , an illegitimate son of King Lothair, instead. Arnulf

8432-401: The delectation of Leo and his guests at private social functions as for the enhancement of religious services on which the pope placed great store. The standard of singing of the papal choir was a particular object of Leo's concern, with French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian singers being retained. Large sums of money were also spent on the acquisition of highly ornamented musical instruments, and he

8556-412: The emperor's death, although the rebellious nobility remained in power, and died a little later. Sylvester is buried in St. John Lateran . Gerbert of Aurillac was a noted humanist. He read Virgil , Cicero and Boethius ; he studied Latin translations of Porphyry and Aristotle . He had a very accurate classification of the different disciplines of philosophy. He was the first French pope . Gerbert

8680-407: The first circle; five between the first and the second; from the second to the third, four; from the third to the fourth, four again; five from the fourth to the fifth; and from the fifth to the pole, six. On these five circles he placed obliquely the circles that the Greeks call loxos or zoe , the Latins obliques or vitalis (the zodiac) because it contained the figures of the animals ascribed to

8804-426: The imperial envoy to the College of Cardinals after the death of Pope Benedict XIV , hoping that the new pontiff would approve the title. Pope Clement XIII acceded, granting this title for the rulers of Hungary in a motu proprio , the Papal Brief "Carissima in Christo filia" of 19 August 1758. An edict of Maria Theresa prescribed the title "Apostolic King of Hungary" for all future official documents. Henceforth

8928-471: The impolitic Giovanni Angelo Arcimboldi as papal nuncio to Denmark to collect money for St Peter's. This led to the Reformation in Denmark . King Christian II took advantage of the growing dissatisfaction of the native clergy toward the papal government, and of Arcimboldi's interference in the Swedish revolt, to expel the nuncio and summon Lutheran theologians to Copenhagen in 1520. Christian approved

9052-428: The importance of Padua or Bologna , it nevertheless possessed in 1514 a faculty (with a good reputation) of eighty-eight professors. Leo called Janus Lascaris to Rome to give instruction in Greek, and established a Greek printing press from which the first Greek book printed in Rome appeared in 1515. He made Raphael custodian of the classical antiquities of Rome and the vicinity, the ancient monuments of which formed

9176-505: The intellectual centres of Europe at that time: the library of al-Hakam II , for example, had thousands of books (from science to Greek philosophy). This is where Gerbert was introduced to mathematics and astronomy . Borrell II was facing major defeat from the Andalusian powers so he sent a delegation to Córdoba to request a truce. Bishop Atto was part of the delegation that met with al-Ḥakam II, who received him with honour. Gerbert

9300-415: The king of France and release his subjects from their allegiance unless Francis I laid down his arms and surrendered Parma and Piacenza to the Church. The pope lived to hear the joyful news of the capture of Milan from the French and of the occupation by papal troops of the long-coveted provinces (November 1521). Having fallen ill with bronchopneumonia , Pope Leo X died on 1 December 1521, so suddenly that

9424-430: The kingdom and crown, and who has commanded us to give you the crown which we had prepared for the duke of Poland, may increase continually the fruits of your good works, and sprinkle with the dew of his benediction this young plant of your kingdom, and preserve you and your realm and protect you from all enemies, visible and invisible, and, after the trials of the earthly kingship are past, crown you with an eternal crown in

9548-502: The kingdom of heaven. Given at Rome, March 27, in the thirteenth indiction [AD 1000]. Pope Leo X having conferred the title of Defensor Fidei on Henry VIII of England in 1521, the nobles of Hungary, headed by Stephen Werbőczy , later Palatine of Hungary , negotiated unsuccessfully with the Holy See to confirm the title of "Apostolic Majesty" for King Louis II of Hungary . In 1627, Emperor Ferdinand III endeavoured to obtain

9672-410: The last sacraments could not be administered; but the contemporary suspicions of poison were unfounded. He was buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva . Leo has been criticized for his handling of the events of the papacy. He had a musical and pleasant voice and a cheerful temper. He was eloquent in speech and elegant in his manners and epistolary style. He enjoyed music and the theatre, art and poetry,

9796-492: The latter for an arithmetic book. It can be inferred from this that the library contained many volumes of books covering a wide variety of topics, but the exact size and influence the library had is seemingly unknown. In 969, Borrell II made a pilgrimage to Rome , taking Gerbert with him. There Gerbert met Pope John XIII and Emperor Otto I . The pope persuaded Otto I to employ Gerbert as a tutor for his young son, Otto II . Some years later, Otto I gave Gerbert leave to study at

9920-467: The latter he had placed in charge of Florence; the former, for whom he planned to carve out a kingdom in central Italy of Parma, Piacenza, Ferrara and Urbino, he had taken with himself to Rome and married to Filiberta of Savoy. The death of Giuliano in March 1516, however, caused the pope to transfer his ambitions to Lorenzo. At the very time (December 1516) that peace between France, Spain , Venice and

10044-416: The legend of Gerbert of Aurilac's talking head helped to describe the line between prohibited and permitted knowledge. Gerbert did work in music theory, mathematics, geometry, and several other fields accepted and taught in the quadrivium. All of the works he did related to these subjects were not brought into question and were accepted as well as appreciated. But works done outside of the accepted liberal arts

10168-455: The liberality you have shown in offering to St. Peter yourself and your people and your kingdom and possessions by the same ambassadors and letters. For by this deed you have clearly demonstrated that you already are what you have asked us to declare you [i.e., a king]. But enough of this; it is not necessary to commend him whom God himself has commended and whose deeds openly proclaim to be worthy of all commendation. Now therefore, glorious son, by

10292-493: The masterpieces of the ancients and the creations of his contemporaries, especially those seasoned with wit and learning. He especially delighted in ex tempore Latin verse-making (at which he excelled) and cultivated improvisatori . He is said to have stated, "Let us enjoy the papacy since God has given it to us", Ludwig von Pastor says that it is by no means certain that he made the remark; and historian Klemens Löffler says that "the Venetian ambassador who related this of him

10416-459: The monastery, Gerbert pursued studies in Barcelona, and also received Arabic instruction at Seville and Córdoba . Gerbert studied under the direction of Bishop Atto of Vich , some 60 km north of Barcelona, and probably also at the nearby Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll . Like all Catalan monasteries, it contained manuscripts from Moslem Spain and especially from Cordoba , one of

10540-549: The muddy riverbank below. Leo's most recent biographer, Carlo Falconi , says Leo hid a private life of moral irregularity behind a mask of urbanity. Scabrous verse libels of the type known as pasquinades were particularly abundant during the conclave which followed Leo's death in 1521 and made imputations about Leo's unchastity, implying or asserting homosexuality . Suggestions of homosexual attraction appear in works by two contemporary historians, Francesco Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio . Zimmerman notes Giovio's "disapproval of

10664-411: The night sky. Richer described Gerbert's use of the armillary sphere as a visual aid for teaching mathematics and astronomy in the classroom. Historian Oscar G. Darlington asserts that Gerbert's division by 60 degrees instead of 360 allowed the lateral lines of his sphere to equal to six degrees. By this account, the polar circle on Gerbert's sphere was located at 54 degrees, several degrees off from

10788-446: The numeral zero . According to the 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury , Gerbert got the idea of the computing device of the abacus from a Moorish scholar from University of Al-Qarawiyyin . The abacus that Gerbert reintroduced into Europe had its length divided into 27 parts with 9 number symbols (this would exclude zero, which was represented by an empty column) and 1,000 characters in all, crafted out of animal horn by

10912-672: The papal throne (another legend tells that he won the papacy playing dice with the Devil). According to the legend, Meridiana (or the bronze head) told Gerbert that if he should ever read a Mass in Jerusalem, the Devil would come for him. Gerbert then cancelled a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but when he read Mass in the church Santa Croce in Gerusalemme ("Holy Cross of Jerusalem") in Rome, he became sick soon afterwards and, dying, he asked his cardinals to cut up his body and scatter it across

11036-407: The papal treasury was 400,000 ducats in debt. This debt contributed not only to the calamities of Leo's own pontificate (particularly the sale of indulgences that precipitated Protestantism ) but severely constrained later pontificates (Pope Adrian VI ; and Leo's beloved cousin, Clement VII ) and forced austerity measures. Leo X's personal spending was likewise vast. For 1517, his personal income

11160-456: The philosopher. This book was said to contain all of the knowledge the Saracen philosopher had on the dark arts. After resorting to using wine, and intimacy with his daughter, Gerbert was able to steal the book from under the philosopher's pillow while he slept. Gerbert fled, pursued by the victim, who could trace the thief by the stars, but Gerbert was aware of the pursuit, and hid hanging from

11284-472: The planets. On the inside of this oblique circle he figured with an extraordinary art the orbits traversed by the planets, whose paths and heights he demonstrated perfectly to his pupils, as well as their respective distances. Richer wrote about another of Gerbert's last armillary spheres, which had sighting tubes fixed on the axis of the hollow sphere that could observe the constellations, the forms of which he hung on iron and copper wires. This armillary sphere

11408-408: The policy of Alexander VI, increased brigandage and anarchy in the Papal States , hindered the preparations for a crusade and wrecked the papal finances. Francesco Guicciardini reckoned the cost of the war to Leo at the sum of 800,000 ducats. Ultimately, however, Lorenzo was confirmed as the new duke of Urbino. The War of Urbino was further marked by a crisis in the relations between the pope and

11532-559: The pope's familiar banter with his chamberlains – handsome young men from noble families – and the advantage he was said to take of them." Luther spent a month in Rome in 1510, three years before Leo became pontiff, and was disillusioned at the corruption he found there. In 1520, the year before his excommunication from the Catholic Church, Luther claimed that Leo lived a "blameless life." However, Luther later distanced himself from this claim and alleged in 1531 that Leo had vetoed

11656-511: The pope's power to grant indulgences, moved Luther to retract. A year of fruitless negotiations followed, during which the controversy took popular root across the German states. A further papal bull of 15 June 1520, Exsurge Domine or Arise, O Lord , condemned forty-one propositions extracted from Luther's teachings, and was taken to Germany by Johann Eck in his capacity as apostolic nuncio . Leo followed by formally excommunicating Luther by

11780-564: The pope. He was then taken to the piazza of St Peter's and was mounted on the back of Hanno, a white elephant , the gift of King Manuel I of Portugal . The magnificently ornamented animal was then led off in the direction of the Capitol to the sound of drums and trumpets. But while crossing the bridge of Sant'Angelo over the Tiber , the elephant, already distressed by the noise and confusion around him, shied violently, throwing his passenger onto

11904-418: The pope: Pope Silvester II Pope Sylvester II ( Latin : Silvester II ; c.  946 – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac , was a scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Moorish and Greco-Roman arithmetic, mathematics and astronomy , reintroducing to Western Christendom

12028-472: The repute of your blameless life are too widely famed and too much reverenced throughout the world to be assailed by any man, of however great name, or by any arts. I am not so foolish to attack one whom everybody praises ... The final report of the Venetian ambassador Marino Giorgi supports Hume's assessment of affability and testifies to the range of Leo's talents. Bearing the date of March 1517 it indicates some of his predominant characteristics: The pope

12152-400: The servants of God, to Stephen, king of the Hungarians, greeting and apostolic benediction. Your ambassadors, especially our dear brother, Astricus, bishop of Colocza, were received by us with the greater joy and accomplished their mission with the greater ease, because we had been divinely forewarned to expect an embassy from a nation still unknown to us.... Surely, according to the apostle: "It

12276-569: The sick and unfortunate. Pope Leo X died suddenly of pneumonia at the age of 45 on 1 December 1521 and was buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. His death came just 10 months after he had excommunicated Martin Luther , the seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation, who was accused of 41 errors in his teachings. Possibly the most lasting legacy of the reign of Pope Leo X was his perceived failure not just to stem

12400-472: The situation. Leo vacillated between the powerful candidates for the succession, allowing it to appear at first that he favoured Francis or a minor German prince. He finally accepted Charles of Spain as inevitable. Leo was now eager to unite Ferrara , Parma and Piacenza to the Papal States. An attempt late in 1519 to seize Ferrara failed, and the pope recognized the need for foreign aid. In May 1521

12524-404: The sound [of the last trumpet] the limbs of buried Sylvester II, at the advent of the Lord", mis-read as "will make a sound") and has given rise to the curious legend that his bones will rattle in that tomb just before the death of a pope. The story of the crown and papal legate authority allegedly given to Stephen I of Hungary by Sylvester in the year 1000 (hence the title ' apostolic king ')

12648-493: The teacher of Otto III , and Pope Gregory V (996–999), Otto III's cousin, appointed him archbishop of Ravenna in 998. With imperial support, Gerbert was elected to succeed Gregory V as pope in 999. Gerbert took the name of Sylvester II, alluding to Sylvester I (314–335), the advisor to Emperor Constantine I (324–337). Soon after he became pope, Sylvester II confirmed the position of his former rival Arnulf as archbishop of Rheims. As pope, he took energetic measures against

12772-408: The title which they claimed had been bestowed by Pope Sylvester II . Arduin or Hartvik (1097–1103), bishop of Győr , the biographer of St. Stephen, recounts that the pope hailed the king as a veritable "Apostle" of Christ, with reference to his holy labours in spreading the Catholic faith through Hungary. However the papal bull of Sylvester II, dated 27 March 1000, though it granted St. Stephen

12896-511: The title, but was discouraged by the Primate of Hungary , Péter Pázmány and the Holy See. Later, when Emperor Leopold I (1657–1705) established supreme royal authority over ecclesiastical jurisdiction and administration, the title "Apostolic Majesty" came into use. Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresia , Queen of Hungary, used the title "Apostolic Queen" for the first time in letters patent to

13020-411: The two circles called by the Greeks coluri and by the Latins incidentes because they fell upon each other, and at their extremities he placed the poles. He drew with great art and accuracy, across the colures , five other circles called parallels, which, from one pole to the other, divided the half of the sphere into thirty parts. He put six of these thirty parts of the half-sphere between the pole and

13144-532: The upper and lower sighting tubes, the Arctic Circle through another tube, the Tropic of Cancer through another tube, the equator through another tube, and the Tropic of Capricorn through another tube. In late 984, Gerbert sent a letter to abbot Eberhard of Tours concerning the foundation of a large scientific library. He dedicated immense sums of money to establishing the library and purchasing texts from

13268-406: The widespread practices of simony and concubinage among the clergy, maintaining that only capable men of spotless lives should be allowed to become bishops. In 1001, the Roman populace revolted, forcing Otto III and Sylvester II to flee to Ravenna . Otto III led two unsuccessful expeditions to regain control of the city and died on a third expedition in 1002. Sylvester II returned to Rome soon after

13392-419: Was "engrossed in idle and selfish amusements". Leo indulged buffoons at his Court, but also tolerated behaviour which made them the object of ridicule. One case concerned the conceited improvisatore Giacomo Baraballo, Abbot of Gaeta , who was the butt of a burlesque procession organised in the style of an ancient Roman triumph . Baraballo was dressed in festal robes of velvet and with ermine and presented to

13516-423: Was also described by Gerbert in a letter to his colleague Constantine. Gerbert instructed Constantine that, if doubtful of the position of the pole star , he should fix the sighting tube of the armillary sphere into position to view the star he suspected was it, and if the star did not move out of sight, it was thus the pole star. Furthermore, Gerbert instructed Constantine that the north pole could be measured with

13640-549: Was condemned, including things learned from bird's songs and flight patterns, as well as the necromancy he was rumored to have taken part in. Hungary issued a commemorative stamp honouring Pope Sylvester II on 1 January 1938, and France honoured him in 1964 by issuing a postage stamp. Gerbert's writings were printed in volume 139 of the Patrologia Latina . Darlington notes that Gerbert's preservation of his letters might have been an effort of his to compile them into

13764-477: Was deposed in 991 for alleged treason against Hugh, and Gerbert was elected his successor. There was so much opposition to Gerbert's elevation to the See of Rheims, however, that Pope John XV (985–996) sent a legate to France who temporarily suspended Gerbert from his episcopal office. Gerbert sought to show that this decree was unlawful, but a further synod in 995 declared Arnulf's deposition invalid. Gerbert then became

13888-433: Was especially assiduous in securing musical scores from Florence. He also fostered technical improvements developed for the diffusion of such scores. Ottaviano Petrucci , who had overcome practical difficulties in the way of using movable type to print musical notation, obtained from Leo X the exclusive privilege of printing organ scores (which, according to the papal brief, "adds greatly to the dignity of divine worship") for

14012-536: Was fascinated by the stories of the Mozarab Christian bishops and judges who dressed and talked like the Moors, well-versed in mathematics and natural sciences like the great teachers of the Islamic madrasahs . This sparked Gerbert's veneration for the Moors and his passion for mathematics and astronomy. Gerbert learned of Hindu–Arabic digits and applied this knowledge to the abacus , but probably without

14136-649: Was formally admitted into the Sacred College of Cardinals and took up his residence at Rome , receiving a letter of advice from his father. The death of Lorenzo on the following 8 April temporarily recalled the 16-year-old Giovanni to Florence. He returned to Rome to participate in the conclave of 1492 which followed the death of Innocent VIII, and unsuccessfully opposed the election of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI . He subsequently made his home with his elder brother Piero in Florence throughout

14260-418: Was his lavish spending (especially on the arts and himself) which led the papal treasury into mounting debt and his decision to authorize the sale of indulgences. The exploitation of people and corruption of religious principles linked to the practice of selling indulgences quickly became the key stimulus for the onset of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther's 95 Theses , otherwise entitled "Disputation on

14384-586: Was homosexual. Those who stand outside this consensus generally fall short of concluding with certainty that Leo was unchaste during his pontificate. Joseph McCabe accused Pastor of untruthfulness and Vaughan of lying in the course of their treatment of the evidence, pointing out that Giovio and Guicciardini seemed to share the belief that Leo engaged in "unnatural vice" (homosexuality) while pope. Leo X made charitable donations of more than 6,000 ducats annually to retirement homes, hospitals, convents, discharged soldiers, pilgrims, poor students, exiles, cripples, and

14508-411: Was not unbiased, nor was he in Rome at the time." However, there is no doubt that he was by nature pleasure-loving and that the anecdote reflects his casual attitude to the high and solemn office to which he had been called. On the other hand, in spite of his worldliness, Leo prayed, fasted, went to confession before celebrating Mass in public, and conscientiously participated in the religious services of

14632-515: Was renowned for spending money lavishly on the arts; on charities; on benefices for his friends, relatives, and even people he barely knew; on dynastic wars, such as the War of Urbino ; and on his own personal luxury. Within two years of becoming Pope, Leo X spent all of the treasure amassed by the previous Pope, the frugal Julius II, and drove the Papacy into deep debt. By the end of his pontificate in 1521,

14756-436: Was said to be one of the most noted scientists of his time. Gerbert wrote a series of works dealing with matters of the quadrivium ( arithmetic , geometry , astronomy , music ), which he taught using the basis of the trivium ( grammar , logic , and rhetoric ). In Rheims, he constructed a hydraulic -powered organ with brass pipes that excelled all previously known instruments, where the air had to be pumped manually. In

14880-478: Was styled "Her Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty" ( Ihre Kaiserliche und Königlich Apostolische Majestät ). The plural for the couple was also used as "Their Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesties" ( Ihre Kaiserlichen und Königlich Apostolischen Majestäten ). The title was abbreviated to HAM or HRAM when used in a Hungarian context, and to HI&RM or HIM when used with the Austrian imperial title. The powers of

15004-484: Was the last pope not to have been in priestly orders at the time of his election to the papacy. Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici was born on 11 December 1475 in Florence , the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent , head of the Florentine Republic , and Clarice Orsini . From an early age Giovanni was destined for an ecclesiastical career. He received the tonsure at the age of seven and was soon granted rich benefices and preferments. His father, Lorenzo de Medici ,

15128-459: Was then the Duchy of Aquitaine , part of the Kingdom of France . More precise proposals include the town of Belliac, near the present-day commune of Saint-Simon, Cantal , or Aurillac . Another speculated location is the province of Auvergne. Gerbert's parents, wanting him to have a quality education, took him to receive instruction at the nearby Benedictine Abbey. Here, Gerbert became a pupil of

15252-410: Was too intelligent to believe in Catholic doctrine, conceded that he was "one of the most illustrious princes that ever sat on the papal throne. Humane, beneficent, generous, affable; the patron of every art, and friend of every virtue". Martin Luther , in a conciliatory letter to Leo, himself testified to Leo's universal reputation for morality: Indeed, the published opinion of so many great men and

15376-405: Was worried about his character early on and wrote a letter to Giovanni to warn him to avoid vice and luxury at the beginning of his ecclesiastical career. Here is a notable excerpt: "There is one rule which I would recommend to your attention in preference to all others. Rise early in the morning. This will not only contribute to your health, but will enable you to arrange and expedite the business of

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