Pope Callixtus III (Italian:Callisto III,Valencian:Calixt III,Spanish:Calixto III; 31 December 1378 – 6 August 1458), bornAlonso de Borja (Valencian:Alfons de Borja), was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 8 April 1455 to his death, in August 1458.
Borgia spent his early career as a professor of law at theUniversity of Lleida; he later served as a diplomat for thekings of Aragon. He became a tutor forKing Alfonso V's illegitimate sonFerdinand. After arranging a reconciliation between Alfonso andPope Martin V, Borgia was made Bishop of Valencia.
In 1444,Pope Eugene IV named him acardinal, and Borgia became a member of the Roman Curia. During thesiege of Belgrade (1456), Callixtus initiated the custom that bells be rung at midday to remind the faithful to pray for the crusaders. The tradition of the Angelus noon bell still exists in most Catholic churches to this day. He was also responsible for the retrial ofJoan of Arc that saw her vindicated. He appointed twonephews as cardinals, one of whom becamePope Alexander VI. He is the last pope to date to take on the pontifical name "Callixtus".
Borgia studied grammar, logic and the arts in Valencia and went in 1392 to theUniversity of Lleida where he obtained adoctorate in bothcanon law andcivil law. His early career was spent as a professor oflaw at the University of Lleida. Around 1411, he attended a sermon byVincent Ferrer. Afterward, theDominican said to the future pope: "My son, you one day will be called to be the ornament of your house and of your country. You will be invested with the highest dignity that can fall to the lot of man. After my death, I shall be the object of your special honour. Endeavor to persevere in a life of virtue."[4] Later, as pope, Borgiacanonized Ferrer on 3 June 1455.[5]
Borgia was chosen as a delegate of theDiocese of Lerida to theCouncil of Constance in 1416, but did not partake in the proceedings as KingAlfonso V of Aragon was opposed to the council. Because of this he went to Barcelona as a representative of his diocese in a synod. Borgia cared strongly for the reestablishment of the unity of the church and his influence with the Aragonese monarch was the factor that allowed for the conclusion of the accord between the king and the new pope.
In 1418, he was named as the rector of San Nicolas of Valencia. He was also the vice-chancellor of the University of Lleida from 1420 to 1423. In 1424, he resigned his position and dedicated his service to the Aragonese king. In 1424, he was named as the apostolic administrator of the see of Mallorca. It was at that time that the king desired that he be made acardinal;Pope Martin V refused the request. During theGreat Western Schism he supportedAntipope Benedict XIII and was also the driving force behindAntipope Clement VIII's submission toPope Martin V in 1429.[6] He then served as a diplomat to the kings ofAragon, especially during theCouncil of Basel (1431–1439).
Borgia was appointedBishop of Valencia byPope Martin V on 20 August 1429 and wasconsecrated on 31 August 1429. He authorized Pedro Llorens to take possession of the see in his name.[7] Borgia also tutored Alfonso V's illegitimate sonFerrante.
Borgia was electedpope at an advanced age as a "compromise candidate" in theconclave of 8 April 1455. He took the pontifical name Callixtus III.[7] He wascrowned on 20 April 1455 by CardinalProtodeaconProspero Colonna. After his coronation, he rode a white horse through the streets of the city and followed the ancient custom, known as Monte Giordano, where representatives of the Jews met with the pope and presented him with the roll of the law. Callixtus III then read from the law and stated "We ratify the law, but condemn your interpretation", which instigated a riot at the ceremony that endangered the pope's life.[8]
Not quite two years after theFall of Constantinople in 1453, Callixtus was chiefly concerned with the organization of Christian Europe against an invasion by theOttoman Empire. At the time, it was said that Callixtus III "speaks and thinks of nothing but the crusade", spending hours discussing the topic with a warlike zeal.[9] An extensive building program underway in Rome was cancelled and the money funneled toward a crusade.Papal nuncios were dispatched to all the countries of Europe to beseech the princes to join once more in an effort to check the danger of a Turkish invasion. Missionaries were sent toEngland,France,Germany,Hungary,Portugal, and Aragon to preach the Crusade, and to engage the prayers of the faithful for the success of the enterprise. It was by order of Callixtus III that the bells were rung at midday to remind the faithful that they should pray for the welfare of the crusaders.[7]
The princes of Europe were slow in responding to the call of the pope, largely due to national rivalries. England and France'sHundred Years' War had just ended in 1453. Forces led byJohn Hunyadi (Hungarian:Hunyadi János), Captain-General of Hungary, met the Turks and defeated them atBelgrade on 22 July 1456. Shortly after his victory, Hunyadi himself died of a fever.[7] On 29 June 1456, Callixtus III ordered the church bells to be rung at noon (seenoon bell) as a call to prayer for the welfare of those defending Belgrade. To commemorate this victory, Callixtus III ordered theFeast of the Transfiguration to be held annually on 6 August.
A bull of Callixtus III
In 1456 the pope issued thepapal bullInter Caetera (not to be confused withInter Caetera of 1493), reaffirming the earlier bullsDum Diversas andRomanus Pontifex which recognized Portugal's trade rights in territories it had discovered along the West African coast. This confirmation ofRomanus Pontifex also gave the Portuguese the militaryOrder of Christ underHenry the Navigator.[10]
Callixtus IIIelevated nine new cardinals into the cardinalate in two consistories on 20 February 1456 and 17 December 1456,[12] two of whom werecardinal nephews. The first of them was Rodrigo de Borgia who later becamePope Alexander VI (1492–1503), infamous for his corruption and immorality.[13] The second wasLuis Julian de Milà.
According to one story that first appeared in a 1475 posthumous biography and was subsequently embellished and popularized byPierre-Simon Laplace, Callixtus IIIexcommunicated the 1456 appearance ofHalley's Comet, believing it to be an ill omen for the Christian defenders ofBelgrade from the besieging armies of theOttoman Empire.[14] No known primary source supports the authenticity of this account. The 29 June 1456papal bull of Callixtus III calling for a public prayer for the success of the crusade makes no mention of the comet. By 6 August, when the Turkish siege was broken, the comet had not been visible in either Europe or Turkey for several weeks.[15]
Callixtus III died on 6 August 1458. His remains were transferred in 1586 and again in 1610 with the remains of his nephew Alexander VI toSanta Maria in Monserrato. His remains were transferred once more on 21 August 1889 in the chapel of San Diego. In his will he left 5000ducats to establish a hospital.
"Except for his nepotism, Calixtus III deserves high praise, more especially for the energy, constancy and purpose which he displayed in dealing with the burning question of the day – the protection of Western civilization from the Turkish power. In this matter he gave a grand example to Christendom, and it is to be observed that in the midst of the military and political interest which claimed so large a share of his time and attention, he did not neglect the internal affairs of the Church, and vigorously opposed heresies."[16]
^"Anna y Canals. Valencia".palomatorrijos (in Spanish). 12 June 2013. Retrieved25 February 2014.... En el siglo XIV se construyó junto a la torre, y aprovechando parte de sus murallas, un pequeño Palacio Gótico que era la sede de la baronía de La Torre, independiente de Canals, cuyos titulares eran los Borgia. En este lugar nació en 1378 Alfonso Borgia, el que fuera futuro papa Calixto III. ...'
^Reinhart, Albert (1912).St. Vincent Ferrer. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
^European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its Dependencies to 1648, ed. Frances Gardiner Davenport, (Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1917), 27.
^Castor, Helen (2015).Joan of Arc. HarperCollins. pp. 231, 241.
^John Stein (1913)."Bartolomeo Platina". In Charles George Herbermann (ed.).The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. Robert Appleton Co. pp. 158–159.OCLC1017058.
Davenport, Frances Gardiner, editor (1917).European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its Dependencies to 1648, Carnegie Institute of Washington.
Gower, Ronald Sutherland (2007).Joan of Arc, BiblioBazaar LLC.
European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its Dependencies to 1648, Ed. Frances Gardiner Davenport, Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1917.[1]Archived 23 June 2011 at theWayback Machine
