Giuliano Caesarini | |
|---|---|
 Giuliano Caesarini, portrait from the University of Bologna | |
| Church | Latin Church |
| See | See of Rome |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | by Pope Martin V |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1398 (1398) |
| Died | 10 November 1444(1444-11-10) (aged 45–46) |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Julian Cesarini the Elder (It.:Giuliano Cesarini, seniore) (1398 inRome – 10 November 1444 inVarna,Ottoman Empire) was one of the group ofcardinals appointed byPope Martin V upon the conclusion of theWestern Schism. His intellect and diplomacy made him a powerful agent first as part of theCouncil of Basel and then, after he broke with the Conciliar movement at Basel, of papal superiority against theConciliar movement. The French bishopBossuet described Cesarini as the strongest bulwark that the Catholics could oppose to the Greeks in theCouncil of Florence.
One of five brothers of a well-established Roman family of the minor nobility;[1] his brother Giacomo was appointed papalPodestà of Orvieto and Foligno in 1444; his great-nephew, also Giuliano Cesarini Giuliano (1466–1510) was made a cardinal in 1493.[2] He was educated atPerugia, where he lectured onRoman law and hadDomenico Capranica among his pupils. When the schism was ended by the general recognition of Martin V as pope, Giuliano returned to Rome, where he attached himself to Cardinal Branda da Castiglione.
The suggestions for wide reform that informed theConciliar Movement were rife, and Cesarini devoted his career to the principles of the outward unity of the Church and its reformation from within.
In 1419 he accompanied CardinalBranda da Castiglione, who thought highly of him, on his difficult mission to Germany and Bohemia, where theHussites were in open rebellion. He also served as a papal envoy to England. In 1426Martin V created Cesarini a cardinal[2][3] and later sent him to Germany to preach a crusade against the Hussites. After thecrusade failed, Cesarini was sent to Basel to preside over the council that had begun there.
Cesarini was made President of the Council of Basel, in which capacity he successfully resisted the efforts of Eugenius IV to dissolve the council, though later (1437) he withdrew, believing the majority of delegates present were more anxious to humiliate the pope than to accomplish reforms, for his first loyalty was to the idea of church unity. When Eugenius convoked the rivalCouncil of Ferrara, Cesarini was made head of the commission appointed to confer with the Greeks. In 1439, owing to a plague, the council was transferred from Ferrara to Florence, where Cesarini continued to play a prominent part in the negotiations with the Greeks. These negotiations ended in a short-lived ecclesiastical reunion of East and West.
After the council was dissolved, Cesarini was sent as papal legate to Hungary (1442) byPope Eugenius IV to solve a political crisis that arose after the death of KingAlbert of Hungary (from the House of Habsburg) in 1439. The widow, QueenElisabeth of Luxembourg, was left alone with her newborn son, who was crowned asLadislaus V of Hungary. However, the Turkish wars represented a serious danger to the Kingdom, and the noblemen summoned the young KingWładysław of Poland and crowned him as Hungarian King, making him promise that he would defend the state against the Ottomans. On 13 December 1442 Cesarini made the two parties reach an agreement in the city of Győr, where the rights of the baby Ladislas were recognized in the presence of the new King, without endangering the power of the other. After this, Cesarini became the confidant of King Władysław, and in 1443 went toVienna as his ambassador to the court of Frederick III. Soon he became one of the principal planners of a new crusade against the Ottomans, who had begun to invade Europe. In June 1444, the Hungarian King signed a peace treaty (Peace of Szeged) with the Turkish sultanMurad II that would last for 10 years, but seeing this as a mistake and considering the moment and the circumstances appropriate for a new war, Cesarini insisted that the Hungarian King Władysław should break the treaty. This occurred in September of the same year, when they all marched to the Balkans in a new campaign. It was an unfortunate step and resulted in the disastrousdefeat of the papal army at Varna (in easternBulgaria) on 10 November 1444, when Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini was slain in the fight. In a letter to the Duke of Milan, his friendAeneas Sylvius Piccolomini tells of reports that, having escaped the fray, though wounded and bleeding, Cesarini was set upon by a band of Hungarians who, in the confusion of defeat, robbed and killed him. "Wounded in the battle, and fainting in his flight through loss of blood, he was slain near a marsh by the impious hands of the Hungarians, not at the instigation of the nobility, but through the rage of the populace; and thus breathed forth that glorious spirit which once with its sweet discourse swayed at will the assembled fathers at Basle"[4]
Rumors that he had escaped proved false. The Roman curia, however, was slow to accept that the cardinal was dead.
His two well-known letters toAeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (later Pius II) about the pope's relations to the Council of Basel are printed among the works of Pius II[5] Piccolomini, in his letters, describes Cesarini as unfortunate in war, but he also says the cardinal went straight to heaven upon being martyred by the Turks.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | CardinalIn Pectore 1426–1430 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Deacon ofSant'Angelo in Pescheria 1430–1440 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Administrator of Grosseto 1439–1444 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Priest ofSanta Sabina 1440–1444 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Administrator of Taranto 1440–1444 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Bishop ofFrascati 1444 | Succeeded by |
