Nicholas V

(1397–1455)

   Pope.

   Nicholas was born Tommaso Parentucelli and he was educated in Bologna and Florence, Italy. He was consecrated Bishop of Bologna in 1444 and elected Pope in 1447, succeeding eugenius iv. He is remembered for securing the abdication of Antipope Felix V and for the dissolution of the Council of Basle – thus ending the Schism. As a result of his declaring a Jubilee in 1450, many pilgrims visited Rome and in 1452 he crowned Frederick III Holy Roman Emperor. This was to be the last imperial coronation in Rome. He was a great patron of the Renaissance. He did much to rebuild the city of Rome and Fra angelico was among the artists employed. In addition, he was a notable collector of books and he laid the foundations of the Vatican Library. The fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 was a tremendous blow to the whole of Christendom. It is said that the news hastened his death; certainly he was unsuccessful in rousing the European princes to crusade against the Muslim invasion.

   K. Pleyer, Die Politik Nikolaus V (1927) [no English translation available];

   C.W. Westfall, In This Most Perfect Paradise: Alberti, Nicholas V and the Invention of Conscious Urban Planning in Rome (1974).