Silvio Enea

Piccolomini

Michael Von Cotta-Schönberg

Bishop Enea

Silvio Piccolomini

; Piccolomini

Sylvius Aeneas

Silvius Aeneas

Habsburg King

Empress Alfonso V Aragon

Oration "Quamvis grandes materias" by

high-ranking imperial diplomat and Bishop of Trieste, was sent by Emperor Friederich III to the Court of Naples. His mission was to negotiate the contract of marriage between the emperor and Princess Leonora of Portugal, sister of the King of Portugal, and niece of King Alfonso V of Aragon and Sicily. His oration, in the genre of the classical epithalamium, i.e. wedding oration, revived by the Italian Renaissance humanists, praised the two royal personages and their respective houses. Piccolomini also presented a view of women remarkable for its opposition to traditional misogynist views. And, finally, he praised marriage for its dignity as a God-given institution, for its utility for society and for the spouses themselves, and for its joys, including the comfort and love of one's wife, the delights of women, and -remarkably -the pleasures of sex.

(Orations of Pope Pius II; 14) Foreword

In 2007, I undertook a project of publishing the Latin texts with English translations of the orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II. Altogether 80 1 orations (including papal responses to ambassadorial addresses) are extant today, though more may still be held, unrecognized, in libraries and archives.

At a later stage the project was expanded to include ambassadors' orations to the pope, of which about 40 are presently known.

I do not, actually, plan to publish further versions of the present volume, but I do reserve the option in case I -during my future studies -come across other manuscripts containing interesting versions of the oration or if important new research data on the subject matter are published, making it appropriate to modify or expand the present text. It will therefore always be useful to check if a later version than the one the reader may have previously found via the Internet is available.

I shall much appreciate to be notified by readers who discover errors and problems in the text and translation or unrecognized quotations.

12 September 2019 MCS 1 81 orations, if the "Cum animadverto" is counted is a Piccolomini-oration, see oration "Quam laetus" [18], Appendix Sigla and abbreviations

II. TEXT AND TRANSLATION

1.

Introduction [1][2] 2.

Against misogyny [START_REF] Of | King of the Romans (Germany) from 1292 until his death in battle 1298[END_REF][4][START_REF] Leopold | Duke of Austria from 1365 to 1379, and Duke of Styria and Carinthia[END_REF][START_REF] Juvenalis | c. AD). Roman poet. Juvenal was one of Piccolomini's favourite classical authors 7[END_REF][START_REF]Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola (collectively Inner Austria) from 1406 until his death 8[END_REF][8] 2.1. Marriage is a perfect union of male and female [START_REF] Of | King of the Romans (Germany) from 1292 until his death in battle 1298[END_REF] 2.2. Traditional negative views on women [4] 2.3. Arguments against the traditional view [5-7] 3.

Marriage [8][9][10][11][12][START_REF]Non citabo 10 testes humanos, ubi divina intonat 11 auctoritas: Propter hoc, inquit oraculum Genesis relinquet vir patrem et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suae, et erunt duo in 12 carne una. Magna vis delectationis 13 , magna jucunditas[END_REF] 3.1. Dignity of marriage [9] 3.2. Benefits of marriage [9-10] 3.3. Joys of marriage [12-13] 4.

The royal spouses [14-24] 4. [1][2][START_REF] Of | King of the Romans (Germany) from 1292 until his death in battle 1298[END_REF][4][START_REF] Leopold | Duke of Austria from 1365 to 1379, and Duke of Styria and Carinthia[END_REF][START_REF] Juvenalis | c. AD). Roman poet. Juvenal was one of Piccolomini's favourite classical authors 7[END_REF][START_REF]Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola (collectively Inner Austria) from 1406 until his death 8[END_REF][8][9][10][11][12][START_REF]Non citabo 10 testes humanos, ubi divina intonat 11 auctoritas: Propter hoc, inquit oraculum Genesis relinquet vir patrem et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suae, et erunt duo in 12 carne una. Magna vis delectationis 13 , magna jucunditas[END_REF][14][15][16][17][18][19] 4.2. Friedrich [20-24] 5.

Conclusion [25] 6.

Verses in praise of King Alfonso

I. INTRODUCTION 1. Context 1

The first decade of the reign of Friedrich III had been passed in extinguishing one conflict after another. By 1450, some of the conflicts had been solved, i.e. the schism in the Church, the Swiss problem, and the Hungarian troubles, and the family problems were somewhat in abeyance. 2 The time had come to become crowned in Rome, and to marry. Both projects were politically important in terms of the legitimacy and stability of the dynasty, but at the same they naturally fulfilled intense, personal desires.

The marriage project was initiated in 1449 when Friedrich sent envoys to Portugal to examine the possibilities for a matrimonial alliance with the House of Portugal, closely related to the houses of Castile, Aragon, England and Burgundy, and to report on the beauty of the king's sister, Princess Leonora.

The reports were satisfactory, and it was agreed that the negotiations and the conclusion of the marriage contract should take place under the aegis of Leonora's uncle, Alfonso V the Magnanimous, powerful and much admired King of Aragon and Sicily, who in 1442 had ousted the House of Anjou from the Kingdom of Sicily (Naples) and set up his own court in Naples.

The emperor's expert on Italian affairs, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Bishop of Trieste, was recalled from a brief period of semi-retirement in Trieste 3 and sent to Italy with two missions: one to negotiate the wedding contract in Naples, and the other to obtain an agreement with the pope concerning the emperor's coronation in Rome. Piccolomini would also have to obtain guarantees of the emperor's safety from those territories he would be passing through, since he would not be arriving at the head of an army in order to assert his imperial rights in Italy.

Piccolomini arrived in Naples at the end of October 1450. The negotiations lasted for 40 days and were concluded, successfully, on 10 December 1450, whereupon a religious ceremony of thanksgiving was held. At this occasion, Bishop Piccolomini gave the oration "Quamvis grandes materias". 1 CO, I, 20 (Meserve, I, pp. 94-96); HA / 1. version (Knödler, I, p. 88); Ady, p. 112; Boulting, pp. 184-185; D'Elia; Koller, p. 111, 116-118; Mitchell, pp. 107-108; Paparelli, pp. 131-133; Reinhardt, p. 149; Stolf, p. 243; Voigt, III, pp. 17-18 2 Already in his Pentalogus of 1443, Piccolomini has given advice to the emperor on his choice of bride, see Piccolomini: Pentalogus (Schingnitz, p. 130): Tu ex uxore, quam duces, aliquam domum illustrem tibi conciliabis potentiorque … fies 3 This retirement had actually been interrupted in 1449 when the emperor sent Piccolomini on the third imperial mission to Milan to persuade the Milanese to accept direct imperial rule after the death of the last Visconti duke, see the introduction to Piccolomini's oration "Est mihi non parum" [START_REF]Non citabo 10 testes humanos, ubi divina intonat 11 auctoritas: Propter hoc, inquit oraculum Genesis relinquet vir patrem et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suae, et erunt duo in 12 carne una. Magna vis delectationis 13 , magna jucunditas[END_REF] No letters of Piccolomini mention this affair. In his Historia Austrialis / 1 st version (1453), Piccolomini wrote that the marriage contract was signed in the presence of King Alfonso, Cardinal LeJeune, the papal legate, the ambassadors from Venice, Florence, Milan, and other Italian states, the Duke of Cleve and many other nobles, but he did not mention the oration itself. 1 In his Commentarii he did mention it, though:

… in the Jubilee year [1450] the emperor recalled him and sent him together with Gregor Volckenstorf and Michael Pfullendorf on an embassy to King Alfonso of Aragon and Sicily. Their orders were to arrange the marriage between the emperor and the king of Portugal's sister, Leonora. The Portuguese ambassadors were already gathered at Naples, and after 40 days of negotiation, the matter was concluded. Aeneas then delivered an oration in the hall of the Castelnuovo at Naples in the presence of the king, the cardinal of Amiens (who was the apostolic legate), the dukes of Clèves, Calabria, Suessa and Silesia and a great number of prelates and noblemen. The speech treated the nobility and virtues of the contracting parties; afterwards many had copies made of it for themselves. 2

In his biography of the pope, Gianantonio Campano briefly wrote: Soon he undertook another mission: he was sent to Naples where he concluded the royal marriage between Leonora, the sister of the King of Lusitania, niece of Alfonso, and Friedrich. 3 And in his biography, Bartolomeo Platina, just as briefly wrote: So, Enea went to Naples where he negotiated, with Alfonso, the marriage between Leonora, the sister of the King of Lusitania and Alfonso´s own niece through his sister, and the emperor. 4 Though the occasion was the emperor's betrothal to Leonora of Portugal and not the wedding itself, the oration given by Bishop Piccolomini was clearly an epithalamium, a literary genre of wedding orations developed in classical antiquity and revived by the Italian Renaissance In classical antiquity intellectuals debated about whether the philosopher should marry. Whereas Stoics argued that the philosopher should marry since this was living according to nature, the Cynics condemned marriage as a distraction from philosophy. Baptizing the philosopher, the early Christians argued that holiness and marriage were incompatiblecelibacy was the best life. The positive reevaluation of marriage and condemnation of the celibate ideal is usually first associated with Martin Luther and the Reformation. In the fifteenth century, however, Italian humanists also promoted marriage as an ideal. They reversed the Cynic commonplace notion and claimed that wives could assist in the pursuit of wisdom. They also revived the ancient wedding oration and delivered these prose epithalamia at elite weddings. In addition to letters and dialogues, humanists used this revived medium to convey a more positive view of marriage and to reach a broader audience.

The oration shows that Piccolomini was quite familiar with the developments in humanist literature, and that he knew of this new oratorical genre, which was cultivated by a number of Italian humanists, including Leonardo Bruni, whom he much admired, Francesco Filelfo with whom he had some kind of amical relationship, and his Sienese friend Agostino Dati.

The stay in Naples was quite important for Piccolomini since it gave him the opportunity to establish friendly relations with King Alfonso and his humanist court something which was to become greatly useful to him later in his career.

During his voyage, Piccolomini received the news that Pope Nicolaus V, by a bull dated 23 September 1450, had transferred him from the See of Trieste to the See of Siena, where he made a triumphal entry on 12 January 1451.

Themes

The oration has three themes:

• Praise of the royal houses of the spouses • Praise of women • Praise of marriage All three themes belong the epithalamium genre as revived by the Italian Renaisasance humanists.

To these may be added the subtheme of sexuality, which forms part of the theme of marriage.

Praise of the two royal houses

Piccomini uses the rhetorical ploy of letting Leonora and Friedrich personally describe the glory of their respective houses. He had used a similar ploy in his oration "Audivi" [1] of 1436, where he let the Church speak,1 and in his oration "Si putarem" [START_REF] Leopold | Duke of Austria from 1365 to 1379, and Duke of Styria and Carinthia[END_REF] of 1444,2 where he let God Himself speak, in a hearing before the imperial court where God naturally supported the cause defended by Piccolomini!

The praise of the two royal houses was quite conventional, not lacking in extravagance, though supported by historical fact.3

Women

Much more interesting was the praise of women, presented by Piccolomini as a compliment to the future empress, and possibly also to Lucrezia d'Alagno with whom King Alphonso was quite infatuated and who had almost queenly status at his court, while the queen herself resided in Spain.

Other Renaissance humanists had praised women, like Boccaccio, but in Boccaccio's case the praise went to extraordinary women whose virtue almost made them men. 4 In the preface to his De mulieribus claris (On Famous Women), he wrote:

If we grant that men deserve praise whenever they perform great deeds with the strength bestowed upon them, how much more should women be extolled -almost all of whom are endowed by nature with soft, frail bodies and sluggish minds -when they take on a manly spirit, show remarkable intelligence and bravery, and dare to execute deeds that would be extremely difficult even for men. 3 . Defeated, taken prisoner, and led in a triumphal procession, Albert lost his kingdom. 4 In general, Piccolomini undoubtedly shared a cultural conception of women as the weaker sex, dependent on men. In his first oration, the "Audivi" [1] from 1436 he quoted Homer, saying that silence makes a woman beautiful, but this does not apply to a man. 5 And in the moral dissertation/oration "Non est apud me dubium" [START_REF] Juvenalis | c. AD). Roman poet. Juvenal was one of Piccolomini's favourite classical authors 7[END_REF], written in 1445 or 1446, some months before These passages reflect traditional cultural and religious conceptions of women's lower status in relation to men, but they are not misogynistic.

Indeed, in this oration from 1450 -inspired by other humanists -Piccolomini directly attacked the misogynistic view of women, handed down from philosophers of Antiquity and -mistakenly, he argues -from the Bible, and from the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

His argument falls in three parts:

The philosophers of Antiquity simply spoke foolishly and hypocritically for they did not themselves follow their own philosophical advice, men were generally worse than women, and the responsibility of marital failure was usually that of the man.

As for the Bible, the negative statements on women do not concern women in general, but certain evil women. Otherwise, the Bible contains many examples of excellent women.

As for the church fathers, their negative statements usually have the purpose of exhorting men who had promised to live in chastity, e.g. monks, to beware of seductive women, and -as was the case for the Bible -do not concern women in general. And the chastity problem works both ways: celibate women, too, should beware of the temptations of the opposite sex.

In this text, Piccolomini was the spokesman for a new view of woman, in complete contrast to the traditional, misogynistic view, which he actually seems to have shared in his younger days, especially concerning their fickleness and infidelity.1

Marriage

Marriage is treated under three headings: its dignity, its benefits, and its joys.

Its dignity is derived from its having been created and honoured by God. Its benefits consist in its being the institution that keeps society and families together and ensures the preservation and the propagation of the human race. And its joys are the comforts and the love offered by one's wife, the delightful children, and the sexual pleasures.

Sexuality

Before he became a priest, Piccolomini had a free and uninhibited conception of sexuality, strongly at variance with church doctrine, and indeed he himself had extensive sexual experiences with women, married and unmarried, as reflected in his numerous erotical writings from that period.

A summary of his views is given in a letter he wrote to his father in Siena in 1443, at the age of 38: In all lovers it arouses this appetite so that the human race will be continued. 2 3 In his early 40's, Piccolomini experienced a gradual waning or rather failing of his sexual powers and desires, which was on the one hand quite painful to him, but on the other hand freed him of the happy, licentious ways of his youth, made it possible for him to sincerely embrace the deeper religious sentiments of his mature years, and opened the path to priesthood and a religious career. At that time his thoughts on sexuality were dark and bitter as witnessed in a letter to his friend Johann Vrunt in 1446:

Certainly,
What is fornication other than death? … How brief is the pleasure which is experienced with women? What momentary joy! Is he not a fool enough who, for the sake of temporary and momentary things, squanders things eternal? … Dearest brother, I am full, stuffed. Venus makes me nauseous! It is also true that my powers have declined. I am sprinkled with gray hairs; the muscles are withered; the bones, rotten; the body is shrivelled with wrinkles.

Neither am I able to bring pleasure to a woman; nor is a woman able to bring pleasure to me. … To me, by Hercules, there is too little merit in chastity. For in truth, I might declare that 1 In other contexts, Piccolomini equalled nature with God in the sense that nature was God's own creation, but he did not dare to do so in the present context, since that would be to directly negate the Church's view of sexual morality 2 Reject, p. 160 3 See D'Elia: Renaissance, p. 103: The future pope thought sexual passion to be natural and good even outside marriage Venus more has run away from me than I from her. But I carry, on, by God's grace, because there remains no more appetite than power to sate it. 1This dark mood is completely absent from his oration in Naples: one might conjecture that he now fondly remembers his former lovers as partners in delights offered by nature for the propagation of humankind, and not as the revulsive seductresses of innocent young men: It as great, powerful pleasure and a great, exultant joy that unites two bodies in one flesh. [Sect. 13] As for the sexual pleasures in marriage, a similar development seems to have taken place. In the sermon written shortly before his becoming ordained, the "Non est apud me dubium" [START_REF] Juvenalis | c. AD). Roman poet. Juvenal was one of Piccolomini's favourite classical authors 7[END_REF],

Piccolomini told his future parishioners that … when the spouse cannot be continent, then the debt must be rendered. Not without reason does he say 'debt', which means that it cannot be avoided. But if anybody uses marriage for pleasure and not for necessity, then he certainly does not avoid fornication, but actually commits it. [Sect. 137] Sex must not be enjoyable -even between married people.

Four years afterwards, in Naples, he had returned to his youthful conception of sexuality as legitimately pleasant -though now, bishop of Holy Church, he considered it as limited to marriage 2 :

But why quote human witnesses, where divine authority has spoken: the oracle of Genesis says that therefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh. It as great, powerful pleasure and a great, exultant joy that unites two bodies in one flesh. Aristophanes even thought that there was one soul in the two bodies. [Sect. 13]

Date, place, audience and format

The marriage negotiations in Naples ended on 10 December 1450, and Piccolomini delivered his oration on the same day. 1 The place was the great hall of Castelnuovo, and the audience was King Alfonso V, the royal court, and the ambassadors present. The format was an ambassadorial address to a princely audience.

Text 2

The oration "Quamvis grandes materias" was not included in the Collected Orations of Pius II, compiled in 1462 under his own supervision. It is not known why not, since he would probably be quite proud of having delivered an oration in the presence of King Alfonso and of his mission to Naples in the name of the emperor, and he even mentions that afterwards it was copied by many.

Maybe the conception of sexuality expressed in the oration was -at that time -too positive to fit an official collection of papal orations. Or the oration may simply not have been available at the time of the preparation of the anthology; maybe Piccolomini had lost his own copy while travelling.

Manuscripts 3

The text is presently known to be extant in the following three manuscripts:

• Firenze / Biblioteca Riccardiana 346, ff. 10r-20v (R)*

Present edition

For principles of edition (incl. orthography) and translation, see Collected Orations of Pope Pius II, vol. 1, ch. 9-10.

Text:

The present edition is based on both the manuscripts listed and the text published by Freher in the edition of 1602, with the Palatinus as the lead text.

Pagination:

Pagination is from the Trento manuscript.

Sources 1

In this oration, altogether 20 direct and indirect quotations from various sources have been identified: Biblical: 7 Classical: 12 Patristic and medieval : 1 Contemporary: 0 All: 20

The classical quotations dominate heavily, which would probably have been appreciated by the humanist oriented Neapolitan Court.

Biblical sources: 7

Old Testament: 6

• Genesis: 2 • Daniel: 1 • Ecclesiastes: 1 • Proverbs: 1 • Psalms: 1
New Testament: 1

• Matthew: 1

1 For an analysis of Piccolomini's use of sources, see Collected Orations Pope Pius II, ch. 8

Classical sources: 12

• Aristotle: 1 • Gellius: 2 • Horatius: 1 1 • Juvenalis: 3 • Laërtius: 2 • Plato: 1 • Valerius Maximus: 1 • Vergilius: 1
Patristic and medieval sources: 1

• Jeronimus: 1 2

Contemporary sources: 0

It is quite probable that Piccolomini's wedding oration, including his praise of marriage and of sexual pleasure in marriage, 3 was inspired by other humanist cultivating this oratory genre, but to determine which authors and which orations would be the subject for further study.

Bibliography

Ady Introduction [1] Most Serene Prince and Victorious King, small wits cannot grasp great matters, says Jerome. 1Nonetheless -since it is primarily the responsibility of the imperial legates to speak on matters concerning His Imperial Highness -I shall attempt to address those present on the marriage contract concluded these days, on the authority of Your Majesty. So please listen, Serene Highness, and all you who are present lend ear to my speech, for though I do not myself deserve it, the matter on which I shall speak definitely merits it, as it is a great matter, wonderful, rare and most honourable. For I shall be speaking about a most noble, most high, most poweful and incomparable marriage.

[2] The royal maid, betrothed to the Roman Emperor, Leonora, Infanta of Portugal, most excellent of noble maidens, your noble niece, has been engaged to Holy Caesar Friederich, august, pious, happy and triumphant King of the Romans. This immensely important marriage bond, this most mighty kinship, and this most noble union are the reason that we are celebrating this holy service, that we are giving thanks to Our God, and that we are justly having this festivity, that we are all rejoicing and being happy. And we think that this great [bond] of friendship has the greatest importance for the whole Christian religion, and that not only the marriage itself, but also the persons contracting it should be extolled with immense praises.

So, these are the two subjects I shall be speaking on, though my oration may not be equal to the exalted matter at hand.

[3] Dicturus autem {146v} de bono conjugii necessarium arbitror eos prius refellere, qui genus omne feminarum maledictis compellationibusque probrosis insectari non desinunt. Namque cum matrimonium ex maris atque feminae conjugatione consistat, quae poterit laus illi competere, si una ex parte mancum claudumque fuerit? Non est haec 1 Danielis statua, cujus pedum pars quaedam 2 ferrea, pars fictilis 3 erat, nec bestiam contuemur Horatii, quae mulier formosa superne in atrum fingitur piscem desinere, sed rem veluti sacram sic ex partibus suis integram ac perfectam prosequimur. Audiamus tamen, quid adversus feminas afferatur, postea judicemus.

1 hic T 2 quidem T 3 fidelis T [4] Ajunt equidem in sacris eloquiis complurima 1 esse testimonia, quae mulieribus adversantur, rugire contra feminas Augustinum, Ambrosium, Jeronimum, Gregorium ceterosque doctores ecclesiae duros 2 in eas 3 . Vergilius, Juvenalis, totusque poetarum cuneus 4

Traditional negative views on women

[4] These people say that in the Holy Scriptures there are many negative statements on women, and that Augustine, 1 Ambrose, 2 Jerome 3 and Gregory 4 as well as other Doctors of the Church revile women and are harsh against them. They also point to Virgil, 5 Juvenal 6 and the whole fierce troop of poets, and especially to the relentless Cato, 7 claiming that women are greedy, fickle and cruel.

They mention examples of bad women and describe disasters caused by them. Then they go on to quote the philosophers who when they were consulted on marriage dissuaded it or would not dare to recommend it since they feared the resulting calamities for the world. They also mention Metellus Numidicus 8 who -according to Gellius 9 in his De noctibus Atticis -said that

If we could get on without a wife, Romans, we would all avoid that annoyance; but since nature has ordained that we can neither live very comfortably with them nor at all without them, we must take thought for our lasting well-being rather than for the pleasure of the moment. 10 And this is more or less what those mistaken censors usually have to say against the female gender and against marriage.

[5] Sed sunt haec omnia -nisi fallor -confutatu facilia. In primis enim, quod in sacris litteris adversus feminas traditur, de quibusdam 1 perversis accipimus. Fatemur enim et 2 in sexu 3

Arguments against the traditional view

[5] But unless I am mistaken, all these opinions can easily be refuted. Firstly, that which is written against women in Holy Scripture only concerns certain wicked women. We admit that evil may indeed also be found in the female sex, but we do not, therefore, hold that all women are evil.

Otherwise we should also have to blame all men. 1 For though it is written about women that you cannot find one among thousands, 2 in the Psalms we also read about men that there is none that doth good: no not one. 3 And in the Satyrical Poet: 4 For honest men are scarce; hardly so numerous As the gates of Thebes, or the mouths of the enriching Nile. 5 And later he says, in the same vein:

If I discover an upright and blameless man, I liken him to a boy born half beast, Or to fishes found by a marvelling rustic Under the plough, or to a pregnant mule. [START_REF] Juvenalis | c. AD). Roman poet. Juvenal was one of Piccolomini's favourite classical authors 7[END_REF] As for the holy Doctors, when they express loathing of women or justly condemn some of them, they do so because they are adressing men who have promised to live in chastity, 1 urging them to flee and to abhor women. The same they say about men 2 to women consecrated to God and to married women. Indeed, it has been said often, and it must be said even more often! For men who have promised continence should fear women as enemies, and in the same way women [who have made the same promise] should fear men.

As for the poets, it is not strange that they attack women, for neither do they spare men. In Livy, 3 Lucius Valerius 4 answered the great Cato 5 quite properly -when he obtained the annulment of the Lex Oppia 6 -that it was very unfair to women. Concerning the crimes [of women] there is really nothing to discuss, for we men commit the same crimes, but much worse. Nor I am moved by the examples of wicked women or by the old disasters inflicted upon the human race by women. For if we should want to examine the evil deeds of women and men, from Cain, the first betrayer, to Judas, that heinous criminal, and compare the wicked acts of the two sexes done until this day, we would see that women are quite innocent compared with men. But as I am pressed for time, I shall be brief. [START_REF]Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola (collectively Inner Austria) from 1406 until his death 8[END_REF] I now come to the philosophers of whom, according to Lactantius, 1 no one lived as he wrote.

Who can calmly hear that Socrates, 2 the source and summit of philosophers, and according to Apollo the wisest them, 3 failed in his marriage and had two wives, not being content with one? 4 5 In my opinion, the maligners of women should remain silent rather than speak foolishly. And those who rely on the authority of Metellus do not know that he himself was condemned by learned men 6 as one whose advice was neither truthful nor appropriate. And wiser men have thought his speech ought rather to have taken just the opposite tone, insisting that as a rule there were no annoyances in matrimony, and if after all they seemed sometimes to arise, they were slight, insignificant and easily endured, and were completely forgotten in its greater pleasures and advantages; furthermore, that even these annoyances did not fall to the lot of all or from any fault natural to matrimony, but as the result of the misconduct and injustice of some husbands and wives. 7 But I shall say no more about this, since it is well known that there are decent men and good women who can have fair, holy, and honourable marriages.

1 Lactantius (ca. 240-ca. 320): early Christian author 2 Socrates (ca. 469-399 BC): Greek philosopher 3 Diogenes Laertius: The lives of eminent philosophers / Socrates: These and the like were his words and deeds, to which the Pythian priestess bore testimony when she gave Chaerephon the famous response: Of all men living Socrates is most wise. Piccolomini may not have known the text of Laertius directly 4 Diogenes Laertius: The lives of eminent philosophers / Socrates: Aristotle says that he married two wives; his first wife was Xanthippe, by whom he had a son, Lamprocles; his second wife was Myrto, the daughter of Aristides the Just, whom he took without a dowry. By her he had Sophroniscus and Menexenus. Others make Myrto his first wife; while some writers, including Satyrus and Hieronymus of Rhodes, affirm that they were both his wives at the same time. For they say that the Athenians were short of men and, wishing to increase the population, passed a decree permitting a citizen to marry one Athenian woman and have children by another; and that Socrates accordingly did so 5 The theme of Socrates' marriage situation was frequently used in humanist wedding orations, cf. D'Elia: Renaissance, p. 83 6 Metellus was condemned to exile not for a crime, but as an oppponent of Marius [8] Nunc de bono matrimonii perpauca libanda sunt, in quo mihi tria 1 praecipue 2 commendanda videntur: honesta dignitas, grandis utilitas, dulcis jucunditas. Insunt enim haec omnia matrimonio: quaeramus haec tria.

[9] Illa 3 meo judicio digniora videntur, quae sunt antiquiora, quaeque praestantiores inveniuntur auctores habere. Matrimonium vero et 4 antiquissimum est, quippe quod in primis parentibus coepit, et 5 nobilissimum habet auctorem, Deum patrem omnipotentem totamque trinitatem, cum -teste Jeronimo -tunc matrimonium 6 sit institutum, cum dominus ait 7 : Crescite, et multiplicamini, et replete terram.

1 mihi tria : tria mihi P 2 tria praecipue : precipue tria T 3 tria P; omit. R, T 4 omit. T 5 ac FR 6 tunc matrimonium : matrimonium tunc FR 7 omit. R

Marriage

[8] Now we must say a little about the benefits of marriage. It seems to me that there are three things to recommend in marriage: the honourable dignity, the great benefits 1 , and the sweet joy. All these are to be found in marriage. Let us now examine them individually.

Dignity of marriage

[9] It seems to me that the most valuable things are those which are found to be the oldest 2 and have the most eminent authors. Marriage is indeed a very old institution since it began with our first forefathers. It also has the noblest possible author, God, the Omnipotent Father, and the whole Trinity. For, according to Jerome, marriage was instituted when the Lord said:

Increase and multiply, and fill the earth. [10] Neque enim, ut Athenienses arbitratri sunt, eorum vetustissimum regem inventorem nuptiarum dicimus esse Cecropem, quem propterea bimembrem figuravit antiquitas, quia primus omnium marem 1 feminae legitime conjunxit. Longe ante conditas Athenas, in ipso mundi nascentis initio non homo, sed Deus, non creatura, sed creator, rector et conditor orbis 2 matrimonium consecravit 3 , cujus tanta dignitas est, ut semel contractum 4 dirimi nequeat, dicente scriptura: Quod Deus conjunxit, homo non separet. Conjuncti namque divino nutu creduntur, quicumque matrimonium rite contraxerunt. Hinc mater ecclesia, dux morum, magistra vitae, nuntia 5 veritatis 6 , inter maxima sacramenta, quibus utitur veluti divinitus revelatis, matromonium annumeravit 7 . Hinc dominus et 8 salvator noster 9 , Deus homo, Christus 10 Jesus 11 , et nasci ex nupta et interesse nuptiis 12 voluit, ac primo, quod fertur patrasse, miraculo conjugium honorare.

[11] Dignitatem tenemus, investigemus utilitatem, sed haec intellectu quam dictu facilior. Nam quae res est, quae domos, quae civitates, quae provincias, quae regna, quae genus humanum conservat nisi matrimonium? Quid sunt aliud nuptiae 13 nisi seminarium reipublicae? Quid 14 familias jungit 15 ? Quid 16 gentes propagat 17 ? Quid 18 populis aeternitatem nisi matrimonia largiuntur? Quae pax, quae fides, quae caritas inter mortales esset, si more Platonis 19 absque legitimis nuptiis viveremus passim feminis 20 abutentes 21 ? Omitto infinitas utilitates, quas privata domus ex matrimonio elicit. [10] For, contrary to the opinion of the Athenians, we do not say that Cecrops, 1 their king in very old times, was the one who instituted marriage (which is why, in Antiquity, he was depicted as having two parts 2 ), being the first who joined male to female in a legitimate union. Indeed it was long before the foundation of Athens, in the very beginning of the world, that God himself and not a man, the creator and not someone created, the ruler and founder of the earth, consecrated marriage whose dignity is so great that once it has been made, it cannot be unmade, as Scripture says: What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. 3 Those who are legitimately joined in marriage are considered to be united with God's assent. Therefore, our Mother the Church, governor of morals, teacher of life, messenger of truth, considers marriage as one of the greatest of the divinely revealed sacraments that she dispenses. And therefore Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Man and God, desired to be born of a married woman and to participate in weddings as well as to honour marriage with the first miracle he is said to have performed.

Benefits of marriage

[11] Having heard about the dignity of marriage, let us now examine its benefits, though these are easier to understand than to state. For what is it that sustains homes, cities, provinces, kingdoms, and even the human race itself, if not marriage? What is marriage other than the seedbed of human society? What unites families? What makes peoples grow? What permanence will peoples have if they do no have marriage? What peace, what faith, what love would there be among humans 4 , if we lived without legitimate weddings -as Plato 5 wanted to, abusing women all the time? 6 I shall not even mention the countless benefits that the private household gains from marriage.

1 Cecrops: mythical King of Athens 2 i.e. the upper part male and the lower part fish or snake [12] I pass quickly to the joys of marriage. May joy be found in marriage? [Indeed!] Both in his Politics and in his Ethics, Aristotle, 1 the most brilliant of philosophers, writes that there is joyful friendship between spouses. From the founding of Rome until 500 or -according to Tertullian 2 -600 years afterwards, no divorce occurred, 3 so great was the joy in marriages. Can there be anything sweeter, more delightful, and more joyous than the life of the man who has got an obliging and fertile wife? When he comes home, leaving the buzz of the marketplace, the wearisome business of the court and the labours of state, he finds true comfort and a true lover in his companion in a divine and human household, and he sees sweet children, a delight to himself and their mother: is it not for them that he toils, and gathers, and lives, and in whom he will live on after death? [START_REF]Non citabo 10 testes humanos, ubi divina intonat 11 auctoritas: Propter hoc, inquit oraculum Genesis relinquet vir patrem et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suae, et erunt duo in 12 carne una. Magna vis delectationis 13 , magna jucunditas[END_REF] But why quote human witnesses, where divine authority has spoken: the oracle of Genesis says that therefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh. 4 It as great, powerful pleasure and a great, exultant joy that unites two bodies in one flesh. Aristophanes 5 even thought that there was one soul in the two bodies.

Joys of marriage

I have now said enough about the benefits 6 of marriage. [14] Jam postremo loco quales quantaeque sint personae contrahentes intuendum 1 est praesentique contioni brevissime referandum 2 . Neque enim de plebe sunt, neque de communi 3 fortuna, sed de sublimi celsoque statu, quae contrahunt. Regius sanguis et imperatorius in conjugium venit. Attenuabitur rerum dignitas, si meis verbis personarum excellentiam conabor explicare. Longe melius eas ipsas audiemus de se suisque meritis disserentes. Fingamus igitur 4 praesentes esse 5 , qui nuptias celebraturi sunt: loquatur 6 de se regia virgo, loquatur et Caesar, suasque dignitates enumerent.

[15] Dic tu, Leonora, quae nubis, quid

The royal spouses

[14] And now, in the last place, we shall see of what kind and how great are the personages contracting this marriage, as I shall briefly relate to the present assembly.

The two people who enter this marriage are neither of the common people nor of common destiny. No, they are born to a high and exalted state. Royal and imperial blood will become united in this marriage. If I attempt to describe in my own words the excellence of these two persons, I shall not be to do justice to the their lofty status. It will be far better to hear themselves speak about their own and their family's merits. So let us imagine that the two betrothed are present: the royal maid will speak about herself and describe her exalted status, and so will the emperor.

Leonora

[15] And first you, Leonora, now that you are getting married, tell us what gifts and desirable [qualities] you bring to this marriage and how you have pleased the emperor. We wish to hear you. Not without reason does this great prince love you. So listen, nobles, and hear, all of you, for now the maiden speaks.

"I," Leonora says, "am born to the exalted House of Portugal, an ancient line of kings. My father was a king1 and my mother a queen,2 and my family was illustrious both if you consider its age and the deeds of our forefathers. My family3 has ruled for countless centuries, and my forebears were never defeated abroad or at home. The whole of Spain4 is witness to our victories for our forefathers have reached its every corner with their armies whether they pursued the barbarians or drove Christians waging unjust wars from their homes.

[16] Recens est adhuc 1 memoria classis illius, cum qua meus avus in Africam transiens 2 felici magnoque proelio Saracenos exturbavit [16] Still the memory lives of the fleet with which my grandfather, 1 crossing the sea to Africa, destroyed the Saracens in a great and victorious battle, took the city of Ceuta, and gave it as a colony to the Christians, where still today the banners of the lifegiving crucifix stand in front of the hostile barbarians, gnashing their teeth. This is my paternal inheritance, a better one than all others, if, as the Wise One says, a good name is better than great riches. 2

As for my father, he had the closest family ties with the mighty Kings of Castile 3 and England. 4 And as he was great in name, and even greater in virtue, he gave my prudent and wise aunt 5 in marriage to that famous prince, the Duke of Burgundy. 12 terra marique gesserunt 13 , nec narranti mihi dies sufficeret.

1 novit R 2 Germanias R 3 moliebantur T 4 eo P 5 Nassano R 6 omit. T 7 omit. T 8 atrocique T 9 dignitate R 10 Hungariam P, R, FR 11 inflixit P, FR 12 propagando FR 13 gesserit R; gesserint P, FR

[22] Rudolf 1 was the first prince of our House who came into possession of Austria. His leadership and fame were so great that he was elected Roman Emperor, and his reputation for strength and courage was sufficient to subdue anybody in Germany plotting rebellion against the empire. Just as great was Albrecht I. 2 When many German princes wanted Adolf of the House of Nassau 3 to rule and shamefully pass over our house, he did not suffer imperial rule to pass to another family, but declared war. On the appointed day he arrived with his army, he had the standards brought forward, and in a ferocious battle he defeated, vanquished and killed the usurper of the empire, and restored the House of Austria to its former dignity. I pass over Emperor Friedrich 4 and my grandsire, Leopold, 5 two thunderbolts of war. 6 I shall not praise my own father, Ernest, 7 though he was greatly beloved by his subjects and greatly feared by his enemies. My uncle, Emperor Albrecht, 8 ruled Bohemia and Hungary. He not only defeated the Hussite heretics, but also valiantly overcame the Turkish frenzy threatening the necks of the Christians. I do not have time now to relate all that my forefathers have done for the protection and propagation of the Catholic Faith and the Roman Empire by land and sea: a day would not be enough.

[24] Our forefathers married women from the exalted Houses of France, Aragon, Hungary, Naples, England, Poland, and all the other Christian nations. Following this marriage tradition, I am now contracting a marriage with the House of Portugal and Aragon. It is not just one realm or just one province that I am bringing with me into that relationship, but Germany, overflowing with an immense multitude of peoples, princes, and prelates. Indeed, the whole of Germany comprises more than half of the Christian world and is rich in dominions, men and military power."

Conclusion

[25] Great King, you have now heard the words of the bridegroom and the bride. I believe that all those who are present understand the high dignity of this marriage: indeed it is the most noble, the most powerful, the most honourable marriage, and the most beneficial to Christendom that can be arranged, if you add virtue to virtue, nobility to nobility, power to power, greatness to greatness, and highness to highness. From the one side the German princes and from the other side the Spanish nobles join each other in this bond of marriage, sympathy and friendship.

It now only remains to give eternal thanks -as we are doing now -to Merciful God, the mover of all, and to Your Majesty, who is the author of this matter. We all pray to Heaven that this may be a happy and enduring marriage for the spouses and a blessing for the Christian Commonwealth. Praise be to Jesus Christ, our God.

Table of volumes in Collected Orations of Pope Pius II. 12 vols. Edited and translated by Michael von Cotta-Schönberg Table of contents

	I.	INTRODUCTION
		1.	Context
		2.	Themes
			2.1. Praise of the two royal houses
			2.2. Women
			2.3. Marriage
			2.4. Sexuality
		3.	Date, place, audience and format
		4.	Text
			4.1. Manuscripts
			4.2. Editions
			4.3. Present edition
		5.	Sources
		6.	Bibliography
		7.

  This genre has been studied by Anthony F. D'Elia who, in the introduction to his The Renaissance of Marriage in Fifteenth-Century Italy 2 , writes:

1 HA / 1. version (Knödler, I, p. 90) 2 CO, I, 20 (Meserve, I, pp. 94-95): In anno Iubilaei revocatus ad caesarem cum Gregorio de Populosa et Michaele de Plena Villa, Alfonsum regen Aragonum et Siciliae iussus est petere, matrimonium caesaris nomine cum Leonora, regis Portugalliae sorore, ut ibi contraheret, nam legati Portugallenses eo convenerant. Quam rem diebus quadraginta tractatam denique conclusissent, coram rege, cardinali morinensi, apostolico legato, Clivensi, Calabrie, Suesse, Sclesieque ducibus et magna prelatorum comitumque multitudine in curia Noui Castri neapolitani de nobilitate virtuteque contrahentium orationem habuit, que postmodum a multis conscripta est 3 Zimolo, p. 18: Mox legatione altera excipiente, Neapolim missus, auctor fuit regiae affinitatis Leonora, Lusitanorum regis sorere, Alsonsi nepte, Federico desponsata 4 Zimolo, p. 102: Aeneas itaque Neapolim profectus, cum Alphonso egit ut Leonora, Lusitaniae regis soror ac ipsius ex sorore neptis, Caesari in uxorem collocaretur humanists. 1

  Opera, II,, written after Galeotto Manfredi had sent him a collection of wedding orations (p. 905), may to some extent have been inspired by Piccolomini's "Quamvis grandes materias" from eight years before. Poggio's oration is divided into sections on the vetustas, dignitas, and utilitas of matrimony, all major themes of Piccolomini's oration. Moreover, Poggio -like Piccolomini had done -praises the authority of antiquity, has God as the author of the marriage institution, and he uses the same quote from Gellius on Metellus' conception of marriage. These themes may have been commonplaces of humanist marriage oratory, but Poggio did consider

1

One of the humanists who wrote a wedding oration is Poggio Bracciolini. His Oratio in laudem matrimonii of ca. 1458 (Poggio Bracciolini: Piccolomini to be a vir eloquentia praeclarus (op. cit., p. 792) and might conceivably have known and used his orations 2 D'Elia: The Renaissance, p. 1

3 Zimolo, p. 19, n. 1

  Piccolomini echoed this conception when in his De Europa from 1458, he wrote about queen Margaret the I of Denmark and Norway and her conflict with King Albrecht of Sweden in 1389:

	1
	In other words, women are by nature inferior to men, and the best ones of them are those who
	have or develop masculine qualities. Boccaccio's editor/translator, Virgina Brown, has this
	comment:
	It should be remembered, however, that this condescending manner of praising with faint
	damns is characteristic of the cultural legacy inherited by Boccacio from Antiquity and the
	Middle Ages. If such attitudes are Boccaccio's they are also attitudes common to the men of
	his time and education. In Boccaccio's defense it may be said that in certain respects he
	succeeds in escaping the prejudices of his sex and his sources. In general, he is much more
	expansive than his sources in praising women's intellectual powers or their literary
	accomplisments or their moral virtues or their artistic creations. 2
	Albert felt contempt for the government of his female neighbour and began to provoke war
	with Denmark and Norway. Margaret mustered her troops and came to meet him, and on a
	wide open plain they fought a battle which made it seem as if she had donned the spirit of a
	man and her enemy that of a woman

  you begot no son of stone or iron, being flesh yourself. You know what kind of rooster you were. I am no eunuch, nor one of the frigid. Nor am I a hypocrite, wishing to seem, rather than to be, good. I will admit my error freely because I am neither more holy

than David, nor wiser than Solomon. This fault is ancient and entrenched, but I do not know anyone who lacks it. It is quite clear that this plague, if it is a plague to use nature's 1 giftsalthough I do not see why sexual intercourse ought to be condemned so much -is broadly compatible with nature, which does nothing wrongly.

AND TRANSLATION Aeneae Sylvii Ad Alfonsum, Sapientem Siciliae Regem, super connubio Friderici et Eleonorae oratio gratulatoria

  Reject Aeneas, Accept Pius. Selected letters Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II). Intr. and transl. by T.M. Izbicki, G. Christiansen & P. Krey. Washington, DC, 2006 Pius II: Opera quae extant omnia. Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1551 Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II. Edited and translated by Michael v. Cotta-Schönberg. 12 vols. Copenhagen, 2015-2019. [Available via the Internet in HAL Archives] 1 [1] {146r} Quamvis grandes materias -ut inquit Jeronimus -ingenia parva non sufferant, conandum tamen est 2 mihi, serenissime princeps rexque victoriossissime, quae per hos dies tuae majestatis auctoritate sponsalia sunt conclusa, his, qui adsunt, exponere, cum de rebus ad imperatoriam sublimitatem pertinentibus loqui nulli magis incumbat 3 quam legatis imperatoriis. Audiat 4 igitur tua serenitas, oro, audiant et circumstantes, precor, etsi non mihi -neque enim mereor -rei saltem, de qua sermo fiet, aures accomodent, quae magna est, admirabilis, rara, honestissima. De nobilissimo namque matrimonio loquar, altissimo, potentissimo, incomparabili. [2] Regia virgo Romano imperatori promissa, Leonora infans Portugalliae, excellentissima nobilium 5 puellarum, neptis tua clarissima 6 , divo Caesari Friderico, Romanorum regi, Augusto, pio, felici atque triumphatori desponsata est. Ingens affinitas, potentissima parentela, generosissima conjunctio, ob quam causam divina res agitur, Deo nostro gratias reddimus, festam 7 haud injuria ducimus diem, exultamus, hilares omnes sumus, nec tantam amicitiam sine magno Christianae 8 religionis fructu conflatam esse putamus, in qua non solum res ipsa 9 matrimonii commendanda est, sed personae quoque 10 contrahentes ingentibus extollendae laudibus sese offerunt. De his ergo duobus dicendum est mihi, etsi rerum dignitatem mea magis attenuabit, quam explicabit oratio.

	moderna; • Enee Silvii Piccolominei postea Pii II de Europa. Ed. A. van Heck. Città del Vaticano, 2001. 481) Piccolomini, Enea Silvio: De Europa. [1458] • Pius II: Opera omnia. Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1551, pp. 387-471 (Studi e testi; 398) • Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini: Europe (ca. 1400-1458). Transl. by Robert Brown. Intr. and ann. by Nancy Bisaha. Washington, DC, 2013 Piccolomini, Enea Silvio: Historia Austrialis Pius II: Epistolae • Der Briefwechsel des Eneas Silvius Piccolomini. Ed. Rudolf Wolkan. 3 vols. Wien. (Fontes 6 charissima FR rerum austriacarum; 61-62, 67-68) Pius II: Orationes. [1436-1464] • Pius II: Pius II: Orationes politicae et ecclesiasticae. Ed. Giovanni Domenico Mansi. 3 vols. Lucca: Benedini, 1755-1759 • 7. Sigla and abbreviations 5 nobilis T T = Trento / Biblioteca Capitolare / 86 4 audiet T R = Firenze / Biblioteca Riccardiana / 346 3 incumbit T P = Roma / Biblioteca Apostolica Vatican / Pal. lat. 598 II. TEXT 2 tamen est : est tamen T Enea Silvio'
	FR = Freher, M. (ed.): Germanicarum scriptores varii ... Frankfurt: Typis Wechelianis, 1602 7 festum P, T
	8 Christianitatis R
	9 res ipsa : ipsa res R
	10 quam T

, Cecilia M.: Pius II (AEneas Silvius Piccolomini) -the Humanist Pope.

London, 1913

Boulting, William: Aeneas Silvius (Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini -Pius II).

Orator, man of letters, statesman, and pope. London, 1908

Boccacio, Giovanni: De mulieribus claris. 1361-1362

1

Ars poetica 2 Epistolae: 1 3 See the studies of D'Elia Paparelli, Gioacchino: Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pio II). Bari, 1950. (Biblioteca de cultura • Eneas Silvius Piccolomini: Historia Austrialis. Teil 1: Einleitung von Martin Wagendorfer. 1. Redaktion ed. von Julia Knödler. Teil 2: 2./3, ed. Martin Wagendorfer. 2 vols. Hannover, 2009. (Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum. Nova Series; 24) Piccolomini, Enea Silvio: Pentalogus. [1443] • Piccolomini, Enea Silvio: Pentalogus. Hrsg. von Christian Schingnitz. Hannover, 2009 (Monumenta Germaniae Hisistorica. Staatsschriften des späteren Mittelalters; 8) Pius II: Commentarii rerum memorabilium quae suis temporibus contigerunt. [1464] • Commentarii rervm memorabilivm que svis temporibus contigervnt. Ed. A van Heck. 2 vols. Città del Vaticano, 1984. (Studi e testi; 312-313) • Commentaries. Ed. M. Meserve and M. Simonetta. Vols. 1 ff. Cambridge, MA, 2003 ff. • Enee Silvii Piccolominei Epistolarium Secvlare. Ed. A. van Heck. Città del Vaticano, 2007 • Platina, Bartolomeo: Vita Pii II Pontificis Maximi. SEE Zimolo Reinhardt, Volker: Pius II. Piccolomini -Der Papst, mit dem die Renaissance begann. München, 2013 Stolf, Serge: Les Lettres et la Tiare. E.S. Piccolomini, un humaniste au XVe siècle. Paris, 2012. (Etudes et Essais sur la Renaissance; 98) Voigt, Georg: Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini als Papst Pius der Zweite und sein Zeitalter. 3 vols. Berlin, 1856-63 Zimolo, Giulio C. (ed.): Le vite di Pio II di Giovanni Antonio Campano e Bartolomeo Platina. Bologna, 1964. (Rerum Italicarum Scriptores; III, p. II) 1 Aeneae … gratulatoria : Oratio eiusdem oratoris ad sacram maiestatem Aragonum incipit R; No title T

s congratulatory oration to Alfonso, wise King of Sicily, on the marriage between Friedrich and Leonora 1.

  asper, Cato saevissimus commemoratur: avaras5 , instabiles, crudeles feminas esse affirmant. Adducunt exempla malarum, atque ab his clades exortas in medio proponunt. Post haec 6 philosophos citant, 7 8 qui de uxore ducenda consulti aut 9 dissuaserunt aut 10 suadere non 11 praesumpserunt, cum huic 12 orbi tantas 13 inde 14 molestias formidarent. Metelli quoque Numidici mentionem efficiunt, qui -ut est apud Gellium 15 de noctibus Atticis -Si 16 sine 17 , inquit uxoribus 18 possemus, Quirites, esse, omnes ea molestia careremus19 ; sed quoniam ita natura tradidit, ut neque 20 cum illis satis commode, neque 21 sine 22 illis ullo modo vivi possit, saluti perpetuae potius, quam brevi voluptati consulendum.

	Atque haec fere sunt, quae contra femineum sexum, contra 23 matrimonium, non justi
	aestimatores adducere consueverunt 24 .
	1 cum plurima R
	2 durus R, T
	3 ea R
	4 Enneus R
	5 auras R
	6 omit. T
	7 ostendant T
	8 atque ab his … citant omit. R
	9 alit R; alii FR
	10 alii … aut omit. FR
	11 omit. T
	12 hinc R
	13 orbi tantam : orbitatem T
	14 huic … inde : hinc orbitatem mole R
	15 Gellum R; Gelus T
	16 sed T
	17 si sine : sisene R
	18 inquit uxoribus : uxoribus inquit R, T
	19 omit. P
	20 nec FR
	21 nec FR
	22 sinem R
	23 contraque T
	24 consuerunt P

  femineo malitiam reperiri, nihil4 universaliter recipimus, alioquin et viros omnes damnare oporteret5 . Nam etsi 6 de feminis scriptum est 7 : Unam in millibus non inveniri, de viris quoque in Psalmis legimus: Non est, qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum.Egregium -ait 11 -sanctumque virum, si cerno bimembri Hoc 12 monstrum puero, et miranti jam13 sub aratro Piscibus inventis, et 14 foetae comparo mulae.

	Et apud Satyricum 8 :
	Rari quippe boni, vix sunt numero totidem 9 , quot
	Thebarum portae vel 10 divitis ostia Nili.
	Et amplius sese cohaerens:
	1 quibus P
	2 ut FR
	3 sessu R
	4 videlicet FR
	5 opportet R
	6 si R
	7 omit. R
	8 satirum P; satiarum R; sitirum T
	9 boni … totidem : numero vix totidem sunt R, T
	10 aut R, T
	11 aut T
	12 aut R; ut T
	13 omit. R, T
	14 ac R

  Sancti vero doctores, dum feminas detestantur1 , aut malas quasdam jure condemnant, aut castitatis promissores alloquuntur, quos 2 fugere mulieres abhorrereque suadent. Idem virginibus sacris Deo dicatis atque nuptis de virili sexu et saepe dictum est et saepius esset 3 dicendum. Continentiam namque professis viris feminae, et 4 feminis viri formidandi sunt hostes. Poetas nihil mirum est in feminas 5 debacchari6 , nam viris quoque non 7 parcunt. Catoni magno satis apud Livium respondit Lucius Valerius, qui Legem Oppiam 8 iniquam 9 mulieribus obtinuit abrogari 10 . De criminibus nihil attinet disputare, quando haec eadem et multo 11 pejora in nostro sexu reperiuntur12 . Nec malarum exempla me movent aut antiquae clades13 humano generi per mulieres illatae. Namque si mulierum virorumque 14 turpia facta repetere, et a primo proditore Cain 15 usque ad sceleratissimum Judam, et in 16 hanc usque diem sceleratas 17 utriusque sexus actiones comparare voluerimus, innocentes respectu virorum feminas ostendemus 18 . Sed obstant angustiae temporis, indulgeo brevitati.

	6
	1 testantur T
	2 quo R
	3 esse T
	4 omit. R
	5 feminis P
	6 et add. R
	7 omit. T
	8 optimam T
	9 in quam R
	10 obrogari P; obrigari R
	11 multa T
	12 reperiantur FR
	1 Since some men are evil, too 13 classes R
	2 Ecclesiastes, 7, 29 14 mulierum virorumque : virorum mulierumque T
	3 Psalms, 13, 3 15 tam R
	4 Juvenal 16 omit. R
	17 sceleratus R
	18 ostendimus R

5

Juvenalis: Saturae, 13, 26-27

6

Juvenalis: Saturae, 13, 64-66

[START_REF] Juvenalis | c. AD). Roman poet. Juvenal was one of Piccolomini's favourite classical authors 7[END_REF]

  Consul of the Roman Republic in 195 BC. Censor in 183 BC5 Cato the Elder6 The Lex Oppia was a law passed in ancient Rome in 215 BC, at the height of the Second Punic War during the days of national catastrophe after the Battle of Cannae. It forbade any woman to possess more than half an ounce of gold, to wear a multi-colored garment or to ride in an animal-drawn vehicle in the city or any town or within a mile thereof, except in the case of public religious festivals. It was repealed by the Senate in 195 BC after a debate which had Lucius Valerius and Cato the Elder as protagonists[START_REF]Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola (collectively Inner Austria) from 1406 until his death 8[END_REF] Ad philosophos venio, quorum nullus -teste Lactantio -sic vixit, ut scripsit. Quis fontem 1 eorum 2 ac verticem, ex3 Apollinis testimonio sapientissimum, Socratem conjugio detrahentem aequis auribus audiet4 , cum is 5 non contentus una, duabus sese uxoribus commiscuerit? Melius quippe -me judice -silerent obtrectatores feminarum, quam sine fundamento loquerentur, qui, dum Metelli auctoritate se juvant, nesciunt illum doctorum virorum judicio damnatum6 , ut qui nec7 vere nec ad suadendum apte sit orsus. Existimaverunt enim prudentiores, contra potius orationem debuisse sumi 8 , ut nullas plerumque esse in matrimoniis molestias 9 asseveraret 10 . Et si quae 11 tamen accidere12 nonnumquam 13 viderentur 14 , parvas ac 15 leves, facilesque esse toleratu diceret 16 , majoribusque eas emolumentis et 17 voluptatibus oblitterari, easque 18 ipsas neque omnibus neque naturae 19 vitio, sed quorundam maritorum culpa et injustitia evenire. Sed facio verbis modum 20 , quando res nota est, et viros bonos et mulieres 21 {147v} inveniri probas, ex quibus esse justa, sancta et honestissima conjugia possunt 22 .

	1 E.g. monks 2 I.e. that they should be fled 3 Livius, Titus (59 BC-AD 17): Roman historian 2 omit. T 3 et P, R, FR 4 audiat T 5 his T; Xantippe P, FR 6 reprehensum T 7 ne P 8 summi R 9 molestas R 10 asseverarent R 11 omit. P, FR 12 accedere FR 13 numquam T 4 Lucius Valerius Flaccus (d. 180 BC): 1 frontes R; frontem P, T 14 videretur R
	15 et R
	16 dicerent R
	17 ac FR
	18 easdemque FR
	19 animae R
	20 modo T
	21 mulieribus P
	22 possint FR

  7 Gellius, 1.6.3. Here, Piccolomini might have remembered a case of wife beating leading to the breakdown of the marriage, which he came across early in his ecclesiastical career, occasioning a letter to Heinrich Stotter, in October 1446, in which he wrote: Verum mariti quidam adeo duri, asperi, crudeles ferique reperiuntur, ut non sociam divine et

humane domus uxorem suam putent, sed etiam tanquam servam et vile quoddam mancipium teneant, nunc injuriantes verbis nunc factis. Caedunt pauperculas feminas, lacerant, cruciant mortemque minantur. Hinc plures viros suos deserunt, cumque victu careant, aliorum virorum, a quibus commercia suscipiunt. Que res non tantum ipsis mulieribus -nam leves sunt, fragiles, timide -quantum ipsis viris imputandum est

(Wolkan, II, III,

3 1

 1 "utilitas" 2 The authority of antiquity is probably a central tenet of Italian Renaissance humanism. It is certainly shared with Poggio Bracciolini who in his Oratio in laudem matrimonii (ca. 1458) wrote: … quanta sit antiquitatis auctoritas, quantum illi ab omnibus tribuatur, nemo sanae mentis ignorat. Respicimus enim res antiquas et ditutina vetustate

notas non mediocri veneratione, et in summam admirationem trahimur ob earum contemplationem. Multum honoris certe concedimus antiquitati. … trahuntur omnes in laudem venerationemque rerum antiquarum et eas suspensis animis admirantur, praecipue quae maxime vetustatem representare videantur (Poggio Bracciolini: Opera, II, p. 908)

3

Genesis, 1, 28

  Plato on having women in common, see Plato: Republic, 5.449c ff., 457d ff., 461e ff., 464b ff. See also: Aristotle: For example, it is possible for the citizens in Plato's communistic Republic to have children, wives and possessions in common with each other, as in Plato's Republic, in which Socrates says that there must be community of children, women and possessions

	3 Matthew, 19, 6
	4 "mortals"
	5 Plato (428/427 or 424/423 BC-348/347 BC): Greek philosopher. Student of Socrates
	6 Politica, 2.1.(1261a):

  7 dotis 8 affers, quid expetibile tuum narras, quo pacto divo Caesari placuisti 9 ? Audire te cupimus. Non sine causa tantus te princeps adamavit 10 : audite, proceres, audite, omnes: jam virgo loquitur. "Ego" -inquit Leonora -"ex alta Portugalliae domo sum nata, ex antiquissima regum stirpe, patre rege, regina matre 11 . Clarissimum genus est meum, sive temporis vetustatem, sive majorum gesta requiris: infinitis jam saeculis sanguis meus regnat; invicti12 virtute progenitores fuere belli domique. Testis victoriarum est Hispania tota, in qua nullus est angulus, {148r} quem nostri 13 majores 14 armis non penetraverunt 15 , sive dum barbaros insequuntur, sive dum Christianos domo propulsant injusta bella moventes.

	1 induendum T
	2 referendum FR
	3 omit. FR
	4 enim P, FR
	5 omit. FR
	6 loquar R
	7 qui R
	8 taces T
	9 complacuisti P, FR
	10 amavit T
	11 regina matre : matre regina FR
	12 invicta FR
	13 omit. T
	14 omit. T
	15 penetraverint R, FR

  3 , urbem Ceptam 4 expugnavit 5 , ac nostris fidelibus coloniam deduxit, ubi adhuc invitis frendentibusque barbaris salutiferae crucis objecta sunt signa. Haec est paterna haereditas omni patrimonio praestantior, si melius est, ut inquit Sapiens, nomen bonum, quam divitiae multae. Fuerunt et genitori meo cum potentissimis Castellae atque Angliae regibus consanguinitatis strictissima vincula. Idem 6 , ut erat fama potens, virtute potentior, amitam meam cordatissimam et sapientissimam principi7 famosissimo, Burgundiorum duci, in matrimonium collocavit.[17] Sed accipe nunc maternam gloriam. Duo mihi ex 8 matre sunt 9 avunculi, reges ambo. Sed qui reges? Alter Navarrae praesidet, virtute ac nomine clarus. Alterum archiregem melius appellaverim, cum non solum apud Hispanos, sed apud Italos, Siculos, Sardos, Majoricos, Minoricos 10 regna possideat. Praetereo vetustos domus Aragonum 11 proceres in omne saeculum fama12 colendos. Unus nobis ad gloriam satis Alfonsus erit, cujus invicta virtus, insuperabilis13 constantia, novercantem sibi fortunam non solum vicit, sed amicam blandientemque reddidit.

	1 est adhuc : adhuc est FR
	2 tractens R
	3 Saracenos exturbavit : exturbavit Saracenos P, FR
	4 captam FR
	5 expugnant R
	6 isdem R
	7 em.; principem codd.
	8 et R
	9 mihi ex matre sunt : sunt ex matre T
	10 omit. R; Minoricosque T
	11 Arroganum P
	12 varie T
	13 insuperabilisque T

  6 [17] But hear now about the glory of my maternal line. I have two maternal uncles, both kings. But what kings? The one rules Navarra,7 famous for his virtue and name. The other I could better call an archking since he possesses kingdoms in Spain, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Majorca and Minorca. 8 I pass over the noble scions of the ancient House of Aragon whose fame should be admired in every age. One man is enough for us to demonstrate the glory of this house: Alfonso whose unvanquished courage and undefeatable steadfastness not only overcame fickle fortune, but made it smile at him and favour him. Quos portus, quas insulas, quas terras 1 , quas maris oras hic non armatus, non victor adiit 2 ? Quae regio in terris Alfonsi nomen ignorat? Quis belli, quis pacis artes melius novit? Quis civibus, quis peregrinis 3 dilectior est 4 ? Quis nostro saeculo praeter hunc unum 5 favet ingeniis? Quis justior, quis liberalior, quis animo majori regnat? An solus hic ex principantibus est, qui neque secundis rebus intumescit, neque destituitur adversis? Verus fortunae domitor et nostri gloria saeculi6 , qui non minori perseverantia Neapolim cepit, quam Graeci duces7 Trojam 8 expugnaverunt 9 . Ostendi tibi dotem 10 meam ex paterna maternaque domo non parvam gloriam.[19] Quod si meam formam meosque mores nosse cupis, malim 11 alios de me loqui. Qua sum 12 tamen13 facie, qua 14 statura, quibus 15 lineamentis 16 , oratores Caesarei, qui ante biennium me 17 viderunt, non est putandum suo principi reticuisse 18 : nisi placuissem, non essem prorogata. Ego inter matronas19 , modestia et auctoritate graves, sum nutrita, nec puto me {149r} ulla ex parte vel a majoribus degenerasse, vel magistris displicuisse. Quibus ex rebus20 , sicut 21 mihi videtur, ad nuptias venio 22 minime contemnenda23 , quae paternis maternisque titulis illustrata, pudicitiam, virginitatem 24 , formam egregiam, probos mores cum ingenti gloria mecum affero nobilitatissimae domus." Which harbours, which islands, which countries, which coasts has he not gone to, in arms and victorious? Where in the world is the name of Alfonso unknown? Who has greater knowledge of the arts of war and peace? Who is more beloved by his own subjects as well as by foreigners? Who in this century has greater intellect? Who is more just, and more generous, and who reigns more magnanimously? Isn't he the only prince who does not become arrogant in good times and depressed in bad times? Truly, he has tamed Fortune and is the glory of our time, he who conquered Naples with a tenacity that was just as great as that of the Greek leaders when they conquered Troy.I have now shown you the bridal gifts I bring with me from my paternal House and the great glory of my maternal House.[19] If you wish to know about my appearance and my character, I prefer others to speak about me. Surely, the imperial ambassadors, who saw me two years ago, will have reported back to their prince about my face, stature and features. If I had not pleased them, they would not have proposed me. I have grown up among women of great modesty and authority, and I do not think that I am in any way inferior to my ancestors or that I have displeased my teachers. Therefore, I believe that I come to this marriage as a highly suitable [bride], distinguished by my paternal and maternal titles, and with my maiden chastity, my exquisite beauty, my good character, and the immense glory of my illustrious House."[START_REF] My | and men, who against law and justice had conquered all the lands from the Adriatic Bay to the Northern Sea and mocked the Roman Empire[END_REF] Stirps mea vetustior est quam repeti possit, ducalis, regia, imperatoria, ex qua viri fortes 1 quamplurimi, bellicosi duces, justissimi reges, magnanimi caesares prodierunt. His Austria paruit, florentissima regio, cujus principatus et 2 a Sabaudia in Pannoniam et ab Illyrico in Burgundiam protenduntur. His Bohemiae nobilissimum, ditissimum 3 et aureum olim regnum oboedivit, et 4 ab his ferox virosaque 5 Polonia regnata est. Ab his septem illa populosa, latissima, et opulentissima Hungariae regna diutius gubernata 6 fuerunt. Ab his Romanum imperium non sine magna {158r} nostrae familiae laude multis saeculis 7 administratum est. Ab his Ottacarus, rex praedives 8 ac potentissimus, qui ab Adriatico sinu usque in 9 oceanum septentrionalem, quidquid medium 10 fuerat, suae ditioni 11 contra 12 jus fasque subegerat, ac Romano imperio insultabat, Deo atque hominibus13 infestus, magno proelio victus 14 , profligatus, atque occisus est.1 de me verba … fortes omit. T 2 omit. T 3 dignissimum P, FR4 omit. P, T, FR5 ferosaque T 6 illa populosa … gubernata : illae populosae, latissimae, et opulentissimae Hungariae ditiones gubernatae FR7 multis saeculis : seculo P, FR Rudolfus nostrae domus princeps, qui primus in possessionem Austriae venit1 , tantae moderationis famaeque fuit, ut Romanorum creatus imperator, solo suae virtutis nomine fregerit, quicumque per Germaniam 2 adversus imperium res novas moliebatur 3 . Nec minor ei 4 fuit Albertus prior, qui cum plerique {149v} Germaniae principes Adolfum ex domo de Nassau 5 imperare vellent, nostramque domum calumniose praeterirent, non est passus extra familiam imperium esse, sed bello indicto ad 6 constitutam diem armatus venit, collatisque signis in aciem prodiit, et 7 atroci 8 pugna usurpatorem imperii vicit, fudit, occidit ac domum Austriae pristinae dignitati 9 restituit. Transeo Fridericum Caesarem et avum meum Leopoldum, duo fulmina belli. Ernestum, qui me genuit, non laudabo, quamvis subditis dilectissimus esset, inimicis formidatissimus. Patruus meus Albertus Caesar, qui Bohemiam Hungariamque 10 regnavit, non solum Hussitas afflixit 11 haereticos, sed Turcorum rabiem Christianis cervicibus imminentem magna virtute compescuit. Non est otium modo referre, quae mei majores nunc pro catholica fide, nunc pro Romano imperio tuendo propagandoque

	1 Joao I of Portugal (1358-1433). King from 1485 until his death. Conquered the African city of Ceuta in 1415 2 Proverbs, 22, 1 3 Leonora' sister, princess Isabella, married Juan II of Castile in 1447 4 Joao I married Philippa of Lancaster in 1385 5 Infanta Isabella (1397-1441) 6 Philippe III le Bon (1396-1469): Duke of Burgundy from 1419 to his death 1 em.; terrae codd. 2 adivit T 3 perregrinus R 4 omit. T 5 hunc unum : unum hunc R, T 6 gloria saeculi : seculi gloria T 7 duce R 8 Troiani P, R 9 expugnaverint P, R 10 domine FR 11 mallem T 12 sim R 13 tum FR 14 quae FR 15 quis P, R, FR 16 sim add. T 17 ante biennium me : me ante biennium T 24 virginis FR 14 fictus P 23 condempnenda P 13 omnibus R 22 nemo P, FR 12 omit. P, FR 21 omit. P, FR 11 dictioni R, T 20 sum add. P, FR 10 obvium FR 19 omit. R 9 ad P, FR 18 retinuisse FR [18] 8 dives FR [22]

7

Juan II (1398-1479): King of Navarra from 1425 and of Aragon from 1458 until his death. Brother of Alfonso V of Aragon 8 Alfonso V the Magnanimous (1396-1458): King of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica, Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416, and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death

[18]

Oration "Audivi"[1], sect. 18

Oration "Si putarem"[START_REF] Leopold | Duke of Austria from 1365 to 1379, and Duke of Styria and Carinthia[END_REF], sect.

D'Elia: Renaissance, p. 52: Wedding orations functioned as panegyrics for rulers and elites in Italian courts

Boccaccio, p. 9

See e.g. Piccolomini's letter to Johann Vrunt of

November 1445 (Epistolarium, pp. 495)

Reject, pp.

236-237 2 D'Elia: Renaissance, p. 108: Humanists, however, differ from this literature[medieval chivalric romances] in that the passion that they praised was not adulterous, but can and should be found within marriage

Cf. description of ms. in: I manoscritti medievali di Trento e provincia. A cura di A. Paolini. Firenze,

Jeronimus: Epistola ad Heliodorus (60),1. MPL, XXII, col. 589

Duarte (1391Duarte ( -1438)): King from 1433 until his death

Leonora of Aragon (1402-1445)

"sanguis"

By Spain is here meant the Iberian peninsula of which Portugal is part

Against misogyny

2.1. Marriage is a perfect union of male and female [START_REF] Of | King of the Romans (Germany) from 1292 until his death in battle 1298[END_REF] As I am going to speak on the benefits of marriage, it is necessary -I think -first to refute those who consistently abuse the whole female gender with insults and disgraceful reproaches.

For as marriage consists in the union of male and female, how could it be praiseworthy if one of its parts were defective and imperfect? Marriage is not like Daniel's 1 statue, whose feet were made partly of iron and partly of clay. 2 Nor do we see it as that creature of Horace 3 whose upper part was that of a lovely woman and its lower part that of a fish. 4 No, we consider marriage to be sacred, complete, and perfect in its [two] parts. But let us hear what is being said against women and afterwards we shall judge the truth of the matter.

6.

Verses in praise of King Alphonso [START_REF]Vivere 1 te cupimus longos, Alphonse, per annos, Aurea quo nobis saecula rege patent[END_REF] We wish you will live, Alfonso, for many years. Under your kingship a golden age lies open to us.

Far away is the conquered enemy and all his miserable deeds. Under your governance the time of peace has come.

To conquer fortune is greater than to tame a monster. Your name surpasses Hercules'.

Happy are you, Parthenope: 1 as long as you are in the keep of the exalted House of Aragon no power can hurt you.