Also known as:
Italian: Francesco Piccolomini, Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini
PIUS III, Pope. - Francesco Todeschini, b. at Siena around 1440, d. at Rome on 18 Oct. 1503. Son of a sister of Pius II, he received from him the surname of Piccolomini, the archbishopric of Siena, the purple (5 March 1460), the legation in the Marche, the office of vicar in Rome and in the Papal State at the Pontiff's departure for Ancona.
From the following pontiffs he received legations and offices. Praised for integrity of life, for goodness of soul, for culture, for love of art, he had, among other works, begun the construction of the Library of the cathedral of Siena, entrusting (1502) its decoration to Pinturicchio. He was elected Pope in the Conclave that followed the death of Alexander VI, as a compromise among the various factions (22 Sept. 1503); and his creation was received with joy. He would have wanted the reform of the Church and peace in Christendom; but ailing, not strong of character, haunted by the fear that the Venetians would take advantage of the collapse of the Borgias to extend their dominion in Romagna, he maintained toward Valentino a wavering conduct, which aroused distrust and apprehensions. He died on 18 Oct. 1503, after a troubled pontificate. - See plate CII.
Bibliography6 worksPastor, III (v. index); P. Piccolomini, Il pontificato di P. III secondo la testimonianza di una fonte contemp., in Arch. stor. ital., 3rd s
BIBL.: Pastor, III (v. index); P. Piccolomini, Il pontificato di P. III secondo la testimonianza di una fonte contemp., in Arch. stor. ital., 3rd series, 32 (1903), p. 102 ff.; J. Schlecht, Pius III. und die deutsche Nation, Munich 1914; C. Wirz, Die Pontifikate Alexanders VI. und Pius III., Bern 1918; G. B. Picotti, La giovinezza di Leone X, Milan 1928, passim; E. Vecchi-Pinto, La missione del card. Piccolomini legato pontif. presso Carlo VIII, in Arch. della Dep. rom. di st. patr., 68 (1945), p. 97 ff.
Picotti, Giovanni Battista. “Pio III, papa.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, col. 1496. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/pio-iii-papa.
MLA
Picotti, Giovanni Battista. “Pio III, papa.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, col. 1496. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/pio-iii-papa.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec9_pio_iii_papa,
author = {Picotti, Giovanni Battista},
title = {Pio III, papa},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IX},
pages = {1496},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/pio-iii-papa}
}
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