SISTO III, PAPA, SANTO

SISTO III, POPE, saint. - He reigned from 432 to 440. There is no evidence that he was venerated in antiquity; he was included by Ado in his Martyrology, from which he passed into the Roman Martyrology, where he is commemorated on March 28.

A Roman, son of the priest Sixtus, it seems that while he was himself a priest he had sympathies for the Pelagians; but after the condemnation of the heresy by Pope Zosimus (418) he definitively abandoned them and even wrote some vigorous letters against them, so much so that St. Augustine had to remind him to exercise greater prudence and charity. He succeeded Celestine (432) when the Nestorian heresy had already been condemned (Ephesus, 431; already in 430 he himself had written directly to Nestorius exhorting him to abandon his error), but he found the Churches of the East divided over the well-known dispute between St. Cyril and John of Antioch. He was, however, consoled to learn of the reconciliation that took place in 433 and wrote appropriately to congratulate the two protagonists. Remembering his former sympathy for the Pelagians, Julian of Eclanum tried to intercede for his readmission to ecclesiastical communion, but Sixtus, advised by Leo, the future pope, did not allow himself to be deceived.

A faithful continuer of the primatial activity of his predecessors, he wrote a letter to Proclus of Constantinople, later warning him not to interfere in the affairs of Illyricum, while confirming Anastasius of Thessalonica as his vicar for those regions with the right to confirm episcopal appointments, judge disputes, and convene and preside over synods. No less important was his building activity. In memory of the dogmatic definition of Ephesus, which affirmed the divine motherhood of Mary, he restored and enlarged the

S. IV waged war against Florence, supported by Naples and the Pope; but when peace was made between Naples and Florence (March 1480), the Pope also acceded. Meanwhile Sixtus IV had formed an alliance with Venice; yet again he had to guard against the Turkish peril and aid the Knights of St John in their victorious resistance at Rhodes, and intervene on the side of the King of Naples when in July 1480 the Turks seized Otranto, from which they were not driven out until 10 Sept. 1481. Peace was again disturbed in Italy when in May 1482 war broke out between Venice and Ferrara; soon Naples too took up arms against Venice; the Colonna sided with Naples and were opposed by the Orsini; the Neapolitan army marched on Rome but on 21 Aug. was defeated at Campomorone by Roberto Malatesta, papal condottiere, and peace was made on that side on 24 Dec. 1482. Relations with Venice meanwhile grew more embittered as she aimed at seizing Ferrara. S. IV launched the interdict against Venice on 24 May 1483 and allied himself with Ferrara and Mantua; the Peace of Bagnolo (7 Aug. 1484) between Milan and Venice ended these struggles. Nor could Rome keep peace within her walls, owing to the turbulence of her citizens; there were bloody feuds between the Santacroce and the Della Valle, complicated by those between the Orsini and the Colonna; the latter were opposed by Count Giacomo Riario; the execution of Lorenzo Colonna, protonotary and head of his house (30 June 1484), a bitter rival of Riario, did not suffice to quell the strife.

S. IV celebrated the Jubilee in 1475; but he was unable to effect any effective reform in the Church, and under his pontificate abuses long decried in ecclesiastical discipline grew ever more rampant. Sixtus IV did not fail to take steps for the development of agriculture around Rome and for the embellishment of the city; but to raise money he multiplied venal offices and filled the Curia with new officials. He was most munificent towards the Vatican Basilica, built the Sistine Chapel or New Chapel, inaugurated in 1483, rebuilt the churches of the SS. Apostoli and of his own Order, S. Maria del Popolo for the Augustinians, and S. Maria della Pace with its cloister for the Augustinian Canons; he provided for the arrangement of the Vatican Library. For the convenience and adornment of the city he rebuilt Ponte Sisto and set about making many streets wide, clean and paved, removing ugliness and obstructions. He thus provoked a rivalry among curials and cardinals in building palaces; sumptuous funeral monuments invaded the churches; painters, sculptors and architects of the highest repute, who flocked thither from all parts, were able to give new lustre to the city, which was being renewed in the style of Renaissance art, and learning too found fresh encouragement.

Sisto IV, Papa - Particolare del monumento sepolcrale di S. IV, opera di A. del Pollaiolo (1484-93). Nel fregio sono raffigurate le Virtù, nel basamento sono raffigurate le Arti Liberali, con la Teologia, la Filosofia e la Prospettiva - Vaticano, Grotte.

giro favore. S. IV morì il 12 ag.

1484. Il bellissimo sepolcro bronzo del Pollaiolo raccolse le sue spoglie