Bartolomeo Platina
Encyclopedia
Biography
Platina was born at PiadenaPiadena
-World heritage site:It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site....
(Platina in Latin), near Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
.
He first enlisted as a soldier, and was then appointed tutor to the sons of the Marquis Ludovico II Gonzaga
Ludovico II of Gonzaga
Ludovico III of Gonzaga, also spelled Lodovico was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478.-Parents:Ludovico was the son of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga and Paola Malatesta...
. In 1457, he went to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, and studied under the Greek scholar Argyropulos. In 1462 he proceeded to Rome, probably in the suite of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga
Francesco Gonzaga
Francesco Gonzaga was an Italian nobleman, who was Duke of Ariano.-Biography:He was brother of the Cardinal Gianvincenzo Gonzaga, nephew of Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga and of Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua....
. After Pius II
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
had reorganized the College of Abbreviators
Abbreviator
Abbreviator, plural Abbreviators in English or Abbreviatores in Latin, also called Breviators, were a body of writers in the papal chancery, whose business was to sketch out and prepare in due form the pope's bulls, briefs and consistorial decrees before these are written out in extenso by the...
(1463), and increased the number to seventy, Platina, in May 1464, was elected a member.
Probably in the summer of 1465 Platina composed De honesta voluptate et valetudine ("On honourable pleasure and health") This first printed cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
, a monument of medieval cuisine
Medieval cuisine
Medieval cuisine includes the foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, a period roughly dating from the 5th to the 16th century...
in Renaissance intellectual trappings, left the press in 1474 and ran into dozens of editions, disseminating Roman ideas about fine dining throughout Western Europe. In a high moralizing display of humanist learning Platina embedded recipes cribbed from a professional chef, Maestro Martino de' Rossi of Como
Maestro Martino of Como
Martino de Rossi or Martino de Rubeis, called Martino of Como, was the most important cook of the 15th century. His book Libro de Arte Coquinaria is considered a landmark in Italian gastronomic literature and a historical record of the transition from mediaeval to renaissance cuisine.His early...
, whom he had encountered in the summer of 1463 at Albano, where Platina was the guest of Martino's employer, a cardinal.
When Paul II
Pope Paul II
Pope Paul II , born Pietro Barbo, was pope from 1464 until his death in 1471.- Early life :He was born in Venice, and was a nephew of Pope Eugene IV , through his mother. His adoption of the spiritual career, after having been trained as a merchant, was prompted by his uncle's election as pope...
abolished the ordinances of Pius, Platina with the other new members was deprived of his office. Angered by this, he wrote a pamphlet insolently demanding from the pope the recall of his restrictions. When called upon to justify himself he answered with insolence and was imprisoned in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family...
, being released after four months on condition that he remain at Rome. In February 1468, with about twenty other humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
s, he was again imprisoned on suspicion of heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and of conspiring against the life of the pope. The latter charge was dropped for lack of evidence, while they were acquitted on the former. But not even Platina denies that the members of the Roman Academy, imbued with half-pagan and materialistic
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
doctrines, were found guilty of immorality. The story about his constancy under trial and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
is unfounded.
After his release on July 7, 1469, he expected to be again in the employ of Paul II, who, however, declined his services. Platina threatened vengeance and executed his threat, when at the suggestion of Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...
he wrote his (1479). In it he paints his enemy as cruel, and an archenemy of science. For centuries it influenced historical opinions until critical research proved otherwise. In other places party spirit is evident, especially when he treats of the condition of the Church. Notwithstanding, his Lives of the Popes is a work of no small merit, for it is the first systematic handbook of papal history. Platina felt the need of critical research, but shirked the examination of details. By the end of 1474 or the beginning of 1475 Platina offered his manuscript to Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...
; it is still preserved in the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
. The pope's acceptance may cause surprise, but it is probable he was ignorant of its contents except insofar as it concerned his own pontificate up to November, 1474. After the death of Giovanni Andrea Bussi
Giovanni Andrea Bussi
Giovanni Andrea Bussi , also Giovan de' Bussi or Joannes Andreae, was an Italian Renaissance humanist and the Bishop of Aleria . He was a major editor of classical texts and produced many incunabular editiones principes...
, Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Aleria
Aléria
Aléria is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica...
, the pope appointed Platina librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
with a yearly salary of 120 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s and an official residence in the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
. He also instructed him to make a collection of the chief privileges
Privilege (canon law)
Privilege in the Canon law of the Roman Catholic Church is the legal concept whereby someone is exempt from the ordinary operation of the law over time for some specific purpose.-Definition:...
of the Roman Church. This collection, whose value is acknowledged by all the annalists, is still preserved in the Vatican archives. In the preface Platina not only avoids any antagonism towards the Church but even refers with approbation to the punishing of heretics and schism
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
atics by the popes, which is the best proof that Sixtus IV, by his marks of favour, had won Platina for the interests of the Church. Besides his principal work Platina wrote several others of smaller importance, notably: . The Pinacoteca Vaticana
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
contains a famous fresco by Melozzo da Forlì
Melozzo da Forlì
Melozzo da Forlì was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school.- Biography :...
representing Sixtus IV Appointing Platina as Prefect of the Vatican Library
Sixtus IV Appointing Platina as Prefect of the Vatican Library
Sixtus IV Appointing Platina as Prefect of the Vatican Library is a fresco transferred on canvas by the Italian Renaissance artist Melozzo da Forlì, once decorating the Vatican Library, now housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Rome....
.
Published works by Platina
- Contra amores ("Against love affairs", 1471)
- De honesta voluptate et valetudine ("On honourable pleasure and health", ca 1465, printed 1475)
- Vitæ Pontificum ("Lives of the Popes", 1479)
- Historia inclita urbis Mantuæ et serenissimæ familiæ Gonzagæ ("History of Mantua and the Gonzaga family")
Halley's comet
As a paragraph from Platina's Vitæ Pontificum first gave rise to the legend of the excommunicationExcommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
of Halley's comet
Comet Halley
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley is the best-known of the short-period comets, and is visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years. Halley is the only short-period comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime...
by Pope Callixtus III
Pope Callixtus III
Pope Callixtus III , né Alfons de Borja, was Pope from April 8, 1455 to his death in 1458.-Biography:...
, we here give the legend briefly, after recalling some historical facts. After the fall of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(1453), Nicolas V
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V , born Tommaso Parentucelli, was Pope from March 6, 1447 to his death in 1455.-Biography:He was born at Sarzana, Liguria, where his father was a physician...
appealed in vain to the Christian princes for a crusade. Callixtus III (1455–1458), immediately after his succession, sent legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
s to the various courts for the same purpose; and, meeting with no response, promulgated a bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
June 29, 1456, prescribing the following:
- all priests were to say during MassMass (liturgy)"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
the oratio contra paganos; - daily, between noon and vespersVespersVespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
, at the ringing of a bell, everybody had to say three Our FatherLord's PrayerThe Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
s and Hail MaryHail MaryThe Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional biblical Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Hail Mary is used within the Catholic Church, and it forms the basis of the Rosary...
s; - processions were to be held by the clergy and the faithful on the first Sunday of each month, and the priests were to preach on faith, patience, and penance; to expose the cruelty of the TurksOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and urge all to pray for their deliverance.
The first Sunday of July (July 4), the first processions were held in Rome. On the same day the Turks began to besiege Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. On July 14 the Christians gained a small advantage, and on the twenty-first and twenty-second the Turks were put to flight.
In the same year Halley's comet appeared. In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
it was first seen in June. Towards the end of the month it was still visible for three hours after sunset, causing great excitement everywhere by its extraordinary splendour. It naturally attracted the attention of astrologers
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
as may appear from the long judicium astrologicum by Avogario, of Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, dated June 17, 1467; it was found again by Celoria among the manuscripts of Paolo Toscanelli
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer.-Life:Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was born in Florence, the son of the physician Dominic Toscanelli. Educated in mathematics at the University of Padua, he left in 1424 with the title of a doctor of...
, who had copied it himself. The comet was seen till July 8. It is evident, from all the documents of that time, that it had disappeared from sight several days before the battle of Belgrade. These two simultaneous facts–the publication of the bull and the appearance of the comet–were connected by Platina in the following manner:
- Apparente deinde per aliquot dies cometa crinito et rubeo: cum mathematici ingentem pestem: charitatem annonæ: magnam aliquam cladem futuram dicerent: ad avertendam iram Dei Calistus aliquot dierum supplicationes decrevit: ut si quid hominibus immineret, totum id in Thurcos christiani nominis hostes converteret. Mandavit præterea ut assiduo rogatu Deus flecteretur in meridie campanis signum dari fidelibus omnibus: ut orationibus eos juvarent: qui contra Thurcos continuo dimicabant (A maned and fiery comet appearing for several days, while scientists were predicting a great plague, dearness of food, or some great disaster, Callistus decreed that supplicatory prayers be held for some days to avert the anger of GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, so that, if any calamity threatened mankind, it might be entirely diverted against the Turks, the foes of the Christian name. He likewise ordered that the bells be rung at midday as a signal to all the faithful to move God with assiduous petitions and to assist with their prayers those engaged in constant warfare with the Turks).
Platina has, generally speaking, recorded the facts truly; but is wrong at one point, viz., where he says that the astrologers' predictions of great calamities induced the pope to prescribe public prayers. The bull does not contain a word on the comet, as can be verified in the original, authenticated document.
A careful investigation of the authenticated Regesta of Callixtus (about one hundred folios), in the Vatican archives, shows that the comet is not mentioned in any other papal document. Nor do other writers of the time refer to any such prayers against the comet, though many speak both of the comet and of the prayers against the Turks. The silence of St. Antoninus
Saint Antoninus
Antoninus of Florence was an archbishop of Florence.Born in the city of Florence, he entered the Dominican order in his 16th year...
, Archbishop of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
(1446–1459), is particularly significant. In his Chronicorum libri tres he enumerates accurately all the prayers prescribed by Callixtus; he also mentions the comet of 1456 in a chapter entitled, – but never refers to prayers and processions against the comet, although all papal decrees were sent to him. Aeneas Sylvius
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
and St. John Capistrano
Giovanni da Capistrano
Saint John of Capistrano, O.F.M., was a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest from Italy...
, who preached the crusade in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, considered the comet rather as a favourable omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
in the war against the Turks.
Hence it is clear that Platina has looked wrongly upon the bull as the outcome of fear of comets. The historians of the sixteenth and 17th centuries contented themselves with quoting Platina more or less accurately (Calvisius
Sethus Calvisius
Sethus Calvisius or Setho Calvisio, originally Seth Kalwitz was a German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer, and teacher of the late Renaissance....
1605, Spondanus
Henri Spondanus
Henri Spondanus was a French Catholic jurist, historian and continuator of the Annals compiled by Cardinal Baronius, and Bishop of Pamiers...
1641, Lubienietski 1666). Fabre (1726) in his continuation of the Histoire Ecclésiastique by Fleury
Claude Fleury
Claude Fleury , was a French ecclesiastical historian.Destined for the bar, he was educated at the aristocratic College of Clermont . In 1658 he was nominated an advocate to the parlement of Paris, and for nine years followed the legal profession...
gave a somewhat free paraphrase. Bruys
Bruys
Bruys is a commune in the department of Aisne in Picardy in northern France....
(1733), an apostate (who afterwards entered the Church again), copies Fleury-Fabre adding que le Pape profita en habile homme de la superstition et de la crédulité des peuples. It is only when we come to Laplace's , that we find the expression that the pope ordered the comet and the Turks to be exorcized
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
(conjuré), which expression we find again in Daru's poem L'Astronomie. Arago
François Arago
François Jean Dominique Arago , known simply as François Arago , was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician.-Early life and work:...
(Des Comètes en général etc. Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes 1832, 244) converts it into an excommunication. Arago's treatise was soon translated into all the European languages after which time the appearance of the comet (1456) is hardly ever mentioned, but this historical lie must be repeated in various shapes. Smyth (Cycle of celestial objects) speaks of a special protest and excommunication exorcizing the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, the Turks, and the comet. Grant (History of physical astronomy) refers to the publication of a bull, in which Callixtus anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
tized both the Turks and the comet. Babinet (Revue des deux mondes, 23 ann., vol. 4, 1853, 831) has the pope lancer un timide anathème sur la comète et sur les ennemis de la Chrétienté, whilst in the battle of Belgrade les Frères Mineurs aux premiers rangs, invoquaient l'exorcisme du pape contre la comète. In different ways the legend is repeated by Chambers, Flammarion
Camille Flammarion
Nicolas Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction novels, and several works about Spiritism and related topics. He also published the magazine...
, Draper, Jamin, Dickson White, and others.