... of Mantua imperial diets Hungary Venice Pope Pius II In this chapter we move from ideological constructs to practical issues. The policies pursued by the papal curia will be crucial but, as we would expect from the challenges presented to those policies, they were subject to a constant...

...One of the major orations of Isotta Nogarola, an Italian-born French author, was dedicated to Pope Pius II. This is a powerful oration, and easily the most evangelical of her works. Filled with a syncretic weaving of classical and biblical allusions, her speech was a call to arms against the Turks...