The faithful had until Friday evening, April 25, to pay their last respects to Pope Francis at the Vatican, before his burial, which took place on Saturday, April 26. On this occasion, Entrevue.fr publishes the series “Interview with the Popes”, dedicated to the popes and the decisive moments of their pontificate.
Nicknamed "the Pope of the poor," Francis left behind the image of a simple pastor. In contrast, the Tuscan Enea Silvio Piccolomini (pontificate: 1458-1464, died in 1464) was already a literary celebrity before becoming Pius II: in 1444, he wrote Historia de duobus amantibus, an epistolary novel considered sulphurous for the time, in which lovers exchange fiery letters before committing the act.
The future pope wrote the work while serving Emperor Frederick III in Vienna and leading a high-society life, with two illegitimate children known to have been born to him. Siena provides the setting: Lucrezia, a young wife, and Euryale, a court knight, fall in love at a funeral; their letters quickly become a straightforward seduction manual.
The Renaissance's "Fifty Shades of Grey"
First circulated in manuscript, the text was printed shortly after the death of Pius II by the publisher Ulrich Zell. It became a phenomenal success: 67 editions in the 1463th century, around forty more in the XNUMXth. Some illustrated versions, now exhibited in the greatest museums, still highlight the torrid passages. Having become pope, Piccolomini recanted: in XNUMX, a bull exhorted the students of Cologne to "reject Aeneas, accept Pius." Too late: The Two Lovers already runs through Europe and recalls that before the tiara, certain popes knew how to handle not only the pen, but eroticism.
All articles in the series Interview with the Popes :
Interview with the Popes No. 1 – When John XXIII made Regina Coeli tremble
Interview with the Popes No. 2 – When Paul VI renounced his crown
Interview with the Popes No. 3 – When the future Pius II signed an erotic bestseller
