Pius II (pope)
1405 – 1464 Italian Pope (1458-1464)
Humanist scholar and writer who became pope and tried to rally a crusade.
- Religion
- Catholic; Bishop of Rome
- Affiliations
- The papacy
Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini, was a famous humanist writer, poet, and diplomat before he became pope. He is the only pope to leave a full autobiography, the Commentaries. He spent his reign trying to unite Europe in a crusade against the Ottoman Turks after the fall of Constantinople, and he died at Ancona waiting for a fleet that never truly gathered.