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Pope Eugenius IV and the Rule of the Papal States (1430s)

Type Event Region Europe Time 1431–1439

Pope Eugenius IV, crowned in 1431, faced multiple challenges in the 1430s: a power struggle with the Council of Basel, exile caused by a Roman citize…

Timeline

  1. 1431–1433Rome · Papal StatesSoon after taking office, Eugenius IV clashed with the Council of Basel, which upheld the principle of conciliar supremacy. The pope ordered the council moved to Ferrara and began to reform the administration of the Papal States, but the situation in Rome remained unstable.
  2. 1433–1434Florence · TuscanyThe citizens of Rome, incited by nobles of the Colonna family and others, rose in revolt against papal taxation and the Basel policy. Eugenius IV was forced to flee Rome and took up residence in Florence, where, under the protection of the Medici family, he conducted church affairs.
  3. 1435–1439Rome · Papal StatesRelying on the Florence–Venice alliance and military commanders such as Niccolò Piccinino, the pope gradually recovered Rome and the surrounding papal territories. In the late 1430s the pope returned to Rome, and the administration and finances of the Papal States were gradually restored, laying the foundation for subsequent conciliar diplomacy.

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