Following on from the translation of Nikolaus of Modruš' funeral oration for Cardinal Pietro Riario in issue 5.2 (December 2018), which explored his developing posthumous reputation, this study examines the role of Pope Sixtus IV's nephew as a representative of the pontificate. Less constrained than the pope by behavioral restrictions, cardinal-nephews could mix ecclesiastical and secular activities, welcoming and hosting visiting ambassadors and princes. The cardinal-nephew's blood ties emphasized his elite position in his uncle's pontificate, while his wealth, derived from lucrative benefices bestowed by his patron the pope, allowed a magnificent display that projected messages about power based on liberality. This practice shows a sort of resource-sharing that benefitted both the pope and his nephew, while performing necessary ceremonial, political, and social functions. Via these events observers could identify important members of the papal court and thus the pope's relatives were able to establish alliances that benefitted both clerical and lay papal kin. Using Nikolaus of Modruš' funeral oration, ambassadorial letters, contemporary chronicles, and household inventories, the cardinal's household emerges as an important vehicle for the display of dignity and the development of diplomatic relationships. Read together with the translation of Nikolaus of Modruš' funeral oration, this essay presents Pietro Riario as a frontrunner in the use of elite households as a conduit for patronage systems that extended papal reach across and beyond the city of Rome, at the onset of a period of change characterized as a papal monarchy.
The early sixteenth century marked the intensification of papal efforts to transform the papacy from a senatorial model, with a cooperative relationship between the pope and cardinals, into a court. Using ecclesiastical ritual, Popes Julius II and Leo X constructed a courtly environment in which the College of Cardinals was a silent but visible supporter of the papacy, rather than a group of vocal political counsellors. The written work of the papal Master of Ceremonies Paris de' Grassi (1504–1521) shows the direction and expectation of the dominant courtly model, while Paolo Cortesi's treatise De cardinalatu (1510) exemplifies the eclipsed conciliarist ideals. While modern historians accord Cortesi's treatise attention that does not reflect its original interest to contemporaries, de' Grassi's diary has yet to be contextualized as a practical guide to publicly constructing the cardinal‐courtier as a client of the papal monarchy. This article examines the rituals of the cardinal elevation ceremony as a vehicle for this model's implementation, as well as a site for the expression of discontent by certain cardinals.
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