Francesco Coppini

Francesco Coppini (also Francesco dei Coppini ) (* before 1415 in Prato ; † as Ignatius on September 29, 1464 in Rome ) was an Italian bishop and legate.

Early life

The native Prateser is first mentioned as a lawyer and chamberlain in Florence in 1433. In 1437 he was a judicial officer in Bologna and entered the service of the Church. Back in Florence later, he was finally appointed canon . Between 1450 and 1452 he served as apostolic treasurer in Bologna and soon in other functions, where he found important patrons. Pope Kalixt III. appointed him bishop of Terni in 1458 .

Mission in England

On January 7, 1459, after the intercession of Duke Francesco I Sforza of Milan , he was appointed nuncio by Pope Pius II and sent to England. His task was to act as a mediator in the Wars of the Roses and Henry VI. to move to participate in the crusade against the Turks . Further orders and tasks, some of which were forwarded to him en route, were to take him through Burgundy , Cambrai and the Netherlands .

He reached Dover on June 4, 1459 and then traveled to London. He met Henry VI at the royal court and sent him the invitation to the Council of Mantua , to which Henry had sent a courtesy delegation on May 16. Due to the rivalry and the fragile equilibrium between France and England, among other things, the council did not achieve the effect that Pius II had hoped for; the only compromise that was passed was an appeal to crusade Christianity.

With regard to his further task of mediating between York and Lancaster , Coppini was initially not very successful either, since as a mere nuncio (ambassador) he lacked the authority of an authorized papal legate who could make decisions on behalf of the Pope. At the urgent request of various intermediaries and patrons, he received the dignity of legacy for England and Scotland on December 11, 1459 from Pope Pius II. In addition, after the failed Council of Mantua, he should sound out the situation for a follow-up convention. After all, he was to act as the collector of the Turkish tithe, with which the war chest against the Turks was to be filled.

Margarete von Anjou , regent for the mentally deranged Henry VI, rejected this request with a view to the domestic political situation in the country. The leaders of the Yorkist Party, namely the Earl of Warwick , the Duke of March and the Earl of Salisbury , entered into negotiations with Coppini and promised him that the interests of the Holy See would be enforced if they should take control of Henry VI. gain. On July 2, 1460, Coppini returned to England on board a York ship from Bruges and pretended to be willing to negotiate, but from now on explicitly supported the cause of the Yorks, who won the Battle of Northampton .

Now Henry VI was. under the control of the House of York. Legate Coppini said he played a decisive role in the reorganization of the kingdom in his messages to the Pope and announced the implementation of all papal instructions, for which he was commended by Pius II. However, the Battle of Wakefield on December 30, 1460 turned the fortunes of war, and in January 1461, Coppini unsuccessfully sent mediation letters to Queen Margaret. Since his role as mediator was compromised, he preached the crusade against the House of Lancaster and promised the fighters on the side of Warwick remission of sins. On February 10, 1461, Coppini then left London, fearing the worst. When the Second Battle of St. Albans went to Lancaster again, Coppini ended his mission and fled to Bruges. From there he made trips to Mechelen , Antwerp and Paris in the following months and always stayed in close contact with his allies.

Condemnation and monastery

After the battle of Towton on March 29, 1461 the situation appeared again favorable; both King Edward VI. as well as Sforza in Milan asked the Pope to confirm Coppini as a cardinal legate in England, which would have meant new privileges for him. Pius II, however, named the Bishop of Arras for this post, as the new King of France, Louis XI , was next to the former Queen Margaret of Anjou . , had complained to him about Coppini. Coppini initially returned to England in the entourage of the Bishop of Arras, who was convinced of Coppini's abilities, but was then recalled to Rome in November 1461, fallen from grace.

In March 1462, Pius II gave in to politically motivated demands for punishment for Coppini. A trial was opened against the now former bishop and he himself was imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo . Among other things , he was accused of simony , abuse of office , embezzlement of church funds and calling for civil war under the church banner. Coppini confessed to his misconduct and was finally banished to the monastery of St. Paul Outside the Walls on March 2, 1463 . On March 21, 1463 he took the name Ignatius . After the election of Pope Paul II , he worked on his rehabilitation, but previously died on September 29, 1464.

literature

• John A. Wagner: Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses , ABC-CLIO , 2001, ISBN 1-85109-358-3 , p. 62.
• Adolf Gottlob : The Nuncio Franz Coppini share in the dethronement of King Heinrich VI. and his condemnation at the Roman Curie , In: German journal for historical science. Volume 4, 1890.
• Anna Imelde Galletti:  Coppini, Francesco. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 28:  Conforto-Cordero. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1983.