Who he was
Tommaso Parentucelli, son of a poor physician, worked as a tutor in Florence among the humanist scholars and took a master's degree in theology at Bologna. For over twenty years he served Bl. Niccolò Albergati, Bishop of Bologna, and took a leading part in the discussions with the Greek bishops at the Council of Florence. Eugene IV entrusted him with missions in Italy and Germany, made him a cardinal in December 1446, and he was elected pope three months later. He took the name Nicholas in honour of his old patron.
What he is remembered for
A scholar and lover of books, he founded the Vatican Library, gathered humanist scholars in Rome and had the Greek classics translated into Latin. He restored the city's churches, walls and water supply, began rebuilding the Vatican and St Peter's, and proclaimed the Jubilee of 1450. In 1452 he crowned Frederick III, the last emperor crowned in Rome, and he lived to see the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Sources
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