Oration “Si mihi” of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (25 March 1455, Wiener Neustadt). Ed. and transl. by Michael v. Cotta-Schönberg : (Orations of Enea Silvio Piccolomini / Pope Pius II; 19)

Abstract

The imperial Diet of Wiener Neustadt, February to April 1455, was-as one of its most important subjects-to discuss military aid to Hungary, the European frontier state directly facing Turkish expansion and military aggression. The Hungarian delegation arrived late at the diet. It was given a special reception at which the Bishop of Grosswardein, Jan Vitez, gave the oration Pulsatis maerore, followed by an oration on behalf of the emperor, the Si mihi, given by Bishop Enea Silvio Piccolomini. The oration contains little new compared to Piccolomini's former orations on the crusade against the Turks. However, the final version of Piccolomini's opening oration to the diet, the In hoc florentissimo, may have been heavily reworked on the basis of the Si mihi, and in that case the theme of Christian warfare actually represents a new development in Piccolomini's crusade rhetoric.