Editing Pope Callixtus III (section)

==Pontificate==
Borgia was elected [[pope]] at an advanced age as a "compromise candidate" in the [[Papal conclave, 1455|conclave of 8 April 1455]]. He took the pontifical name Callixtus III.<ref name=MacCaffrey/> He was [[papal coronation|crowned]] on 20 April 1455 by Cardinal [[Protodeacon]] [[Prospero Colonna (cardinal)|Prospero Colonna]]. After his coronation, he rode a white horse through the streets of the city and followed the ancient custom, known as Monte Giordano, where representatives of the Jews met with the pope and presented him with the roll of the law. Callixtus III then read from the law and stated "We ratify the law, but condemn your interpretation", which instigated a riot at the ceremony that endangered the pope's life.<ref>Pastor, pp. 337-338</ref>

Not quite two years after the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, Callixtus was chiefly concerned with the organization of Christian Europe against an invasion by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. At the time, it was said that Callixtus III "speaks and thinks of nothing but the crusade", spending hours discussing the topic with a warlike zeal.<ref>Pastor, p. 348</ref> An extensive building program underway in Rome was cancelled and the money funneled toward a crusade. [[Papal nuncio]]s were dispatched to all the countries of Europe to beseech the princes to join once more in an effort to check the danger of a Turkish invasion. Missionaries were sent to [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], [[Kingdom of Germany|Germany]], [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], and Aragon to preach the Crusade, and to engage the prayers of the faithful for the success of the enterprise. It was by order of Callixtus III that the bells were rung at midday to remind the faithful that they should pray for the welfare of the crusaders.<ref name=MacCaffrey/>

The princes of Europe were slow in responding to the call of the pope, largely due to national rivalries. England and France's [[Hundred Years' War]] had just ended in 1453. Forces led by [[John Hunyadi]] ({{langx|hu|Hunyadi János}}), Captain-General of Hungary, met the Turks and defeated them at [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|Belgrade]] on 22 July 1456. Shortly after his victory, Hunyadi himself died of a fever.<ref name=MacCaffrey/> On 29 June 1456, Callixtus III ordered the church bells to be rung at noon (see [[noon bell]]) as a call to prayer for the welfare of those defending Belgrade. To commemorate this victory, Callixtus III ordered the [[Feast of the Transfiguration]] to be held annually on 6 August.

[[File:Bolla papale di callisto III sulla restituzione di beni al convento della sambuca, roma 20 giugno 1455.jpg|thumb|A bull of Callixtus III]]
In 1456 the pope issued the [[papal bull]] ''Inter Caetera'' (not to be confused with ''Inter Caetera'' of 1493), reaffirming the earlier bulls ''[[Dum Diversas]]'' and ''[[Romanus Pontifex]]'' which recognized Portugal's trade rights in territories it had discovered along the West African coast. This confirmation of ''Romanus Pontifex'' also gave the Portuguese the military [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]] under [[Henry the Navigator]].<ref>''European treaties bearing on the history of the United States and its Dependencies to 1648'', ed. Frances Gardiner Davenport, (Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1917), 27.</ref>

Callixtus III ordered a [[Retrial of Joan of Arc|new trial]] for [[Joan of Arc]] (c.&nbsp;1412–1431), at which she was posthumously vindicated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Castor|first=Helen|title=Joan of Arc|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2015|pages=231, 241}}</ref> Callixtus III canonized the following four saints during his pontificate: [[Vincent Ferrer]] (3 June 1455), [[Osmund (bishop of Salisbury)|Osmund]] (1 January 1457), [[Albert of Trapani]] (15 October 1457), and [[Rose of Viterbo]] (1457).

Callixtus III [[Cardinals created by Callixtus III|elevated]] nine new cardinals into the cardinalate in two consistories on 20 February 1456 and 17 December 1456,<ref>Miranda, Salvador. [http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/consistories-xv.htm#CallixtusIII Consistories for the creation of Cardinals: 15th Century (1394-1503)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512160255/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/consistories-xv.htm#CallixtusIII |date=12 May 2017 }} ''The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.'' Retrieved 29 January 2016.</ref> two of whom were [[cardinal nephews]]. The first of them was Rodrigo de Borgia who later became [[Pope Alexander VI]] (1492–1503), infamous for his corruption and immorality.<ref>Montor, p. 190.</ref> The second was [[Luis Julian de Milà]].

The pope approved of the establishment of the [[University of Greifswald]] in 1456.

According to one story that first appeared in a 1475 posthumous biography and was subsequently embellished and popularized by [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]], Callixtus III [[excommunicated]] the 1456 appearance of [[Halley's Comet]], believing it to be an ill omen for the Christian defenders of [[Belgrade]] from the besieging armies of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
|title=Bartolomeo Platina|author=John Stein
|encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia|editor=Charles George Herbermann
|year=1913|publisher=Robert Appleton Co.|volume=12|pages=158–159
|oclc=1017058|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12158a.htm
}}</ref> No known primary source supports the authenticity of this account. The 29 June 1456 [[papal bull]] of Callixtus III calling for a public prayer for the success of the crusade makes no mention of the comet. By 6 August, when the Turkish siege was broken, the comet had not been visible in either Europe or Turkey for several weeks.<ref>{{cite journal| url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1910PA.....18..214R| title = Rigge, William F. "An Historical Examination of the Connection of Calixtus III with Halley's Comet", ''Popular Astronomy'', p. 214, 1910| bibcode = 1910PA.....18..214R| last1 = Rigge| first1 = William F.| journal = Popular Astronomy| year = 1910| volume = 18| page = 214}}</ref>