Editing Pope Paul II (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:Saint Peter's Basilica 2020 P08 Grotte vaticane Grave of Paulus II.jpg|thumb|Grave of Paul II in the [[List of extant papal tombs|Vatican Grottoes]]]]
Although Paul II was a committed opponent of [[Renaissance humanism|humanist learning]], he oversaw and approved the introduction of printing into the Papal States, first at [[Subiaco, Lazio|Subiaco]] in 1464 by [[Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim]], and at Rome itself in 1467. The result was that books and other documents became far more numerous and less expensive to procure than the previous handwritten manuscripts. Printing put the materials needed for an advanced education into the hands of more people than ever before, including an increasing number of laypeople. The output of printing presses at this period was, as a matter of course, subject to governmental scrutiny; during Paul II's reign, books produced in the Papal States were largely limited to Latin classical literature and ecclesiastical texts.

The chronicler [[Stefano Infessura]]'s republican and anti-papal temper makes his diary a far from neutral though well-informed witness. But it is certain that although Paul II opposed the [[humanists]], he yet provided for popular amusements: in 1466 he permitted the [[horse-race]] that was a feature of [[Carnival]] to be run along the main street, the [[Via Lata (Rome)|Via Lata]], which became known from this annual event as the [[Via del Corso]]. So that nobody felt left out of the event, the Pope instituted races for boys, adult men, old people and Jews, with appropriate prizes for each group.<ref name=History-4-32>Pastor vol. IV, p. 32</ref> He tried to reduce or stop blood feuds and vendettas in Italy, and to make sure that Jews were treated fairly.<ref name=History-4-33>Pastor vol. IV, p. 33</ref> Paul II displayed an extravagant love of personal splendor that gratified his sense of self-importance.<ref name=History-4-16>Pastor vol. IV, p. 16</ref> After his death [[Sixtus IV]] and a selected group of cardinals inspected the treasure laid up against expenditures against the Turks: they found 54 silver shells filled with pearls, to a value of 300,000 [[ducat]]s, jewels and gold intended for refashioning, worth another 300,000 ducats, and a magnificent diamond worth 7,000 ducats, which was sent to [[Cardinal d'Estouteville]] to cover monies he had advanced to the pontiff. The coin was not immediately found.<ref>A cardinal's report to the Duke of Milan's ambassador, related in Pastor vol. IV, p. 211.</ref> He had also amassed a collection of 800 gemstones.<ref>{{cite book |title=Money and Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli and the Bonfire of the Vanities |first=Ludovica |last=Sebregondi |publisher=Giunti |location=Florence |year=2012 |isbn=978-8809767645}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2020}}

[[William Francis Barry]] considers that his character was "misunderstood by the Italian courts which never dreamt that a Pope could be an honourable man".<ref>Barry, The History of the Papacy 1897 vol I. p. 94</ref>

In statecraft, Paul II lacked eminence and achieved nothing of consequence for [[Italy]]. In his own domain, however, he terminated the regime of the [[counts]] of [[House of Anguillara|Anguillara]] in 1465.