Pope Pius II

Pope Pius II
Bishop of Rome
Detail of the Portrait of Pius II by van Gent and Berruguete (c. 1472-76, Ducal Palace, Urbino)
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	19 August 1458
Papacy ended	14 August 1464
Predecessor	Callixtus III
Successor	Paul II
Orders
Ordination	4 March 1447
Consecration	15 August 1447 by Juan Carvajal
Created cardinal	17 December 1456 by Callixtus III
Personal details
Born	Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini 18 October 1405 Corsignano, Republic of Siena
Died	14 August 1464(1464-08-14) (aged 58) Ancona, Marche, Papal States
Coat of arms
Other popes named Pius

Pope Pius II (Latin: Pius PP. II, Italian: Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (Latin: Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death.

Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, and orator, and private secretary of Antipope Felix V and then the Emperor Frederick III, and then Pope Eugenius IV.^[1] He participated in the Council of Basel, but left it in 1443 to follow Frederick, whom he reconciled to the Roman obedience. He became Bishop of Trieste in 1447, Bishop of Siena in 1450, and a cardinal in 1456.

He was a Renaissance humanist with an international reputation. Aeneas Silvius' longest and most enduring work is the story of his life, the Commentaries, which is the only autobiography of a pope ever to have been published. It appeared posthumously, in 1584, 120 years after his death.