with him very much as an academic philosopherand theologian rather than as the inspiration forLollardy, or ‘Morning Star of the Reformation’.This choice of focus is deliberate, the volumeaiming to give a clear statement of ‘what Wyclifhimself actually taught’, so that it can subse-quently be contextualised by those working on hisimpact (pp. x–xi).The first essay certainly establishes such founda-

tions, with Andrew E. Larsen providing a clearbiographical outline to set Wyclif in context,tracing a life which only became tempestuous inits final years. Alessandro D. Conti follows with adiscussion of ‘Wyclif’s logic and metaphysics’, andthen Stephen E. Lahey on ‘Wyclif’s Trinitarianand Christological theology’. Despite the intro-duction’s promise that the articles will be reason-ably accessible even at student level, to providesolid basic awareness of the particular theme, thesetwo pieces are by no means easy going, and Conti’stechnical language certainly takes some penetrat-ing. More straightforward is Takashi Shogimen’sanalysis of ‘Wyclif’s ecclesiology and politicalthought’. This provides a solid and succinctstatement, dealing with Wyclif’s thought in com-parison with the ideas of William of Ockham andMarsilius of Padua. Crucial was his advocacy ofthe role of the king in bringing about a reform ofthe church, part of a process whereby ‘Wyclifredefined the relationship between ruler and ruledon earth – in both ecclesiastical and temporalspheres – by redefining the relationships betweenhumans and God’ (p. 239). In the followingcontribution, Stephen Penn considers ‘Wyclif andthe sacraments’, unsurprisingly having as much tosay about the eucharist as all the rest combined(penance and auricular confession – again un-surprisingly – come second in terms of length). IanChristopher Levy then has the somewhat unenvi-able task of providing a rather portmanteau surveyof ‘Wyclif and the Christian life’. He pulls it offvery effectively, even managing to explain pre-destination as something reasonable rather thancapricious – ‘behind all the bluster is a ratherbenign doctrine’ (p. 355). Here are the considera-tions of Wyclif’s attitudes to the friars, histreatment of indulgences, saints’ cults, and prayer,his views on preaching, ideas about the clergy, and

more. The treatment emphasises Wyclif’s modera-tion, because ‘for all his invective, the substance ofJohn Wyclif’s critique[s] . . . was generally moder-ate, and his attacks on abuses often quite common-place’, although ‘The irony is that Wyclif at hismost traditional was Wyclif at his most radical’(p. 294).The sixth essay turns to the unavoidableissue of ‘Wyclif and the English Bible’, with MaryDove considering Wyclif’s role – putative or actual– in the production of the first translations. Thetone and stance in particular of the second versionof the translation – the flowing English text ratherthan the stilted initial version which is essentiallyan Englished version of the Latin – mark thetranslation as a Wycliffite Bible, but while Wyclifadvocated translation, his active involvement inthe project cannot actually be demonstrated. Doveseems to see him more as the project’s instigatorthan as an active participant, but can only actuallylink him to it by a statement of faith. The shiftaway from Wyclif in Dove’s article continues inthe last of the contributions. Here Mishtooni Boseexamines ‘The opponents of John Wyclif’, tracingthe opposition from his academic days (startingwith the debates at Oxford with Ralph Strode,John Kynyngham, and others in the 1370s)through to the posthumous opposition in thewritings of Thomas Netter and Reginald Pecock.This is an ambitious essay, which also seeks toassess the wider reform movement in the latemedieval English church, a movement of whichWyclif provided the most dramatic manifestation,but which did not die with him.Individually and collectively this is an extremely

important and valuable set of essays, which no-oneworking on Wyclif, on the origins of the ‘Lollard’movement, or on English intellectual activity in thefourteenth century, can afford to ignore. Theheavy going in some of the more technicalcontributions is more than balanced by the overallrichness of the analyses and consistent depth ofscholarship. Some of the discussion may be toointense for students, especially at undergraduatelevel, but more advanced researchers will certainlyfind it a rewarding volume.

University ofBirmingham, UK

R. N. Swanson

Reject Aeneas, Accept Pius: Selected Letters of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II). Introduced andtranslated by Thomas M. Izbicki, Gerald Christianson, and Philip Krey. Pp. xvi, 435, Washington,D.C., Catholic University of America Press, 2006. $79.95.

Pius II is one of the best-known of late-medievalpopes, famed perhaps above all as a humanist. Hiscareer held many contradictions, not least his

transition from being an active supporter andadherent of the Council of Basel (and conse-quently of that Council’s pope, Felix V, after it

BOOK REVIEWS 493

broke with Pope Eugenius IV) to his return topapal obedience and subsequent stance as staunchadvocate of papal authority on his own elevation,represented in his forthright condemnation ofappeals to general councils against the papacy. Itwas that transition which lay at the heart of his callto ‘Reject Aeneas, accept Pius’, issued in 1463 as hesought to justify his changed attitudes (p. 396).The literary remains of this eventful life are

extensive, including over 1200 letters which survivefrom the years before Piccolomini became pope in1458, and several other works. Seventy-three ofthose letters are translated here, dating from 1432to 1453. Their basic thrust follows the evolution inPiccolomini’s attitudes towards papal and con-ciliar authority. The series begins with his depar-ture from Siena to Basel in the entourage ofCardinal Domenico Capranica in 1432, and thenworks through the vicissitudes of the council’sstruggle against Pope Eugenius IV and its appoint-ment of Felix V. Thereafter Piccolimini wasengaged elsewhere, as secretary to the Germanking Frederick Ill, and slowly changed his mind,ultimately returning to the papal fold as EugeniusIV lay dying, and building a new ecclesiasticalcareer under Nicholas V. Several of the letterswritten as imperial secretary show his involvementin the ecclesiastical politics of the Empire, includ-ing the lengthy third-person report presented toFrederick III on his return from offering obedienceon the king’s behalf in 1447 (no. 67). The finalletter contains his reaction to the fall of Con-stantinople to the Turks, an opportunity for high-flown humanistic rhetoric which also shows hisappreciation of the Turkish threat. Attempts tocounter the Turkish advance would be a majortheme of his pontificate. In addition to the letters,the volume includes (no. 76) the revised history ofthe Council of Basel, compiled by Piccolimini in1450 as an antidote to his earlier pro-conciliarversion; his bull Execrabilis of 1459, with itsrejection of appeals against the pope to a council(no. 77); and lastly (no. 78) a translation of his finalpiece of self-exculpation for his changed

allegiances, the bull In minoribus of 1463 with itscontrast between Aeneas and Pius.The documents largely speak for themselves. The

translators’ introduction provides an outline bio-graphical narrative (in parts somewhat sketchy) togive a context for the correspondence and oftendraws on it. Each letter has an introductory rubric,and notes have been supplied (usually basic glossesto identify people and some citations). Occasionallyit might be suspected that the wrong English wordhas been chosen in response to ambiguousLatin. Such instances include the ‘usual sus-

pects’ of benefices/benefits and soul/mind; butmost glaring is the extremely odd ‘uninjured’ atp. 223, which to translate ‘non iniuria’ in context ismore likely ‘not unjustly/not without right’ .Some of the letters read like semi-official

correspondence, but others are clearly personal,with a certain amount of soul-baring. Alongsidethe political involvement, here is man constructinga career and anxious to defend his hold on churchbenefices (even as a layman), a son writing to hisparents, a parent wondering about the fate of hisown illegitimate (and apparently abandoned) off-spring, a mind at work, and a conscience beingtransformed.The letters provide some sense of personality, and

thereby flesh out the character of a man who despiteeverything remains somewhat enigmatic. They also,more mundanely, how just how precarious commu-nication and news distribution were in the fifteenthcentury. Letters go astray, overtake each other, ortake months to reach their destinations; lack ofcarriers limits contacts; news travels by circuitousand unlikely routes; rumour flies, spreading confu-sion until confirmed or denied.This is a volume with many potential uses. It will

doubtless be most exploited by church historians,especially those working on the age of the councils;but it also illuminates many other aspects offifteenth-century cultural and social history.

University ofBirmingham, UK

R. N. Swanson

Reform, Ecclesiology and the Christian Life in the Late Middle Ages. By Thomas M. Izbicki. Aldershot,Ashgate, 2008, d70.00.

Thomas M Izbicki is well known to all who workon general councils and reform ideas in the latermiddle ages. His work has been very concernedwith the history of canon law and canon lawyers ofthis period but he has also made importantcontributions to the study of Nicholas of Cusa.As is usual in the Variorum series all but one (IX)of these fifteen pieces have been published before

but an addenda and corrigenda section has beenadded, with also an index to link the sections.The articles cover the three section of the title.

Under Reform there is (I) a discussion of the veryconservative sermons of Leonardo Dati, OP, whichamong other matters shows how a theologian of thetime of Constance could interpret some of thechosen passages of scripture about papal power and

494 BOOK REVIEWS