Toward a Global Crusade? The Papacy and the Non-Latin World in the Fifteenth Century

Abstract

As a consequence of increasing Western geographic knowledge, papal plans in the 1400s evolved toward a global crusade, aimed at organizing alliances with distant rulers against Christendom’s Muslim enemies. Close study of papal diplomacy outside Latin Christendom highlights the difficulties, ambiguities and evolution of this program. The popes lacked the network of skilled ambassadors required for a comprehensive diplomatic program. Most importantly, dispatching ambassadors all over the world was a highly symbolic act, a manifestation of the Papacy’s claim to possess universal power. Therefore, papal diplomacy outside Latin Christendom was not solely a matter of organizing military expeditions, but of giving visibility to its worldwide authority. This twofold objective explains why organizing a joint offensive against the Ottoman front only very slowly became the main goal of papal envoys.