Jubilee year in Rome

Heidi Wyman

10/24/07

Looking at certain historic events in history you think how did this happen? Most events have many underlying factors that play into them. One might also consider how these factors may relate to each other. An example would be Leo Battista Alberti, an artist, the aqueducts of Rome, a scientific invention and Pope Nicholas V, a political figure. What impact did these three factors create? Pope Nicholas V was the first pope of the Renaissance, who rebuilds Rome. Leo Battista Alberti was an architect, musician, painter and sculptor. The Roman aqueducts gave a consistent source of clean water for Rome. These three factors brought Rome to its Jubilee year, during this time there were many artist and inventors who flocked to Rome producing art, literature, inventions galore.

A strong political figure from the Renaissance is Pope Nicholas V; he was named the first pope of the Renaissance. Nicholas was born at Sarzana, Liguria in 1397. He earned a degree in theology in 1422 and was taken into the service by Bishop Niccolo Albergati. This let Nicholas travel through Germany, France and England. During these trips Nicholas was able to collect books for his personal collection. These books would later be the start of the Vatican library built in 1448. After his service, Nicholas was appointed Bishop of Bologna. In 1447, when Pope Eugene IV died, Nicholas was elected Pope. He reigned for eight years until his death in 1455. During his reign Nicholas introduced a “fresh spirit to the Renaissance ”, he made Rome worthy of being the capital of the world at that time. Nicholas reinforced Rome’s defenses, paved main streets, rebuilt the city, the Vatican and the Borgo district and St. Relers Basilica. Also among Nicholas’ achievements would be his success with the rebuilding of the Aqueducts of Rome. Nicholas supported all of these plans by raising funds during the Jubilee year.

A scientific recreation, the Roman aqueducts were originally constructed around 312 B.C by Agrippa to create a constant supply of water for Rome. These aqueducts put together are estimated to be between 420 and 500 km long, but only 29 miles of aqueduct were above ground. The aqueducts had a sophisticated construction; they were built on a gradient that let gravity bring the water into the city. After some success during building, the constructors started to experiment with arches and Inverted syhons to accommodate for valleys and plains. Chorobats were used to flatten the terrain for the aqueducts and gromas were used to measure right angles for the aqueducts. The use of the underground aqueducts helped prevent disease from getting into the water. The aqueducts being underground also protected them from enemies destroying them. These aqueducts lasted for 500 years; their downfall came in the sixth century when they were wrecked by invaders. After this the Romans had to depend on water wells and/or the water from the yellow Tiber, until Nicholas repaired the aqueducts to working order. Again providing Rome with a safe and clean fresh water supply and improving the living conditions in Rome.

Leo Battista Alberti was an architect, musician, painter and sculptor, all of these qualities give Alberti the name of an artist. Alberti completed his education at the University of Bologna, where law was the base for his study. Alberti get his doctorate in Canon law and was appointed canon of the Florentine Cathedral. Alberti then went to Rome where he was hired by Pope Nicholas V. Alberti was to do all of the art work for Pope Nicholas V. This included restoring the aqueducts, designing the church of Saint’ Andrea and the church of San Francesco. Leo Battista Alberti was a very accomplished artist, who helped Nicholas V improve Rome in a variety of ways.

This political man, artist and scientific recreation worked together to make a huge impact on Rome and the citizens of the world during the Renaissance. The impact created by these three aspects, was Rome becoming the capital of the world and Rome having its Jubilee year. This year produced many new pieces of art, city improvements, literature and increased the power of the papacy. It took all three aspects, the artist, the political figure and the scientific invention, to achieve this impact.

The Pope Nicholas created plans to reconstruct the fresh water supply to Rome by repairing the aqueducts. The Roman aqueduct reconstruction was the base of why Nicholas V wanted the Jubilee year. The Pope took this reconstruction plan and found a way to earn funds for it. He wanted Rome to become the capital of the world. The activities planned for the Jubilee year would bring pilgrims and their money to Rome. The money acquired would then be use to further Nicholas' plan to repair the aqueducts and other projects. The Roman aqueducts were the motivation for Nicholas V to plan Rome's Jubilee year.

Leo Battista Alberti plans for the aqueducts also influenced the creation of the Jubilee year. Alberti was the architect who made the plans for the reconstruction of the aqueducts. His relationship with Nicholas and architectural skills helped Nicholas create plans to improve Rome by securing a clean water supply and eventually

beautifying Rome with fountains added to the aqueduct system. To fund these plans, projects and architecture Nicholas and Alberti created the Jubilee year.

Leo Battista Alberti and Pope Nicholas V worked together to create the jubilee year. This artist and political man had many influences on the culture of Rome. Nichols V hired Alberti to be his architect. Alberti was to create plans to reconstruct the Roman aqueducts to bring the fresh water supply back to Rome. These two men then created plans to bring Rome to its jubilee year, where pilgrims would come to Rome to support the funding for the aqueducts. This jubilee year would not only fund the aqueducts but many more artistic plans created by Nicholas V and Alberti.

Leo Battista Alberti, Pope Nicholas V and the aqueducts funneled together to create the Jubilee year. What is the Jubilee year? This year is 1450, the year in Rome where pilgrims came to Rome in flocks to visit churches, see architecture, read literature, and create art, to celebrate the Renaissance and Rome. This brought an abundance of money to Rome; this money was used by Nicholas V to rebuild the Roman aqueducts to provide a continuous clean supply of water for Rome. Why are these events and their impact so significant? The Jubilee year did not just fund the rebuilding of the aqueducts, which was a major achievement, it also brought about many new pieces of artwork, city improvements, literature and increased the power of the papacy.

Although there were many significant impacts from these events, two stand out as significant and lasting effects. The first is Leo Battista Alberti's De re aedificatoria (Ten Books on Architecture). These books were written by Alberti and dedicated to Pope Nicholas V in 1452. These books are not revisions of a previous writer, but ten completely new books by Alberti. These books made advances upon the engineering knowledge and the stylistic principles of classic art. Another is the reconstruction of the aqueducts and adding to them with ornate fountains. These fountains increased the beauty of Rome bringing more and more people to Rome. Alberti designed the base of the famous Trevi Fountain in 1453, this fountain would not have been built if the Jubilee year never came and Rome never got the money from the pilgrims. These two significant impacts left a lasting effect on Rome and the people of the world.

Looking at this impact you can see that it was caused by Pope Nicholas V, Leo Battista Alberti and the aqueducts. Parts of this impact are still seen today. We still see the Trevi fountain of which Alberti built the base. This is now a major tourist attraction in Rome for its beauty and structure. Other structures that still stand in Rome are the aqueducts; these can be seen all over Rome. A piece of literature that is still seen today is Leo Battista Alberti's Ten Books of

Architecture. These books are seen as the "bible of Renaissance architecture". Another structure that we still see today is the Vatican Library; this library was the first public library in Rome. The library currently holds around 75,000 manuscripts and 1.1 million printed books; the library also has a secret collection of Vatican Archives including 150,000 items. As you can see the impact left by Nicholas V, Leo Battista Alberti and the aqueducts have found their way into today’s life. They teach us of the art, science and politics of the Renaissance.

Leo Battista Alberti Pope Nicholas V Roman Aqueducts

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