Contemporary Impact

 Pope Nicholas the 5th wanted to make Rome the capital of the Christian world, the home to literature, incredible monuments, and art. He also worked to make the fortifications stronger and clean up the streets.  A major project he worked on was restoring the aqueducts that Rome was famous and dependent on. 

More than anything, he wanted to rebuild the Leonie Cite, the Vatican, and the Basilica of St. Peter. 

The work that he did for these efforts is the major impact that he made during his service as the Pope. Rome wouldn't be the beautiful city that it is today without the help of Pope Nicholas IV.  He helped restore the glory of Rome by renovating the ancient buildings.

By far Nicholas's most enduring successes, that for which he has definitely earned the title of as the first Renaissance pope, were the awesome architectural and art projects he implemented in Rome. Nicholas is most associated with the early Renaissance artist and his frescoes of the lives of Sts. Stephen and Lawrence that are in the chapel of San Lorenzo. The chapel was completed during Nicholas's restoration program. Nicholas's rebuilding program, too, attracted some of the finest architects of the time. Nicholas sponsored the renovation of churches and ancient walls, the Castle of San Angelo, the Capitol, roads, and bridges. He began rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica.  The construction of the Vatican Palace was also started while he was the pope.

While he was a student, Nicholas had gotten manuscripts and gained the reputation of a collector even before he became the pope. He had 807 manuscripts in Latin and 353 in Greek. After he died, his collection became the fundemental for the Vatican Library.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11058a.htm

http://www.answers.com

Page created by Jessica