Before becoming a priest Enea worked for a short time for the anti-Pope Felix V during a period of some confusion in the Church before becoming an essential servant of Pope Eugene IV. He became well known for both piety and sinfulness as well as an undisputed reputation as a gifted writer. His personal life is perhaps best illustrated by a trip he took to King James I of Scotland. After a troubled voyage he vowed to make a pilgrimage to the first Marian shrine in the area after he landed and dutifully did so, walking some 10 miles barefoot in the snow to fulfill his vow. However, while also on the trip he apparently fathered two illegitimate children by a Scottish woman and a Breton, though he made no effort to hide his failings. However, what he was most famous for was his prolific writings. While working as a poet at the court of Emperor Frederick III he wrote a very successful, and somewhat risque novel (The Story of Two Lovers), an erotic comedy (Chrysis) and a number works including history, biography, national survey and an auto-biography before becoming a priest at the age of 40 and a bishop one year later. He was made a cardinal by Pope Callistus III and was elected to the See of Peter on August 19, 1458.
Pope Pius II began his pontificate with the same zeal he had shown as a student, pilgrim, diplomat and writer. His primary focus was to call for another Crusade against the Ottoman Turks that would unite the Christian powers and bring to a final halt the expansion of Islam. His first call came only two months after his election in October of 1458, but he did not get the needed cooperation from the secular powers. Indeed, the major nations of Europe seemed totally unwilling to put their national differences aside for the sake of stopping the common enemy of Christianity. The French even invaded southern Italy to push the claim of the House of Anjou over that of the Spanish House of Aragon for the throne of Naples. Likewise, the Germans proved unwilling to fulfill their promises of support and the effort to launch a Crusade ended in 1460 as a result of unwilling and feuding European governments.
Since military support failed to materialize, Pius II decided to give his literary talents a try. Hearing that the Turkish Sultan, Mehmet II, was weak in his faith, the Pope wrote him an appeal urging him to renounce Islam and convert to Christianity as the Catholic Emperor in the east. It is uncertain whether or not the Sultan ever received the letter, but it shows both Pius II's zeal to deal with the Islamic threat as well as his very Renaissance hope that one reasonable man could present arguments to change another. When this failed, Pius II decided to call for another Crusade and this time he would personally command the forces going into battle. However, perhaps before he could be disappointed again, Pope Pius II died at Ancona on August 14, 1464.
A great variety of things can be said about Pope Pius II, and those controversionalists have plenty of facts to portray him as one of the corrupt, worldly "Renaissance Popes" but any detailed look at his life shows the absurdity of this. In his youth he was lustful and wealth-seeking, but also dedicated and had enough respect for holy orders not to accept them before he was truly committed to changing his life. Once he had started on the path of cleric he became a great one, though he never denied his past mis-deeds openly calling upon people to, in his words, "Reject Eneas, hold fast to Pius".