Part 1: Habemus Papam
From
"The Inevitable Development: Man Among the Clouds" by Charles Lightoller, 1912
Leonardo da Vinci is naturally seen as "The Father of Flight" in the eyes of many today, but is that really a deserved title? Was flight really out of the grasp of any other dedicated renaissance man? I say nay. In the hotbed of invention and ideas that was renaissance Italy, the development of flying was inevitable, as all the ingredients of flight were there. Any of the many thinkers of the day would have had access to the proper materials, and the support from the other thinkers of the day. The artisans of the renaissance were some of the best that the world has yet seen, and had unprecedented contact with one another.
The only hindrances to the development of such vehicles lies in the will of these great minds to do such a thing, and the inability to publish any findings, or work at them in a proper scientific method.
But nonetheless, so long as the will was generated the rest would certainly fall into place over time.
From
"Habemus Papam: a Papal Retrospective" by Pericle Felici, 1978
One of the most famous Habaemus Papaem announcements of course was that of Pope Alexander VI.
On the fateful day of August 11 1492, the Cardinal Proto-Deacon cried out, "Qui sibi nomen imposuit Alexander Sextus!" And at that moment a man leaped from the roof of Old St. Peter's Basilica. This man was one who would become familiar to all, Leonardo da Vinci. And of course as the story goes, he swooped across the crowd in his glider and landed nearly five hundred metres away to near the base of the Castel Sant'Angelo. This feat at first startled the crowd, as well as the Cardinal Proto-Deacon, causing the newly announced Pope to run out to the balcony prematurely after reportedly hearing the Proto-Deacon yell, "Cazzo santo!"[1] to see a large glider flying over the crowd in front of the Basilica.
Once da Vinci landed, however he was arrested by Papal guards. And on the 30th of August, he was told to come before the Pope himself.
Excerpt from a note from Pope Alexander VI to his son, Giovanni Borgia, 1492
Giovanni, my son I haven't spoken to you in so long. It truly is a shame, but alas my succession to the Papacy has taken much of my time away from me, as has the ruling of Gandia and Sessa for you I am certain.
Though, beyond my newfound Papal duties, certainly the most interesting thing to have occurred as of late was the flying man! Yes, yes a man soared over the crowd in a bizarre winged contraption on the day of my Habemus Papam announcement! It was perhaps the most spectacular thing I've yet seen, and perhaps will ever see until I reach the Kingdom of Heaven! The man flew from the top of St. Peter's Basilica to Castel Sant'Angelo! When he landed, he was arrested immediately by the Corsican Guards of course, and the ceremonies continued as if it hadn't happened. Though it was my utmost desire to meet the man who flew as soon as could be arranged.
Naturally things were rather hectic in the days following the announcement, and later the coronation...[2]...Finally, on the final Thursday of August, I got my wish, and the flying man came before me, and of course he was brought to me in shackles. The man had a distinctly disappointed look upon his face, I recall. That however immediately changed when I told the guards to remove the chains that bound him.
The Cardinals and guards were naturally surprised, as they were used to the rule of Pope Innocent VIII.[3]
I then spoke to the man, who said his name was Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. He seemed to be a very decent fellow, and I gleaned much knowledge of his flying machine. He said that the design could be improved greatly, however he lacked the required funds or manpower to do such a thing. And given how much his stunt impressed me (And my Proto-Deacon as well! The demonstration startled him into speaking such profanity that I would never have imagined being spoken by his tongue!) so much that I agreed to help him in any way that I could.
From da Vinci's
"Codex on the Flight of Man"
The demonstration was a complete success, though the result was not as immediate as I had hoped, it came nevertheless.
On the night of the tenth, I entered the Vatican and climbed to the top of the Basilica on several occasions, carrying my glider piece by piece. This process was only made possible by making friends with the Papal Guards. (It seems the shortest path to a guard's heart is through money!) They promised to look the other way while I transported and reassembled my contraption, though the day guards never caught on to my presence.
After several hours, the flying machine was once again in it's final form.
As I've written earlier I'd tested her on several occasions over the hills outside of Florence, and she preformed beautifully, and I hadn't expected any less of her today. As the sun rose that morning, this belief was reinforced, as I had seen a kite soaring in the same path I would take later that day.
The flight itself actually went far better than expected, and I was worried for a moment that I might end up landing in the Tiber River! However, due to some expert maneuvering, I managed not to land in the river, but in the arms of a group of Papal Guards. They proceeded to throw me into a dungeon for nearly a month before sending me to Pope Alexander himself. I was certain I was going to be sentenced to death, however to the contrary, he's funded the further development of my flying machines, given me residence right here in Rome, and my own workshop! He's even gone to the trouble of contacting some of the greatest minds in Europe to work on this. However he did ask to keep my Caterina,[4] I steadfastly refused, however I am building a flying machine just for him, to repay his kindness to me.[5]
[1] "Holy Dick!" in English.
[2] Descriptions of the ceremony were edited out.
[3] Innocent VII was widely known for his strong stance against witchcraft, and it is widely believed that had da Vinci preformed this stunt during his Papacy, he would have been killed.
[4] Caterina is what he called this glider, it's believed to be named after his mother.
[5] In typical da Vinci fashion, he never finished it.
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P.S. I do apologize in advance if updates are slow and short, and for any historical inaccuracies. as I'm just getting used to this sort of thing, and I'm learning about this time period as I go.