BENEDICT XIII, ANTIPOPE. — Pietro di Luna, born at Illueca near Calatayud in Aragon to one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the kingdom, studied both laws at Montpellier. Having entered the clerical state, he was appointed canon of Valencia, then of Vich, and finally of Tarragona. Gregory XI created him, in 1375, cardinal deacon of the titular church of S. Maria in Cosmedin, but he was known rather
(photo Alinari)
BENEDETTO XII, POPE — Portrait sculpted by Paolo da Siena (1342) — Vatican Grottoes.
under the name of Cardinal of Aragon. He attended the famous Roman Conclave of 1378, where he supported the candidacy of the archbishop Bartolomeo Prignano, proclaimed pope (8 Apr. 1378) as Urban VI. He soon, however, yielded to the scruples of the rebellious cardinals, joined them at Anagni and Fondi and, in Sept. of the same year, took part in the election of the antipope Clement VII.
Enjoying great prestige in Spain, Clement sent him as legate a latere to the Iberian Peninsula to bring the various kingdoms to obedience. He easily achieved this in Aragon with the help of the celebrated preacher and thaumaturge St. Vincenzo Ferreri, and later in Castile; but only after many hardships in Portugal as well. In 1390 he also succeeded in persuading Navarre. Having returned to Avignon after this triumph, he was appointed papal legate for Flanders and England, where, however, he failed to secure recognition for the antipope Clement. Upon Clement’s death (Sept. 1394), although reluctant, he was unanimously elected by the Sacred College to succeed him under the name of Benedetto XIII.
The new antipope confirmed the oath which he had taken in conclave together with his fellow cardinals, to employ every means, including abdication, to restore peace to Christendom; but, firmly convinced that he was the true pope, he caused all the proposals put forward for this noble purpose by the reigning princes, the principal universities, and various civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries to founder. Not even the withdrawal of obedience by France and other Catholic nations in 1398, nor the siege of Avignon, which seemed to reduce him to the utmost extremity, could induce him to yield. Everyone, however, desired an end to the schism, and for this reason a compromise between the opposing parties or the judgment of a general council was proposed. B., for his part, showed himself willing to meet his adversary Gregorio XII, and for this purpose went to Liguria; but through the fault of both, the meeting did not take place. The event disgusted everyone; most of the cardinals of both parties rebelled, and thus the Council of Pisa was convoked in 1409. There, after B. XIII and Gregorio XII had been deposed, a third pope was elected under the name of Alessandro V. But both B. and Gregorio remained firm in their supreme dignity, and it was therefore deemed necessary to convoke a Council at Constance in 1414. There Giovanni XXIII, Alessandro’s successor, and B. XIII were deposed, Gregorio XII’s resignation was accepted, and Martino V was then elected and the unity of the Church restored.
B., however, did not yield. Abandoned by everyone and almost alone on the rock of Peñíscola, he died on 29 Nov. 1422, after having appointed four cardinals in order to perpetuate the schism. This ended only with the abdication of the new antipope Clemente VIII in 1429.