Foix, Pierre de

FOIX, PIERRE de. - Born in Béarn (Lower Pyrenees) in 1386. He studied at Toulouse and took the Franciscan habit. At 19 years of age, in 1405, he was bishop of Lescar; at 23, in 1409, he was made cardinal by the antipope Benedict XIII.

He took part in the Council of Constance, where he worked for pacification, even siding against Benedict XIII himself, and he was among the electors of Martin V, who some time later sent him as legate to Spain (1425) to induce the king of Aragon to desist from favoring the schism that continued even after the death of Benedict XIII. In 1429 he destroyed the last remnants of the schism in Spain, and at the Synod of Tortosa (1429) he received the abdication of Clement VIII. Eugene IV in 1432 named him bishop of Albano and later legate of Avignon. He always remained faithful to the legitimate Pope. Nicholas V conferred on him the archbishopric of Arles. During the time of his Avignon legation, he governed with prudence and uprightness; he founded a college at Toulouse, churches and chapels at Arles and Avignon, and erected monasteries. He died at Avignon on 13 Dec. 1464.

Gennaro Auletta