FOIX, PIERRE de. - Born in Béarn (Basses-Pyrénées) in 1386. He studied in Toulouse and took the Franciscan habit. At the age of 19, in 1405, he was bishop of Lescar; at 23, in 1409, he was made a cardinal by the antipope Benedict XIII.
He took part in the Council of Constance, where he worked for reconciliation, even opposing Benedict XIII himself, and was among the electors of Martin V, who later sent him as legate to Spain (1425) to persuade the king of Aragon to abandon the schism that persisted even after Benedict XIII's death. In 1429, he destroyed the last remnants of the schism in Spain, and at the Synod of Tortosa (1429) received the abdication of Clement VIII. Eugene IV appointed him bishop of Albano in 1432 and later legate of Avignon. He remained always faithful to the legitimate Pope. Nicholas V made him archbishop of Arles. During his Avignon legation, he governed with prudence and rectitude; he founded a college "Toulouse, churches and chapels" in Arles and Avignon, and erected monasteries. Died in Avignon on 13 Dec. 1464.