BENEDICT XIII, Antipope. - Peter of Luna, b. 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 title of St. Mary in Cosmedin, but he was known rather
(phot. Alinari)
BENEDICT XII, POPE
Portrait sculpted by Paolo da Siena (1342) - Vatican Grottoes.
under the name of Cardinal of Aragon. He took part in the famous Roman Conclave of 1378, where he supported the candidacy of Archbishop Bartolomeo Prignano, proclaimed (8 April 1378) pope (Urban VI). Soon, however, he yielded to the scruples of the rebellious cardinals, joined them at Anagni and Fondi and, in September of the same year, took part in the election of the antipope Clement VII.
Enjoying great prestige in Spain, he was sent by Clement as legate a latere to the Iberian peninsula to bring the various kingdoms into obedience. It was easy for him to obtain this in Aragon with the help of the famous orator and thaumaturge St. Vincent Ferrer and later in Castile; but only after many labors also in Portugal. In 1390 he succeeded in convincing Navarre as well. Having returned to Avignon after this triumph, he was appointed pontifical legate for Flanders and England, where however he did not succeed in having the antipope Clement recognized. On the latter's death (Sept. 1394), although reluctant, he was unanimously elected by the Sacred College to succeed him under the name of Benedict XIII.
The new antipope confirmed the oath, taken in conclave together with his fellow cardinals, to use every means, not excluding abdication, to restore peace to Christendom, but, firmly convinced that he was the true pope, he caused all the proposals presented to this noble end by the reigning princes, by the principal universities and by various civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries to come to nothing. Not even the withdrawal of obedience on the part of France and other Catholic nations in 1398 moved him to yield, nor even the siege at Avignon, which seemed to reduce him to extremities. Yet it was universally desired that the schism should end, and for this purpose a compromise between the opposing parties was proposed, or else the judgment of a general council; B., however, showed himself willing to meet with Gregory XII, his adversary, and to this end he went to Liguria; but through the fault of both the meeting did not take place. The fact disgusted everyone; the majority of the cardinals of the two parties rebelled, and so in 1409 the Council of Pisa was convoked, in which, having deposed B. XIII and Gregory XII, a third pope was elected under the name of Alexander V. But both B. and Gregory remained firm in their supreme dignity, and therefore it was deemed necessary to convoke in 1414 a Council at Constance, in which John XXIII, successor of Alexander, and B. XIII were deposed, the resignation of Gregory XII was accepted, and then Martin V was elected and the unity of the Church restored.
B., however, did not yield. Abandoned by all and almost solitary on the rock of Peñíscola, he died on 29 Nov. 1422, after having appointed four cardinals, in order to perpetuate the schism. This in fact ended only with the abdication of the new antipope Clement VIII in 1429.