Everything about Avignon Pope Benedict Xiii totally explained
Benedict XIII, born
Pedro Martínez de Luna, (
1328 -
May 23 1423), known as
el Papa Luna in
Aragonese and
Spanish, was an
Aragonese, and is officially considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be an
Antipope.
Benedict shouldn't be confused with the Roman
Pope Benedict XIII, who reigned from
27 May 1724 to
21 February 1730.
Early life
Pedro Martínez de Luna was born at
Illueca,
Aragon (part of modern Spain) in 1328. He belonged to the de Luna family, who were part of the Aragonese nobility. He studied law at the
University of Montpellier, where he obtained his doctorate and later taught
Canon law. His knowledge of canon law, noble lineage and austere way of life won him the approval of
Pope Gregory XI, who appointed de Luna to the position of
Cardinal Deacon of
Santa Maria in Cosmedin on
30 December 1375.
Avignon election
In 1377 Pedro de Luna and the other
cardinals returned to Rome with Pope Gregory, who had been persuaded to leave his papal base at
Avignon by
Catherine of Siena. After Gregory's death on
March 27,
1378 the people of Rome feared that the cardinals would elect a French pope and return the papacy to Avignon. Consequently, they rioted and laid siege to the cardinals, insisting on an Italian pope. The conclave duly elected Bartholomew Prignani,
Archbishop of Bari, as
Urban VI on
April 9, but the new pope proved to be intractably hostile to the cardinals. Some of the cardinals reconvened at
Fondi in September 1378, declared the earlier election invalid and elected
Robert of Geneva as their new pope, initiating the
Western Schism. Robert assumed the name Clement VII and moved back to Avignon.
De Luna, a supporter of Clement throughout his reign, was unanimously elected by a
conclave of twenty-four cardinals at Avignon on
September 28 1394, following Clement's death on September 16. The conclave consisted of eleven French cardinals, eight Italians, four Spaniards and one from
Savoy. On the death of
Urban VI in 1389 the Roman
College of Cardinals had chosen
Boniface IX; the election of Benedict therefore perpetuated the
Western Schism. At the start of his term of office, de Luna was recognised as pope by the kingdoms of
France,
Scotland,
Sicily,
Castile,
Aragon,
Navarre, and
Portugal. In 1396 Benedict sent Sanchez Muñoz, one of the most loyal members of the Avignon curia, as an envoy to the Bishop of Valencia to bolster support for the Avignon papacy in Spain.
Decline of Avignon Papacy
However, in 1398 the French church withdrew their allegiance from the Avignon papacy. Benedict was abandoned by seventeen of his cardinals, with only five remaining faithful to him. An army led by
Geoffrey Boucicaut, brother of
the illustrious marshal, occupied Avignon and started a five year siege of the
papal palace in 1398, which ended when Benedict managed to escape from Avignon on
March 12,
1403 and seek shelter in territory belonging to
Louis II of Anjou.
By this stage, Benedict's authority was no longer recognised in France, Portugal and Navarre, but he was acknowledged as pope in Scotland, Sicily, Aragon and Castile. After the Roman
Pope Innocent VII died in 1406, the newly elected Roman pope,
Gregory XII, started negotiations with Benedict, suggesting that they both resign so a new pope could be elected to reunite the
Catholic Church. When these talks ended in stalemate in 1408, the French king,
Charles VI, declared that France was neutral to both papal contenders. Charles helped to organise the
Council of Pisa in 1409. This council was supposed to arrange for both Gregory and Benedict to resign, so that a new universally recognised pope could be elected. However, since both Benedict and Gregory refused to abdicate, the only thing that was achieved was that a third candidate to the
Holy See was put forward: Peter Philarghi, who assumed the name
Alexander V.
In part to bolster faltering support for his papacy, Benedict initiated the year-long
Disputation of Tortosa in 1413, which became the most prominent Christian-Jewish
disputation of the
Middle Ages.
Benedict is also mentioned for his oppressive laws against the Jews. Those laws were repealed by
Pope Martin V, after he received a mission of
Jews, sent by the famous synod convoked by the Jews in
Forlì, in 1418.
Council of Constance
In 1415 the
Council of Constance brought this clash between papal claimants to an end. Gregory XII and
Baldassare Cossa, who had succeeded Philarghi as the Pisan papal contender in 1410 and had assumed the name John XXIII, both agreed to resign. Benedict, on the other hand, refused to stand down, so he was declared a
schismatic and
excommunicated from the Catholic Church by the Council of Constance on
July 27 1417. Benedict, who had lived in
Perpignan from 1408 to 1417, now fled to the castle at
Peñiscola near
Valencia in Spain. He still considered himself the true pope, but his claim was now only recognised in the kingdom of Aragon, where he was given protection by King
Alfonso V. Benedict remained at Peñiscola from 1417 until his death there on
May 23,
1423.
Succession
The day before his death, Benedict appointed four cardinals of proven loyalty to ensure the succession of another pope who would remain faithful to the now beleaguered Avignon line. Three of these cardinals met on
10 June 1423 and elected Sanchez Muñoz as their new pope, with Muñoz assuming the papal name of
Clement VIII. The fourth cardinal, Jean Carrier, the
archdeacon of
Rodez near
Toulouse, was absent at this conclave and disputed its validity, whereupon Carrier, acting as a sort of one man College of Cardinals, proceeded to elect
Bernard Garnier, the sacristan of Rodez, as pope, with Garnier taking the name Benedict XIV.
Miscellanea
The castle in Peñiscola where he lived from 1417 until his death in 1423 was restored, improved and new walls were added in 1960 when
Anthony Mann's film
El Cid was partially filmed there. The town and castle of Peñiscola were playing the role of Valencia. The castle is now a popular tourist attraction.
The Anti-pope (Peter de Luna, 1342-1423) A study in obstinacy by Alec Glasfurd, Roy Publishers, New York (1965) B0007IVH1Q is a somewhat fictionalized or imaginative account of his life.
Pluja seca by
Jaume Cabré (2001) is a play based on his death and succession.
The Spanish saying "seguir en sus trece" (to stay in his/her thirteen), meaning a stubborn behavior, refers to the obstination of Benedict and the numeral he adopted.
Further Information
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