Pope Celestine V (Latin:Caelestinus V; 1209/1210 or 1215 – 19 May 1296), bornPietro Angelerio (according to some sourcesAngelario,Angelieri,Angelliero, orAngeleri), also known asPietro da Morrone,Peter of Morrone, andPeter Celestine, was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States for five months from 5 July to 13 December 1294, when he resigned. He was also amonk andhermit who founded the order of theCelestines as a branch of theBenedictine order.
He was electedpope in the Catholic Church'slast non-conclave papal election, ending a two-year impasse. Among the few edicts of his to remain in force is the confirmation of the right of the pope to resign; nearly all of his other official acts were annulled by his successor,Boniface VIII. On 13 December 1294, a week after issuing the decree, Celestine resigned, stating his desire to return to his humble, pre-papal life. He was subsequently imprisoned by Boniface in the castle ofFumone in theLazio region, in order to prevent his potential installation asantipope. He died in prison on 19 May 1296.
Celestine wascanonized on 5 May 1313 byPope Clement V. No subsequent pope has taken the name Celestine.
Pietro Angelerio was born to Angelo Angelerio and Maria Leone in the rural region ofMolise, in theKingdom of Sicily. The exact village is believed to beSant'Angelo Limosano, now part of theprovince of Campobasso inItaly. His father died when Pietro was five or six, leaving him the second-youngest of seven sons to have survived infancy, of twelve total born to Maria.[1]
Maria was particularly fond of Pietro and encouraged his spiritual development, imagining a different future for her son than becoming just a farmer or shepherd as were the local occupations. She sold some family property to hire a tutor for him, which engendered resentment and hostility from his brothers. Despite this, Pietro took to education well and quickly learned to read thepsalter.[2]
He became aBenedictinemonk at theAbbey of Santa Maria di Faifoli [it] in theDiocese of Benevento when he was 17. He showed an extraordinary disposition towardasceticism and solitude, and in the early 1230s retired to a solitary cavern on theMontagne del Morrone, hence his name (Peter of Morrone). He began attracting followers of his eremitic lifestyle, and gained a reputation as a miracle worker.[3] In 1244, after a brief visit toRome for hisordination, he left this retreat, and went with two companions to a similar cave on the even more remoteMaiella mountain in theAbruzzi region of central Italy, where he continued to live as a strict ascetic according to the example ofJohn the Baptist.[4][5]
While following an ascetic path in 1244, he founded the order subsequently named after him, theCelestines. A new religious community was formed, and in 1254 Pietro formally issued a rule formulated in accordance with his own practices, influenced by the writings ofPeter Damian, a renowned reformist monk.[2] While fundamentally Benedictine, the order also had ties to radicalFranciscans, who were dismayed by the Church's increasing worldliness and political entanglements.[6] A church was built at the foot of Morrone in 1259, and in June 1263 the new institution was formally approved byPope Urban IV.[5]
Having heard that it was probable thatPope Gregory X, then holdinga council at Lyon, would suppress all such new orders as had been founded since theLateran Council had commanded that such institutions should not be further multiplied, Pietro went to Lyon. There, in 1274, he succeeded in persuading Gregory to approve his new order, making it a branch of the Benedictines and following theRule of Saint Benedict, but adding to it additional severities and privations. Gregory took it under papal protection, assured to it the possession of all property it might acquire, and endowed it with exemption from the authority of the ordinary. Nothing more was needed to ensure the rapid spread of the new association and Pietro lived to see himself as "superior-general" to thirty-six monasteries and more than six hundred monks.[7][5]
In a chapter of the order held in 1293, the original monastery at Maiella being judged to be too desolate and exposed to too rigorous a climate, it was decided that theAbbey of the Holy Spirit in the plains nearSulmona should be the headquarters of the order and the residence of the general-superior, as it continued to be until the order was extinguished in the 18th century.[8] Pietro took up residence in a cliffside hermitage overlooking the new monastery, but he would not remain undisturbed there for long.[1]
The cardinals assembled atPerugia after the death ofPope Nicholas IV in April 1292. After more than two years, a consensus had still not been reached. Pietro, well known to the cardinals as a Benedictine hermit, sent the cardinals a letter warning them that divine vengeance would fall upon them if they did not quickly elect a pope.Latino Malabranca, the aged and illDean of theCollege of Cardinals cried out, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I elect brother Pietro di Morrone!" The cardinals promptly ratified Malabranca's desperate decision. When sent for, Pietro obstinately refused to accept the papacy, and even, asPetrarch says, tried to flee, until he was finally persuaded by a deputation of cardinals accompanied by the king ofNaples and thepretender to the throne of Hungary. Elected on 5 July 1294,[9] he was crowned atSanta Maria di Collemaggio in the city ofAquila in theAbruzzo on 29 August, taking the name Celestine V.[4]
Shortly after assuming office, Celestine issued apapal bull granting a rareplenary indulgence to all pilgrims visitingSanta Maria di Collemaggio through its holy door on the anniversary of his papal coronation.[10] TheCelestinian forgiveness (Perdonanza Celestiniana) festival is celebrated in L'Aquila every 28–29 August in commemoration of this event.[11]
With no political experience, Celestine proved to be an especially weak and ineffectual pope.[12] He held his office in theKingdom of Naples, out of contact with theRoman Curia and under the complete power of KingCharles II. He appointed the king's favorites to Church offices, sometimes several to the same office. One of these wasLouis of Toulouse, whom Celestine ordered givenclerical tonsure andminor orders, although this was not carried out. He renewed a decree ofPope Gregory X that had established stringent rules forpapal conclaves after a similarly prolonged election. In one decree, he appointed three cardinals to govern the Church duringAdvent while he fasted, which was again refused.[13]
Realizing his lack of authority and personal incompatibility with papal duties, he consulted with CardinalBenedetto Caetani (his eventual successor) about the possibility of resignation.[13] This resulted in one final decree declaring the right of resignation. He promptly exercised this right, resigning on 13 December 1294, after five months and eight days as pope.[14] In the formal instrument of renunciation, he cited as the causes moving him to the step: "The desire for humility, for a purer life, for a stainless conscience, the deficiencies of his own physical strength, his ignorance, the perverseness of the people, his longing for the tranquility of his former life".[15] Having divested himself of every outward symbol of papal dignity, he slipped away from Naples and attempted to retire to his old life of solitude.[citation needed]
The former Celestine, now reverted to Pietro Angelerio, was not allowed to become a hermit once again. Various parties had opposed his resignation and the newPope Boniface VIII had reason to worry that one of them might install him as anantipope. To prevent this, he ordered Pietro to accompany him to Rome. Pietro escaped and hid in the woods before attempting to return to Sulmona to resume monastic life. This proved impossible, and Pietro was captured after an attempt to flee toDalmatia was thwarted when a tempest forced his ship to return to port. Boniface imprisoned him in the castle of Fumone nearFerentino inLazio, attended by two monks of his order, where Pietro died after 10 months at about the age of 81. His supporters spread the allegation that Boniface had treated him harshly and ultimately executed Pietro, but there is no clear historical evidence of this.[18] Pietro was buried at Ferentino, but his body was subsequently moved to the Basilica ofSanta Maria di Collemaggio inL'Aquila.[19]
Philip IV of France, who had supported Celestine and bitterly opposed Boniface, nominated Celestine for sainthood following the election ofPope Clement V. The latter signed a decree of dispensation on 13 May 1306 to investigate the nomination.[20] He was canonized on 5 May 1313 after aconsistory in which Boniface'sCaetani family was outvoted by members of the rivalColonna family.[21]
Most modern interest in Celestine V has focused on his resignation.[22] He was the first pope to formalize the resignation process and is often said to have been the first to resign; in fact he was preceded in this byPontian (235),John XVIII (1009),Benedict IX (1045), andGregory VI (1046).[23] As noted above, Celestine's own decision was brought about by mild pressure from the Church establishment. His reinstitution of Gregory X's conclave system established by the papal bullUbi periculum has been respected ever since.[citation needed]
A 1966 visit byPope Paul VI to Celestine's place of death in Ferentino along with his speech in homage of Celestine prompted speculation that the Pontiff was considering retirement.[24][25]
Celestine's remains survived the2009 L'Aquila earthquake with one Italian spokesman saying it was "another great miracle by the pope".[26] They were then recovered from the basilica shortly after the earthquake.[27] While inspecting the earthquake damage during a 28 April 2009 visit to the Aquila,Pope Benedict XVI visited Celestine's remains in the badly damaged Santa Maria di Collemaggio and left the woolenpallium he wore during his papal inauguration in April 2005 on his glass casket as a gift.[28][29]
To mark the 800th anniversary of Celestine's birth, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the Celestine year from 28 August 2009 through 29 August 2010.[30] Benedict XVI visited theSulmona Cathedral, near Aquila, on 4 July 2010[31] as part of his observance of the Celestine year and prayed before the altar consecrated by Celestine containing his relics on 10 October 1294.[32]
Ad Castrum Fumorense prop Alatrium in Latio, natalis sancti Petri Caelestini, qui, cum vitam eremeticam in Aprutio ageret, fama sanctitatis et miraculorum clarus, octogenarius Romanus Pontifex electus est, assumpto nomine Caelestini Quinti, sed eodem anno munere se abdicavit et solitudinem recedere maluit.
AtCastrum Fumorense nearAlatri inLazio, the birth of Saint Peter Celestine, who, when leading the life of a hermit in Abruzzo, being famous for his sanctity and miracles, was elected Roman Pontiff as an octogenarian, assumed the name Celestine V, but abandoned his office that same year and preferred to return to solitude.
A persistent tradition identifies Celestine V as the nameless figureDante Alighieri sees among those in the antechamber of Hell, in the enigmatic verses:
vidi e conobbi l'ombra di colui che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto. ("I saw and recognized the shade of him who due to cowardice made thegreat refusal.")
The first commentators to make this identification included Dante's sonJacopo Alighieri,[33] followed by Graziolo Bambaglioli in 1324. The identification is also considered probable by recent scholars (e.g., Hollander,Barbara Reynolds, Simonelli, Padoan).Petrarch was moved to defend Celestine vigorously against the accusation of cowardice and some modern scholars (e.g., Mark Musa) have suggested Dante may have meant someone else (Esau,Diocletian andPontius Pilate have been variously suggested).
In 1346, Petrarch declared in hisDe vita solitaria that Celestine's refusal was a virtuous example of solitary life.[34]
Pope Celestine V is referenced in Chapter 88 ofDan Brown'sAngels & Demons, where he is controversially referenced as an example of amurdered pope. Brown writes that an X-ray of his tomb "revealed a ten-inch nail driven into the Pope's skull."[35] While the reference to the X-ray is fictitious (no X-ray has ever been conducted on Celestine's tomb), it has been indeed alleged that Celestine was murdered, possibly by order of his successor,Pope Boniface VIII; however, there is no historical evidence of this.[36] A 2013 examination of the half-inch hole in Celestine's skull found it to have occurred post-mortem, when the remains were already skeletonized, likely during a reburial.[37]
His life is the subject of the short story "Brother of the Holy Ghost" inBrendan Connell's short story collectionThe Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children.[38]
He is the subject of a popular history by authorJon M. Sweeney,The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation, published by Image Books/Random House in 2012.[2] In 2013, HBO optioned the film rights.[39]
Celestine V is the subject of the poemChe Fece...Il Gran Rifiuto by the modern Greek poetConstantine P. Cavafy.[40][41]
^abFerzoco, George (2001). "Peter of the Morrone (Pope Celestine V), Autobiography". In Head, Thomas F. (ed.).Medieval Hagiography. New York: Routledge. pp. 729–732.ISBN978-0-415-93753-5.
^Clement V's bull of canonization noted his "marvelous simplicity and inexperience[] in everything belonging to the rule of the Church" Wood, Charles T.Joan of Arc and Richard III: Sex, Saints, and Government in the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press, 1991, 100.
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