Benedict XIII | |
|---|---|
| Pope Luna | |
 | |
| Elected | 28 September 1394 |
| Papacy began | 11 October 1394 |
| Quashed | 12 March 1403 |
| Papacy ended | 23 May 1423 |
| Predecessor |
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| Successor |
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| Opposed to | Roman claimants:Pisan claimants: |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin |
| Previous post(s) | Apostolic Administrator of Avignon (1394–1398) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 3 October 1394 by Jean de Neufchatel |
| Consecration | 11 October 1394 by Jean de Neufchatel |
| Created cardinal | 20 December 1375 byPope Gregory XI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (1328-11-25)25 November 1328 |
| Died | 23 May 1423(1423-05-23) (aged 94) Peníscola, Kingdom of Valencia, Crown of Aragon |
| Buried | Castillo Palacio del Papa Luna, Illueca (skull) |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Profession | Canon law |
| Alma mater | University of Montpellier |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
| Other popes and antipopes named Benedict | |
Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (25 November 1328 – 23 May 1423), known asel Papa Luna (lit. 'the Moon Pope') orPope Luna, was anAragonese nobleman who was christenedantipopeBenedict XIII during theWestern Schism.
Pedro Martínez de Luna was born atIllueca,Kingdom of Aragon (part of modern Spain), in 1328. He belonged to the deLuna family, who were part of theAragonese nobility. He studied law at theUniversity of Montpellier, where he obtained his doctorate and later taughtcanon law. His knowledge of canon law, noble lineage, and austere way of life won him the approval ofPope Gregory XI, who appointed de Luna to the position ofCardinal Deacon ofSanta Maria in Cosmedin on 20 December 1375.[1]
In 1377, Pedro de Luna and the othercardinals returned toRome with Pope Gregory, who had been persuaded to leave his papal base atAvignon.[2] After Gregory's death on 27 March 1378, the people of Rome feared that the cardinals would elect a Frenchpope and return the papacy to Avignon. Consequently, they rioted and laid siege to the cardinals, insisting on an Italian pope. The conclave duly elected Bartolomeo Prignano,Archbishop of Bari, asUrban VI on 9 April, but the new pope proved to be intractably hostile to the cardinals. Some of them reconvened atFondi in September 1378, declared the earlier election invalid and elected Robert of Geneva as their new pope, initiating theWestern Schism. Robert assumed the nameClement VII and moved back to Avignon.[1]
Clement VII sent de Luna as legate to Spain for the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal, in order to win them over to the obedience of the Avignon pope. Owing to his powerful relations, his influence in the Province of Aragon was very great. In 1393, Clement VII appointed him legate to France, Brabant, Flanders, Scotland, England, and Ireland. As such he stayed principally in Paris, but he did not confine his activities to those countries that belonged to the Avignon obedience.[1] Following Clement's death on 16 September 1394, the cardinals met at Avignon. The conclave consisted of 11 French cardinals, eight Italians, four Spaniards, and one fromSavoy, all proclaiming the ardent wish to reunite the church. The cardinals then elected Luna as the new pope, on the condition that he should labor to quell the schism, and should resign the papal dignity whenever the pope of Rome should do the same, or the college of cardinals demand it.
On the death of Urban VI in 1389, the RomanCollege of Cardinals had chosenBoniface IX; the election of Benedict therefore perpetuated the Western Schism.At the start of his term of office, de Luna was recognised as pope byFrance,Scotland,Sicily,Castile,Aragon andNavarre. In 1396, Benedict sentSanchez Muñoz, one of the most loyal members of theAvignoncuria, as an envoy to theBishop of Valencia to bolster support for the Avignon-based papacy in the Crown of Aragon.
In 1398, the Kingdom of France withdrew its recognition of the Avignon anti-popes.[3] Benedict was abandoned by 17 of his cardinals, with only five remaining faithful to him. Benedict's rationale for continuing the rivalry lay in the fact that he was the last living cardinal created by Gregory XI, the last undoubted pope. As the only unquestioned cardinal, Benedict argued, he was, by right and by canon law, the only qualified candidate left who could validly claim the papacy. Following the Council of Constance Benedict's logic was not widely accepted.
An army led byGeoffrey Boucicaut, brother ofJean Boucicaut, occupied Avignon and started a five-year siege of thePapal Palace which ended when Benedict managed to escape from Avignon on 12 March 1403. He sought shelter in the territory ofLouis II of Anjou. Avignon immediately submitted again to him, and his cardinals likewise recognized him. Popular sentiment being again in his favor, he was recognized as the legitimate pope by France, Scotland, Castile and Sicily.
After the RomanPope 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,Charles VI of France declared that his kingdom was neutral to both papal contenders. Charles helped to organise theCouncil 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. To oppose this, Benedict convoked theCouncil of Perpignan but with little success. Since both Benedict and Gregory refused to abdicate, the only achievement in Pisa was that a third candidate to theHoly See was put forward: Peter Philarghi, who assumed the nameAlexander V.[4]
A group ofAugustinianclergy, driven fromthe University of Paris by the Schism and from the universities ofOxford andCambridge by theAnglo-Scottish Wars, formed a society of higher learning inSt Andrews,Fife,Scotland in 1410. TheBishop of St Andrews,Henry Wardlaw, then successfully petitioned Benedict to grant the school university status by issuing a series ofpapal bulls, which followed on 28 August 1413.[5]Having lost the support of France and driven out from Avignon, Benedict by then had taken refuge inPerpignan, on the Catalan border of theCrown of Aragon, but Scotland was among the handful of supporters that remained loyal. Nowadays, theUniversity of St Andrews's coat of arms/emblem still incorporates that of Benedict.
In part to bolster faltering support for his papacy, Benedict initiated the year-longDisputation of Tortosa in 1413, which became the most prominent Christian–Jewishdisputation of theMiddle Ages.[6] Two years later Benedict issued thepapal bullEtsi doctoribus gentium which was one of the most complete collections of anti-Jewish laws.[7]Synagogues were closed, Jewish goldsmiths were forbidden to produce Christian sacred objects such aschalices andcrucifixes[8] and Jewish book binders were forbidden to bind books which included the names of Jesus or Mary.[9] Those laws were repealed byPope Martin V, after he received a mission ofJews, sent by the famous synod convoked by the Jews inForlì, in 1418.
In 1415, theCouncil of Constance brought this clash between papal claimants to an end. Gregory XII agreed to resign, and Baldassare Cossa, who had succeeded Philarghi as the Pisan papal contender in 1410 and had assumed the nameJohn XXIII, tried to flee and was deposed during his absence, being subsequently tried upon his return. Benedict, on the other hand, refused to stand down.
Finally,Emperor Sigismund organised a European summit in Perpignan, to convince Benedict to resign his office and end the Western Schism. On 20 September 1415, the Emperor met with Benedict at thePalace of the Kings of Majorca, accompanied by KingFerdinand I of Aragon, delegates of the counts of Foix, Provence, Savoy, and Lorraine, embassies from the kings of France, England, Hungary, Castile, and Navarre, and the Church's representative at the Council of Constance. Benedict still refused to resign, clashing with the Emperor, who left Perpignan on 5 November.[10]
Because of this stubbornness, the Council of Constance declared Benedict aschismatic andexcommunicated him from the Catholic Church on 27 July 1417, and electedMartin V as the new consensual pope on 11 November 1417. Benedict, who had lived inPerpignan from 1408 to 1417, now fled to thePeníscola Castle, nearTortosa, in the Kingdom of Valencia. He still considered himself the true Pope. His claim was now only recognised in the Crown of Aragon, where he was given protection by KingAlfonso V. Benedict remained at Peníscola from 1417 until his death there on 23 May 1423.[4]
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 ofClement VIII, whose claim was still recognised by Aragon. The fourth cardinal, Jean Carrier, thearchdeacon ofRodez nearToulouse, 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. Garnier took the nameBenedict XIV,[11] but he would never get any importance.
When, in 1429, an agreement between Rome and Aragon was reached, Clement VIII abdicated in favour of recognisingPope Martin V, terminating the Avignon line of anti-popes. In return, he was appointed as bishop ofMajorca.
Benedict XIII was buried inPeníscola castle. His body was later moved toIllueca; but during theWar of the Spanish Succession his remains were destroyed. Only hisskull was saved, and it was kept in the palace of the Counts ofArgillo inSabiñán. Aragon, Spain.In April 2000, it wasstolen from the now ruined palace.The thieves sent an anonymous letter to the mayor of Illueca asking for 1,000,000 ₧ (€6,000).TheSpanish Civil Guard found that they were two brothers who were sentenced in November 2006 to 6 months in prison, substituted with€2,190.[12]The skull was recovered in September 2000.After an anthropological survey, it was placed in theZaragoza Museum, where it is not in exhibition.[13]
On 21 December 2018, the association "Friends of Pope Luna" presented to theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith a petition to have Benedict recognised as a legitimate pontiff.[14][15]
The Anti-pope (Peter de Luna, 1342–1423): A study in obstinacy by Alec Glasfurd, Roy Publishers, New York (1965) B0007IVH1Q is a somewhat fictionalised or imaginative account of his life.
Pluja seca byJaume Cabré (2001) is a play based on his death and succession.
L'Anneau du pêcheur ("The Ring of the Fisherman"— a play on the wordspêcheur, meaningfisherman, andpécheur, meaningsinner) is a 1995 novel by the French writer Jean Raspail. The narrative has two timelines: the time of Benedict XIII, the last antipope of the Avignon Papacy, and contemporary times, when the Catholic Church tries to discover Benedict's successor, as it turns out that his line of papacy has continued in secret throughout the centuries. The book received the Prix Maison de la Presse and the Prince Pierre Foundation's Literary Prize.[citation needed]
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