The
Papacy - A Historical Perspective
1389-1415 A.D.
Boniface IX : 1389-1404 A.D.
203. Born in Naples. Elected November
1389 - died October 1st 1404.
He did not solve the schismatic
issue.
Also the second anti-pope from Avignon refused a conciliation.
He celebrated the 3rd and 4th Holy Year (1390-1400) during which
time the "sect of the whites" was set up in
Provence.
He was skilled in chants and music.
He was surrounded by Jewish doctors and surgeons.
He was indomitable against anti-pope Benedict XIII, the Spanish
Cardinal Pietro di Luna, called "the big
Snake".
He was the first to make Castel S. Angelo become a real
fortress, since he bore in mind what he was once told: "if you want to
be the master of Rome you must prepare the Castle".
He is buried in the Vatican Grottoes. His pontificate lasted
almost 15 years.
Innocent VII : 1404-1406 A.D.
204. Born in Sulmona. Elected November
11, 1404 - died November 6,1406.
He was a learned but weak man,
who tried to settle the serious schism and to improve the tragic
conditions under which the State of the Church was living.
He optimised the faculties of Greek and medicine.
He loved arts and sciences, he was the patron of Vegerius, a
jurist and a religious reformer, who also was his close councillor, and
of the humanist Leonardo Bruno.
He was buried in the Vatican Grottoes. His pontificate lasted
about 2 years.
Gregroy XII : 1406-1415 A.D.
205. Born in Venice. Elected December 19,
1406 - died October 18, 1417.
This was the worst period of the
Western Schism.
There were three different powers: Rome, Avignon, and Pisa.
While the Schism was worsening, Emperor Sigismund called the
16th Ecumenical Council in Constance, which made a decision about the
renunciation of the three rival Popes: Gregory XII, Benedict XIII and
John XXIII.
Gregory XII renounced the pontificate on July 4th 1415.
At that time the anti-pope John XXIII shut himself up into the
Vatican and linked'that palace with Castel S. Angelo by means of a
fortified corridor, the current "Passetto" was then called "the way to
go".
Apart from the conclave of Constance, all the other ones were held
in Rome, except for the one concerning Pius
VII, which took place in Venice.
He was buried in the Cathedral of Recanati. His pontificate lasted
8 years and 7 months.
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Index of Roman
Pontiffs
Introduction
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