Jean Cholet
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Jean Cholet (died 1292) was a French cardinal who was commissioned by Pope Martin IV to preach the Aragonese Crusade in 1283.
He was given legatine authority over the orders of friars as part of his commission to preach the plenary indulgence to all those who fought alongside Charles of Valois for the Crown of Aragon against Peter III. According to the Catalan chronicle of Bernard Desclot, Los franceses en Cataluña, Cholet preached that:
If any man die there, which may God forbid, then will he in shining whiteness ascend into the presence of God, for God will not in any wise permit that his soul be sent to purgatory.
In 1284, when the aldermen of Lille attacked a troupe of Dominicans trying to preach the Aragonese Crusade in their town, Cholet fined them 4,000 livres de Paris and used the money to finance the crusade. In 1285, Cholet himself accompanied Charles into Aragon. On 28 April 1285 at Girona, Cholet placed his galero on Charles' head and pronounced him king. This act earned Charles' the affectionate moniker roi du chapeau (king of the hat).
Cholet was still preaching the pope's crusades against his secular opponents in 1286. On 30 April 1286, Pope Honorius IV granted an indulgence to all Italian clergy who paid in one year the tithe which had been levied for three years. In May he ordered Cholet to use the indulgence sparingly.
In 1292, Cholet left by his will 6,000 livres Tournois to the "matter of Aragon", that is, to Charles' war chest, on the condition that Charles make a further expedition into Aragon. Otherwise the money was to be distributed to the poor.
[edit] Sources
- Housley, Norman (1982). The Italian Crusades: The Papal-Angevin Alliance and the Crusades Against Christian Lay Powers, 1254–1343. Oxford University Press.
- Chaytor, H. J. (1933). A History of Aragon and Catalonia. London: Methuen.
