Antipope Felix V

Felix V

Antipope Felix V, the last historical Antipope.
Papacy began 5 November 1439
Papacy ended 7 April 1449
Predecessor Benedict XIV (as Antipope)
Eugene IV (as Pope)
Successor Nicholas V (as Pope)
Opposed to Eugene IV and Nicholas V
Personal details
Birth name Amadeus VIII
Born 4 September 1383
Chambéry
Died 7 January 1451(1451-01-07) (aged 67)
Parents Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry
Other Popes and Antipopes named Felix

Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383, Chambéry – 7 January 1451) was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was surnamed the Peaceful and was the Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and was elevated by Emperor Sigismund to the Duke of Savoy in 1416. Amadeus was also the antipope Felix V, elected by the Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence, from November 1439 to April 1449.[1]

After the death of his father in 1391, his mother acted as a regent, because of his youth.

In 1418 his distant cousin Louis of Savoy-Achaea, his brother-in-law, the last male of the elder branch of House of Savoy, died, leaving Amadeus as his heir-general, thus finally uniting the male-lines of the House of Savoy.

He increased his dominions, encouraged several attempts to negotiate an end to the Hundred Years' War, and, after the death of his wife, retired from his position as Duke to become a hermit. Elected by the Council of Basel as an alternative Pope in opposition to Pope Eugene IV, Amadeus served as Felix V, regarded as an antipope, before stepping down to accept a Cardinal's hat.[2][3]

Amadeus' image in history is marred by the account of him as a pontiff concerned with money, to avoid disadvantaging his heirs, found in the Commentaries of Pius II. Nor is there evidence that he intrigued to obtain the papal office, sending the bishops of Savoy to Basel for this purpose.

(Note on numbering: When numbering of the Popes began to be used, Antipope Felix II was counted as one of the Popes of that name. The second true Pope Felix is thus known by the number III, and the third true Pope Felix was given the number IV. It also affected the name taken by Amadeus, who would have been the fourth Pope Felix.)

Contents

Family and children

He married Mary of Burgundy (1380–1422), daughter of Philip the Bold,[4] Duke of Burgundy and granddaughter of John II of France and had nine children:

  1. Margaret of Savoy (1405–1418)
  2. Anthony of Savoy (1407)
  3. Anthony of Savoy (1408)
  4. Margaret of Savoy (1410–1479) married to:
    1. Louis III, titular king of Naples;
    2. Louis IV, Count Palatine of the Rhine;
    3. Ulrich V, Count of Württemberg.
  5. Marie of Savoy (1411-1469), married Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan.
  6. Amadeus of Savoy, Prince of Piemonte (1412–1431)
  7. Louis of Savoy (1413–1465), his successor
  8. Bonne of Savoy (1415–1430)
  9. Philip of Savoy, Count of Genève (1417–1444), unmarried

According to James H. Guill, Margarida de Sabuya, the wife of Willem Van der Hagen, was the daughter of Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ Coulombe, Charles A., Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes, (Kensington Publishing Corp., 2003), 318.
  2. ^ Coulombe, 319.
  3. ^ Pope Nicholas V named him Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina, dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals and perpetual legate in the Duchy of Savoy in April 1449
  4. ^ Vaughan, Richard, Philip the Bold: the formation of the Burgundian state, (Boydell Press, 2005), 53.
  5. ^ James H. Guill. A history of the Azores Islands. 5. pp. 139-140. 
Papal styles of
Antipope Felix V
Reference style His Holiness
Spoken style Your Holiness
Religious style Holy Father
Posthumous style Unknown

See also

External links

Amadeus VIII the Peaceful
Born: 4 September 1383 Died: 7 January 1451
Regnal titles
New creation
County elevated to Duchy
 Duke of Savoy
1416–1440		 Succeeded by
Louis, Duke of Savoy
Preceded by
Amadeus VII		 Count of Savoy
1391–1416		 County elevated to Duchy