Pope Gregory XI

See also Vicedomino de Vicedominis, a pope-elect who took the name Gregory XI.

Gregory XI (c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was pope from 1370 until his death.

Biography

He was born Pierre Roger de Beaufort in Maumont in the modern commune of Rosiers-d'Égletons, Limousin, around 1336. He succeeded Pope Urban V at the papal conclave of 1370. He was the seventh and last of the Avignon Popes.

During his pontificate vigorous measures were taken against the heresies which had broken out in Germany, England, and other parts of Europe; a sincere effort was also made to cause a reformation in the various monastic orders. The nineteen propositions of John Wycliffe and the thirteen articles of the Sachsenspiegel were formally condemned by Pope Gregory XI in 1377.

His return to Rome on 17 January 1377, is attributed in part to the stirring words of Catherine of Siena. This had been attempted by Gregory's predecessor, Urban V, without success. The project was delayed by a conflict between the pope and Florence, known as "the War of the Eight Saints" for the "Eight for War," the Florentine magistrates responsible for the conduct of the war. The pope put Florence under interdict for a time.

Gregory XI did not long survive this removal, dying on 27 March 1378. After his death the College of Cardinals was pressured by a Roman mob that broke into the voting chamber to force an Italian Pope into the papacy. The Italian chosen was Urban VI. Soon after being elected, Urban gained the Cardinals' enmity. With the encouragement of the French king, the cardinals returned to Avignon and in 1378 elected a French pope, the antipope Clement VII.

Subsequently, the Western Schism created by the selection of rival popes forced the people of Europe into a dilemma of papal allegiance. This schism was not fully resolved until the Council of Constance (1414–1418) was called by a group of cardinals. The council boldly deposed the current popes and in 1417 elected Martin V as their successor. The chaos of the Western Schism thus brought about reforming councils and gave them the power over who was elected, replacing (for a time) the College of Cardinals.

References

• Hanawalt, G.Barbara. The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History, 1998, Oxford Univ. Press, p. 143
• Cairns, E.Earl. Christianity Throughout the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church, 1996, Zondervan, pp.241 & 248–250

Popes of the Western Schism

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