POPES

POPE ALEXANDER V, A THIRD POPE AT THE SAME TIME!

Pope Alexander V is a difficult man to categorize. Sometime around 1339, a child was born near Neapoli, on the island of Crete, or Candia, as it was called. His parents and relatives soon disappeared, and he was left to his own devices, becoming a beggar on the...

POPE GREGORY XII, THE END OF THE WESTERN SCHISM

If you think following the story of Avignon and the Western Schism has been difficult, sit down. The papacy under Gregory XII is even more confusing. Angelo Corrario, the future Pope Gregory XII, was born somewhere between 1325 and 1335, of a prominent Venetian...

POPE URBAN VI, A CONTRARY MAN

This pope was neither French nor Italian (at that time), but from the Kingdom of Naples. He was born about 1318 and given the name Bartolomeo Prignano. A very intelligent man, he was a monk, trained at Avignon. In 1364, he was named archbishop of Acerenza, Kingdom of...

POPE URBAN VI, A CONTRARY MAN

Medieval Italian soldiers This pope was neither French nor Italian (at that time), but from the Kingdom of Naples. He was born about 1318 and given the name Bartolomeo Prignano. A very intelligent man, he was a monk, trained at Avignon. In 1364, he was named...

POPE GREGORY XI AND THE ESCAPE FROM AVIGNON

Pope Urban V temporarily escaped Avignon, France and went back to Rome. But it only lasted two years. He moved back to Avignon where he died. Pope Gregory XI tried again less than a decade later. And it worked. Pope Gregory XI was born Pierre Roger de Beaufort about...