BENEDICT IX.

benedict ix., pope from 1033 to 1056, son of alberic, count of tusculum, and nephew of benedict viii., was also called theophylactus. he was installed pope at the age of twelve through the influence of his father. the disorders of his conduct, though tolerated by the emperors, conrad ii. and henry iii., who were then morally responsible for the pontificate, at length disgusted the romans, who drove him out in 1044 and appointed silvester iii. his successor. silvester remained in the papal chair but a few weeks, as the people of tusculum quickly recovered their influence and reinstated their pope. benedict, however, was obliged to bow before the execration of the romans. he sold his rights to his godfather, the priest johannes gratianus, who was installed under the name of gregory vi. (1045). the following year henry iii. obtained at the council of sutri the deposition of the three competing popes, and replaced them by suidger, bishop of bamberg, who took the name of clement ii. but before the close of 1047 clement ii. died, probably from poison administered by benedict, who was reinstalled for the third time. at last, on the 17th of july 1048, the marquis of tuscany drove him from rome, where he was never seen again. he lived several years after his expulsion and appears to have died impenitent. benedict x. (johannes "mincius," i.e. the lout or dolt, bishop of velletri) was pope from 1058 to 1059. he was elected on the death of stephen ix. through the influence of the roman barons, who, however, had pledged themselves to take no action without hildebrand, who was then absent from rome. hildebrand did not recognize him, and put forward an opposition pope in the person of gerard, bishop of florence (pope as nicholas ii.), whom he supported against the roman aristocracy. with the help of the normans, hildebrand seized the castle of galeria, where benedict had taken refuge, and degraded him to the rank of a simple priest. (l. d.*) benedict xi. (niccolo boccasini), pope from 1303 to 1304, the son of a notary, was born in 1240 at treviso. entering the dominican order in 1254, he became lector, prior of the convent, provincial of his order in lombardy, and in 1296 its general. in 1298 he was created cardinal priest of santa sabina, and in 1300 cardinal bishop of ostia and velletri. in 1302 he was papal legate in hungary. on the 22nd of october 1303 he was unanimously elected pope. he did much to conciliate the enemies made by his predecessor boniface viii., notably france, the colonnas and king frederick ii. of sicily; nevertheless on the 7th of june 1304 he excommunicated william of nogaret and all the italians who had captured boniface in anagni. benedict died at perugia on the 7th of july 1304; if he was really poisoned, as report had it, suspicion would fall primarily on nogaret. his successor clement v. transferred the papal residence to avignon. among benedict's works are commentaries on part of the psalms and on the gospel of matthew. his beatification took place in 1733. see c. grandjean, "registres de benoit xi." (paris, 1883 ff.), _bibliotheque des ecoles francaises d'athenes et de rome._ benedict xii. (jacques fournier), pope from 1334 to 1342, the son of a miller, was born at saverdun on the arriege. entering the cistercian cloister bolbonne, and graduating doctor of theology at paris, he became in 1311 abbot of fontfroide, in 1317 bishop of pamiers and in 1326 of mirepoix. created cardinal priest of santa prisca in 1327 by his uncle john xxii. he was elected his successor on the 20th of december 1334. benedict made appointments carefully, reformed monastic orders and consistently opposed nepotism. unable to remove his capital to rome or to bologna, he began to erect a great palace at avignon. in 1336 he decided against a pet notion of john xxii. by saying that souls of saints may attain the fulness of the beatific vision _before_ the last judgment. in 1339 he entered upon fruitless negotiations looking toward the reunion of the greek and roman churches. french influence made futile his attempt to come to an understanding with the emperor louis the bavarian. he died on the 25th of april 1342. see the source publications of g. daumet (_lettres closes, patentes et curiales_, ... paris, 1899 ff.), and j.-m. vidal (_lettres communes_, ... paris, 1903 ff.). (w. w. r.*) benedict xiii. (pedro de luna), (c. 1328-1422 or 1423), anti-pope, belonged to one of the most noble families in aragon. his high birth, his legal learning--he was for a long time professor of canon law at montpellier--and the irreproachable purity of his life, recommended him to pope gregory xi, who created him cardinal in 1375. he was almost the only one who succeeded in making a firm stand in the tumultuous conclave of 1378; but the deliberation with which he made up his mind as to the validity of the election of urban vi. was equalled, when he took the side of clement vii., by the ardour and resourcefulness which he displayed in defending the cause of the pope of avignon; it was mainly to him that the latter owed his recognition by castile, aragon and navarre. when elected pope, or rather anti-pope, by the cardinals of avignon, on the 28th of september 1394, it was he who by his astuteness, his resolution, and, it may be added, by his unswerving faith in the justice of his cause, was to succeed in prolonging the lamentable schism of the west for thirty years. the hopes he had aroused that, by a voluntary abdication, he would restore unity to the church, were vain; though called upon by the princes of france to carry out his plan, abandoned by his cardinals, besieged and finally kept under close observation in the palace of the popes (1398-1403), he stood firm, and tired out the fury of his opponents. escaping from avignon, he again won obedience in france, and his one thought was how to triumph over his italian rival, if necessary, by force. he yielded, however, to the instances of the government of charles vi., and pretending that he wished to have an interview with gregory xii., with a view to their simultaneous abdication, he advanced to savona, and then to porto venere. the failure of these negotiations, for which he was only in part responsible, led to the universal movement of indignation and impatience, which ended, in france, in the declaration of neutrality (1408), and at pisa, in the decree of deposition against the two pontiffs (1409). benedict xiii., who had on his part tried to call together a council at perpignan, was by this time recognized hardly anywhere but in his native land, in scotland, and in the estates of the countship of armagnac. he remained none the less full of energy and of illusions, repulsed the overtures of sigismund, king of the romans, who had come to perpignan to persuade him to abdicate, and, abandoned by nearly all his adherents, he took refuge in the impregnable castle of peniscola, on a rock dominating the mediterranean (1415). the council of constance then deposed him, as a perjurer, an incurable schismatic and a heretic (26th july 1417). after struggling with the popes of rome, urban