Louis Aleman (16 September 1450) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and a professed member of the now-suppressed Canons Regular of Saint John Baptist. He served as the

Archbishop of Arles The former French Catholic Archbishopric of Arles had its episcopal seat in the city of Arles, in southern France. At the apex of the delta (Camargue) of the Rhone River, some 40 miles from the sea, Arles grew under Liburnian, Celtic, and Punic in ...

from 1423 until his resignation in 1440 when he had resigned from the cardinalate. But he was later reinstated as a cardinal on 19 December 1449 at which point he served as the Protopriest and also reclaimed his titular church. Aleman served as the

Bishop of Maguelonne The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier (–Lodève–Béziers–Agde–Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Montis Pessulani (–Lotevensis–Biterrensis–Agathensis–Sancti Pontii Thomeriarum)''; French: ''Ar ...

from 1418 until his archepiscopal elevation at which point he was later named a cardinal. Aleman once led opposition to

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV (; ; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 March 1431 to his death, in February 1447. Condulmer was a Republic of Venice, Venetian, and a nephew ...

while pledging allegiance to an

antipope An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...

which led to Eugene IV stripping Aleman of all ecclesiastical dignities that he had been entitled to. But he later convinced the antipope to abdicate as a means of ending the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...

at which stage Aleman was restored to the cardinalate and returned to full communion with the Roman see under

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V (; ; 15 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV made him a Cardinal (Catholic Chu ...

. He has often been dubbed as the "Cardinal of Arles". His beatification received approval on 9 April 1527 from

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

Life

Louis Aleman was born to nobles circa 1390 at the castle in

Arbent Arbent () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Ain in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The commune has been awarded two flowers by the ''National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom' ...

to Jean Aleman and Marie de Châtillon de Michaille. His archbishop grand-uncle was François de Conzie (c.1356-31.12.1431/2). He was present at the

Council of Pisa The Council of Pisa (; , also nicknamed the , "secret meeting", by those who considered it illegitimate) was a controversial council held in 1409. It attempted to end the Western Schism by deposing both Benedict XIII (Avignon) and Gregory XII ...

in 1409. He studied

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

and graduated in that area with a doctorate in 1414 at the college in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

. In 1417 he was made the abbot commendatario of Saint-Pierre de la Tour. Aleman served as the governor of the Romagna since 1424 and had to face the ongoing struggles between the

Guelphs The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...

and the

Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centurie ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. One of the Guelph families - the Canetols - even imprisoned Aleman for several weeks but Aleman was later released and moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to serve in the court of

Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...

. Aleman served as a noted advisor to the pope and also served as a courtier while in the papal court. He had served in the papal court for Martin V since July 1417. On 22 June 1418 he was appointed as the

and he was installed into his new see on 17 May 1419. The pope himself granted

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

to Aleman in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

. He later became a diplomat to

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

in 1422. Aleman was later promoted as the newest

on 3 December 1423 and was installed in that see on 16 May 1424. Martin V named him a cardinal on 24 May 1426 as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia - he received that title on 27 May. From 1427 until 1431 he served as the Camerlengo for the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

. He served as a legate to Bologna from 1426 to 1428 and did not participate in the conclave of 1431. He was a prominent member of the

Council of Basel The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

since 1432 and together with Cardinal

Julian Cesarini Julian Cesarini the Elder ( It.: ''Giuliano Cesarini, seniore'') (1398 in Rome – 10 November 1444 in Varna, Ottoman Empire) was one of the group of cardinals appointed by Pope Martin V upon the conclusion of the Western Schism. His intel ...

led the forces that maintained the power of the general councils over the pope's own control of the Church. It was while the council was proceeding that he tended to victims of the plague. He later led opposition to the pope but Cesarini was reconciled with

and had a prominent part in the pope's convoked

Council of Florence The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...

. In 1439 he led the effort to depose Eugene IV and the election of a successor. In 1440 he placed the tiara upon

Antipope Felix V Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was a claimant to the papacy from 1439 to 1449 as Felix VWhen numbering of the popes began ...

and consecrated him as a bishop. This was a misguided attempt at reforming the Church which Aleman believed was vital. Eugene IV was responded to this and excommunicated the

while also depriving Aleman of all his ecclesiastical dignities. This also meant that Aleman could no longer be considered a cardinal and he was deprived of the dignities that came with the cardinalate. This occurred on 11 April 1440: he was stripped of Arles as his archdiocese and was stripped of his titular church. Antipope Felix V made him the legate to the Diet of Frankfurt to the court of Emperor Friedrich III. He was further involved in the unsuccessful efforts to win over Europe's princes to Basel's antipope. In order to make an end of the

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

the former cardinal advised Felix V to abdicate at which stage

restored the cardinal to all his honors and appointed him as a

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

to the German kingdom] in 1449; his full restoration was on 19 December 1449. He was granted back his titular church as well and from that moment until his death served as the Protopriest, Protopriest of the College of Cardinals. It was due to his estrangement to the Roman see that he was not permitted to participate in the conclave of 1447. He returned to his former archdiocese where he dedicated himself with great zeal to the catechetical formation of the people. He died on 16 September 1450 at the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in Salon at Arles. Aleman's remains are housed in Saint-Trophine d'Arles.

Beatification

His beatification was approved and celebrated on 9 April 1527 after

confirmed that there had been a longstanding and popular cultus (otherwise known as an enduring public veneration) of the late cardinal.

Notes and references

Attribution: *

External links

Saints SQPN

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleman, Louis 1390 births 1450 deaths 15th-century French cardinals 15th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France Archbishops of Arles French beatified people People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Resigned cardinals

Life

Beatification

Notes and references

Further reading

External links