Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the

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from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful pope who reformed monastic orders and opposed nepotism. Unable to remove his capital to

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, he started the great palace at Avignon. He decided against a notion of Pope John XXII by saying that souls may attain the "fulness of the beatific vision" before the Last Judgment. Whilst being a stalwart reformer, he attempted unsuccessfully to reunite the

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and

es, almost three centuries after the Great Schism; he also failed to come to an understanding with Emperor Louis IV.

Early life

Little is known of the origins of Jacques Fournier. He is believed to have been born in Canté in the County of Foix around the 1280s to a family of modest means. He became a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

Jonathan Sumption, ''Trial by Battle'', Vol.1, (Faber and Faber, 1990), 152-153. monk and left the countryside to study at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

. In 1311 he was made

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of Fontfroide Abbey and quickly became known for his intelligence and organizational ability. In 1317 he was made Bishop of Pamiers. There he undertook a rigorous hunt for

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian Dualistic cosmology, dualist or Gnosticism, Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern ...

, such as Guillaume Bélibaste, which won him praise from religious authorities, but alienated the local people. His efforts against the Cathars of Montaillou in the Ariège were carefully recorded in the Fournier Register, which he took to

and deposited in the Vatican Library. His transcription was edited by Jean Duvernoy and has been documented by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's pioneering microhistory, ''Montaillou, village occitan.'' In 1326, upon the successful rooting out of the last – it was believed – Cathars of the south, he was made Bishop of Mirepoix in the Ariège, and, a year later, in 1327, he was made a cardinal.

Accession to papacy

Fournier succeeded John XXII as

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, after being elected in the

Conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Ro ...

of 1334. The Conclave opened on 13 December, and it appeared that there might be a quick election. A two-thirds majority were prepared to elect Cardinal Jean-Raymond de Comminges, the Bishop of Porto, if he would only swear in advance to agree ''not'' to return the papacy to Rome. Comminges refused to make any promises in order to get elected. The Conclave therefore ground on through lengthy discussions. As Fournier himself said, "... in the discussion held over the election of a future pope, they could certainly have agreed on others more conspicuous for the repute of their great merits...", in other words, there were a number of possible candidates. The Cistercian cardinal, Jacques Fournier, was elected on the evening of 20 December 1334, after Vespers, on the eighth day of the Conclave. The election of Fournier happened as the result of an accident. According to the

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

Papal policy and activity

Benedict XII was a reforming pope who did not carry out the policies of his predecessor. He chose to make peace with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, and as far as possible came to terms with the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

s, who were then at odds with the Roman See. He tried to curb the luxuries of the monastic orders, though without much success. He also ordered the construction of the Palais des Papes in Avignon. Benedict spent most of his time working on questions of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. He rejected many of the ideas developed by John XXII. In this regard, he promulgated an apostolic constitution, ''Benedictus Deus'', in 1336. This dogma defined the Church's belief that the souls of the departed go to their eternal reward immediately after death, as opposed to remaining in a state of unconscious existence until the Last Judgment. Though some claim that he campaigned against the Immaculate Conception, this is far from clear. He engaged in long theological debates with other noted figures of the age, such as William of Ockham and Meister Eckhart. Though born a Frenchman, Benedict felt no patriotism towards France nor its king, Philip VI. From the start of his papacy, relations between him and Philip were frigid. After being informed of Philip's plan to invade Scotland, Benedict hinted that King Edward III of England would most likely win, regardless.

Works

References

Bibliography

* 333-1356* Guillemain, B. (1952). ''La politique bénéficiale du Pape Benoît XII. Paris: École des Hautes Études. * Mahn, J. B. (1950). ''Le Pape Benoit XII et les Cisterciens''. Paris: École des Hautes études. * Melville, G. (1982). "Source Documents on the Pontificate of Benedict XII," in: ''Historisches Jahrbuch'' 102 (1982), pp. 144-182. * Vidal, Jean-Marie (1905). "Notice sur les oeuvres du Pape Benoit XII." in: ''Revue d'histoire écclesiastique'' 6 (1905), pp. 557-565.