ANTIPOPE BENEDICT XIII, A STUBBORN OLD MAN

One of the few “popes” from modern Spain, was Pedro Martinez de Luna y Perez de Gator (1328-1423). He is not to be mistaken for Pope Benedict XIII, who reigned in the 1720s. Pedro Martinez de Luna was a nobleman from Aragon, known for his intellect and austere life. Not only did he have a doctorate from the University of Montpelier, he also taught canonical law there. What could go wrong?

Pope Gregory XI, while in Avignon, appointed the middle-aged professor to the position of cardinal-deacon in 1375. Two years later, the pope decided that it was time to return to Rome. DeLuna was one of the cardinals who accompanied him back.

By late March 1378, Gregory died. The Roman citizens were afraid that another French pope would be elected and return the curia to Avignon. They rioted, yelling their demands. The Archbishop of Bari was elected and took the name Urban VI. However, he was obviously hostile to the cardinals. The cardinals took off for Fondi, declared the election invalid and elected Robert of Geneva who became Clement VII. This became the Western Schism. Two popes. Two centers of the Church, Rome and Avignon, again.

Not everyone agreed to the procedure. Clement sent DeLuna off to serve as legate and change the minds of as many leaders as possible. DeLuna’s relatives in Aragon were easy to persuade. He added Castile, Navarre and Portugal to Clement’s supporters.

In 1389, Urban VI died. Instead of dealing with one pope, Rome elected another, Pope Boniface IX, and the schism continued. Clement needed more support and sent DeLuna to Paris to influence France, Scotland, Flanders, England and Ireland.

When Clement died in 1394, there was a meeting in Avignon. The cardinals insisted they wanted a reunion with Rome. DeLuna was elected on the condition that he work towards reunification and resign when the Roman pope did or if the cardinals ordered it. He was ordained, consecrated and crowned within days.  Benedict XIII’s papacy was accepted by France, Scotland, Sicily, Castile, Aragon and Navarre.

Four years later, France withdrew recognition of the Avignon papacy. With that, seventeen cardinals left. The king of France ordered the army to put siege to the papal palace in Avignon, which they did for five years. Benedict, not a young man, managed to escape in April 1403. He managed to get the help of Louis II of Anjou, once again getting into the good graces of France. But, Benedict knew not to go back to Avignon. He headed to the eastern seacoast, Perpignan.

In 1406, Pope Innocent VIII, of Roman election, died. The new pontiff, Gregory XIII, tried negotiating with Benedict. Gregory wanted both of them to step aside and have a new pontiff that everyone voted for. Benedict refused and Charles of France gave up, pronouncing himself neutral. A year later, Charles arranged a Council of Pisa to get Gregory and Benedict to step down and elect another. Benedict arranged a Council at Perpignan. A third pope briefly was voted in, taking the name Alexander V.

Another Council, at Constance occurred in 1415. This time, Gregory abdicated. Alexander had died but another, was in office. He fled, was caught and tried. The Emperor, himself, tried to get Benedict to retire. But he refused. So the Council members ruled him schismatic and excommunicated him in July 1417. Pope Martin V was elected that year and the Church was under one leader again.

We do not want to see him as an argumentative old man. Two things stand out about his reign: In 1413, Benedict wrote a series of bulls committing Augustinian friars to a small school in Scotland granting it university status. Scotland was one of the last countries supporting Benedict’s papacy. (The current Prince and Princess of Wales attended St. Andrews for college)

The same year, Benedict conducted the Disputation of Tortosa, the most prominent Christian-Jewish argument of the Middle Ages. Two years later, he issued a papal bull denying many rights to the Jewish people in Spain. Pope Martin V repealed it in 1418.

Benedict got to Aragon, his home turf and proclaimed himself still pope. Only the people in Aragon went along with him. He lived at the castle at Pensicola until his death in 1423.