Antipope Benedict XIII

(antipope 28 Sept. 1394 — 26 July 1417: d. 23 May 1423)
When Antipope Clement VII died, there were hopes that the Great Schism (1378 — 1417) might be ended if the Avignon cardinals refrained from electing a successor. When they met in conclave on 26 Sept. 1394 they were handed letters from King Charles VI of France (1380 — 1422) urging them to postpone an election, but they left them unopened. All 21, however, swore to work for the elimination of the schism, each undertaking, if elected, to abdicate if and when the majority judged it proper. They then unanimously chose Pedro de Luna, cardinal deacon of Sta Maria in Cosmedin, who had opposed the oath and only taken it with reluctance. Born c. 1342/3 of noble parents at Illueca, Aragón, he had studied, obtained his doctorate, and lectured in canon law at Montpellier and enjoyed the benefits of several benefices before being named cardinal deacon of Sta Maria in Cosmedin by Gregory XI in 1375. A man of irreproachable conduct and inflexible resolve, he took part in the tumultuous election of Urban VI with complete sangfroid, and was one of the last to abandon him, but once convinced that his election was invalid became a determined supporter of Clement VII. In Dec. 1378 he went to the Iberian peninsula for eleven years as his legate, and by his diplomacy finally swung Aragón, Castile, Navarre, and Portugal to his obedience, though in 1385 Portugal reverted to the Roman obedience after a dynastic upheaval. He also reformed the university of Salamanca, erecting a faculty of theology there, and presided over several reforming synods. Appointed plenipotentiary legate to France and other countries in 1393, he posed in Paris as a partisan of ending the schism by the abdication of both popes, declaring that he would follow this course if he were pontiff.

Although apparent readiness to step down helped him to get elected, he was in fact to contribute more than anyone, by his adroitness, obstinacy, and unshakeable belief in his legitimacy, to the tragic prolongation of the schism, in spite of pressure from the French court, hierarchy, and university world. The first phase opened in May 1395 with the arrival at Avignon of a powerful deputation from Charles VI of France urging him to abdicate in accordance with his oath. Benedict countered this with endless evasive objections, arguing that negotiation offered a better way. Charles mustered support for the policy of abdication from other princes, but an Anglo-French mission in June 1397 and a German one in May 1398 were unable to move Benedict; to the latter he denounced the abdication of a lawful pope as sinful. Meanwhile, pursuing his preferred 'way of discussion', he tried to negotiate between Dec. 1395 and autumn 1396 with his Roman rival Boniface IX, but without result. All this hedging exasperated the French court, but only in July 1398 did the government, as advised by a widely representative national synod, formally withdraw France from its obedience to Benedict, thereby effectively depriving him of his revenues from the French church. Not only did all but five of his cardinals now desert him, but Navarre, Castile, and other regions also withdrew their obedience.

The next phase began with a reaction in Benedict's favour, in part caused by his resolute conduct. First besieged in his palace, then imprisoned there for years, he escaped in disguise to Provence on 11 Mar. 1403. His cardinals now (29 Mar.) returned to submission, and before long France, thanks largely to the efforts of Louis, duke of Orléans, and Castile restored their obedience. He had had to undertake, however, to abdicate in the event of the death, resignation, or deposition of his Roman rival, and to work constructively for the termination of the schism; but his preferred method was direct negotiation. In Sept. 1404 he sent an embassy to Rome proposing a meeting of both pontiffs or their plenipotentiaries, with the possibility of resignations on the agenda, but it foundered on the intransigence of Boniface IX. He now considered a march on Rome, but no French nobles were prepared to lead the way. No progress towards union was achieved in Innocent VII's brief reign, but prospects looked brighter when Gregory XII, pledged to a specific programme of conciliation, was chosen as his successor. By the treaty of Marseilles (21 Apr. 1407) the two popes agreed to meet at Savona, near Genoa, on 29 Sept. or by 1 Nov. at the latest. Through Gregory's procrastination and eventual refusal, however, the meeting, from which the world expected much, never took place, although the claimants, Benedict at Portovenere and Gregory at Lucca, carried on sterile exchanges for many months. The breakdown in these negotiations caused widespread disappointment and indignation, and in May 1408 the French government, defying Benedict's threat of a ban and interdict, again withdrew from his obedience and declared its neutrality; it even ordered his arrest.

Benedict made his escape unhindered from Italy to Perpignan, which now became the seat of his court. His cardinals, however, now once more deserted him, joined forces with Gregory XII's, and with them summoned (29 June 1408) a general council to meet in March 1409 at Pisa. Invited to attend, Benedict, like Gregory, refused, and called a council of his own to meet at Perpignan on 1 Nov. When the council of Pisa met, he, with Gregory, was condemned and deposed at the 15th session (5 June 1409); on 26 June a new pope, Alexander V, was elected with its approval. Full of energy, and also illusions, Benedict fiercely continued the struggle, although his obedience was now reduced to Spain, Portugal, and Scotland, and launched from Barcelona (1 Dec.) excommunications on his detractors and the new pontiff; he also composed polemical tracts in his own defence. During the council of Constance (1414 — 17) Sigismund, German king and later emperor (1433 — 7), went to Perpignan to persuade him to abdicate honourably, but his overtures were rebuffed, Benedict arguing that as he was the sole survivor of the 1378 election, he alone was in a position to judge his legitimacy. He now (1415) took refuge in the impregnable castle of Peñiscola, on a promontory of the coast of Valencia, claiming to envoys of the council that this was now the true church, the ark of Noah. On 26 July 1417, at the 37th session of the council, he was again deposed and extruded from the church. He still had many supporters in Castile, and on 22 Nov. 1422 he created four more cardinals. An indomitable nonagenarian still breathing defiance, he died at Peñiscola on 23 May 1423 and is still remembered there as 'Papa Luna'. Though his substantial library was dispersed to pay his servants, his crozier and chalice are displayed in the parish church. His remains were transferred in 1429 to his native castle at Illueca, where they were desecrated and (except for his skull) cast to the winds by French troops in 1811.

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