Antipope Nicholas V
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Nicholas (V)
(antipope 12 May 1328 — 25 July 1330: d. 16 Oct. 1333)
Originally Pietro Rainalducci, he was born in humble circumstances at Corvaro, in the Abruzzi, in the third quarter of the 13th century. After five years of marriage he left his wife Giovanna Mattei against her wishes, joined the Franciscans in 1310, and for several years lived at their house at Sta Maria in Aracoeli, Rome. Represented by some contemporaries as a saintly ascetic, by others as a hypocrite of doubtful reputation, he seems to have been a harmless person of little importance. When Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian (1314 — 47) purported to depose John XXII, pope at Avignon, on 18 Apr. 1328, he had Pietro elected in his place by a committee of thirteen chosen from the Roman clergy on 12 May. Taking the style Nicholas V, he was crowned by Louis on 15 May, and on 22 May named six cardinals and then set about forming a curia. In all he created nine cardinals and about a score of bishops, picked in the main from Augustinian friars and Franciscans who were upset by John XXII's policies. The schism spread from Rome to Milan, wherever the German party was in the ascendant, and owed much to the fierce propaganda of malcontent religious belonging to the two orders. William of Occam (c. 1285 — 1347), a relentless critic of John XXII, and Michael of Cesena (c. 1270 — 1342), the Franciscan general he had deposed, backed Nicholas enthusiastically; while Sicily, weary of the papal interdict which had long rested on it, came over to his obedience, receiving from him a new archbishop of Monreale (18 May 1328) in the person of Jacopo Alberti, one of his cardinals.
When Louis left Rome on 4 Aug. 1328, pursued by the jeers and hisses of the crowd, he took his 'idol' (as contemporaries mockingly called Nicholas) with him. The antipope's influence, confined as it was to parts of Italy, was rapidly waning, but he spent some months moving about the papal states, finding time to pillage the church of S. Fortunato, Todi, of all its treasures. On 2 or 3 Jan. 1329 he rejoined the emperor at Pisa, and was accorded a sumptuous welcome. Michael of Cesena, William of Occam, and other leaders of the disaffected Franciscans were in the city, and fortified by their support Nicholas presided on 19 Feb. at a bizarre ceremony in the cathedral at which a straw puppet representing John XXII and dressed in pontifical robes was formally condemned, degraded, and handed over to the secular arm. But when the defection of Azzone Visconti forced Louis to move to north Italy on 11 Apr., Nicholas did not this time accompany him. According to his own account, he had decided to break with his protector, and since Michael of Cesena, William of Occam, and all his cardinals save one now abandoned him, this is probably correct. He found temporary refuge with Count Bonifacio of Doronatico, who hid him for three months in his castle of Burgaro. Alarmed by the approach of a Florentine army, the count then took him back secretly to Pisa. Alerted of his presence there, John XXII, who had excommunicated him, requested (10 May) the count to hand him over. Negotiations were opened, and the pope undertook to spare his life and grant him pardon and a pension of 3,000 florins. Nicholas humbly accepted, on 25 July renounced his office before the archbishop of Pisa and the bishop of Lucca, set sail on 4 Aug., and on 6 Aug. landed at Nice. Arriving at Avignon on 24 Aug., he appeared, once more Pietro of Corvaro, next morning in the papal consistory clad in a Franciscan habit, with a halter round his neck. After he had repeated his abjuration at great length and avowed himself a 'schismatic pope', John pardoned him and treated him as leniently as he had promised. For the three remaining years of his life he was detained in honourable confinement in the papal residence. He died on 16 Oct. 1333 and was interred in the church of the Franciscans, Avignon.
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Originally Pietro Rainalducci, he was born in humble circumstances at Corvaro, in the Abruzzi, in the third quarter of the 13th century. After five years of marriage he left his wife Giovanna Mattei against her wishes, joined the Franciscans in 1310, and for several years lived at their house at Sta Maria in Aracoeli, Rome. Represented by some contemporaries as a saintly ascetic, by others as a hypocrite of doubtful reputation, he seems to have been a harmless person of little importance. When Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian (1314 — 47) purported to depose John XXII, pope at Avignon, on 18 Apr. 1328, he had Pietro elected in his place by a committee of thirteen chosen from the Roman clergy on 12 May. Taking the style Nicholas V, he was crowned by Louis on 15 May, and on 22 May named six cardinals and then set about forming a curia. In all he created nine cardinals and about a score of bishops, picked in the main from Augustinian friars and Franciscans who were upset by John XXII's policies. The schism spread from Rome to Milan, wherever the German party was in the ascendant, and owed much to the fierce propaganda of malcontent religious belonging to the two orders. William of Occam (c. 1285 — 1347), a relentless critic of John XXII, and Michael of Cesena (c. 1270 — 1342), the Franciscan general he had deposed, backed Nicholas enthusiastically; while Sicily, weary of the papal interdict which had long rested on it, came over to his obedience, receiving from him a new archbishop of Monreale (18 May 1328) in the person of Jacopo Alberti, one of his cardinals.
When Louis left Rome on 4 Aug. 1328, pursued by the jeers and hisses of the crowd, he took his 'idol' (as contemporaries mockingly called Nicholas) with him. The antipope's influence, confined as it was to parts of Italy, was rapidly waning, but he spent some months moving about the papal states, finding time to pillage the church of S. Fortunato, Todi, of all its treasures. On 2 or 3 Jan. 1329 he rejoined the emperor at Pisa, and was accorded a sumptuous welcome. Michael of Cesena, William of Occam, and other leaders of the disaffected Franciscans were in the city, and fortified by their support Nicholas presided on 19 Feb. at a bizarre ceremony in the cathedral at which a straw puppet representing John XXII and dressed in pontifical robes was formally condemned, degraded, and handed over to the secular arm. But when the defection of Azzone Visconti forced Louis to move to north Italy on 11 Apr., Nicholas did not this time accompany him. According to his own account, he had decided to break with his protector, and since Michael of Cesena, William of Occam, and all his cardinals save one now abandoned him, this is probably correct. He found temporary refuge with Count Bonifacio of Doronatico, who hid him for three months in his castle of Burgaro. Alarmed by the approach of a Florentine army, the count then took him back secretly to Pisa. Alerted of his presence there, John XXII, who had excommunicated him, requested (10 May) the count to hand him over. Negotiations were opened, and the pope undertook to spare his life and grant him pardon and a pension of 3,000 florins. Nicholas humbly accepted, on 25 July renounced his office before the archbishop of Pisa and the bishop of Lucca, set sail on 4 Aug., and on 6 Aug. landed at Nice. Arriving at Avignon on 24 Aug., he appeared, once more Pietro of Corvaro, next morning in the papal consistory clad in a Franciscan habit, with a halter round his neck. After he had repeated his abjuration at great length and avowed himself a 'schismatic pope', John pardoned him and treated him as leniently as he had promised. For the three remaining years of his life he was detained in honourable confinement in the papal residence. He died on 16 Oct. 1333 and was interred in the church of the Franciscans, Avignon.
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Antipope Nicholas V
- Antipope Nicholas V should not be confused with Pope Nicholas V.
Nicholas V, born Pietro Rainalducci (c. 1260 – 16 October 1333) was an antipope in Italy from 12 May 1328 to 25 July 1330 during the pontificate of Pope John XXII (1316–34) at Avignon. He was the last Imperial antipope, that is, set up by a Holy Roman Emperor.
Life
Rainalducci was born at Corvaro, an ancient stronghold near Rieti in Lazio. He joined the Franciscan order after separating from his wife in 1310, and became famous as a preacher.
He was elected through the influence of the excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Bavarian, by an assembly of priests and laymen, and consecrated at Old St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, on 12 May 1328 by the bishop of Venice.
After spending four months in Rome, he withdrew with Louis IV to Viterbo, but in December 1328 the papal legate Cardinal Orsini began a campaign against Viterbo and Corneto.[1] Nicholas moved on to Grosseto and then to Pisa, where he was guarded by the imperial vicar. On 19 February 1329 Nicholas V presided at a bizarre ceremony in the Duomo of Pisa, at which a straw puppet representing Pope John XXII and dressed in pontifical robes was formally condemned, degraded, and handed over to the secular arm (to be "executed").
Nicholas V was excommunicated by John XXII in April 1329, and sought refuge with Count Boniface of Donoratico near Piombino. Having obtained assurance of pardon, he presented a confession of his sins first to the archbishop of Pisa, and then at Avignon on 25 August 1330 to John XXII, who absolved him.
He remained in honourable imprisonment in the papal palace, Avignon until his death in October 1333.
Notes
- ^ ORSINI, Giovanni Gaetano (ca. 1285–1335) at fiu.edu, accessed 5 December 2010
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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