RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
John XIII-XXII
Bonn, 1892; F. Gregorovius, Hist, of the City of Rome, iv. 31-39, London, 1896; Bower, Popes, ii. 337-339; B. Platina, Lives of the Popes, i. 269-270, London, n.d.; Hauck, KD, iii. 496, 555-556, 559, 561.
John XXI. (Pedro Juliani): Pope 1276-77. A native of Lisbon, he became cardinal-bishop of Tusculum in 1273, and was elected pope at Viterbo Sept. 15 or 16, 1276, taking the title of John XXI., though he was in reality the twentieth pope of this name. He was a man of great learning, though apparently of equal eccentricity; since the fourteenth century it has been usually believed that he was identical with "Petrus Hispanus," the author of a number of medical works and a popular compendium of logic. His pontificate was without influence on the development of the church. He was injured by the fall of a ceiling in the papal palace at Viterbo, and died May 20, 1277 (A. Hauck.) Bibliography: J. Giurand and E. Cadier, Les Registres de Gregoire X. et Jean XXI., Paris, 1898; R.. Stapfer, Papst Johannes XXI., Munster, 1898; Bower, Popes, iii. 25-26; F. Gregorovius, Hist, of the City of Rome, v. 475-477, London, 1897; B. Platina, Lives of the Popes, ii. 106-108, ib. n.d.; Milnian, Latin Christianity, vi. 134-135.
John XXII. (Jacques Dueza): Pope 1316-34. He was born at Cahors, France, about 1244, became bishop of Avignon in 1310 and cardinalbishop of Porto in 1312, and was elected pope at Lyons, after an interregnum of more than two years, on Aug. 7, 1316, taking up his residence at Avignon. The main object of his policy was to get rid of the remains of imperial power in Italy, in the interests of the papacy. He took advantage of the contested election to the empire in 1314 to declare on Mar. 31, 1317, that upon a vacancy in the imperial office its jurisdictio, regimen, et dispositio passed to the pope; and on this ground he forbade the imperial vicars and other officials named by Henry VII. to retain their offices, himself appointing Robert of Naples, as his predecessor had done, imperial vicar for Italy. He maintained a more or less neutral position between the rival claimants in Germany. The case was altered when Louis the Bavarian's victory over his competitor at the battle of Muhldorf (Sept. 18, 1322) made it possible for him to take hold of Italian affairs, and his nomination of Berthold of Neiffen as imperial vicar showed that he was disposed to do so. In a public consistory (Oct. 8, 1323) he brought charges against Louis (the so-called " first process "), his action being based on the claim first made by Gregory VII. and renewed by Innocent III. that to the pope belonged the right of examining and approving or rejecting the candidate elected to the imperial throne. Louis was accused of disregarding papal rights by taking the title of emperor without confirmation and assuming to administer the empire before he had received it, as well as of favoring and protecting the Visconti, who had been condemned for heresy. He was summoned, on pain of excommunication, to lay down the reins of government and annul his previous acts, and his subjects were released from their allegiance. John probably did not expect Louis to yield obedience; what he hoped to gain was a renewal of the conflict in Germany. After a momentary hesitation (second process, Jan. 7, 1324), the sentence of excom-
munication was pronounced against Louis Mar. 23, and a like penalty threatened against all who should continue to render obedience to him (third process). On July 11 he was declared deprived of all rights supposed to follow from his election, and once more summoned to answer at the bar of Rome before Oct. 1, while his adherents were excommunicated (fourth process) .
In reply to the first process, Louis had made a declaration which asserted the validity of an election independent of papal confirmation, raised the charge of heresy against John himself, and appealed to a general council. This declaration appears not to have been published; but on May 22, 1324, he came out publicly with a renewed appeal to a council. The attempt to set up a rival emperor failed, and the menace of excommunication and interdict had but little effect in Germany. Early in 1327 Louis came down to Italy with unexpected success, had himself crowned in Rome (Jan. 17, 1328) by four syndics elected by the people, and brought about the election (May 12) of an antipope, known as Nicholas V John met these proceedings by declaring that Louis had forfeited all fiefs which he held from either Church or empire, especially the duchy of Bavaria (fifth process, Apr. 3, 1327); by condemning him as a heretic (Oct. 23); by proclaiming a crusader's indulgence for all who should bear arms against him for a year (Jan. 21, 1328); and by ordering a new election to the empire later in the spring. Louis was not strong enough to keep the control of Italy, and was obliged to leave it in the winter of 1329-30, after which his antipope made his submission. In a sermon on AH Saints' Day, 1331, the pope declared that the beatific vision of God was not granted to the saints until after the resurrection. Doubts had already been expressed as to his orthodoxy, and this statement gave fresh offense, all the more that the Italian cardinals were unfriendly to the Gascon pope. Taking advantage of this situation Louis, in concert with Cardinal Napoleone Orsini, addressed a formal request to the sacred college in 1334 for the summoning of a general council; but before any result could follow this new attack, John died on December 3 of that year.
John is described as a small, thin, ugly, baldheaded man. He was incessantly busy without accomplishing anything worth while. Germany was injured, Italy distracted, and the Church and papacy lowered in the general esteem by his pontificate, which earned a bad name also by the financial methods developed by him. He needed money to enrich his relatives, and he delighted in amassing it for its own sake. Giovanni Villani estimated his fortune to be 25,000,000 florins (over $6,000,- 000); but about 800,000 florins is probably much nearer the mark. As a means of money-getting he made wide use of reservations (see Reservations, Papal). Immediately after his election he reserved all benefices whose previous holders had received another position from the pope, and a year later, by declaring that no one might hold more than two benefices, he created a large number of other vacancies, which he likewise reserved to himself. In 1322 he reserved all the benefices
John XXIII John the Apostle