Pope from December 30, 1334 - April 25, 1342Lived: c. 1280s - April 25, 1342Birth name: Jacques Fournier
Who was this guy before he was pope?We first hear from Jacques Fournier as a youth, when he entered the Cistercian order at the monastery in Boulbonne, France. He was soon moved to Fontfroide, whose abbot was his uncle, Arnold Novelli. When Uncle Arnie was elevated to cardinal in 1310, Jacques was tapped to take his place, in the midst of his own studies to earn a doctorate in theology. Seven years later, Jacques was made bishop in his home diocese of Palmiers. He then spent the next several years rooting out the Catharist heresy -- the belief, essentially, that the “Gods” of the New and Old testaments were different -- before being moved to Mirepoix in 1326 and made cardinal a year later.
Give me the scoop on Benedict XII.A seven-day conclave resulted in the unlikely election of Pope Benedict XII (more on that in a minute). He began his papacy by saying “hard pass” to using war as a means of enforcing policy, preferring to use diplomacy instead. He was able to negotiate peacefully with Louis of Bavaria for most of his papacy, but found the most difficulty in mediating between England and France, wherein the famed Hundred Years’ War was brewing.
When a move back to Rome -- at the top of Benedict’s wish list -- proved impossible, he commissioned the grand
Palais des Papes, the papal castle and historical center of Avignon that
still stands today. He put Pope John XXII’s Beatific Vision controversy to bed in 1336, dogmatically defining the correct position (that the souls of the just see God immediately after death) in the apostolic constitution
Benedictus Deus. In Benedict XII, the Church had a truly holy and zealous Defender of the Faith. The pope died at Avignon on April 25, 1342 and was buried in Avignon Cathedral.