Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/218

192 Clement, the fortunes of Heredia reached their zenith. He had been the most intimate friend of the new pontiff prior to his elevation, and now became his sole confidant and adviser. He was appointed governor of Avignon, and the affairs of the papacy were entirely committed into his hands. Whilst occupying this exalted position he was courted on all sides. The princes of Europe and their ministers sought by the most lavish gifts to ingratiate themselves with a man in whom so much power was vested. He consequently amassed a large amount of treasure, which he bestowed upon his children. These, now no longer dependent on their uncle, found themselves raised by their father to a position suited to the claims of their birth, and surrounded with all the pomp and luxury which wealth could bestow. Heredia was a man of no ordinary mind; there was a magnificence in his ideas more suited to one born to the inheritance of a princely revenue than to the cadet of a family, however noble. Thus we find him, in gratitude to his patron, surrounding Avignon with a fortified enceinte at his own sole cost, a work which must have entailed the expenditure of a vast sum. The Pope, equally prodigal in his gifts, though more crafty as to the source from whence he drew them, bestowed upon him in return the two grand-priories of Castile and St. Gilles. As the cost of this gift fell exclusively upon the unfortunate Order, the council was naturally very indignant. The just claims of the senior knights were by the mere dictum of the Pope set aside, and the principal dignities which should have been in its gift were lavished upon a man who had proved himself a. traitor to its interests.

After the death of Innocent and during the sway of his successor, Urban V., Heredia perceived that his influence at the papal court was sensibly declining. The death of Urban, and the election of Gregory XI., in 1370, caused it to become still further curtailed. He therefore came to the conclusion that it would be wise to provide himself an honourable retirement for his old age, far from the scene of political turmoil in the midst of which he had been for so many years plunged. With this view he cast his eyes upon the Grand-Mastership at Rhodes as a position precisely suited to his purpose. The death of Julliac presented him with an appropriate opportunity for