Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/496

 JOHN

430

JOHN

About r.Hil Peter appears in the retinue of Cardinal Ottoboni Fiesclii; towards this time also he was made deacon of the Church of Lisbon, an office which he later exchanged for the archidiaconate of Vermuy in the Diocese of Braga. From this period probably dates his acquaintance with Teobaldo Visconti. When, in 1272, Teobaldo came to Viterbo after his election to the papacy as Gregory X, he appointed Petrus Hispanus ins physician in ordinary. Wlnle occupying this posi- tion, the latter wrote liis "Thesaurus pauperum", in which he gives a remedy for the diseases of every part of the body. This book was widely used, but was in time variously interpolated. Peter's wide reputa- tion for learning led to his selection as Archbishop of Braga by the cathedral chapter in spring, 1273. Shortly afterwards Gregory X appointed mm Cardinal- Bishop of Tusculum, and as such he is referred to on 5 June, 1273. But he continued to govern temporarily the See of Braga until 23 May, 1275, when the pope appointed another archbishop. In June, 1273, Peter accompanied Gregory X to the General Council of Lyons, where he was consecrated bishop. Gregory X's two successors in the Holy See, Innocent V and Adrian V, ruled only a very short time. The latter died at Viterbo on 18 August, 1270, having been elected on the preceding 11 July. In a consistory of car- dinals, he had spoken of an alteration in the decrees of Lyons concerning the papal conclave, and had sus- pended them temporarily. After the death of Adrian V, the conclave in Viterbo was protracted, in conse- quence of which tlisturbances broke out in the town, thus hastening the election, so that in the week follow- ing 13 September Petrus Juliani, Cardinal-Bishop of Tusculum, was chosen pope, and crowned as John XXI (really XX) the following Sunday (20 September). The new pope wished forthwith to arrange the rules for the conclave. In the Bull " Licet felicis recorda- tionis", ratifying his predecessor's decision, he also suspended with the consent of the cardinals the de- crees issued at Lyons, and declared his intention of issuing in the near future the new regulations. On the same day (20 September, 127G) he issued another Bull, directed against those who had taken part in the disturbances during the last council (see Con- clave).

The pope was now in a position to turn his attention to the political situation. Since 1263, when Urban V had bestowed the Kingdom of Sicily upon Charles of .\njou, the latter had tried little by little to strengthen his political power in Rome and the Papal States. Cliarles himself went to Viterbo to win over the new pope, but the latter did not assent to his plans. On 7 October, the king took the oath of fealty for Sicily, in which it was provided that Sicily should never be united with Tuscany or Lombardy, nor yet with the Roman Empire. The pope, however, did not reap- point him Roman senator, neither did he make him Vicar of Tuscany or Lombardy, honours which In- nocent IV had bestowed upon him. In November, John sent an ambassador with letters to Rudolf of Hapsljurg, inviting him to send a plenipotentiary to the C'uria to negotiate with the plenipotentiary sent liy Charles of Anjou concerning the conclusion of peace. As soon as this should be accomplished, Ru- dolf was to set out for Rome to receive the imperial crown. Soon after, John began negotiations with Rudolf relative to Romagna, the ancient Exarchate of Ravenna, which he wished definitely restored to the Papal States, as Innocent V had already claimed, ('oiifcming the colU^ction and employment of the til lies levied on all ecclosiastir.'d hcncfiees, which the rniiiicil of Lyons had onli'n-d in prci):irati(in for a crinade, the pope issued various iiisl nicl ions for the (lilTcrcnt countries. The cross had been (aU<'n liy Philip III of France and Alfonso of Castile and IjCon, and in February, 127, Philip solemnly declared that he would lead the army in p(!rson against the Saracens.

But the two kings found themselves involved in a quarrel over the Kingdom of Navarre. The pope laboured to avert the outbreak of hostilities by send- ing, in November, 1276, legates to both kings, and by remonstrating with the parties in earnest and urgent letters. Soon after this Philip had to disband the large army he had assembled, and a treaty was ar- ranged between the rulers. But in the spring of 1277 the two kings began again to make preparations for war, and again the pope was obliged to send his legates to mediate, wherein they were again suc- cessful.

John also endeavoured to secure from the King of Portugal an amelioration of the ecclesiastical condi- tions in that country, bvit his pontificate was too short to witness the realization of his purpose. He de- manded from Edward I of England the arrears of trib- ute which that country had owed the Holy See since the reign of Iving Jolm (1215). He also sought the release of Eleanor, Countess of Montfortr, and her brother Amaury, whom King Edward held prisoners. Many letters were sent by the pope to the king and the English bishops relative to this matter. The envoys sent out by the Byzantine emperor, Michael Pala;olo- gus, to the Council of Lyons swore that the emperor had renounced the schism, and wished to return to the obedience of the Holy See. In this way the emperor sought to obtain the pope's protection against the Western princes, who threatened his domination. An embassy from Constantinople had already been sent to the Curia in Innocent V's reign, and that pontiff had appointed an envoy to the Byzantine Court, but died before the latter left Italy. Pope John appointed other envoys, two bishops and two Dominicans, and furnished tliem with minute instructions, as well as with letters for the Emperor Michael, his son Androni- cus, and the Greek clergy. In April, 1277, a synod was held at Constantinople under the presidency of the new patriarch, John Beccus, who was an earnest supporter of the union of the Churches. At this sy- nod the emperor and his son embraced the Roman Catholic Faith, and ratified all the promises previously made in their name at the Council of Lyons. The bishops assembled at the synod acknowledged the papal primacy and the doctrine of the Roman C'hurch, and the patriarch addressed a letter to the pope, in which all minor discrepancy in teaching was satisfac- torily explained. The messenger, who had charge of this epistle as well as of the documents drawn up by the emperor, did not arrive until after John's death. From the Far East, ambassadors came to the pope from Abaga, Khan of Tatary, who had also sent an embassy to the Coimcil of Lyons. The khan wished to enter into an alliance with the Crusaders and to give them his support; he also asked to have mission- aries sent to him. The pope sent the ambassadors to Charles of Sicily, Peter of Aragon, Philip of France, and Edward of England, but none of these sovereigns had any serious intention of undertaking a crusade. Jolm himself appointed missionaries to go to Tatary, but died before they set out on their journey.

Although John snowed especial favour towards the University of Paris, he took care to exclude all errone- ous teaching from this famous seat of ecclesiastical learning. Some chroniclers maintain that this pope was an enemy of the monks and friars. However, among the documents sent from the papal chancellery under John XXI, there are numerous letters in which he grants privileges and ratifies donations to monas- teries. On many occasions, also, he gave evidence of his great respect for the monastic orders. On what particular act of the pope's this adverse criticism is based, is unknown; however, in the most trustworthy accoimts of his fife, no foundation is fouiid for this reproach. During this pontificate Cardinal Giovanni GaelanoOrsini, who later ascended the pa pa I throne as Nicholas III, exercisetl agreat influence on the govern-