Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/498

 JOHN

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JOHN

claimed, on 2 March, 1323, Berthold von Neiffen imperial vicar for Italy. Thereupon John, following the precedent of Gregory VII and Innocent III, warned Louis of Bavaria that the examination and approval of the chosen German king with a view to the consequent bestowal of the imperial dignity be- longed to the pope; that he must refrain from exer- cising royal rights until the legitimacy of his election had been settled ; that he must recall all commands al- ready issued, give no further aid to the enemies of the Church — especially the Visconti of Milan, condemned as heretics — and within three months present him- self before the pope. Should Louis not submit to this admonition, he was tlireatened with excommunica- tion. The subsequent behaviour of Louis was very equivocal. He sent an embassy to the pope, asking for and obtaining a delay of two months before appear- ing in the papal presence. At the same time he de- clared at Nuremberg on 10 November, 1323, that he did not recognize the pope's action or his claim to examine into the election of a German king; he also accused John of comitenaneing heretics, and proposed the calling of a general council to sit in judgment on him. During this respite, lengthened at his own re- quest, Louis took no steps towards a reconcihation, and on 23 March, 1324, John pronounced on the king the sentence of excommunication. On the other hand the latter pul)lishefl at Sachsenhausen on 22 May, 1324, an appeal in which he accused the pope of enmity to the empire, of heresy and protection of here- tics, and appealed from John's decision to a general council. An open breach henceforth existed, followed by disastrous results. Louis persecuted the few Ger- man cardinals, who recognized the papal Bull, where- upon John on 11 July, 1324, declared all his rights to imperial recognition forfeited. The pope further ratified the treaty between Duke Leopold of Austria and Charles I of France, in which the former promised to help the latter to the title of German King, and then of Roman Emperor. However, as Leopold died on 28 Feb., 1326, and Louis of Bavaria and Frederick of Au.stria became reconciled, the king's power in Ger- many became firmly established.

The quarrel between John XXII and Louis of Ba- varia stirred up a vigorous literary feud concerning the relations of Church and State. Louis was supported by the Franciscan Spirituals, e. g., Ubertino da Casale, Michael of Cesena, William Occam, Bonagiatia di Ber- gamo, and many others whose extreme ideas on the question of religious poverty had been condemned by the pope; also by two theologians of the LTniversity of Paris, Marsilius of Padua and Jolm of Janduno (de Genduno), joint authors of the famous "Defensor Pacis", which was intended to prove that the only way to maintain peace is by the complete subordina- tion of the ecclesiastical power to that of the State. Denying the primacy of the pope, the authors asserted that the emperor alone could authorize ecclesiastics to e.xercise criminal jurisdiction, that all temporal goods of the Church belonged to the emperor, etc. Other theologians — e. g. Henry von Kelheim, provincial of the Minorites, tflrich Hanganor, the king's private secretary. Abbot Engelbert of Admont, Lupoid of Bebenburg, afterwards Bishop of Bamlierg, and Wil- liam Occam, though not so extreme in their views as the authors of the " Defensor Pacis", wiUingly exalted the imperial above the papal power. It was unfortu- nate for the fickle and, in theological matters, inex- perienced king that he fell into the hands of such ad- visers. The " Defensor Pacis" was anathematized by a papal Bull of 23 October, 1327, and some of its theses were condemned as heretical by the University of Paris. Many theologians in their writings de- fended the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the primacy of the pope, among them the Augustinian Alexander a Sancto Elpidio, later Archbishop of Ravenna, the Minorite, Alvarius Pelagius, the Augustinian Augus-

tinus Triumphus of Ancona, and Conrad of Megen- berg. On their side, however, the defence was carried too far, some of them even extolling the pope as abso- lute ruler of the world.

When Louis of Bavaria saw his power firmly estab- lished in Germany, he set out early in 1327 for Italy, where in February, with the chiefs of the Italian Ghibel- lines, he held a congress at Trent. In March he passed through Bergamo on his way to Milan. On 3 April John XXII declared forfeited all rights of Louis to the German Crown, also to all fiefs held from the Church and from former .sovereigns, and finally to the Duchy of Bavaria. Moreover, he summoned Louis to appear before the Holy See within six months, and ac- cused him of heresy for defending a doctrine which the Head of the Church had repudiated, and for taking untler his protection the heretics, Marsilius and John of Janduno. Louis paid no attention to this notice, which indeed only aggravated liis opposition to the pope. In Milan he received (30 May) the crown of Lombardy from the hands of two deposed bishops, and arbitrarily appointed several new bishops. The pope on his side appointed bishops to sees falling vacant within the empire, and continued to fill the various reserved prelacies, so that an open schism henceforth existed. In 1328 Louis set out for Rome, where the Guelphs had been overthrown with their senator. King Robert of Naples. On 17 January, 132S, the excommunicated German king received in Rome the imperial crown from Sciarra Colonna, who on 18 April, after a farcical proceeding, and in the name of Louis of Bavaria, proclaimed Jolin XXII a heretic, usurper, and oppressor of the Church, and de- prived him of all his papal dignities. A straw image of the pope was publicly burned in Rome, and on 12 May the Franciscan Spiritual, Pietro Rainalducci of Corbario, was proclaimed anti-pope by Louis, taking at his consecration (22 May) the name of Nicholas V.

But Louis had made himself so universally obnox- ious in Italy, on account of his tax levies, that the posi- tion of the anti-pope was untenable. Many Ghil^elline cities and rulers became reconciled with the pope, and finally Pietro of Corbario himself wrote to John, a.sk- ing for pardon and absolution. At Avignon on 25 August, 1330, he pubUcly acknowledged his guilt in the presence of the pope and the cardinals, whereupon the former gave him absolution and the kiss of peace. Nevertheless, Pietro was not allowed to leave the city, where he spent the three remaining years of his life in voluntary penance and study. By degrees the whole of Italy returned to the obedience of the legiti- mate pope. The latter meanwliile had renewed hia sentence against Louis of Bavaria, and proclaimed in Italy a crusade against him (1328). At the same time he summoned the German princes to hold another election, and excommunicated Micliael of Cesena, William Occam, and Bonagratia. The adherents of Louis in Lombardy soon dwindled away, and he re- turned to Germany in the beginning of 1330. Here, too, the people were weary of the long conflict, and wished for peace, so that Louis was compelled to take steps towards a reconciliation with the pope. In May, 1330, he entered into negotiations with Avignon through the mediation of Archbishop Baldwin of Trier, King John of Bohemia, and Duke Otto of Austria. The pope demanded from Louis renuncia- tion of all claims on the imperial title. Louis on that occasion refused to entertain the idea, but was later (1333) willing to discuss the project of his abdication. "The matter, however, was then postponed. Whether John XXII arbitrarily severed Italy from the empire has never been definitely settled, for the authenticity of the Bull " Ne pra>tereat " is not certain.

In the lust years of John's [xintilicate there arose a dogmatic conflict alxjut the Beatitie \'ision, which was brought on by himself, and which his enemies made use of to discredit him. Before his elevation to