Everything about Alexander V totally explained
Alexander V (also
Peter of Candia or
Peter Phillarges, ca.
1339 –
May 3,
1410) was
antipope during the
Western Schism (1378–1417). He reigned from
June 26,
1409 to his death in
1410 and is officially regarded by the
Roman Catholic Church as an
antipope.
Alexander V was born in
Crete of unknown parents and entered the
Franciscan order. His abilities were such that he was sent to study at the universities of
Oxford and
Paris. While he was in Paris the
Western Schism occurred; Philarges supported
Pope Urban VI (1378–89). He settled in
Lombardy, where, thanks to the favour of
Giangaleazzo Visconti, the
Duke of Milan, he became bishop, first of
Piacenza (
1386), then of
Vicenza (
1387), then of
Novara (
1389), and finally
archbishop of Milan (
1402).
On being created
cardinal by
Pope Innocent VII (1404–06) in
1405, he devoted all his energies to the reunion of the Church, in spite of the two rival Popes. He was one of the promoters of the
Council of Pisa and his politicking incurred the displeasure of
Pope Gregory XII (1406–15), who ordered Philarges deprived of both his archbishopric and his cardinalitial dignity.
At the Council of Pisa (from
March 25,
1409) the assembled cardinals chose Philarges as the new
prelate for a chair they presumed was vacant. He was crowned on
June 26,
1409 as Alexander V, making him in reality the third rival pontiff.
During his ten month reign, Alexander V's aim was to extend his obedience with the assistance of
France, and, notably, of
Duke Louis II of Anjou, upon whom he conferred the
investiture of the
Kingdom of Sicily, having removed it from
Ladislas of Naples. He proclaimed and promised rather than effected a certain number of reforms: the abandonment of the rights of "spoils" and "procurations," and the re-establishment of the system of canonical election in the cathedral churches and principal monasteries. He also gave out papal favours with a lavish hand, from which the
mendicant orders benefitted especially.
Death came upon Alexander V suddenly while he was with
Cardinal Baldassare Cossa at
Bologna, on the night of
3 May –
4 May 1410. His remains were placed in the church of St. Francis at Bologna. A rumour spread that he'd been poisoned by Cossa, who did succeed him as
John XXIII (1410–15). Whether Alexander V was a Pope or an antipope is still a matter of debate, although he isn't listed by the Vatican as a Pope.
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