Nicholas V (2)

Nicholas V

the Antipope, whose original name was Peter di Corbario (or Corvara), was born in the Abruzzi; he, elonged to the extreme Franciscan faction; a man of such rigid austerity that no charge could be brought against him by his enemies but hypocrisy. The one imputation was that he had lived in wedlock for five years before he put on the habit of St. Francis. He took the vows with his wife's consent. He had won the confidence and esteem of the people as an ecclesiastic, and was therefore regarded by the emperor Louis of Bavaria as a proper person to fill the papal chair (1328) in antagonism to John XXII, then a forced resident of Avignon, because of his controversy with the emperor. SEE JOHN XXII All that pope John could do was to fulminnate bulls and decrees against the emperor, and call open the electors to make choice of a .new ruler. Of course all his requests were of -no avail, for no one paid any attention to a pope away from Rome and .in dispute with the emperor. But John was not the only sufferer. All this while the emperor, too, was losing ground; his popularity waned at Rome, and he found himself obliged to retire from that place. in Aug. 1328; and, as the influence of the Guelphs continued to gather strength throughout altar, he was forced to quit the country altogether, andd to return to Germany in 1329. His pope was soon after delivered up to the legates of John, who compelled him to perform a solemn act of abjuration, and then sent him to Avignon, where he was confined as a prisoner for the remainder of his life. Nicholas was closely watched, and kept secluded from intercourse with the world, but allowed the use of books and all the services of the Church. He lived about three years and a half in this state, and died a short time before his triumphant rival See Milman, Hist. of Latin Christianity, 7:103-111: Bower, Hist. of the Popes, vol. vii; Riddle. Hist. of the Papacy, 2:332 sq.