(© Even Handed Licensing Limited)

(25) 1. EASTON, O.S.B., Adam
(1328/1338-1398)

Birth. 1328/1338, Easton, Norfolk, England. Of a humble family. His last name is also listed as Eston and Oeston. He was known as Cardinalis Angliae or the Cardinal of England; and the Cardinal of Norwich.

Education. After his initial studies, he entered the Order of Saint Benedict (Benedictines) at the cathedral priory of Norwich, at a young age; later, he studied at Oxford University and obtained a doctorate in theology and a great reputation as a Greek and Hebrew scholar.

Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). He was a witness against John Wyclif, when the latter appealed his dismissal from the wardenship of Canterbury hall, Oxford, ordered by Simon Langham, archbishop of Canterbury. Professor of theology at Oxford University. He left England for Avignon, probably in the retinue of Cardinal Langham; he was involved in the diplomatic mission in Flanders to try to agree on a peace treaty between France and England; received some appointment in the papal curia; when Pope Gregory XI moved to Rome, he went with the papal court. On March 9, 1379, he was deposed at the Vatican Apostolic Palace in an inquiry concerning the conclave that elected Pope Urban VI. On June 1, 1381, he subscribed a papal document by which Pope Urban VI granted the investiture to the king of Naples; he subscribed as Brother Adam of Anglia. At the request of King Edward III of England, he was promoted to the cardinalate.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of December 21, 1381 (1). Named, by papal provision, dean of York Minster; occupied the post from 1382 to the 1390's, even when King Richard II tried to intrude one of his favorites. In 1384, Pope Urban VI transferred the curia to Nocera, in Umbria; then there occurred the protest of five cardinals, who wrote a letter against his cruel despotism; together with Cardinals Gentile di Sangro, Ludovico Donato, O.F.M., Bartolomeo de Cogorno, O.F.M., and Marino Giudice (signatories of the letter together with Cardinal Easton), along with Cardinal Giovanni d'Amelia, he was imprisoned in the Castle of Nocera Umbria on January 11, 1385; there, they suffered torture, imprisonment as well as degradation from the cardinalate; and all, except Cardinal Easton (because of the intervention of King Richard II of England), were executed in Genoa in December 1385 or January 11, 1386; he was released from prison, by the intercession of King Carlo Durazzo of Naples, and ordered to live in a Benedictine monastery as a simple monk, under the custody of a French cleric of the Apostolic Chamber. Pope Boniface IX restored his cardinalate on December 18, 1389, with the title of S. Cecilia. He obtained the benefice of Yetminster Secunda, a prebend in Salisbury; and the rectorate of Heigham, near Norwich; he went back to England on matters between the pope and King Richard II; the cardinal represented English interests in the Roman curia. Cardinal protoprete in June 1396. While he was at Oxford, he authored several works in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, which are no longer in existence. His works also included a treatise on the election of the pope, De electione Pontiffici; De Potestate Ecclesiae (on the disputes between the king and the pope), Defensorium Ecclesie; and a work on the form of procedure against heretics in which we may see an echo of his part against Wyclif. He is said to have written Perfectio Vitae Spiritualis, a work for the use of contemplatives (2). Cardinal Easton is also said to have composed the Office for the Feast of the Visitation, extended by the pope to the entire church, in the hope that, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the schism might be ended; this Office was replaced by another one in the liturgical reform of Pope Pius V. He also worked for the canonization of Bridget of Sweden, which was accomplished on October 7, 1391.

Episcopate. Named perpetual administrator of the see of London (3).

Death. August 15, 1398 (4). Buried in a splendid tomb at the back of the nave of the church of S. Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome, near the saint's shrine (5). For many years his tomb, and his cell in Genoa, attracted visits from English travelers. He left his library to the monks of Norwich.

Bibliography. Baxter, Dudley. England's cardinals. With an appendix showing the reception of the sacred pallium by the archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster. London : Burns & Oates ; New York : Benzinger, 1903, pp. 26-27; Bellenger, Dominc Aidan and Stella Fletcher. Princes of the church. A history of the English cardinals. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire : Sutton Publishing Ltd., 2001, p. 27-28, 48, 58 and 174; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 283-285; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max.. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 648-649; Cristofori, Francesco. Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888, p. 68; Eggs, Georgius Josephus. Purpura docta, seu, Vitae, legationes, res gestae, obitus, aliaque scitu, ac memoratu digna, &c. S.R.E. Cardinalium. Six books in three vols. Farnborough, Hants., England : Gregg International, 1970. Originally published : Francofurti : Prostant & veneunt apud Joannem Georgium König, 1714, II, 467-469; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 132, no. 26; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24 (no. 26) and 40; Heseltine, George Coulehan. The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries. London : Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1931, pp. 50-55; Isaacson, Charles S. The story of the English cardinals. London : Elliot Stock, 1907, p. 66-72; Lee, Andrew. The most ungrateful Englishman. Lydney, Gloucestershire : Corpus, 2006. Note: About Adam Easton, (?- 15 September 1397) English Catholic Cardinal, born at Easton in Norfolk; made a Cardinal by Urban VI, in 1381. On 7 March, 1381 or 1382; nominated Dean of York. In 1385 imprisoned by Urban on charge of conspiring with five other cardinals against the pope, deprived of his cardinalate and deanery. Boniface IX restored his cardinalate. He effected the canonization of Birgitta of Sweden. He may have been Julian of Norwich's spiritual director, editing her Long Text Showing of Love. Died at Rome, 1397; Quinlan, John. Our English cardinals, including the English pope. Alcester ; Dublin : C. Goodliffe Neale, 1972, pp. 27-28; Schofield, Nicholas ; Skinner, Gerard. The English cardinals. Oxford, UK : Family Publications, 2007, p. 46-48; Williams, Robert Folkestone. Lives of the English cardinals, including historical notices of the papal court, from Nicholas Breakspear (Pope Adrian IV) to Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal Legate. 2 vols. Westmead, England : Gregg International, 1969. Responsibility: London, Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1868, I, 422-428.

Webgraphy. Biography by Edwin Burton, in English, The Catholic University of America; Adam Easton by Andrew Lee, in English; Anchoress and Cardinal: Julian of Norwich and Adam Easton O.S.B., in English, Lecture, Norwich Cathedral, 1 December 1998, Umilta; his arms, Araldica Vaticana; and his tomb in the church of S. Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome, The Australian National University.

(1) Most of the sources consulted indicate that he was given the title of S. Cecilia at his promotion in 1381 (Baxter, England's cardinals, p. 26, says that he was probably promoted in 1381 to cardinal priest of S. Cecilia. Bellenger, Princes of the church. A history of the English cardinals, p. 27, says that he was created cardinal in 1381, but does not mention the title; on p. 28, says that his cardinalitial dignity was restored in 1389, but without mentioning the title either; finally, in Appendix I, p. 174, Bellenger indicates that he was created cardinal of S. Cecilia in 1381. Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, II, 283, says that he was created cardonal priest of the title of S. Cecilia, without mentioning the date. Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 648, says that he was created cardinal of S. Cecilia in the first promotion of Pope Urban VI; then, on the same column, cites Felice Contelorio, Elenchvs eminentiss.m & reuerendis.m S.R.E. cardinalivm ab anno 1294. ad annum 1430; ex bibliotheca eminentiss. & reverendiss. principis D.D. card. Barberini S. R. E. Vicecancellarii. Vita Martini qvinti, (Romae, apud Andream Phaeum, 1641) p. 116, who says that he was not elevated to the cardinalate in the third (or fourth) promotion. Cristofori, Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa, p. 68, lists him among the occupants of the title of S. Cecilia between 1378 and 1385; and again, between December 18, 1389 and September 20, 1397; on the same page, Cristofori lists Cardinal Bonaventura Badoaro de Peraga, O.E.S.A., as occupant of the see between 1384 or 1378 (?) and July 29, 1389. Eggs, Purpura docta, II, 467, indicates that he was created cardinal priest of S. Cecilia by Pope Urban VI, without mentioning the date. "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)", Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 132, no. 26, indicates that he was created cardinal priest on December 21, 1381, and that according to the letter addressed to the Roman clergy that he signed at the end of 1381, with four other cardinals, concerning the violence of Pope Urban VI, Cardinal Easton had the title of S. Cecilia. Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 24 (no. 26), says that he was created cardinal of the title of S. Cecilia on December 21, 1381; the same source, I, 40, indicates that Cardinal Easton was transferred to the title of S. Cecilia on December 18, 1389, and that the title was occupied by Cardinal Bonaventura Badoaro de Peraga, O.E.S.A., from September 18, 1378 until his death in 1389. Heseltine, The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries, p. 50, says that he was created cardinal priest of S. Cecilia "five years after the death of Cardinal Simon Langham" (which occurred in 1376, although Heseltine, p. 49, says that Cardinal Langham died in 1396, must certainly due to a typographical error in the text); Quinlan, Our English cardinals, including the English pope, p. 27, says that he accompanied Pope Gregory to Rome in 1377 and that two years later, Easton was created cardinal priest of S. Cecilia. Schofield, The English cardinals, p. 47, says that he was created cardinal priest of S. Cecilia on December 21, 1381. Williams, Lives of the English cardinals, I, 423, says that he was created cardinal priest of S. Cecilia in September 1378). Isaacson, The story of the English cardinals, p. 66, says that he was created cardinal in 1381, without mentioning his title; and on p. 72, Isaacson says that he was restored to the cardinalate in 1389, without either mentioning his title. Lee, in the only monographic biography of Cardinal Easton that has been written, The most ungrateful Englishman, p. 222, "Cardinal of England or St Cecilia", indicates that it is erroneous to refer to him as cardinal priest of S. Cecilia at the time of his elevation to the cardinalate in 1381, because that title was occupied by Cardinal Bonaventura of Padua (Badoaro de Peraga, O.E.S.A.) until his death in 1389. Lee adds, on p. 223, that until his downfall in 1385, Cardinal Easton was known as the Cardinal or Norwich or the Cardinal of England in the existing documentation, which he has consulted; and that it was not until 1389, upon reinstatement by Pope Boniface IX, that Cardinal Easton was called the Cardinal of S. Cecilia.
(2) Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 648-649, gives the list of his works: De Communicatione Idiomatum; De sua Calamitate; De Potestae Ecclesiæ; De Electione Pontificis; Defensorium Ecclesiæ; De Perfectione vitæ Spiritualis; Modum conferendi Beneficia; Formam procedendi contra Hæreticos; Opus vitæ contra Hæreticos; Dialogum Regis, & Episcopi; De Diversitate Translationum; De Veritate Catholica Græcè; Meteororum Aristotelis libros latinitate donavit; Hebraicè etiam edidit; Alphabetum Iudæorum; Textum Hebraicum Bibliorum; Postillam Hebraicam; Psalterium Hebriacum; Expositionem Levitici; Hebraica Saraceni; and Hebraica Iarchi Salomonis.
(3) This is according to his epitaph, linked above; and the one transcribed in note 3. "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 132, says that this is mistaken. Heseltine, The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries, p. 52, says that although he was been referred to as bishop of London in works dating back to the 17th century, there is no evidence of it. Neither Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 311; nor Pius Bonifatius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae (3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957), p. 194, mention him in the catalog of occupants of the see of London. Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 648, says that he was named bishop of London or Hereford.
(4) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 132; and Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 24; and his epitaph, linked above; the text of his epitaph, transcribed in note 3, says that he died on September 15, 1397; and his biography in English, linked above, which adds that according to others, he died on October 20, 1397; Baxter, England's cardinals, p. 27; Quinlan, Our English cardinals, including the English pope, p. 28; and Heseltine, The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries, p. 54, say thate he died in 1397; Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 649, says that he died Romæ XIIJ. Kalendas Nouembris anno 1397. Williams, Lives of the English cardinals, I, 423, says that he died on October 13, 1398.
(5) This is the text of his epitaph, taken from Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 649:

(26) 2. DONATO, O.F.M., Ludovico (ca. 1305-1385/1386)

Webgraphy. Biographical entry, in English; Cardinali giustiziati, in Italian; his engraving and arms.

(1) According to Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, II, 275, while he was being tormented, he consoled himself repeating the words of the epistle of Saint Peter: Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus.
(2) Several sources indicate that he was executed in December 1385 or January 11, 1386.

(27) 3. COGORNO, O.F.M., Bartolomeo da (?-1386)

Birth. (No date found), Cogorno, near Chiavari, Genoa. Of a noble and distinguished family from Liguria. Of the counts of Lavagna. His last name is also listed as Coturno; as Cothurno; as Cochurno; and as Cucurno. He was called the Genoese Cardinal (Cardinalis Ianuensis).

Education. Entered the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) in Chiavari or in Genoa. Possibly, member of the S. Antonio province of Venice. Magister in theology (according to a papal letter of June 19, 1377).

Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). He was Sacrae Paginae doctor or professor, and enjoyed a great reputation as a preacher in Genoa. He supported the legitimacy of the electoral process of Pope Urban VI and wrote the treatise De vera et legitima electione Urbani VI (the manuscript is in the National Library in Paris). The sudden death of Cardinal Gilles Aycelin de Montaigu, who had recently adhered to the obedience of Avignon, reinforced his decision to remain loyal to Pope Urban VI.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Genoa ca. 1381; occupied the see until his promotion to the cardinalate (1). Consecration (no information found). He was promoted to the cardinalate at the insistence of the doge of Genoa.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso in the consistory of December 21, 1381. Legate in Genoa and in Lombardy in 1382; he had the faculty of absolving from ecclesiastical censures; on February 16, 1382, he received the faculty to allow merchants to transport their merchandize in the territories under the control of the sultan of Babylon; and on the following March 21, the faculty of arranging, in the name of the Apostolic Chamber, with persons wishing to return possessions illegitimately acquired. Pope Urban VI suspected him, and he had to go into hiding; they later reconciled though the good offices of King Carlo Durazzo of Naples. Sent in a mission before the king of Naples; it was not successful. He was again accused of conspiring against the pope, together with Cardinals Giovanni d'Amelia, Gentile di Sangro, Adam Easton, O.S.B., Ludovico Donato, O.F.M., and Marino Giudice; they were arrested at a public consistory and imprisoned in the Castle of Nocera Umbria on January 11, 1385; they were subjected to torture; when the pope had to leave Nocera, forced by the army of the king of Naples, he took the accused cardinals with him to Genoa; all of them, except Cardinal Easton, who was freed, were executed in Genoa in December 1385 or January 11, 1386. He authored several theological treatises and sermons.

Death. Executed in December 1385 or January 11, 1386 (2). His body was thrown to the sea in a bag or buried in the papal residence in Genoa.

Bibliography. Betti, Umberto. I cardinali dell'Ordine dei Frati Minori. Presentazione di Alberto Ghinato. Roma : Edizioni Francescane, 1963. (Orizzonti Francescani. Collana di cultura francescana, 5), p. 45; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 265; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 639; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 132-133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24, 43 and 282; Ritzler, Remigius. "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, LXXI (Gennaio-Giugno 1971), Fasc. I-II, 39-40.

Webgraphy. Biography by Mark Dykmans, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 26 (1982), Treccani; biography, in English, a co-production of Maarten van der Heijden and Bert Roest.

(1) This is according to Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 639; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 133; and Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 24 and 282; Ritzler, "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, p. 39, says that there is no certainty that he ever occupied, even for a short time, the see of Genoa.
(2) Several sources indicate that he was executed in December 1386.

(28) 4. RENZIO, Francesco (?-1390)

Birth. (No date found), Alife. Relative of Pope Urban VI. Uncle of Cardinal Marino Bulcani (1384). He is also listed as Francesco de Alifia. Known with the appellative of Cardinal de Alife or Alifia.

Education. (No information found).

Early life. Protonotary apostolic.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of December 21, 1381; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Eustachio in that consistory. Pontifical vicar in the province of Campagna e Marittima. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, 1386 until his death. Participated in the conclave of 1389, which elected Pope Boniface IX; he actively tried to be elected pope.

Death. September 27 (1), 1390 (2), Rome. Buried (no information found).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 304; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24 and 50.

Linsk. His arms.

(1) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 50; the same source on p. 24, indicates that other sources, which he does not mention, say that he died on September 26; Francesco Cristofori, Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa (Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888), p. 254, also says that he died on September 27, 1390.
(2) Cited by Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, II, 304, Giorgio Viviano Marchesi Buonaccorsi in his book Antichità ed eccellenza del Protonotariato appostolico partecipante, colle più scelte notizie de' santi, sommi pontefici, cardinali, e prelati che ne sono stati insigniti sino al presente (Faenza :pel Benedetti, 1751), p. 105, says that he died in 1392.

(29) 5. MARAMALDO, Landolfo (?-1415)

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano in the consistory of December 21, 1381; he retained the administration of his see until 1384. Together with Cardinal Pietro Pileo di Prata wrote a letter against the violence of Pope Urban VI, who then deposed him as partisan of King Carlo III of Naples; he retired to Naples. Pope Boniface IX rehabilitated him as a cardinal on December 18, 1389. Named legate in Florence. Left the Roman Curia on March 18, 1393. Cardinal protodeacon in October 1403 (or 1404). Legate (or governor) of Pope Innocent VII in Perugia on January 7, 1405; returned to Rome on November 13, 1406. Participated in the conclave of 1406, which elected Pope Gregory XII. The new pope named him legate again on December 8, 1406; went from Perugia to Viterbo, where the pope was, on August 25, 1407; returned to Perugia eight days later. Sent to Germany in 1408 by the cardinals gathered in the Council of Pisa to bring back the delegates of the German princes; arrived in Strassbourg in December 1408; there, he convoked a synod in Frankfurt, where he obtained the support of the archbishops of Cologne and Mainz for the obedience of Pisa. Participated in the conclave of 1409, which elected Antipope Alexander V. Participated in the conclave of 1410, which elected Antipope John XXIII. Legate of Antipope John XXIII in Spain in 1410 to try to sway Antipope Benedict XIII, who had retired to Peñíscola, to abdicate; he was not successful. He was taken hostage to Naples after the agreement between Antipope John XXIII and King Ladislaa of Napoles in July 1413; he was retained in Naples until his liberation by Queen Giovanna II. He then went to the Council of Constance and died during its celebration.

Death. October 16, 1415, Constance. Buried in the church of the Dominicans in Constance.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, 290-291; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 652-653; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24, 52 and 129.

Link. His arms.

(30) 6. TOMACELLI, Pietro (ca. 1350/1356-1404)

Birth. Ca. 1350/1356, Casaranello (former fiefdom of his family), kingdom of Naples (now Comune di Casarano). Of an aristocratic and impoverished family of Genoese origin. Son of Giacomo Tomacelli and Gatrimola Filimarini (or Verdella Caracciolo). He was baptized in the parish church of S.Maria della Croce, Casaranello, in 1354. Relative of Pope Urban VI. His first name is also listed as Perrino and Pierino. He was called the Neapolitan Cardinal.

Education. Frequented the Studium of Naples; studied grammar and became an expert on the subject (1).

Early life. Cleric of Naples. Perhaps, canon of the metropolitan cathedral chapter of Naples. He went to Rome in 1381. Protonotary apostolic.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro in the consistory of December 21, 1381. Opted for the order of cardinal priests and the title of S. Anastasia after May 1385. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica in 1388. Participated in the conclave of 1389 and was elected pope.

Papacy. Elected pope on November 2, 1389. Took the name Boniface IX. Consecrated bishop of Rome, November 9, 1389, in the patriarchal Vatican basilica, by Francesco Moricotti Prignani, bishop of Palestrina. Crowned, November 9, 1389, in the steps of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, by Cardinal Tommaso Orsini, protodeacon of S. Maria in Domnica. He canonized Brigitte of Sweden on October 7, 1391. He created eight cardinals in two consistories. His tact, prudence, firm character, and mild manners greatly helped to restore respect for the papal office.

Death. October 1, 1404, of an attack of gravel, Rome. Buried in the northern lateral nave of the of Vatican basilica, Rome; his tomb was demolished in 1507 during the construction of the new basilica.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, 291-292; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 653; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24-26, 39 and 50; Esch, Arnold. "Bonifacio IX." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, II, 570-581; Ilari, Annibale. "Bonifacio IX." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995, p. 156-157; Kelly, John Norman Davidson. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 230-232.

Webgraphy. Biography by Thomas Oestereich, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; his statue and biography, in English, Encyclopaedia Britannica; biography by Arnold Esch, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 12 (1971), Treccani; biography, in English, Jewish Encyclopedia; engraving, arms and biography, in English, Wikipedia; pictures and biography, in Italian, Architteto Pino De Nuzzo; his statue in the cloister of S. Paolo fuori le mura, Rome; several images of the pope, Architteto Pino De Nuzzo; his statue and arms, Campidoglio, Rome, Rome Art Lover; and his arms, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) According to Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, p. 230, " ... he was deficient in education and experience of office, but made up for this by his outgoing personality, practical realism, skill in managing people, and persuasive eloquence."

©1998-2018 Salvador Miranda.