France next tried to bring violent pressure to bear to conquer the obstinacy of Benedict XIII. by threatening a formal withdrawal from his obedience. Pierre d'Ailly, who, in spite of his attachment to the pope, had been carried away by the example of the kingdom, was among the first who, in 1403, after experience of what had happened, counselled and celebrated the restoration of obedience. He was sent by Charles VI. on an embassy to Benedict XIII. and seized this opportunity of lavishing on the pontiff friendly congratulations mingled with useful advice. Two years later, before the same pontiff, he preached in the city of Genoa a sermon which led to the general institution, in the countries of the obedience of Avignon, of the festival of the Holy Trinity.
At the ecclesiastical council which took place at Paris in 1406 Pierre d'Ailly made every effort to avert a new withdrawal from the obedience and, by order of the king, took the part of defender of Benedict XIII., a course which yet again exposed him to attacks from the university party. The following year he and his disciple Gerson formed part of the great embassy sent by the princes to the two pontiffs, and while in Italy he was occupied in praiseworthy but vain efforts to induce the pope of Rome to remove himself to a town on the Italian coast, in the neighbourhood of his rival, where it was hoped that the double abdication would take place. Discouraged by his failure to effect this, he returned to his diocese of Cambrai at the beginning of 1408. At this time he was still faithful to Benedict XIII., and the disinclination he felt to joining the members of the French clergy who were on the point of ratifying the royal declaration of neutrality excited the anger of Charles VI.'s government, and a mandate, which was however not executed, ordered the arrest of the bishop of Cambrai.
It was not till after the cardinals of the two colleges had led to the convocation of the general council of Uisa that Tierre d'Aiily renounced the support of Benedict XIII., and, for want of a better policy, again allied himself with the cause which he had championed in his youth. In the council lay now, to judge from his words, the only chance of salvation; and, in view of the requirements of the case, he began to argue that, in case of schism, a council could be convoked by any one of the faithful, and would have the right to judge and even to depose the rival pontiffs. This was, in fact, the procedure of the council of Pisa, in which Pierre d'Ailly took part. After the declaration of the deposition of Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. it went on to the election of Alexander V. (June 26th, 1409), This pope reigned only ten months; his successor, John XXIII., raised Pierre d'Ailly to the rank of cardinal (June 6, 1411), and furtuer, to indemnify him for the loss of the bishopric of Cambrai, conferred upon him the administration of that of Limoges (November 3, 1412), which was shortly after exchanged for the bishopric of Orange. He also nominated Pierre d'Ailly as his legate in Germany (March 18, 1413).
Forgetting these benefits, the cardinal of Cambrai was one of the most formidable adversaries of John XXIII. at the council of Constance. Convinced as he was of the necessity for union and reform, he contributed more than any one to the adoption of the principle that, since the schism had survived the council of Pisa, it was necessary again to take up the work for a fundamental union, without considering the rights of John XXIII. any more than they had those of Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. From this point of view Pierre d'Ailly, together with his compatriot Cardinal Fillastre, took the preponderating part during the first few months. Afterwards, seeing the trend of events, he showed some uneasiness and hesitation. He refused, however, to undertake the defence of John XXIII., and only appeared in the trial of this pope to make depositions against him, which were sometimes of an overwhelming character.
Continued on page three.
This article is from the 1911 edition of an encyclopedia, which is out of copyright here in the U.S. It is in the public domain and you may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit.
Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of this document.
