Pope Benedict XII (1285-25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was Pope from 1334 to 1342, succeeding Pope John XXII and preceding Pope Clement VI.
Biography[]
Jacques Fournier was born in 1285 in Saverdun, Kingdom of France, and he was from a family of modest means. He became a monk of the Cistercian Order, and in 1317 he became the Bishop of Pamiers. Fournier undertook a witch hunt of Cathars including Guillaume Belibaste, who was burnt at the stake in 1321, earning him praise from the Catholic Church. In 1334 he was elected as Pope by the College of Cardinals, and he made peace with Emperor Louis IV of Germany, solving several centuries of rivalry between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States. During his tenure, the Hundred Years' War began between the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of France, two major Catholic nations in Western Europe. He felt no patriotism towards King Philip VI of France, and he predicted that Edward III of England would win.