Pope from September 8, 1276 - May 20, 1277
Lived: c. 1215 - May 20, 1277
Who was this guy before he was pope?
Peter Juliani was born in Lisbon, Portugal and early on began his monumental life in education. He studied at Lisbon’s Cathedral School, then at the University of Paris, concentrating all the while on medicine, theology, logic, and Aristotle’s physics and metaphysics. Among many other writings, he became the author of a work on logic, the Summulae Logicales, that was used as the topic’s primary university textbook for over three centuries. At different points, Peter served as archdeacon, schoolmaster, the personal physician of Blessed Gregory X, and ultimately as Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum.
Give me the scoop on John XXI.
Upon John’s election in 1276, the Church was given two “firsts” in the Petrine ministry: The first pope from Portugal, and the first pope to have been a physician. In his eight months as pontiff, John XXI continued Pope Adrian V’s work to readdress the rules of the papal conclave, while also continuing to massage the agreement between the Eastern and Western churches, despite the mistrust of Greek clergy and laity. Even as pope, John still made time to study the sciences, going so far as having a modest apartment built onto the papal residence in Viterbo to allow him a quiet, solitary place. John XXI had perhaps the oddest death of any pope in centuries, having died after that very apartment collapsed with him in it. The pope succumbed to his injuries just days later, and somebody got fired.
What was he known for?
Pope John XXI was best known for putting an end to Charles of Anjou’s ambitious shenanigans. Though he had been instrumental in helping past popes keep the peace in Sicily and among the German imperial family, a steady quest for power in Rome and the Papal States had made him a little too big for his britches of late. The pope drastically scaled back Charles’ privileges, limiting him to being King of Sicily, while revoking his senatorship in Rome and his position of power in both Tuscany and Lombardy.
Fun Fact: Those keeping score at home will remember that there was never actually a “Pope John XX.” The Liber Pontificalis -- basically a history book on earlier popes -- had a small error implying that Pope John XIV was really two people, since he’d been pope for eight months and subsequently imprisoned by Antipope Boniface VII for four more months. This “John XIV the second,” as the text read in Latin, was confused for an actual guy who opposed Boniface after John XIV’s death. Though the next five Popes John seemed to ignore this, John XXI made sure to “correct” this practice and skip over the name “John XX.”
What else was going on in the world at the time?
The year 1277 was the first recorded usage of St. George’s Cross as the national flag of England.
Coming tomorrow...Pope Nicholas III
John, E. (1964). The Popes: A concise biographical history. New York: Hawthorn Books.
Lived: c. 1215 - May 20, 1277
Birth name: Peter Juliani; aka “Peter of Spain” (Petrus Hispanus)
Peter Juliani was born in Lisbon, Portugal and early on began his monumental life in education. He studied at Lisbon’s Cathedral School, then at the University of Paris, concentrating all the while on medicine, theology, logic, and Aristotle’s physics and metaphysics. Among many other writings, he became the author of a work on logic, the Summulae Logicales, that was used as the topic’s primary university textbook for over three centuries. At different points, Peter served as archdeacon, schoolmaster, the personal physician of Blessed Gregory X, and ultimately as Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum.
Give me the scoop on John XXI.
Upon John’s election in 1276, the Church was given two “firsts” in the Petrine ministry: The first pope from Portugal, and the first pope to have been a physician. In his eight months as pontiff, John XXI continued Pope Adrian V’s work to readdress the rules of the papal conclave, while also continuing to massage the agreement between the Eastern and Western churches, despite the mistrust of Greek clergy and laity. Even as pope, John still made time to study the sciences, going so far as having a modest apartment built onto the papal residence in Viterbo to allow him a quiet, solitary place. John XXI had perhaps the oddest death of any pope in centuries, having died after that very apartment collapsed with him in it. The pope succumbed to his injuries just days later, and somebody got fired.
What was he known for?
Pope John XXI was best known for putting an end to Charles of Anjou’s ambitious shenanigans. Though he had been instrumental in helping past popes keep the peace in Sicily and among the German imperial family, a steady quest for power in Rome and the Papal States had made him a little too big for his britches of late. The pope drastically scaled back Charles’ privileges, limiting him to being King of Sicily, while revoking his senatorship in Rome and his position of power in both Tuscany and Lombardy.
Fun Fact: Those keeping score at home will remember that there was never actually a “Pope John XX.” The Liber Pontificalis -- basically a history book on earlier popes -- had a small error implying that Pope John XIV was really two people, since he’d been pope for eight months and subsequently imprisoned by Antipope Boniface VII for four more months. This “John XIV the second,” as the text read in Latin, was confused for an actual guy who opposed Boniface after John XIV’s death. Though the next five Popes John seemed to ignore this, John XXI made sure to “correct” this practice and skip over the name “John XX.”
What else was going on in the world at the time?
The year 1277 was the first recorded usage of St. George’s Cross as the national flag of England.
Coming tomorrow...Pope Nicholas III
SOURCES (and further reading)
John, E. (1964). The Popes: A concise biographical history. New York: Hawthorn Books.
Guruge, A. (2010). The Next Pope. New Hampshire: WOWNH
Pope John XXI (XX) - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08429c.htm
Pope John XXI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_XXI
Pope John (numbering) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_(numbering)
1277 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1277
What is Flocknote?
Yes, it powers and sponsors Popes in a Year, but it's so much more than that. In fact, it's the smartest, most powerful communication tool a ministry can use for regular communication with its members. Invite your ministry to try it free!
Yes, it powers and sponsors Popes in a Year, but it's so much more than that. In fact, it's the smartest, most powerful communication tool a ministry can use for regular communication with its members. Invite your ministry to try it free!