Pierre Roger de Beaufort was born in France around the year 1329. He was the nephew of Pope Clement VI (three popes ago), and seemed to have actually been named after him as well. After becoming a canon in Paris at the young age of 11, it was clear Pierre was Clement’s favorite nephew, given his elevation to cardinal-deacon when he was just 19 years old. Pierre, who became well-known for his humility and virtuous nature, nevertheless shirked the papal court to focus on his studies instead. Suffering from a frail and sickly constitution for much of his life, Pierre had little experience (or interest) in politics or government, and was a scholar at heart.

On just the second day of the conclave, Gregory XI’s brother cardinals unanimously picked him to succeed Blessed Urban V. He was ordained a priest and a bishop a few days later, on January 4, 1371, and was consecrated pope the following day. He immediately tried in vain to reconcile the French and English kings, and also made efforts to end the East/West Schism and to drum up support for another crusade.

However, most all of his attention was quickly turned to Italy, where not only was the Roman government attacking Church interests, but an irate band of Florentines - in connection with about eighty other cities and towns - had begun to war against papal interests. The trouble was that Gregory, who lacked the diplomatic and political savvy of many popes before him, had appointed French officials to run papal territories in Italy. And guess who the Italians hated? The French. Gregory XI did his best to quash the rebellions. He died in Rome on March 27, 1378, having reigned for just over seven years, and was buried the following day in the Church of Santa Maria Nuova.

Pope Gregory XI was the seventh and final Avignon pope, and is best known for bringing the papacy back to Rome for good. Gregory wasn’t ignorant of the nearly two decades of advice, from the likes of St. Bridget of Sweden and others, that the pope belonged in Rome. In fact, he had made a secret vow to return the papacy to the Eternal City, should he be elected pope. As it turned out, God seemed to know that Gregory lacked the fortitude to do it himself, so He let the great St. Catherine of Siena in on that little secret.

Catherine initially traveled to Avignon in the summer of 1376, where she reminded Gregory of his vow -- probably startling him in the process -- while trying to help him make the move back to Rome. Gregory agreed, so Catherine left Avignon. The pope got cold feet soon afterward, once the French cardinals heard of the plot, so Catherine wrote him a rather intense letter, exhorting him to, “be not a timorous child but manly,” and “open your mouth and swallow down the bitter for the sweet.” Catherine even called out the cardinals, calling them “incarnate demons” and finally saying to Gregory,

Gregory got the message and set out for Rome in early 1377. Mic. Dropped.

Fun Fact: One of the more formidable efforts to date to split from the Church came to a head in Gregory’s pontificate. The Lollards, led by John Wycliffe, had gained influence in England out of frustration over clerical abuses and a general dislike for monasticism and the papacy, among others. The sect advocated things like iconoclasm, predestination, denial of the Real Presence, and a lack of efficacy in the Sacraments. Gregory XI, likely saying, “That’s SO Fifth Century of you, John,” devoted five papal bulls to denouncing the heresy.