Who he was
Jacques Fournier was a Cistercian monk who took a doctorate in theology at Paris, became Abbot of Fontfroide, then Bishop of Pamiers and of Mirepoix, and was made a cardinal in 1327. Little is known of his family or boyhood. Though thought an unlikely choice, he was elected on the first ballot in December 1334, the third of the Avignon popes. He wished to return the papacy to Rome but was persuaded by his cardinals to stay, and he died at Avignon in April 1342.
What he is remembered for
He worked hard to reform the clergy and religious orders, sending clerics back to their posts, cutting abuses in the granting of benefices, and refusing to favour his relatives. In the bull Benedictus Deus (1336) he defined that the souls of the just who need no purification see God at once after death. He began building the great Palace of the Popes at Avignon.
Sources
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