Who he was
Pierre Roger entered the Benedictine abbey of La Chaise-Dieu at ten, studied and taught at Paris, and became Abbot of Fécamp, Bishop of Arras, Chancellor of France, and Archbishop of Sens and then Rouen. Benedict XII made him a cardinal in 1338, and he was elected at Avignon in May 1342. A learned man and a fine preacher, he was strongly attached to France and generous to his relatives. He died at Avignon in December 1352.
What he is remembered for
He bought Avignon from Queen Joanna of Naples in 1348 and decreed that the Jubilee be held every fifty years, which brought great crowds to Rome in 1350. During the Black Death of 1348-49 he showed courage and charity, and he issued bulls protecting the Jews, who were being blamed and massacred, and gave them refuge in his territory.
Sources
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