(25) 1. EASTON, O.S.B., Adam (?-1398)
Birth. (No date found), Easton, Norfolk, England. Of a poor family. His last name is also listed as Eston and Oeston. He was called the English Cardinal or the Cardinal of England.
Education. After his initial studies, he entered th Order of Saint Benedict (Benedictines) at the cathedral priory of Norwich; later, he studied at Oxford University and obtained a doctorate in theology and a great reputation as a Greek and Hebrew scholar.
Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). He was a witness against John Wyclif, when the latter appealed his dismissal from the wardenship of Canterbury hall, Oxford, ordered by Simon Langham, archbishop of Canterbury. He left England for Avignon, probably in the retinue of Cardinal Langham; received some appointment in the papal curia; when Pope Gregory XI moved to Rome, he went with the papal court. At the request of King Edward III of England, he was promoted to the cardinalate.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest of S. Cecilia in the consistory of December 21, 1381. Named, by papal provision, dean of York Minsterupied the post from 1382 to 1385. In 1384, Pope Urban VI transferred the curia to Nocera, in Umbria; then there occurred the protest of some cardinals, who wrote a letter against his cruel despotism; together with Cardinals Gentile di Sangro, Ludovico Donato, O.F.M., Bartolomeo de Coturno, O.Min., and Marino Giudice, he was imprisoned in the Castle of Nocera Umbria on January 12, 1385; there, they suffered torture, imprisonment as well as degradation from the cardinalate; and all, except Cardinal Easton (because of the intervention of King Richard II of England), were executed in Genoa in December 1386; he was freed and ordered to live in a Benedictine monastery as a simple monk. Pope Boniface IX restored his cardinalate on December 18, 1389, with the same title. He obtained the benefice of Yetminster Secunda, a prebend in Salisbury; he went back to England on matters between the pope and King Richard II; the cardinal represented English interests in the Roman curia. Cardinal protoprete in June 1396. While he was at Oxford, he authored several works in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, which are no longer in existence. His works also included a treatise on the election of the pope, De electione Pontiffici; De Potestate Ecclesiae (on the disputes between the king and the pope), Defensorium Ecclesie; and a work on the form of procedure against heretics in which we may see an echo of his part against Wyclif. He is said to have written Perfectio Vitae Spiritualis, a work for the use of contemplatives (1). Cardinal Easton is also said to have composed the Office for the Feast of the Visitation, extended by the pope to the entire church, in the hope that, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the schism might be ended; this Office was replaced by another one in the liturgical reform of Pope St. Pius V.
Episcopate. Named perpetual administrator of the see of London (2).
Death. August 15, 1398 (3). Buried in the church of S. Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome, near the saint's shrine (4). For many years his tomb, and his cell in Genoa, attracted visits from English travelers.
Bibliography. Baxter, Dudley. England's cardinals. With an appendix showing the reception of the sacred pallium by the archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster. London : Burns & Oates ; New York : Benzinger, 1903, pp. 26-27; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 283-285; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 648-649; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 132; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24 and 40; Heseltine, George Coulehan. The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries. London : Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1931, pp. 50-55; Quinlan, John. Our English cardinals, including the English pope. Alcester ; Dublin : C. Goodliffe Neale, 1972, pp. 27-28.
Links. Biography, in English; Anchoress and Cardinal: Julian of Norwich and Adam Easton O.S.B., Lecture, Norwich Cathedral, 1 December 1998, in English; Adameaston.info, in English; his arms; and his tomb in the church of S. Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome.
(1) Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 648-649, gives the list of his works: De Communicatione Idiomatum; De sua Calamitate; De Potestae Ecclesiæ; De Electione Pontificis; Defensorium Ecclesiæ; De Perfectione vitæ Spiritualis; Modum conferendi Beneficia; Formam procedendi contra Hæreticos; Opus vitæ contra Hæreticos; Dialogum Regis, & Episcopi; De Diversitate Translationum; De Veritate Catholica Græcè; Meteororum Aristotelis libros latinitate donavit; Hebraicè etiam edidit; Alphabetum Iudæorum; Textum Hebraicum Bibliorum; Postillam Hebraicam; Psalterium Hebriacum; Expositionem Levitici; Hebraica Saraceni; and Hebraica Iarchi Salomonis.
(2) This is according to his epitaph, linked above; and the one transcribed in note 3; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 132, says that this is mistaken; Heseltine, The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries, p. 52, says that although he was been referred to as bishop of London in works dating back to the 17th century, there is no evidence of it. Neither Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 311, nor Pius Bonifatius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae (3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957), p. 194, mention him in the catalog of occupants of the see of London.
(3) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 132; and Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 24; and his epitah, linked above; the text of his epitaph, transcribed in note 3, says that he died on September 15, 1397; and his biography in English, linked above, which adds that according to others, he died on October 20, 1397; Baxter, England's cardinals, p. 27; Quinlan, Our English cardinals, including the English pope, p. 28; and Heseltine, The English cardinals. With some account of those of other English-speaking countries, p. 54, say thate he died in 1397; Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 649, says that he died Romæ XIIJ. Kalendas Nouembris anno 1397.
(4) This is the text of his epitaph, taken from Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 649:
(26) 2. DONATO, O.F.M., Ludovico (ca. 1305-1385/1386)
Birth. Ca. 1305, parish of S. Martino, Venice. Of a modest family, different from a patrician one of the same name, whose arms he attributed himself later on. He is also listed as Ludovicus de Venetiis and his last name as Donà.
Education. Entered the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans), at a young age, in the convent of S. Maria dei Frari in Venice. He belonged to the Franciscan province of Venice.
Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). In the general chapter celebrated in Strassbourg in 1361, he was named lector principalis at the Studium generale of Pisa, sent on June 17, by the minister general of the order, Marco da Viterbo, future cardinal. Promoted to magister in theology by the pope on March 15, 1363. Inquisitor in Venice. Elected procurator general of his order. Elected 25th minister general of his order in the general chapter celebrated in Esztergom in 1379.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of December 21, 1381; received the title of S. Marco toward 1382. He was the first Venetian cardinal. In March 1382, he was sent to Naples by the pope, with Cardinal Bartolomeo Mezzavaca and Niccolò Caracciolo, to ask King Carlo Durazzo of Naples to grant the pope's nephew the principality that he had promised him; the mission was unsuccessful. The cardinal was accused of conspiring against Pope Urban VI, together with Cardinals Gentile di Sangro, Adam Easton, Bartolomeo de Coturno, O.F.M., and Marino Giudice; they were arrested at a public consistory and imprisoned in the Castle of Nocera Umbria on January 11, 1385; they were subjected to tortured; when the pope had to leave Nocera, forced by the army of the king of Naples, he took the accused cardinals with him to Genoa; all, except Cardinal Easton, who was freed, were executed in Genoa in December 1385 or January 11, 1386; it is said that Cardinal Donato was beheaded (1).
Death. Executed in December 1385 or January 11, 1386 (2), Genoa. Buried in the Franciscan church in Genoa.
Bibliography. Betti, Umberto. I cardinali dell'Ordine dei Frati Minori. Presentazione di Alberto Ghinato. Roma : Edizioni Francescane, 1963. (Orizzonti Francescani. Collana di cultura francescana, 5), p. 46; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 273-275; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 642-643; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 132; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24 and 44; Ritzler, Remigius. "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, LXXI (Gennaio-Giugno 1971), Fasc. I-II, 40-43.
Links. Biographical entry, in English; Cardinali giustiziati, in Italian; his engraving and arms.
(1) According to Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, II, 275, while he was being tormented, he consoled himself repeating the words of the epistle of Saint Peter: Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus.
(2) Several sources indicate that he was executed in December 1386.
(27) 3. COGORNO, O.F.M., Bartolomeo da (?-1386)
Birth. (No date found), Cogorno, near Chiavari, Genoa.Of a noble and distinguished family from Liguria. Of the counts of Lavagna. His last name is also listed as Coturno, Cothurno, Cochurno and Cucurno. He was called the Genoese Cardinal (Cardinalis Ianuensis).
Education. Entered the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) in Chiavari or in Genoa. Possibly, member of the S. Antonio province of venice. Magister in theology (according to a papal letter of June 19, 1377).
Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). He was Sacrae Paginae doctor or professor, and enjoyed a great reputation as a preacher in Genoa. He supported the legitimacy of the electoral process of Pope Urban VI and wrote the treatise De vera et legitima electione Urbani VI (the manuscript is in the National Library in Paris). The sudden death of Cardinal Gilles Aycelin de Montaigu, who had recently adhered to the obedience of Avignon, reinforced his decision to remain loyal to Pope Urban VI.
Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Genoa ca. 1381; occupied the see until his promotion to the cardinalate (1). Consecration (no information found). He was promoted to the cardinalate at the insistence of the doge of Genoa.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso in the consistory of December 21, 1381. Legate in Genoa and in Lombardy in 1382; he had the faculty of absolving from ecclesiastical censures; on February 16, 1382, he received the faculty to allow merchants to transport their merchandize in the territories under the control of the sultan of Babylon; and on the following March 21, the faculty of arranging, in the name of the Apostolic Chamber, with persons wishing to return possessions illegitimately acquired. Pope Urban VI suspected him, and he had to go into hiding; they later reconciled though the good offices of King Carlo Durazzo of Naples. Sent in a mission before the king of Naples; it was not successful. He was again accused of conspiring against the pope, together with Cardinals Gentile di Sangro, Adam Easton, Ludovico Donato, O.F.M., and Marino Giudice; they were arrested at a public consistory and imprisoned in the Castle of Nocera Umbria on January 11, 1385; they were subjected to tortured; when the pope had to leave Nocera, forced by the army of the king of Naples, he took the accused cardinals with him to Genoa; all of them, except Cardinal Easton, who was freed, were executed in Genoa in December 1385 or January 11, 1386. He authored several theological treatises and sermons.
Death. Executed in December 1385 or January 11, 1386 (2). His body was thrown to the sea in a bag or buried in the papal residence in Genoa.
Bibliography. Betti, Umberto. I cardinali dell'Ordine dei Frati Minori. Presentazione di Alberto Ghinato. Roma : Edizioni Francescane, 1963. (Orizzonti Francescani. Collana di cultura francescana, 5), p. 45; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 265; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 639; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 132-133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24, 43 and 282; Ritzler, Remigius. "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, LXXI (Gennaio-Giugno 1971), Fasc. I-II, 39-40.
Links. Biography, in English.
(1) This is according to Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 639; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 133; and Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 24 and 282; Ritzler, "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, p. 39, says that there is no certainty that he ever occupied, even for a short time, the see of Genoa.
(2) Several sources indicate that he was executed in December 1386.
(28) 4. RENZIO, Francesco (?-1390)
Birth. (No date found), Alife. Relative of Pope Urban VI. Uncle of Cardinal Marino Bulcani (1384). He is also listed as Francesco de Alifia. Known with the appellative of Cardinal de Alife or Alifia.
Education. (No information found).
Early life. Protonotary apostolic.
Sacred orders. (No information found).
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of December 21, 1381; received the red hat and the deaconry of S Eustachio in that consistory. Pontifical vicar in the province of Campagna e Marittima. Participated in the conclave of 1389; he actively tried to be elected pope.
Death. September 27 (1), 1390 (2), Rome. Buried (no information found).
Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 304; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24 and 50.
Link. His arms.
(1) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 50; the same source on p. 24, indicates that other sources, which he does not mention, say that he died on September 26; Francesco Cristofori, Cronotasi dei cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa (Rome : Tipografia de Propaganda Fide, 1888), p. 254, also says that he died on September 27, 1390.
(2) Cited by Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, II, 304, Giorgio Viviano Marchesi Buonaccorsi in his book Antichità ed eccellenza del Protonotariato appostolico partecipante, colle più scelte notizie de' santi, sommi pontefici, cardinali, e prelati che ne sono stati insigniti sino al presente (Faenza :pel Benedetti, 1751), p. 105, says that he died in 1392.
(29) 5. MARAMALDO, Landolfo (?-1415)
Birth. (No date found), kingdom of Naples. His last name is also listed as Marramaurus He was called the Cardinal of Bari.
Education. (No information found).
Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Bari in 1378; he could not take possession of the see because Queen Giovanna I of Naples supported Antipope Clement VII.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere Tulliano in the consistory of December 21, 1381; he retained the administration of his see until 1384. Together with Cardinal Pietro Pileo di Prata wrote a letter against the violence of Pope Urban VI, who then deposed him as partisan of King Carlo III of Naples; he retired to Naples. Pope Boniface IX rehabilitated him as a cardinal on December 18, 1389. Named legate in Florence. Left the Roman Curia on March 18, 1393. Cardinal protodeacon in October 1403 (or 1404). Legate (or governor) of Pope Innocent VII in Perugia on January 7, 1405; returned to Rome on November 13, 1406. Participated in the conclave of 1406, which elected Pope Gregory XII. The new pope named him legate again on December 8, 1406; went from Perugia to Viterbo, where the pope was, on August 25, 1407; returned to Perugia eight days later. Sent to Germany in 1408 by the cardinals gathered in the Council of Pisa to bring back the delegates of the German princes; arrived in Strassbourg in December 1408; there, he convoked a synod in Frankfurt, where he obtained the support of the archbishops of Cologne and Mainz for the obedience of Pisa. Participated in the conclave of 1409, which elected Antipope Alexander V. Participated in the conclave of 1410, which elected Antipope John XXIII. Legate of Antipope John XXIII in Spain in 1410 to try to sway Antipope Benedict XIII, who had retired to Peñíscola, to abdicate; he was not successful. He was taken hostage to Naples after the agreement between Antipope John XXIII and King Ladislaa of Napoles in July 1413; he was retained in Naples until his liberation by Queen Giovanna II. He then went to the Council of Constance and died during its celebration.
Death. October 16, 1415, Constance. Buried in the church of the Dominicans in Constance.
Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, 290-291; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 652-653; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24, 52 and 129.
Link. His arms.
(30) 6. TOMACELLI, Pietro (ca. 1350/1356-1404)
Birth. Ca. 1350/1356, Casaranello (former fiefdom of his family), kingdom of Naples (now Comune di Casarano). Of an aristocratic and impoverished family of Genoese origin. Son of Giacomo Tomacelli and Gatrimola Filimarini (or Verdella Caracciolo). He was baptized in the parish church of S.Maria della Croce, Casaranello, in 1354. Relative of Pope Urban VI. His first name is also listed as Perrino and Pierino. He was called the Neapolitan Cardinal.
Education. Frequented the Studium of Naples; studied grammar and became an expert on the subject (1).
Early life. Cleric of Naples. Perhaps, canon of the metropolitan cathedral chapter of Naples. He went to Rome in 1381. Protonotary apostolic.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro in the consistory of December 21, 1381. Opted for the order of cardinal priests and the title of S. Anastasia after May 1385. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica in 1388. Participated in the conclave of 1389 and was elected pope.
Papacy. Elected pope on November 2, 1389. Took the name Boniface IX. Consecrated bishop of Rome, November 1389, in the patriarchal Vatican basilica, by Francesco Moricotti Prignani, bishop of Palestrina. Crowned, November 9, 1389, in the steps of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, by Cardinal Tommaso Orsini, protodeacon of S. Maria in Domnica. He canonized Brigitte of Sweden on October 7, 1391. He created eight cardinals in two consistories. His tact, prudence, firm character, and mild manners greatly helped to restore respect for the papal office.
Death. October 1, 1404, of an attack of gravel, Rome. Buried in the northern lateral nave of the of Vatican basilica, Rome; his tomb was demolished in 1507 during the construction of the new basilica.
Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, 291-292; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 653; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 133; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, I, 24-26, 39 and 50; Esch, Arnold. "Bonifacio IX." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, II, 570-581; Ilari, Annibale. "Bonifacio IX." Mondo vaticano. Passato e presente. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995, p. 156-157; Kelly, John Norman Davidson. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 230-232.
Links. Biography, in English; his statue and biography, in English (Britannica); portrait and biography, in English; pictures and biography, in Italian; Casarano e Papa Bonifacio IX by Francesco De Vita, Casarano, 24/07/2007; his statue in the cloister of S. Paolo fuori le mura, Rome; his engraving, Library of the University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; several images of the pope; his arms, Campidoglio, Rome; Vatican postal stamp, commemorating the Jubilee of 1400; and another view of his arms.
(1) According to Kelly, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, p. 230, " ... he was deficient in education and experience of office, but made up for this by his outgoing personality, practical realism, skill in managing people, and persuasive eloquence."
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