JOHN
433
JOHN
the Holy See, he had written a work on this ques-
tion, in which he stated that the souls of the lilessed
departed do not see God until after the Last Judg-
ment. After becoming pope, he advanced the same
teaching in his sermons. In this he met with strong
opposition, many theologians, who adhered to the
usual opinion that the blessed departed did see God
before the Resurrection of the Body and the Last
Judgment, even calling his view heretical. A great
commotion was aroused in the University of Paris
when the General of the Minorites and a Dominican
tried to disseminate there the pope's view. Pope John
wrote to King Philip IV on the matter (November,
1333), and emphasized the fact that, as long as the
Holy See had not given a decision, the theologians
enjoyed perfect freedom in this matter. In Decem-
ber, 1333, the theologians at Paris, after a consultation
on the question, decided in favour of the doctrine that
the souls of the blessed departed saw God immediately
after death or after their complete purification; at
the same time they pointed out that the pope had given
no decision on this question but only advanced his
personal opinion, and now petitioned the pope to con-
firm their decision. John appointed a commission at
Avignon to study the writings of the Fathers, and to
discuss further the disputed question. In a consistory
held on 3 January, 1334, the pope explicitly declared
that he had never meant to teach aught contrary to
Holy Scripture or the rule of faith and in fact had not
intended to give any decision whatever. Before his
death he withdrew his former opinion, and declared
his belief that souls separated from their bodies en-
joyed in heaven the Beatific Vision.
The Spirituals, always in close alliance with Louis of Bavaria, profited by these events to accuse the pope of heresy, being supported by Cardinal Napoleon Orsini. In union with the latter. King Louis wrote to the cardinals, urging them to call a general council and condemn the pope. The incident, however, had no further consequences. With untiring energy, and in countless documents, John followed up all ecclesi- astical or politico-ecclesiastical questions of his day, though uo particular grandeur is remarkable in ms dealings. He gave salutary advice to ruling sove- reigns, especially to the Kings of France and of Naples, settled the disputes of rulers, and tried to restore peace in England. He increased the number of sees in France and Spain, was generous to many scholars and colleges, founded a large library at Avignon, fur- thered the fine arts, and dispatched and generously maintained missionaries in the Far East. He caused the works of Petrus 01i\T and Meister Eckhardt to be examined, and condemned the former, while he cen- sured many passages in the latter's works. He pub- lished the "Clementines" as the official collection of the "Corpus Juris Canonici", and was the author of numerous decretals (" Extra vagantes Johannis XXII " in "Corp. Jur. Can."). He enlarged and partly re- organized the papal Curia, and was particularly active in the administration of ecclesiastical finances.
The usual revenues of the papacy grew very meagre, owing to the disturbed condition of Italy, especially of the Papal States, consequent on the removal of the papacy from its historic seat at Rome. Moreover, since the end of the thirteenth century the College of Cardinals had enjoyed one half of the large income from tributary kingdoms, the servitia communia of the bishops, and some less important sources. Pope John, on the other hand, had need of large revenues, not only for the maintenance of his Court, but particularly for the wars in Italy. Since the thirteenth century the papal treasury had exacted from the minor bene- fices, when conferred directly by the pope, a small tax (annata. — See Ann.\tes; .\postolic C.\mer.\). In 1319 John XXII reserved to himself all minor bene- fices falling vacant in the Western Church during the succeeding three years, and in this way collected from VIII.— 28
each of them the aforesaid annates, as often as they
were conferred by the pope. Moreover, many foreign
benefices were already canonically in the papal gift,
and the annates from them were paid regularly into the
papal treasury. John also made frequent use of the
right known as jus spolii, or right of spoils, which per-
mitted him under certain circumstances to divert the
estate of a deceased bishop into the papal treasury.
He procured further relief by demanding special sub-
sidies from various archbishops and their suffragans.
France, in particular, furnished him the most financial
aid. The extensive reservation of ecclesiastical bene-
fices was destined to exercise a prejudicial influence on
ecclesiastical life. The centralized administration
took on a highly bureaucratic character, and the
purely legal standpoint was too constantly in evidence.
The pope's financial measures, however, were highly
successful at the time, though in the end they evoked
no little resistance and dissatisfaction. In spite of the
large expenditures of his pontificate, John left an
estate of 800,000 gold florins — not five millions as
stated by some clironiclers.
John XXII died on 4 December, 1334, in the eighty- fifth year of his age. He was a man of serious char- acter, of austere and simple habits, broadly cultivated, ■\'ery energetic and tenacious. But he held too per- sistently to canonico-legal traditions, and centralized overmuch the ecclesiastical administration. His finan- cial measures, more rigorously applied by his succes- sors, made the Curia of Avignon generally detested. The transfer of the papacy from Rome to Avignon was esteemed to have taken place in the interests of France, which impression was strengthened by the preponderance of French cardinals, and by the long- continued conflict with King Louis of Bavaria. In this way was aroused a widespread distrust of the papacy, which could not fail to result in consequences tletrimental to the interior life of the Church.
CouLoN, Lettres secretes el curiales du pape Jean XXII, rela- tives u la France (Paris, 1900—); JIollat, Lettres communes du pape Jean XXII (Paris, 1901 — ); Guerard, Documents ponti- ficaux sur la Gascogne, Pontifieai de Jean XXII, I-II (Paris, 1S97-1903); Faten, Lettres de Jean XXII, I (Brussels, 1908); R.VYNALDUS, Annates ecclesiastici ad ann. 1316-1334, XXIV (Bar -le- Due, 1872 — ); Riezler, Vatikanische Akten zuT deutschen Gesch. in der Zeit Konig Ludwigs des Bayern (Inns- bnick, 1891); Buss, Calendar of Papal Letters, II (London, 1895); Saderland, Urkundcn u. Regesten zur Gesch. des Rhein- landes aus dem vatikanischen Archiv, I-II (Bonn, 1902-3); Brom, BuUar. Trajectense (2 vols.. The Hague, 1891-6); RiEDER, Rom. Quellen zur Konstamer Bistumsgesch. zur Zeit der Pdpste in Avignon (Innsbruck, 1908); Lang, Die Vrkunden Liber die Beziehungen der papstlichen Kurie zur Provinz u. Dio- zese Salzburg 1316-1378 (Graz, 1903); Baluze, Vitce paparum Avinionensium, I (Paris, 1693); Villani, Cronica (Florence, 1823) ; Verlaque, Jean XXII, sa vie et ses auvres (Paris, 1883) ; MOller, Der Kampf Ludwigs des Bayern mit der rom. Kurie, I (Ttibiugen. 1879) ; Idem, Ludwigs d. Bayern Appellationen gegen Johann XXII. in Zeitschr. fur Kirchenrecht. XIX (1884), 239 sqq.; Schaper, Die Sachsenhauser Appellation (Berlin, 1888); Engelmann, Der Anspruch der Pdpste auf Konfirmation bei den deutschen Kunigswahlen (Breslau, 1886) ; Altmann, Der Rnmer- zug Ludwigs des Bayern (Berlin, 1886); Chroust, Die Romfahrt Lixdwigs d. B. (Gotha, 1887); Felten, Die Bulle Neprcetereat u. die Rekomiliationsverharuilungen Ludwigs d. B. mit Johann XXII. (2 vols.. Trier, 1885-7) ; Riezler, Die literar. Widersacher der Pdpste zur Zeit Ludwigs d. B. (Leipzig, 1874); Marcour, Anteil der Minoriten am Kampfe zwischen Ludwig d. B. und Jokann XXII. (Emmerich, 1874); E.ani^K, Die Spiritualen, ihr Verhiilinis zum Franziskanerorden u. den Fraticellen in Archiv ftir Literatur- u. Kirchengesch. des Miltelatters (1885), 609 sqq.: (1886), 106 sqq.; (1887), 553 sqq.; Idem, Ludwig d. B. und die Fraticellen u. Ghibellinnen von Todi u. Amelia im Jahre 13SS. ibid. (1886), 653 sqq.; Idem, Olivi u. die Sachsenhduser Appella- tion, ibid. (1SS7), 540 sqq.; RIuller, Aktenstiicke zur Gesch. der Streitigkeiten unter den Minoriten in Zeitschr. far Kirchengesch. (1884), 63 sqq.: Tangl, Die papstlichen Kanzleiordnungen (Inns- bruck, 1894): Hatn, Das Atmosenwesen unter Johann XXII. in R:im. Quartalschr. (1892), 209 sqq.; Faucon, La libroirie des papes d' Avignon (2 vols.. Paris, 1886 — ); Ehrle, Hist. Bibl. Rorruin. Pontif. turn Bonifatiance turn Avinionensis, I (Rome, 1890); Konig, Die pdpstliche Kammer unter Klemens V. u. Johann XXII. (Vienna, 1894) ; Samaran and Mollat, La fisca- liti pontificate en France an XlV' siicle (Paris, 1905) : Goeller, Die Einnahmender apstol. Kammer unter Johann XXlI. (Pader- bom, 1909). See also the bibliographies of Annates and Apos- tolic Camera; Andre. Hist, de la papauie a Avignon (2nd ed., Avignon, 1888); Christophe, Hist, de la papaute pendant le XIV' sibcle (3 vols., Paris, 1853) ; Hofler, Die avignones. Pdpste
