Pope Martin V - Biography

Biography

He was born at Genazzano, the son of Agapito Colonna and Caterina Conti. He belonged to one of the oldest and most distinguished families of Rome. His brother Giordano became Prince of Salerno and Duke of Venosa, while his sister Paola was Lady of Piombino between 1441 and 1445.

Oddone most likely studied at the University of Perugia. He became apostolic protonotary under Pope Urban VI (1378–89), and was created Cardinal-Deacon of San Giorgio al Velabro by Pope Innocent VII in 1405. In 1409 he took part in the Council of Pisa, and was one of the supporters of Antipope Alexander V. Later he confirmed his allegiance to another antipope, John XXIII, by whom his family obtained several privileges, while Oddone obtained for himself the vicariate of Todi, Orvieto, Perugia and Umbria. He was excommunicated for this by Pope Gregory XII. Oddone was with John XXIII's entourage at the Council of Constance and followed him in his escape at Schaffhausen on 21 March 1415. Later he returned to Constance and took part in the process leading to the deposition of John XXIII.

Martin was elected pope at the Council of Constance on St. Martin's Day, 11 November 1417, by a conclave consisting of twenty-three cardinals and thirty delegates of the council. After deposing Antipope John XXIII in 1415, the Council was long divided by the conflicting claims of Pope Gregory XII (1406–15) and Antipope Benedict XIII (1394–1423).

Martin's first act after his election was to publish a brief that confirmed all the regulations made by his predecessors regarding the papal chancery, regulations that had long been the subject of complaints. When the "nations" of the council pressed their plans for reform, Martin V submitted a counter-scheme and ultimately entered into negotiations for separate concordats, for the most part vague and illusory, with the Holy Roman Empire, England, and France.

By issuing the Papal Bull to exterminate Hussites, Wycliffites, and other heretics in Bohemia on 1 March 1420, Martin V initiated the Hussite Wars.

Martin left Constance at the close of the council (May 1418), but travelled slowly through Italy and lingered at Florence. His authority in Rome was represented by his brother Giordano, who had fought under Muzio Attendolo against the condottiero Braccio da Montone. The Pope at the time ruled only Rome (when not rebellious) and its environs: Braccio held Umbria, Bologna was an independent commune, while much of Romagna and the Marche was held by local "vicars", which were in fact petty hereditary lords. In particular, Martin confirmed Giorgio Ordelaffi in Forlì, Ludovico Alidosi in Imola, Malatesta IV Malatesta in Rimini, and Guidantonio da Montefeltro in Spoleto, who would later marry the pope's niece Caterina Colonna. In exchange for the recognition of Joan II of Naples, Martin obtained the restitution of Benevento, several fiefs in the Kingdom of Naples for his relatives and, above all, an agreement that Muzio Attendolo, then hired by the Neapolitans, should leave Rome. Martin, after a long stay in Florence, was thus able to enter Rome in September 1420.

In 1418 a synod convoked by the Jews in Forlì sent a deputation with costly gifts to Martin V asking that he abolish the oppressive laws promulgated by Antipope Benedict XIII and that he grant the Jews those privileges which had been accorded them under previous Popes. The deputation succeeded in its mission. In 1419–1420 Martin had diplomatic contacts with the Byzantine emperor Manuel II, who was invoking a council in Constantinople as a move to reduce the pressure from the Ottoman Turks. The Pope on 12 July 1420 conceded indulgence to any who would contribute to a crusade against the latter, which would be led by Sigismund, King of the Romans. In the same year Martin obtained a reduction of the autonomy of the commune of Bologna, whose finances would be thenceforth under the authority of a papal treasurer. He also ended the war with Braccio da Montone in exchange for his recognition as vicar and reconciled with the deposed John XXIII, to whom he gave the title of Cardinal of Tusculum.

During his permanence in Rome, Martin moved his residence from St. Peter to Santa Maria Maggiore and, from 1424, the Basilica of Santi Apostoli near the Palazzo Colonna. He also frequently sojourned in towns held by his family in the Latium (Tivoli, Vicovaro, Marino, Gallicano and others). The main concern of the first years of Martin's pontificate was the resumed war against Braccio da Montone from 1423. The following year, the combined Papal-Neapolitan army, led by Giacomo Caldora and Francesco Sforza, defeated him at the Battle of L'Aquila (2 June 1424); Braccio died a few days later.

Canon law prohibited interest upon a loan. To avoid this, annuities were paid, interest in effect but not in name. The dispute as to the legality of annuity contracts was brought before Martin V in 1423. He held that purchased annuities, which were redeemable at the option of the seller, were lawful. When the lawfulness of annuities was established, they were widely used in commerce; it seems that city states used them to raise compulsory loans from their citizens.

In accordance with a decree of the Council of Constance, ordering that councils should be held every five years, Martin V summoned a council in 1423 that met first at Pavia and later at Siena (the "Council of Siena"). It was rather poorly attended, which gave the Pope a pretext for dissolving it as soon as it had come to the resolution that "internal church union by reform ought to take precedence over external union". It was prorogued for seven years and then met at Basel (as the "Council of Basel"). Shortly after it opened Martin V died of apoplexy.

He is buried in the confession of St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome.