Benedict XII

Benedict XII

 orig. Jacques Fournier

Benedict XII, detail from a bust by Paolo da Siena, 1342; in the Grotto of the Vatican, Rome

(credit: Alinari-Anderson/Art Resource/EB Inc.)

(born , Saverdun, near Toulouse, France—died April 25, 1342, Avignon, Provence) Pope (1334–42). A French cardinal and theologian, he became the third pontiff to reign at Avignon (see Avignon papacy), succeeding John XXII. The bishop of Pamiers and Mirepoix and a zealous inquisitor before his elevation to the papacy, Benedict devoted himself to the reform of the church and its religious orders; he also tried unsuccessfully to prevent the outbreak of the conflict between England and France that became the Hundred Years' War. His bull Benedictus Deus (1336) set forth the doctrine of the beatific vision as a vision of God granted to the souls of the just immediately after death.