J O 
ftudy the civil and canon law. at Bologna, and after he 
had been admitted to the degree of doftor went to Rome. 
At this time it appears, from an anecdote mentioned 
by Plntina, that he entertained afpiring views; for, being 
afked by fome friends whither he was going, he smfwered, 
*' To the popedom." Boniface IX. who was then pope, 
being his countryman, and well acquainted with his fa¬ 
mily, admitted him, foon after his arrival at Rome, 
among the gentlemen of his bed-chamber. Afterwards 
he appointed him apoftolic prothonotary, archdeacon of 
Bologna, and cardinal of St. Euftachius. He was promo¬ 
ted to the purple in the year 1402; and, being foon after¬ 
wards nominated legate of the province of Flaminia, he 
recovered to the holy fee the city of Bologna, and a con- 
fiderable part of the province, which had been feized by 
John Galeazzo, lord of Milan. In his government of 
this province he conducted himfelf in the moft defpotic 
and opprefiive manner, and amaffed immenfe wealth by 
his exactions. He quarrelled with pope Gregory XII. 
about the revenues of the bifhopric of Bologna, of which 
he kept the greater part for himfelf; and, being ordered 
by the pope to refund it, he became from that time one 
of his molt inveterate enemies. It was chiefly at his in- 
ftigation that the cardinals of Gregory’s party forfook 
him; and he was one of the principal promoters of the 
Council of Pifa, which palled a fentence of depofition 
againlt that pontifl', as well as his rival Benedict. In the 
conclave which was afterwards held, he exerted all his 
intereft, and, fome fcruple not to fay, expended confider- 
able fums, in order to iecure the election of Alexander V. 
who was a perlon of great learning and worth, but little 
acquainted with the management of bufinefs, and accufi- 
tomed to place unbounded confidence in cardinal Coda. 
Soon after that pontiff’s election, the plague obliged him 
to quit Pifa, when the legate of Bologna prevailed upon 
him to pay a vifit to that city, accompanied by the car¬ 
dinals. Here the legate found means to detain the pope, 
under various pretences, till his holinefs fell dangeroufly 
ill, and his complaints at length proved fatal. Different 
hiftorians affert that he owed his death to his having been 
poifoned ; and one of the charges brought againlt John 
XXIII. in the council of Conftance, Was, that he had con- 
fpired againlt pope Alexander, and caufed him to be poi- 
foned by his phylician. Upon the death of Alexander in 
1410, the cardinals who were prefent, in all feventeen, 
entered into the conclave, and were prevailed upon, the 
poorer cardinals by large bribes, and the others by their 
dread of the troops which cardinal Coffa had collected at 
Bologna and in the neighbouring country, to give their 
votes in his favour. Having been thus raifed to the pa¬ 
pacy, he took the name of John XXIII. and upon the 
day after his coronation he wrote to all Chriftian princes, 
acquainting them with his promotion, and exhorting them 
to fupport him againft the two pretenders to the pontifi¬ 
cal dignity, who had been condemned and depofed by the 
church univerfal. It was with no little fatisfaftion.that, 
not long after his election, he received intelligence of the 
death of the emperor Rupert, who himfelf adhered to 
Gregory, and gained over iome of the German princes to 
his party. On this occafion he fent nuncios to all the 
electors, with letters in which he ftrorigly recommended 
Sigifmund, king of Hungary, to be chofen by them king 
of the Romans; which circumftance fecured him the pro¬ 
tection and good will of that prince, who was defied to 
that dignity. 
One of the early objects of John’s adminiftration was 
to raife a fund to fupport the claims of his friend Louis 
of Anjou, againlt thole of his inveterate enemy Ladiflaus, 
to the poffeflion of the kingdom of Naples. With this 
defign, he fent a legate into France, to coiled the tenth 
«f all eeclefiaftkal benefices, the revenues of the vacant 
churches, and the fpoils of the deceafed clergy. This 
meafure the univerfity and parliament of Paris refolutely 
©ppofed, and obtained a royal mandate, which forbade 
the payment of the required fubfidies. At the fame time 
V<sl. XI. No. 747. 
H N; 217 
it was refolved, in a numerous affefnbly of the clergy, that, 
if the legate Ihould attempt to employ the cenfuresof the 
church againft thofe who refufed to comply with his de¬ 
mands, an appeal (hould be made, in the name of the whole 
Gallican church, to the general council which the late pope 
and the council of Pifa had ordered to be aflembled within 
the term of three years. However, upon John’s repre¬ 
sentation of the great military preparations which Ladif- 
lans was making for the purpofe of reducing the city of 
Rome, and replacing Gregory in the pontifical chair; 
they agreed, that a gratuitous fupply of one half of the 
tenths of benefices Ihould be granted to the pope, to ena¬ 
ble him to refill: the defigns of Ladiflaus. 
In the year 1411, pope John quitted Bologna, and made 
his public entry into Rome,, accompanied by Louis of 
Anjou, the college of cardinals, and the flower of the 
Italian nobility. Having raifed an army to be employed 
againft Ladiflaus, he was defirous of heading it in perlon, 
till he was diverted from that defign by the cardinals ; 
when he delivered the ftandard of the church to Louis of 
Anjou, appointing Paul Urfini, and James Sforza, one of 
the heft generals of his time, to command under him. 
Upon the entrance of the papal army into Campania, La^ 
dillaus advanced to meet it, and a molt bloody engage¬ 
ment enfued, which terminated in the complete defeat of 
Ladiflaus, and the death or capture of the principal of the 
Neapolitan nobility. This vibtory would have proved 
decifive, had not the commanders under Louis, who were 
foldiers of fortune, and whefe intereft it was to protraft 
the war, declined under" various pretences to purl'ue their 
advantage, till Ladiflaus had time to recruit bis forces. 
Louis, finding that thefe officers had combined to crofs 
all his plans for bringing matters to a fpeedy iffue, and 
therefore defpairing of being able to expel his rival, re- 
ligned the command, and returned to his own dominions 
in France; declaring to the pope, whom he acquainted 
with the whole, his determination never more to concern 
himfelf with the affairs of Daly. In thefe circumftances, 
John, fatisfied that no dependence was to be placed upon 
his commanders, difmifl'ed them, difbanded his army, and 
refolved to try the effefl of his fpiritual weapons. In the 
firft place, he folemnly excommunicated Ladiflaus ; and 
then ordered a crufa.de to be preached againft him all over 
Chrillendom. By the furious bull which he iffued on 
this occafion, all were exhorted to take the crofs and en¬ 
gage in this holy war; and to all, who Ihould embark in 
it, the fame indulgences were granted as to thofe who went 
to the conqueft of the Holy Land. When this bull was 
published at Prague, John Hufs preached againft it; .on 
which account he was excommunicated, and obliged ta 
retire to the place of his nativity. In the mean time La- 
diflaqs, not willing at prefent to face the papal ftorm, 
thought it advifable to come to an accommodation with the 
pope 011 the beft terms which he could obtain. As John, 
who knew that he was at the head of a numerous army,, 
ready to invade the territories of the church, was equally 
defirous of peace, a treaty was foon concluded between 
them. By the terms of this treaty, concluded in the year 
1412, the pope agreed not only to abfolve Ladiflaus from 
the excommunication which he had iffued againft him,, 
and to revoke the bull for the crufade, but to acknow¬ 
ledge him for lawful king of Naples ; and on the other 
hand, Ladiflaus agreed to abandon Gregory, whom he 
had hitherto acknowledged for lawful pope. After the 
conclufion of this peace with Ladiflaus, John made a pro¬ 
motion of fourteen cardinals; and afterwards fummoned 
all the prelates of the church tD attend a general council 
at Rome. At this council but few bilhops were prefent;. 
and little is known of its proceedings, excepting that it 
condemned the dodrine of Wickliff, and ordered his 
works to be committed to the flames. 
When Ladiflaus concluded his peace with the pope, he 
fecretly determined to renew the w'ar as foon as his pre¬ 
parations Ihould be in fufficient forwardnefs. In the year 
14133 therefore, finding that his plans were matured; and' 
3 K. that 
