Thymes that Try Men's Soles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pietro sent the cardinals a letter decrying the delay

The cardinals assembled at Perugia to elect a new pope knew that Pietro di Morrone was a Benedictine hermit and unfit for the job. However, when he sent them a letter warning of divine wrath if they procrastinated any longer it was seen as a 'sign' - the catalyst they needed. The dean of the College of Cardinals, Latino Malabranca, immediately declared the hermit as the new pope - and the cardinals concurred.

Ending a two-year impasse, this was the Church's last non-conclave papal election. One of the first issues the reluctant new pope tackled was to reinstitute Gregory X's conclave system (established by the papal bull 'Ubi periculum').

Answer: He was a hermit, craving solitude

Pietro di Morrone's reaction when he was summoned to be crowned the new pope was absolute horror. He craved solitude and did not want to change his simple life. Finally, he was coerced by a deputation of cardinals and the King of Naples to accept the position. It is unclear how they changed his mind. On 5 July 1294 he took the name Celestine V and was crowned at Santa Maria di Collemaggio in the Abruzzo city of Aquila.

Answer: He was imprisoned

Upon resigning, Celestine V reverted to his birth name, Pietro Angelerio, but he was not allowed to return to being a hermit. The new pope, Boniface VIII, suspected that Celestine V's supporters might make him an antipope and wanted him close, in Rome, with him. Pietro escaped but was captured and imprisoned in the castle of Fumone (near Ferentino in Campania) where he died, ten months later, at the age of 81. Buried at Ferentino, his body was later moved to the Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio in Aquila.

Answer: The right of the Pope to resign

Pope Boniface VIII was crowned 24 December 1294 - eleven days after Celestine V's resignation - and immediately set about annulling Celestine V's various decrees. Interestingly, the one that Boniface VIII did not annul was the one relating to the right of the Pope to resign (which was issued by Celestine V a week before he resigned).

NB: Except for the right to resign, none of the options listed as answers are true.

It should also be noted that Boniface VIII did not reverse Celestine V's reinstitution of the conclave system. Gregory X's papal bull 'Ubi periculum' in relation to the election of popes has been respected ever since Celestine V reinstituted it.

Answer: From his Morrone mountain cave

Pietro Angelerio was born in the Kingdom of Sicily in a town called Sant'Angelo Limosano. He became a Benedictine monk at seventeen years of age and in 1239 retired to a cave on the Morrone mountain - from which "Pietro di Morrone" derives. He lived according to the example set by St. John the Baptist and his penitential practices were very severe.

Answer: Celestine Order

In 1244 Pietro founded a new order which, after his papacy, became known as the Celestines. It followed all of the severe practices and privations by which he lived. In 1264 the new order was approved by Urban IV, and later Pope Gregory approved making it a branch of the Benedictines.

The new order grew to thirty-six monasteries housing more than six hundred monks, at which time Pietro retired to live completely in solitude, penance and prayer. It was during his retirement - in complete solitude - that Pietro wrote that fateful letter to the cardinals. So, he may have lived in solitude but he was not exactly estranged from society and church affairs.

Answer: Philip IV of France

Philip IV of France had supported Celestine V and opposed Boniface VIII, so there may have been some truth in Boniface VIII's antipope fear. Following the election of Pope Clement V, Philip IV of France nominated Celestine for sainthood. On 13 May 1306, Pope Clement V signed a dispensation to investigate the nomination, and Celestine V was subsequently canonized on 5 May 1313.

Answer: Dante Alighieri

In "Inferno III", Dante Alighieri appears to see Pope Celestine V as the nameless figure among those in Hell's antechamber. Dante's son, Jacopo Alighieri, was the first of many to connect Pope Celestine V with the verse - "I saw and recognized the shade of him; who due to cowardice made the great refusal".

The smear of cowardice was so widespread that Petrarch was moved to defend Celestine V's memory. Believe it or not, but the controversy still rages among modern scholars.

Answer: Gregory XII in 1415

Gregory XII was Pope from 30 November 1406 to 4 July 1415 and was the next Pope to resign (but NOT on his own initiative). His resignation occurred during the Western Schism at the Council of Constance called by his opponent John XXIII. At the time, Pope Gregory XII was 91 years of age.

The next Pope to resign voluntarily was Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013.

Answer: The woollen pallium worn during his papal inauguration

That Celestine V's remains survived in the badly damaged Santa Maria di Collemaggio during the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake was seen as a miracle. On 28 April 2009 Pope Benedict XVI visited Celestine V's remains, housed in a glass casket, leaving as a gift the woollen pallium he wore during his April 2005 papal inauguration.

Also, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the Celestine year from 28 August 2009 through 29 August 2010 to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Celestine V's birth.