We first hear from Jacques Fournier as a youth, when he entered the Cistercian order at the monastery in Boulbonne, France. He was soon moved to Fontfroide, whose abbot was his uncle, Arnold Novelli. When Uncle Arnie was elevated to cardinal in 1310, Jacques was tapped to take his place, in the midst of his own studies to earn a doctorate in theology. Seven years later, Jacques was made bishop in his home diocese of Palmiers. He then spent the next several years rooting out the Catharist heresy -- the belief, essentially, that the “Gods” of the New and Old testaments were different -- before being moved to Mirepoix in 1326 and made cardinal a year later.

A seven-day conclave resulted in the unlikely election of Pope Benedict XII (more on that in a minute). He began his papacy by saying “hard pass” to using war as a means of enforcing policy, preferring to use diplomacy instead. He was able to negotiate peacefully with Louis of Bavaria for most of his papacy, but found the most difficulty in mediating between England and France, wherein the famed Hundred Years’ War was brewing.

When a move back to Rome -- at the top of Benedict’s wish list -- proved impossible, he commissioned the grand Palais des Papes, the papal castle and historical center of Avignon that still stands today. He put Pope John XXII’s Beatific Vision controversy to bed in 1336, dogmatically defining the correct position (that the souls of the just see God immediately after death) in the apostolic constitution Benedictus Deus. In Benedict XII, the Church had a truly holy and zealous Defender of the Faith. The pope died at Avignon on April 25, 1342 and was buried in Avignon Cathedral.

Pope Benedict XII was best known for doing a bit of Spring cleaning in his papal court, reorganizing several offices to employ better men and to clear out unneeded officials from simply taking up space. Bishops, abbots, and other clergy had created a habit of hanging out in Avignon instead of, you know, caring for the souls to which they had been entrusted. This attitude of “absenteeism” particularly annoyed Benedict, who booted everyone who didn’t have a specific job to do there. Benedict also hit religious orders hard with reforms, noting how far many had strayed from their original charisms and speaking from his own experience as a monk and bishop.

Fun Fact: The election of Pope Benedict XII bears somewhat of a resemblance to that of Pope Francis. Basically an outsider in the College of Cardinals, there were several other choices who oddsmakers would have chosen over Benedict. However, he unexpectedly received the necessary two-thirds majority, despite coming from obscure origins with no significant wealth, and having little to no known following.

The year 1337 marked the end of a devastating famine in China, which had lasted four long years and claimed the lives of six million.