Pierre de Luxembourg

Blessed Pierre de Luxembourg
Pseudocardinal Bishop of Metz
Vision of Peter of Luxembourg by the Master of the Avignon, circa 1450
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Metz
See	Metz
Appointed	10 February 1384
Installed	September 1384
Term ended	2 July 1387
Predecessor	Therri Bayer de Boppard
Successor	Raoul de Coucy
Other post(s)	Pseudocardinal-Priest of San Giorgio in Velabro(1384-1387)
Orders
Ordination	c. 1379
Consecration	c. 1384
Created cardinal	15 April 1384 byAntipope Clement VII
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	Pierre de Luxembourg 19 July 1369 Ligny-en-Barrois,Meuse,Kingdom of France
Died	2 July 1387(1387-07-02)(aged 17) Villeneuve-lès-Avignon,Avignon,Kingdom of France
Coat of arms
Sainthood
Feast day	2 July 5 July (Carthusians)
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	9 April 1527 Old Saint Peter's Basilica,Rome,Papal States byPope Clement VII
Attributes	Shield Crucifix Cardinal's attire
Patronage	Avignon

Pierre de Luxembourg(19 July 1369 – 2 July 1387) was aFrenchCatholicprelatewho served as theBishop of Metz.He isveneratedin theCatholic Churchas ablessed,having been beatified byPope Clement VII,140 years after his death.

Pierre was descended from nobles who secured his entrance into thepriesthoodwhen he started to serve in several places as acanonbefore he was named as theBishop of Metzand a pseudocardinal under anantipope.He was noted for his austerities and successes in diocesan reform as well as for his dedication to the faithful and tried to end theWestern Schismthat pitted pope against antipope and rulers against rulers.His efforts were in vain and he was soon driven from Metz but moved to southernFrancewhere he died as a result of his harsh self-imposed penances.

Both sides in the conflict recognized his deep holiness and his dedication to the people in Metz and elsewhere.After many appeals for him to be beatified,Pope Clement VIIbeatified him on 9 April 1527.

Life

Pierre de Luxembourg was born at the castle of Ligny-sur-Ornain in July 1369,the second of six children toGuido de Luxembourg(1340-1371) and Mahaut de Châtillon (1335-1378); the couple married circa 1354. His name originates from the fact that he was a 5th generation descendant ofHenry V, Count of Luxembourg,and thus belonged to the French branch of theHouse of Luxembourg.His parents died during his childhood (father when he was two and mother when he was four) which prompted his aunt Jeanne - the countess of Orgières - to raise him inParis.His siblings were:

• Valeran (1355-12 April 1415)
• Jean(c. 1370–1397)
• André (1374-1396; laterBishop of Cambrai)
• Marie (d. 1391)
• Jeanne

Pierre was uncle toLouis de Luxembourgand the quasi-cardinal Thibault de Luxembourg; he was the great-granduncle ofPhilippe de Luxembourg.

In 1377 he began studies at theParisian college.In 1379 he was elected acanonfor the cathedral chapter ofNotre Dame de Paris.In 1381 he traveled toLondonto offer himself as a hostage to the English in order to secure his brother's release. The English were so perplexed yet enthralled with this offer that his brother was returned to France. Hearing this,Richard IIinvited him to remain at his court, but Pierre returned to Paris to pursue his vocation to thepriesthood.That same year he became a canon for the cathedral chapter ofNotre Dame de Chartresand was madeArchdeacon of Dreuxin theChartres diocese.He had a great devotion to the passion and the cross of Christ. In 1382 he was elected Archdeacon for Cambrai.

Sforza places Avignon under the protection of Pierre during the plague outbreak.

Bishop

In 1384 the episcopal see ofMetzbecame vacant. The selection of a new bishop was complicated by theWestern Schismin which theKingdom of FrancesupportedAntipope Clement VIIwhile theHoly Roman EmperorsupportedPope Urban VI.Theantipopenamed Pierre as Bishop of Metz in 1384 and he was enthroned there that September entering barefoot on amule.He divided diocesan revenues into thirds: the first two were for the Church and the poor and the third for his household.He was able to take Metz with armed troops for a brief period of time but was forced to withdraw sometime in 1385. About this time Pope Urban VI named Tilman Vuss de Bettenburg as the legitimate Bishop of Metz.

AfterKing Charles VIandDuke John of Berryasked the antipope to make Pierre acardinal,he was made cardinal priest ofSan Giorgio in Velabroon 15 April 1384. During his time as a pseudocardinal he attempted without success to end the Western Schism.The antipope invited Pierre on 23 September 1386 to join him at his court inAvignonwhere he remained until his death.

Pierre died in July 2, 1387 fromfeverthat resulted from the austerities he had imposed upon himself; he had fallen ill in March. He died at theCarthusianconventinVilleneuve-lès-Avignonin Avignon.His wished to be buried in a common grave aspauperswere. In 1387, the mysticMarie Robinewas reportedly healed at his tomb.On 16 March 1395, his brother Jean ordered the construction of a church dedicated to the saintedPope Celestine Vand Pierre's remains were transferred there.

Veneration

The subject of his canonization was raised at theCouncil of Baselbut without a solid conclusion. In 1432 he was named the patron saint of Avignon. His cult following included Metz and Paris in addition to Verdun and Luxembourg. His beatification had been requested on numerous occasions.Queen Maria of Naplesmade one such request on 1 February 1388 as did several other nobles and princes. The process was opened on numerous occasions but faced frequent interruptions (1389 and 1390 and later 1433 and 1435).Pope Clement VIIbeatified Pierre in 1527.

In 1597 his relics were taken to Paris where they were damaged during the French Revolution. In 1629Pope Urban VIIIallowed the Carthusians to celebrate aMassand theDivine Officein his name. The vice-legate Sforza placed the city under his protection during a 1640 plague outbreak. Since 1854 his relics have been venerated in the Saint-Didier church in Avignon, in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in Ligny-en-Barrois.

Further reading

• Conrad Eubel,Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi(Münich: Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913), I, 338.
• Michael J. Walsh, "Peter of Luxembourg" inA New Dictionary of Saints: East and West,(Liturgical Press, 2007), 483.
• Patricia Healy Wasyliw,Martyrdom, Murder, and Magic: Child Saints and Their Cults in Medieval Europe,(Peter Lang Publishing, 2008), 98.
• Eric Johnson, "La Ville Sonnant: The Politics of Sacred Space in Avignon on the Eve of the French Revolution", inDefining the Holy: Sacred Space in Medieval and Early Modern Europe,p. 331.
• Alban Butler and Paul Burns (ed.), "Bd. Peter of Luxembourg" inButler's Lives of the Saints(Burns and Oates, 2000), p. 16.
• Jan-Luc Fray (1994). "Peter von Luxemburg (Le Bienheureux Pierre de Luxembourg)". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.).Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL)(in German). Vol. 7. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 259–261.ISBN3-88309-048-4.

External links

• Catholic Online
• Diocese of Avignon(in French)