He was therefore recognized by them as their new chief without cavil, and took his place on the rolls as the twenty-fifth Grand-Master in the year 1319. Villaret received his appointment to the grand-priory which had been promised to him, and retired thither in bitterness of spirit, to end in disgrace and comparative solitude that life, the earlier portion of which had been so brilliant and prosperous. Sad fate for a man who had undoubtedly done great things, not only for his own Order, but for Christianity at large. The student of history cannot fail to sympathize with the noble and ambitious spirit thus untimely doomed to a life of inglorious inactivity, even though he had by his own faults of character been chiefly responsible for the evils which befel him. No records bearing upon the remainder of his life are now in existence. All that is known is that he died at Montpelier on the 1st September, 1327, where, in the church of St. John, his monument still exists.[1]
By this arrangement on the part of the Pope the interests of the Order suffered a double injury. In the first place they were compelled to receive as their chief a knight, not of their own selection, but a nominee of his, and one who soon gave evidence of the influences under which he was acting, by bestowing some of the most valuable appointments at his disposal upon the needy relatives of his patron.[2] The other injury infficted on the Order was the alienation from its jurisdiction, during the lifetime of
- ↑ The inscription on his monument runs thus:—”Anno Domini MCCCXXVII. die aalioet ler Semptembris obiit nobiissimus Dominus Frater Foiquetus de Villareto Magister niagni Hospitalio Sacræ Domus Sancti Joannis Baptiste Hyerosolimitani Oujus anima requiescat in pace Amen. Dic pro me pater et ave.”
- ↑ It is stated in many histories that Pope John XXII. was the son of a cobbler. Whether this be true or not it would be difficult now to determine. Certain it is that he sprang from a very low origin. An amusing story is told of his election. lt seems that he had earned a very high reputation for sanctity and humility, two virtues which were so pre-eminent in him that he received a cardinal’s hat amid universal approbation. This dignity did not appear in the least to exalt the lowly churchman in his own eyes, and when the election of a new Pope in place of Clement gave rise to much dispute he took no part therein. It was therefore proposed and unanimously agreed to between the rival candidates that the nomination should be left in his hands. To their amazement and consternation this humble priest in his mildest voice pronounced the words, “Ego sum Papa,” and thus appointed himself to tho vacant dignity.
