Blessed Innocent V

Pope Innocent V (Latin: Innocentius V; c. 1225 – 22 June 1276), born Pierre de Tarentaise, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 January to 22 June 1276. A member of the Order of Preachers, he acquired a reputation as an effective preacher. He held one of the two "Dominican Chairs" at the University of Paris, and was instrumental in helping with drawing up the "program of studies" for the Order. In 1269, Peter of Tarentaise was Provincial of the French Province of Dominicans. He was a close collaborator of Pope Gregory X, who named him Bishop of Ostia and raised him to cardinal in 1273. Upon the death of Gregory in 1276, Peter was elected pope, taking the name Innocent V and becoming the first pope elected in a papal conclave. He died about five months later, but during his brief tenure facilitated a peace between Genoa and King Charles I of Sicily. Pope Innocent V was beatified in 1898 by Pope Leo XIII. Pierre de Tarentaise was born around 1225 near Moûtiers in the Tarentaise region of the County of Savoy. An alternative popular hypothesis, however, suggests that he was born in La Salle, in the Aosta Valley, in what is now Italy. Both places were then part of the Kingdom of Arles in the Holy Roman Empire, but now the first is in southeastern France and the second in northwestern Italy. Another hypothesis, favored by some French scholars, is that Peter originated in Tarantaise in Burgundy, or Tarantaise in the Department of the Loire in the Arrondissement of Saint-Etienne. In early life, around 1240, Peter joined the Dominican Order at their convent in Lyons. In the summer of 1255, he was transferred to the studium generale in the Convent of S. Jacques in Paris. This move was essential for someone who was likely to study at the University of Paris. He obtained the degree of Master of Theology, and quickly acquired great fame as a preacher.