Felix V | |
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Antipope Felix V, the last historical Antipope.
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Papacy began | 5 November 1439 |
Papacy ended | 7 April 1449 |
Opposed to | Eugene IV and Nicholas V |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Amadeus VIII |
Born | 4 September 1383 Chambéry |
Died | 7 January 1451 | (aged 67)
Parents | Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry |
Coat of arms | |
Papal styles of Antipope Felix V |
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Reference style | His Holiness |
Spoken style | Your Holiness |
Religious style | Holy Father |
Posthumous style | None |
Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451) was an Savoyard nobleman, the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was surnamed the Peaceful. After the death of his father in 1391, his mother acted as a regent, because of his youth. He was an anti-pope of the Catholic Church from 1439 to 1449 as Felix V, in opposition to Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V.
Born at Chambéry, he was the Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and was elevated by Emperor Sigismund to Duke of Savoy in 1416.
In 1418 his distant cousin Louis of Savoy-Achaea, his brother-in-law, the last male of the elder branch of House of Savoy, died, leaving Amadeus as his heir-general, thus finally uniting the male-lines of the House of Savoy.
Amadeus increased his dominions and encouraged several attempts to negotiate an end to the Hundred Years' War. After the death of his wife, he founded the Order of Saint Maurice with six other knights (1434). They lived alone in the castle of Ripaille, near Geneva, in a quasi-monastic state. Amadeus was elected at Basel as pope Felix V in opposition to Pope Eugene IV, by the Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence and reigned from November 1439 to April 1449. He resigned as duke in favour of his son in 1440. He stepped down to accept a Cardinal's hat.
Amadeus' image in history is marred by the account of him as a pontiff concerned with money, to avoid disadvantaging his heirs, found in the Commentaries of Pius II. Nor is there evidence that he intrigued to obtain the papal office, sending the bishops of Savoy to Basel for this purpose.