Michael of Cesena (original) (raw)

Michael of Cesena (1270-November 29 1342) was a Franciscan, general of that Order, and theologian, born at Cesena, a small town in Italy. He was an advocate of ecclesiastical poverty, in which dispute he found himself ranged against Pope John XXII. The latter summoned him to Avignon in 1327. and Michael eventually agreed to go. He was detained here by the Pope, along with William of Ockham. In the following year, they were freed by agents of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and taken to Pisa , where John XXII was declared to be deposed by the Emperor. In 1329 he was declared to be deposed from the Franciscan leadership, now controlled by the Pope, and he left in the entourage of Louis for Germany, where he died.