Pope Gregory XII

Gregory XII (c. 1327–1417), born Angelo Correr into a Venetian noble family, became bishop of Castello in 1380 and a cardinal in 1405.

Elected pope in 1406 at about eighty, he took office on condition he resign if the Avignon claimant Benedict XIII did the same, ending the schism that had split the Church since 1378. Talks with Benedict went nowhere, and in 1409 the Council of Pisa chose a third claimant; Gregory, holding Rome, recognised none.

In 1415 he freely resigned at the Council of Constance, the last pope to do so until Benedict XVI in 2013. The council made him a cardinal bishop and legate for life. He died at Recanati in 1417, the year Martin V was elected and the schism ended.