Pope Innocent VI

Étienne Aubert, who became Pope Innocent VI (1282–1362), was the son of a Limousin lord and taught civil law at Toulouse before becoming a bishop and, from 1342, a cardinal under Clement VI.

In 1347 he took part in the peace mission that produced the Truce of Calais. Elected at Avignon in December 1352, he revoked a capitulation that placed the pope beneath the college of cardinals, reformed papal administration, and sent Cardinal Albornoz to restore order in Rome and the Papal States.

Plague and the Italian wars left the papacy short of money, so he cut the chapel staff and sold works of art. He died at Avignon on 12 September 1362, and Urban V succeeded him.