13th‑century Italian hermit and founder of the Celestines, Catholic saint, first pope to resign
The only pope to quit. Celestine V held the keys for five months in 1294, then walked away — the first resignation in six centuries and the last for seven more. His successor locked him in a castle to keep him from becoming a rival.
Pietro da Morrone was a hermit who founded his own monastic order, content in solitude until cardinals deadlocked for two years chose him in 1294 — the last pope elected outside a conclave. He lasted five months. Nearly every decree he issued was annulled by Boniface VIII, except one: the right of a pope to abdicate. On 13 December 1294, a week after codifying that power, Celestine used it, citing his longing for the humble life he'd left. Boniface imprisoned him in Fumone castle to prevent rivals from installing him as antipope. He died there on 19 May 1296, was canonized seventeen years late…
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