BERTRAND DE GOT'S EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL CAREER

Bertrand de Got was elected to the papacy on 5 June 1305, eleven months after the death of Benedict XI. The biography of the new pope up to this stage shows a successful ecclesiastical career in a supportive frame work. Bertrand, the third son of Béraud de Got, lord of Villandraut, Grayan, Livran, and Uzeste, and of Ida de Blanquefort, was born in Villandraut (Gironde) in the middle of the thirteenth century. Theirs was a large family of knightly rank, comprising eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, who in time provided Bertrand with more than twenty nephews. The de Got family was related to the lineages of Mauléon, Fargues, Savignac, and Preyssac, all of whom had strong links with both the ecclesiastical and the political establishment in the area. Bertrand's grandfather was the brother of Garcias de Benquet, bishop of Bazas (1166–79). His uncle, who had the same name, was bishop of Agen (1292–1305). His older brother, Béraud, received the archdeaconry of Montaut in Agen in 1279; ten years later, he was appointed archbishop of Lyons (23 July 1289), the last stage before his nomination as cardinal bishop of Albano (18 September 1294). Another brother, Guillaume Seguin de Got, was papal chaplain and canon of Agen, and by 1297 enjoyed at least seven ecclesiastical benefices.

Bertrand de Got began his education at the Grandmontine priory of Deffez in St Férreol (Lot-et-Garonne) in the diocese of Agen. He studied canon and Roman law at the Universities of Orléans and Bologna, there after returning to his native environment, which supported and facilitated his ecclesiastical career.