Pope Martin V.
Born near Rome in1368; died at Rome in 1431. He studied at the University of Perugia, became prothonotary Apostolic under Urban VI , papal auditor and nuncio at various Italian courts. In 1402 he was made Cardinal Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro. He deserted the lawful pope, Gregory XII, was present at the council of Pisa, and took part in the election of the antipopes Alexander V and John XXIII. At the Concil of Constance he was unanimously elected pope on on in November, 1417 by the representatives of the five nations (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and England) and took the name Martin V in honor of the saint of Tours whose feast fell on the day of his election. A few days after he was crowned pope in the great court of the episcopal palace of Constance.

The influential family of the Colonnas had already given twenty-seven cardinals to the church, but Martin V was the first to ascend the papal throne. He was in the full vigor of life being only forty-one years of age. Of simple and unassuming manners and stainless character, he possessed a great knowledge of canon law, was pledged to no party, and had numerous other good qualities. He seemed the right man to rule the Church which had passed through the most critical period in its history. But in a few years the various antipopes submitted to him. From Constance Martin V set out for Rome in May of 1418, but due to the situation in Rome, he . proceeded slowly on his way thither, stopping for some time at Berne, Geneva, Mantua and Florence. Once in Florence he gained the support of Queen Giovanna of Naples, who was in possession of Rome and Naples, by consenting to recognize her and be crowned as Queen of Naples October 1419). She ordered her general Sforza Attendolo, to evacuate Rome and granted important fiefs in her kingdom to the pope's two brothers, Giordano and Lorenzo. With the help of the Florentines, Martin also came to an understanding with the famous condottiere Bracco di Montone, who had gained mastery over half of central Italy. The pope allowed him to retain Perugia, Assisi, Todi and Jesi as vicar of the church, whereupon Braccio restored all his other conquests, and obliged Bologna to submit to the pope. Internally, Martin's main accomplishments were to begin to bring at least some measure of order to a historically disorderly city, to rebuild crumbling buildings and to erect new ones; in short, to take care of basic services within Rome. For this reconstruction he engaged some famous masters of the Tuscan school, and thus laid the foundation for the Roman Renaissance. Outside the city, he managed to assert at least some measure of control and authority in the Papal States. After the death of Braccio di Montone in June 1424, Perugia, Assisi, Todi and Jesi freely submitted to the papal territory. Bologna again revolted in 1428, but returned to the papal allegiance in the following year.

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