Editing Pope Boniface IX (section)

==Early life==
Born c. 1350 in [[Naples]], Pietro (also Piero or Perino) [[Cybo]] Tomacelli was son of Baron Giacomo Tomacelli and Verdella [[House of Caracciolo|Caracciolo]], feudataries of Casarano and nearby Casaranello, from noble neapolitan families, and a descendant of Tamaso Cybo, who belonged to an influential noble family from [[Genoa]] and settled in [[Casarano]] in the Kingdom of [[Naples]]. He was baptized in the paleochristian church of Santa Maria della Croce (the church of Casaranello). An unsympathetic German contemporary source, [[Dietrich of Nieheim]], asserted that he was illiterate (''nesciens scribere etiam male cantabat''). Neither a trained theologian nor skilled in the business of the [[Roman Curia|Curia]], he was tactful and prudent in a difficult era, but [[Ludwig Pastor]], who passes swiftly over his [[pontificate]], says, "The numerous endeavours for unity made during this period form one of the saddest chapters in the history of the Church. Neither pope had the magnanimity to put an end to the terrible state of affairs" by resigning.<ref>Pastor, ''The History of the Popes: From the Close of the Middle Ages'' (1906), vol. i, p 165.</ref> After his election at the [[Papal conclave, 1389|papal conclave]] of 1389, [[Germany]], [[England]], [[Hungary]], [[Poland]], and the greater part of [[Italy]] accepted him as pope. The remainder of Europe recognized the [[Avignon Pope Clement VII]]. He and Boniface mutually [[excommunicated]] each other.<ref name="Catholic">{{Catholic|wstitle=Pope Boniface IX|inline=yes}}</ref>

The day before Tomacelli's election by the fourteen cardinals who remained faithful to the papacy at Rome,<ref name="McBrien249" /> [[Pope Clement VII|Clement VII]] at Avignon had just crowned a French prince, [[Louis II of Anjou]], as king of Naples. The youthful [[Ladislaus of Naples|Ladislaus]] was the son of King [[Charles III of Naples]], assassinated in 1386, and [[Margaret of Durazzo]], scion of a line that had traditionally supported the popes in their struggles in Rome with the anti-papal party in the city itself. Boniface IX saw to it that Ladislaus was crowned [[King of Naples]] at [[Gaeta]] on 29 May 1390 and worked with him for the next decade to expel the [[House of Valois-Anjou|Angevin]] forces from southern Italy.<ref name="Catholic"/>