Editing Pope Clement VI (section)

===Monk and scholar===
Roger entered the [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine order]]<ref name="McBrien240">Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II'', (HarperCollins, 2000), 240.</ref> as a boy in 1301,  at the [[Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu]] in the diocese of Clermont in the Auvergne.<ref>Wrigley (1970), p. 436.</ref>  After six years there, he was directed to higher studies by the Bishop of Le Puy, Jean de Cumenis, and his own abbot, Hugues d'Arc.<ref>Baluze, I, p. 262. Eubel, I, p. 91. {{cite book|author1=Claude Courtépée|author-link=Claude Courtépée|author2=Edme Béguillet|title=Description générale et particulière du duché de Bourgogne, précédé de l'abrégé historique de cette province|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MzQDAAAAYAAJ|year=1777|publisher=L.N. Frantin|location=Dijon|language=fr|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MzQDAAAAYAAJ/page/n318 312]}}</ref>  In 1307 he took up studies in Paris at the [[College de Sorbonne]], where he entered the Collège de Narbonne.  To support him, beyond what was supplied by his bishop and his abbot, he was granted the post of Prior of St. Pantaléon in the diocese of Limoges.<ref>Wrigley (1970), p. 438.</ref>  In the summer of 1323, after Pierre had been studying both theology and canon law<ref>Lützelschwab, pp. 47–48.</ref> in Paris for sixteen years, the Chancellor of Paris was ordered by [[Pope John XXII]], on the recommendation of King Charles IV, to confer on him the doctorate in Theology, a chair, and a license to teach.<ref>Henri Denifle, ''Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis''  Tomus II (Paris 1891), no. 822, pp. 271–272. Wrigley, p. 439.</ref>  Pierre was in his thirty-first year.<ref>Baluze, I, p. 262.</ref> He lectured publicly on the ''Sententiae'' of [[Peter Lombard]], and defended and promoted the works of [[Thomas Aquinas]].  He was appalled by the ''[[Defensor Pacis]]'' of Marsilius of Padua, and wrote a treatise in 1325 condemning its principles and defending Pope John XXII.<ref>Wrigley (1970), pp. 442–443.</ref>

He was granted the priory of St. Baudil, a dependency of the Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu, on 24 April 1324, at the personal order of Pope John XXII; and then, on 23 June 1326, he was named [[Abbot of Fécamp]], a royal abbey and one of the most important monasteries in France.  He held the position until 1329.<ref>Wrigley (1970), p. 441–443.  Baluze, I, p. 274. {{cite book|last=Gourdon de Genouillac|first=Henri |title=Histoire de l'abbaye de Fécamp et de ses abbés|url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredelabba00genogoog|year=1875|publisher=A. Marinier|location= Fécamp|language=fr|pages=226–227}}</ref>

Pierre Roger was called to Avignon through the influence of his friend and protector, Cardinal Pierre de Mortemart (who was named a cardinal on 18 December 1327), both of whom were close to King Charles IV.<ref>{{cite book |author=Etienne [Stephanus] Baluze [Baluzius] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHBUAAAAQAAJ |title=Vitae paparum Avenionensium |publisher=apud Franciscum Muguet |year=1693 |volume=Tomus primus |location=Paris |page=762 |language=la}}  Nouvelle edition by [https://archive.org/details/vitaepaparumaven02balu][[Guillaume Mollat|G. Mollat]] II (Paris 1927), p. 264.  Wrigley, pp. 443–444.</ref>  Unfortunately, King Charles IV died on 1 February 1328, the last Capetian king of France in the direct line.

As Abbot of Fécamp, and therefore a feudal subject of Edward III, Pierre  was assigned the task in 1328 of summoning [[Edward III of England]] to pay homage to [[Philip VI of France]] for the [[duchy of Aquitaine]].<ref>Jonathan Summation, ''Trial by Battle:The Hundred Years War'', Vol. I, (Faber & Faber, 1990), 109.</ref>  He received no reply, however, from King Edward, and was forced to return to France, his mission unaccomplished.<ref>''Gallia christiana,'' Tomus XI (Paris 1759), p. 211.</ref>