Northern Catholic Church (Merveilles des Morte)

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Antipope Zephyrinus II

The Northern Catholic Church, also known as the German Catholic Church or Zephyrinites, was a schismatic Catholic Church not in communion with the Church in Rome. Its seat was held in the city of Bremen, and was led by a Pope who traces his succession from the election of Jean Ferrier, also known as Antipope Zephyrinus II, in 1545. The structure of the Northern Catholic Church was largely borrowed from the Callixtine Church, but also imitated the Roman system of Cardinal-electors that met in the city of Bremen.

During the Reformation of the 16th century, many churches felt disillusioned by the Pope's inability to suppress the Jungist movement. Many bishops and theologians argued that the sui iuris approach of the Catholic Church had become far too liberal, and the current issues of the Protestant Reformation was the result of the Church comprising too heavily in favor of heresies. The Gunpowder Plot of 1535 polarized Catholic leadership, and led to a rise in popularity of reactionaries within the church, in what became known as the Spirituali-Zelanti split. Beginning with the reign of Francis I (1534-1540), the Zelanti faction gained preeminence in Rome, beginning a harsh round of inquisition, including against claimed Primate of Germany Martin Breuer. In 1541 the head of the Teutonic Order, Henry von Kerpen, seized the initiative to begin a militant suppression of Jungist communities in northwest Germany, in what became known as the Kerpen War. Becoming increasingly puritanical and radical in his pursuit, Kerpen subsequently attacked both Catholic and Jungist states alike, leading German states to call for condemnation from the Pope; Paschal III instead supported Kerpen, leading to a schism among German churches.

Although not usually reasons to discount a papal election, these bishops nonetheless considered the incumbent Pope Paschal III to be illegitimate, and called a new conclave of cardinals in the city of Hamburg. This new conclave elected Archbishop Jean Ferrier in 1545, adopting the name Pope Zephyrinus II. The name of Zephyrinus is a puzzle to some historians, as the original Pope Zephyrinus from the second century AD had a rather ignominious, if not infamous papacy, yet Jean Ferrier never left any writings to explain his rational. At any rate, this movement of German Catholics split away from the synod of Callixtine Catholics in Prague, leaving the latter in a much weaker position in Central Europe.

At its height, the Zephyrinites had recognition from bishops from across Germany, Bohemia, Poland, and Arles-Burgundy. Antipope Zephyrinus II accepted this recognition along with numerous other Holy Orders, which he used for the purpose of the ongoing Counter-Reformation, as the intention of the Zephyrinites was never for combatting the Church of Rome, but rather their focus was on the elimination of Jungism across Europe. After Pope Paschal III died in 1547, the Cardinals in Rome entered into negotiations with Ferrier with regards to the Counter-Reformation, and left the seat in Rome vacant for the time being. The Zephyrinite movement significantly fell out of favor when Ferrier died in 1550, and the Jesuit leader Francis Xavier was elected as Pope Leo XII.

Cardinals

No.	Name	Country	Life	Consistory	Office
1	CB Jean Ferrier II	Arles	Unknown - Present	1521 Pope Adrian VI
2	Mousa Saade el-Akari	Maronite Church	Unknown - Present	1524 Pope Lucius IV
3	CB Hans Grueber	Hanseatic League	Unknown - Present	9 October 1545 Pope Zephyrinus II	Archbishop of Bremen
4	Grand Synod	Rätian Union (Thuringia)	Unknown - Present	11 October 1545 Pope Zephyrinus II
5	CP Jochen Bohl	Duchy of Württemberg	Unknown - Present	30 October 1545 Pope Zephyrinus II	Regent of the Apostolic Signatura
6	CP Jacques Ferrier	Arles	Unknown - Present	30 October 1545 Pope Zephyrinus II	Prince-Abbot of Corvey
7	CP Marcuse of Bruce-Anjou	Arles	1482 - Present	30 October 1545 Pope Zephyrinus II	Archbishop-Elector of Cologne
8	CB Konrad Meisner	Rätian Union (Franconia)	Unknown - Present	2 January 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Titular Bishop of Bamberg
9	CB Jerzy Radziwiłł	Poland	1501 - Present	2 January 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Archbishop of Vilnius
10	CB Edmund de la Marck	Rätian Union (Saxony)	1493 - Present	12 July 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Bishop of Jessen
11	Petrus II	Bohemia	1493 - Present	12 July 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Hussite Patriarch
12	Jómika Ashoona	Greenland	Unknown - Present	30 August 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Patriarch of Greenland, Bishop pf Garðar
13	CB Jean Calas	France	Unknown - Present	30 August 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	President of the French Episcopal Conference, Titular Bishop of Montpellier
14	CB Pierre de Bertrand	France	Unknown - Present	30 August 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Titular Bishop of Cahors
15	CB Louis del Carretto	France	Unknown - Present	30 August 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Titular Bishop of Pamiers
16	CB Nicolaus Sévin	France	Unknown - Present	30 August 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Titular Bishop of Nîmes
17	CB Hermann von Vicari	Habsburg	Unknown - Present	1 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Bishop of Offenburg
18	CP Thomas Nörber	Habsburg	1520 - Present	1 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Almoner of His Holiness
19	CP Uriel von Gemmingen	Archbishopric of Mainz	Unknown - Present	1 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Archbishop of Mainz
20	CP Salentin von Isenburg	Archbishopric of Cologne	1520 - Present	1 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Archbishop of Cologne
21	CP Joffrid von Leiningen	Hanseatic League	Unknown - Present	1 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Bishop of Munster
22	CP Jakob von Liebenstein	Hanseatic League	Unknown - Present	1 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Bishop of Osnabruck
23	CP Arnold von Selenhofen		Unknown - Present	9 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Bishop of Paderborn
24	CP Jan Lohelius	Bohemia	Unknown - Present	9 September 1546 Pope Zephyrinus II	Archbishop of Prague

Footnotes