Telesphorus of Cosenza was a name assumed by one of the pseudo-prophets during the time of the Western Schism

Western Schism

The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...

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He gave out that he was born in Cosenza, Italy and lived as a hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

 near the site of the ancient Thebes

Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)

See Thebes, Greece for the modern city built on the ancient ruins.Ancient Thebes was a Boeotian city-state , situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain...

. His book of predictions on the schism was the most popular of the numerous prophetic treatises that were spread by the many self-constituted prophets of that period. More than twenty manuscripts of it are still extant, and it first appeared in print with various interpolations: Liber de magnis tribulationibus in proximo futuris, etc. (Venice, 1516). The work was originally compiled about 1386 from the writings of Joachim of Fiore

Joachim of Fiore

Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore , was the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore . He was a mystic, a theologian and an esoterist...

, Jean de Roquetaillade

Jean de Roquetaillade

Jean de Roquetaillade was a French Franciscan alchemist.After studying philosophy for five years at Toulouse, he entered the Franciscan monastery at Aurillac, where he continued his studies for five years longer.His experiments in distillation led to the discovery of what he termed aqua vitæ, or...

, the Cyrillic Prophecy (of Cyril of Constantinople

Cyril of Constantinople

Saint Cyril of Constantinople was a General of the Carmelites and prior of the hermits on Mount Carmel for three years. He is reputed to have had the gift of prophecy....

), and other apocalyptic treatises whose authors are mentioned in the dedicatory preface addressed to Antoniotto Adorno, the Doge

Doge

Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....

 of Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

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Its chief prophecies are: the schism will end in 1393 at Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

, where the antipope

Antipope

An antipope is a person who opposes a legitimately elected or sitting Pope and makes a significantly accepted competing claim to be the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church. At times between the 3rd and mid-15th century, antipopes were typically those supported by a...

 and his followers will be punished; a short period of peace will follow, whereupon the Emperor Frederick III with three antipopes will inaugurate a cruel persecution of the clergy, who will be deprived of all their temporalities; King Charles of France will be imprisoned, but miraculously liberated; the "Angelic Pastor" will ascend the papal throne; under his pontificate, the clergy will voluntarily renounce their temporal possessions and a general council will legislate that the income of the clergy is limited to what is necessary for a decent livelihood; the "Angelic Pastor" will take from the German elector

Prince-elector

The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...

s the right to elected the emperor, he will crown the French King Charles emperor, and restore the Church to its original poverty and service of God; finally, the pope and the emperor will undertake a crusade, regain the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

, and bring the Jews, Greeks, and infidel

Infidel

An infidel is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam....

s back to Christ. A criticism of these prophecies, written by the German theologian Henry of Langenstein

Henry of Langenstein

Henry of Langenstein, also known as Henry of Hesse the Elder was a German Scholastic philosopher, theologian and mathematician.-Biography:...

, is printed in Bernhard Pez

Bernhard Pez

Bernhard Pez was an Austrian Benedictine historian and librarian.-Life:He studied at Vienna and Krems, and in 1699 entered Melk Abbey...

, Thesaurus Anecdotorum Noviss, I, II, (Augsburg, 1721-9), 507-64.