[3] Not at all coincidentally, Pope John XXII was a native of Cahors, and his father had been Sieur de Saint-Félix en Quercy.

[4] With his expertise in the law as a teacher and practitioner, and with his experience as a judge in the Roman Curia, Pierre Desprès was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Church by John XXII, where he served from 1325 to 1361.

[8] By 1 September 1317 Desprès was a Chaplain of Pope John XXII, and Provost of the church of Clermont, as well as Auditor causarum Sacri Palatii (judge).

[9] Desprès was named Bishop of Riez on 31 March 1318 by Pope John XXII, after the incumbent Galhard Saumate was transferred to Maguelonne.

[16] That pair of promotions was extraordinarily swift, showing the degree of confidence placed in Pierre Desprès' skills by Pope John XXII.

In February 1326, Cardinal Desprès sat as an examiner in the case of William de Cotes, who had appeared at the Papal Court attempting to obtain relief against the Bishop of Worcester, who had sequestrated the rectory of Seynesbury.

[18] In 1332 Pope John XXII commissioned Cardinal Pierre Desprès and Cardinal Pierre de Mortemart of Limoges to act as arbitrators in the dispute between Ademar de la Voulte, Bishop of Valence (1331-1336), and Aymar of Poitou Count of Valence, over the ownership of the town of Crista.

He was present on 1 August 1331 along with seven other cardinals (one of whom was Jacques Fournier, the future Benedict XII), when Pope John XXII issued a viva voce precept to two of the ministers of the Franciscan Order that they should observe the Rule of St. Francis, as well as the Constitutions of Nicholas III and Clement V, on the use of money.

The successful candidate was Cardinal Jacques Fournier of Limoges, former Chancellor of King Philip VI of France.

[27] As early as 1324 Cardinal Desprès had the consent of Pope John XXII to establish a community of priests in Montpezat, but it was Benedict XII who authorized Saint-Martin to become a prioral church with six chaplains and two clerks.

On 15 July 1343, Clement VI authorized the addition of six more chaplains and a change in name of the ruler of the church from Prior to Dean.

[31] On 30 June 1342, during the pontificate of Clement VI, he was appointed as papal legate with Annibaldo di Ceccano, Bishop of Tusculum, to establish peace between France and England in the Hundred Years' War.

[33] Another mission was sent in November 1345, with Annibaldo di Ceccano, but not with Pierre Desprès, who was replaced by Cardinal Étienne Aubert.

The cardinals eventually drew up a set of Electoral Capitulations, which are enumerated by the new Pope, Innocent VI, in the bull by which he annulled them.

[46] The swiftness of the election is attributed to the fact that it was known by the cardinals that King John II of France was on his way to Avignon, intending to have a pope who would serve his interests.

Wanting to preserve the liberty of the Church and their own, the Cardinals put aside their customary leisurely pace and produced a Pope before the King's arrival.

On 25 September 1355 Pope Innocent VI issued a bull, confirming the decision of Cardinal Desprès, requiring the payment of 50 gold florins to Cluny every year on All Saints' Day.

[49] In 1358, Cardinal Desprès rebuilt the Church of Saint-Pierre in Avignon, which had last been repaired in the tenth century and had fallen into ruins.