Period during which the Pope lived in Avignon, France in the 14th century
Papal States
Stato della Chiesa(Italian) Status Ecclesiasticus(Latin) Papauté d'Avignon(French)
1309–1376
Banner of the Papal States (1300s)
Coat of arms of the Avignon Papacy
Map of the Papal states with the ecclesiastical enclave of Avignon in France.
Status
Papal enclave and part of the Comtat Venaissin within France
Capital
Avignon
Common languages
Latin, Occitan, French
Religion
Catholic
Government
Theocratic absolute elective monarchy
Pope
• 1305–1314
Clement V (First)
• 1370–1378
Gregory XI (Last)
Historical era
Middle Ages
• Curia moved to Avignon
1309
• Return to Rome of the last Avignon pope
1377
Currency
Roman scudo
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Comtat Venaissin
Kingdom of France
Comtat Venaissin
Kingdom of France
Today part of
France
The Avignon Papacy (French: Papauté d'Avignon) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France) rather than in Rome.[1] The situation arose from the conflict between the papacy and the French crown, culminating in the death of Pope Boniface VIII after his arrest and maltreatment by Philip IV of France. Following the subsequent death of Pope Benedict XI, Philip forced a deadlocked conclave to elect the French Clement V as pope in 1305. Clement refused to move to Rome, and in 1309 he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. This absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian captivity of the Papacy".[2][3]
A total of seven popes reigned at Avignon, all French,[4][5] and all under the influence of the French Crown. In 1376, Gregory XI abandoned Avignon and moved his court to Rome, arriving in January 1377. After Gregory's death in 1378, deteriorating relations between his successor Urban VI and a faction of cardinals gave rise to the Western Schism. This started a second line of Avignon popes, subsequently regarded as illegitimate. The last Avignon antipope, Benedict XIII, lost most of his support in 1398, including that of France. After five years besieged by the French, he fled to Perpignan in 1403. The schism ended in 1417 at the Council of Constance.[6]
^The Avignon Papacy, P.N.R. Zutshi, The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 1300-c. 1415, Vol. VI, Ed. Michael Jones, (Cambridge University Press, 2000), 653.
^Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh S. Pyper, The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, (Oxford University Press, 2000), 227.
^Catholic Encyclopaedia entry para 7
^Joseph F. Kelly, The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History, (Liturgical Press, 2009), 104.
^Eamon Duffy, Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes, (Yale University Press, 1997), 165.
^The History of the Council of Constance, page 403, Stephen Whatley, Jacques Lenfant, published by A. Bettesworth, 1730.
The AvignonPapacy (French: Papauté d'Avignon) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within...
at Avignon. After Gregory's death on 27 March 1378, the people of Rome feared that the cardinals would elect a French pope and return the papacy to Avignon...
Viterbo, Orvieto, and Perugia, and lastly Avignon. The return of the popes to Rome after the AvignonPapacy was followed by the Western Schism: the division...
of its members. Clement moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon, ushering in the period known as the AvignonPapacy. Raymond Bertrand was born in Vilandraut...
political allegiances, with the AvignonPapacy being closely associated with the French monarchy. The papacy had resided in Avignon since 1309, but Pope Gregory...
Avignon had been an issue since Pope Clement V moved the papacy to Avignon in 1309. From Popes Clement V to Urban V, the popes of the AvignonPapacy had...
du Grand Avignon, a cooperation structure of 16 communes, had 197,102 inhabitants in 2022. Between 1309 and 1377, during the AvignonPapacy, seven successive...
incorporated into the French state during the French Revolution. During the AvignonPapacy, local despots took advantage of the absence of the popes to establish...
historic center of Avignon, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for its outstanding architecture and historical importance for the papacy. The Palais is actually...
power. From 1309 to 1377, the pope resided not in Rome but in Avignon. The AvignonPapacy was notorious for greed and corruption. During this period, the...
The AvignonPapacy: The Popes in Exile, 1305-1403. Translated by Bethell, Denis. Faber & Faber. Rollo-Koster, Joëlle (2015). Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309–1417:...
domes AvignonPapacy Girard 1958, p. 162. Girard 1958, pp. 163, 166. "Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge"...
College of Cardinals. His pontificate began shortly after the end of the AvignonPapacy. It was marked by immense conflict between rival factions as part of...
Clement V, Pope John centralized power and income in the Papacy and lived a princely life in Avignon. John opposed the policies of Louis IV the Bavarian as...
the papacy. The conflict was political, rather than doctrinal, in nature. In 1309, Pope Clement V, due to political considerations, moved to Avignon in...
The following is a history of Avignon, France. The site of Avignon has been occupied since the Neolithic period as shown by excavations at Rocher des Doms...
to the papacy as Clement VII (French: Clément VII) by the cardinals who opposed Pope Urban VI and was the first antipope residing in Avignon, France...
the return of the Legation of Bologna to the Papacy, despite the fine words and promises they made in Avignon. On 26 July, Abbot Grimoard and Msgr. Azzo...
Rome during the AvignonPapacy. Two destructive fires, in 1307 and 1361, did irreparable harm, and although vast sums were sent from Avignon for the rebuilding...
England's chancery clerk. Clement VI was the fourth of seven Avignon Popes whose papacy was not contested, although the supreme pontiffs would ultimately...
Venasque, which was replaced as capital by Carpentras in 1320. Avignon was sold to the papacy by Joanna I, Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence, in 1348...
reside in the fortified city of Avignon in southern France during a period known as the AvignonPapacy. The AvignonPapacy ended in 1376 when the pope returned...
Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806523705. Rollo-Koster, Joëlle (2015). Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309-1417: Popes, Institutions, and Society. Rowman & Littlefield...
functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the AvignonPapacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within...
Joëlle (2015). "Chapter 2. Clement VI and Rome: Cola di Rienzo". Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309–1417: Popes, Institutions, and Society. NY: Rowman & Littlefield...
October, allowing France to dominate his weaker successors during the Avignonpapacy. The family remained at the centre of civic and religious life throughout...
Investiture Controversy, the Papacy did gain considerable influence in the High Middle Ages, but with the AvignonPapacy and the Western Schism, the city...
created by six of the Antipopes, in or rival to Rome, including two of AvignonPapacy and one of Pisa, as princes of their schismatic government of the Catholic...
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