Most of us are reasonably ignorant about the time the Papacy was located in Avignon, but many people visiting Avignon wish they knew more. Why did the Popes set up in Avignon? When did it all happen? How long did it last?
This is intended to answer some of the questions, based on my limited researches, largely in John Julius Norwich’s very readable book “The Popes – A History”.
Why did they go to Avignon?
To start with, the Popes were then French. The Papacy was very much a political, as well as a religious, institution and had allied itself, for some years, with the French king, partly to get the German Emperors out of southern Italy. Towards the end of the 1200s, the French were the dominant power in central and southern Italy. At the end of the 13th century, the Popes operated under the shadow of the all-powerful king, Philip the Fair.
However, relations between King and Pope were not good at that time. There were bitter arguments about whether the King could tax the French clergy, following which the Popes had had to back down. But the King wanted the Popes to be in France. The then Pope decided on Avignon as a compromise. It was not actually in France at that time, but was the property of Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence.
There were other reasons for choosing Avignon. Rome at that time was unruly and dangerous - even though Avignon wasn’t much better. Petrarch described it as “a sewer where all the filth of the universe is collected”.
When did it happen?
The first Avignon Pope was Clement V. He had been Archbishop of Bordeaux, became Pope in 1305 and established himself in Avignon in 1309. He was the first of seven popes who stayed there. It was the seat of the Papacy for 68 years until 1378.
Who were they?
Clement was mainly notorious for aiding and abetting Philip the Fair in suppressing the Knight Templars under conditions of the most appalling cruelty. Their leader was arrested on 13 October 1307, maybe giving rise to the superstition about Friday the 13th.
The second Pope was also a Frenchman. He took the name of John XXII. Under his regime, Avignon became a prosperous city. He had no time for the supposed virtue of poverty and founded the vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
His successor, another Frenchman, was Benedict XII – “not an attractive figure”, to quote Lord Norwich. He had been involved, before becoming Pope, in the massacre of some of the last remaining Cathars, described by someone at the time as “a holocaust, very great and pleasing to God”. On the positive side, he was responsible for the start of the building of the Palais des Papes. He died “weighed down by age and wine” in the words of Petrarch.
The fourth pope was Clement VI, previously first minister of the French king, Philip VI. He was firmly in the tradition of extravagant display and good living – one of the subsequent popes was said to be his illegitimate son. But it was he, Clement VI, who in 1348, the year of the Black Death that killed possibly three-quarters of the population of Avignon, bought Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin, now the Vaucluse, from the Countess of Provence. It all remained papal territory, not part of France, till shortly after the French Revolution.
The next one was Innocent VI, a more serious, worthy figure. And his successor, the sixth Avignon Pope, Urban V, was also an austere, pious man – an ex-monk. Urban V took the brave decision in 1367 to return to Rome. Some thousands of people embarked on this journey, only to turn back, to the relief of all concerned, on 30 September 1370. Why? Rome was still in turmoil; the French king wanted him back in Avignon; and so did the cardinals, most of whom were French.
The last one was, of course, French. He took the name Gregory XI. He had been made a cardinal at the age of 19, appointed by his uncle (and possibly his father – see above) Clement VI. He also decided to return to Rome, and actually did so, with the important and apparently necessary encouragement of St Catherine of Siena.
What happened then?
Confusingly, there continued to be Popes staying in Avignon, but they have been treated as “antipopes”. They certainly didn’t think of themselves as antipopes. Europe was divided for many years between the supporters of Rome and the supporters of Avignon. This lasted effectively until 1417 when Martin V was elected Pope, a Roman from an old and distinguished Roman family.
31 August 2015
Tony Herbert
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