Why did the popes reside in Avignon? Explore the background to their fourteenth-century arrival, then the biographies of the seven popes and two Avignon antipopes.
The arrival of the papal court transformed Avignon in the fourteenth century. The city became a centre of government, diplomacy and artistic creation, remembered today in its palace and ramparts.
This introduction sets out the political background to the Avignon period. The biographies below then follow the seven popes and the two subsequent popes of the Avignon obedience during the Western Schism.
The papacy in the early fourteenth century
Seal of Robert of Mondragon, twelfth century: a vassal pays homage to his lord — Archives nationales, Paris.After the Carolingian period, power was distributed among kings, princes and local lords. Bonds of loyalty, landholdings and alliances shaped a fragmented political landscape.
Within this society, the Church held a major spiritual, political and economic role. Popes sought to assert their authority over Christian rulers, while the Crusades extended their involvement in Western affairs.
The pope was a religious leader and a territorial ruler. He governed the Papal States in Italy and held the Comtat Venaissin from 1274. Avignon remained distinct from the Comtat: Clement VI purchased the city in 1348.
Pope Clement IV grants the kingdom to Charles of Anjou — fresco in the Tour Ferrande, Pernes-les-Fontaines.Papal ambitions intersected with those of kings and princes. The alliance with Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence and later King of Sicily, illustrates these close links between religious authority and political power.
In the thirteenth century, conflicts between supporters of the pope and the emperor, known as Guelphs and Ghibellines, divided several Italian cities. Rome itself was troubled by rivalries between its powerful families. Insecurity often led popes to reside elsewhere.
Support for the Angevin dynasty did not bring lasting stability to Italy. The papacy had to contend with cities protective of their autonomy and with the competing ambitions of European rulers.
Philip IV, King of France.
Pope Boniface VIII.Tensions also ran through the Church. Some Franciscan movements defended strict poverty and criticised the accumulation of wealth. These debates about religious life added to conflicts over power within the institution.
The conflict between Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France became particularly bitter. In 1303, Guillaume de Nogaret and the pope’s Italian opponents seized him at Anagni. Released shortly afterwards, Boniface VIII died that same year. The episode weakened papal authority shortly before Clement V’s election.
The seven Avignon popes
Clement V
John
XXII
Benedict
XII
Clement
VI
Urban
V
Gregory
XIThe Western Schism
Illumination of an Avignon pope’s coronation, fourteenth century — Bibliothèque nationale.Gregory XI left Avignon in 1376 and reached Rome in 1377. His death in March 1378 opened a succession crisis in a city where the papal presence remained politically fragile.
In April 1378, the conclave elected the Archbishop of Bari, Bartolomeo Prignano, who took the name Urban VI. A few months later, cardinals challenged the election, citing pressure from the Roman crowd among their objections. They elected Robert of Geneva as Clement VII. Western Christendom divided between two obediences. Read about the Western Schism.
The two Avignon antipopes
Clement
VII
Benedict
XIIIA centre of government and culture
Petrarch’s denunciations of luxury at the papal court left a lasting mark on the image of the Avignon popes. They express a polemical view of the court rather than a complete account of the period.
Relations with the French monarchy varied between pontificates. Proximity to the kingdom offered protection, but the papacy also pursued its own diplomatic and religious aims. The Avignon period cannot therefore be reduced to simple dependence on the French king.
Benedict XII and Clement VI gave Avignon its Palais des Papes. The residence housed the Church’s government and a court of diplomats, artists and scholars. Later attempts to return to Rome reflected Italian, religious and political concerns extending beyond Avignon itself.
The Western Schism lasted from 1378 to 1417. Rivalries between rulers and loyalty to competing popes prolonged the crisis. The Council of Constance, supported by Sigismund, King of the Romans, led to Martin V’s election in 1417.
Coming from southern regions, the Avignon popes had differing careers and personalities. John XXII, Benedict XII and Urban V were among those who undertook reforms. Conflicts with some Franciscans concerned theology and poverty; they should not be confused with the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.
Their diplomacy also sought to intervene in European conflicts, with limited results. Spiritual authority did not give them control over armies or princely decisions. The period reveals tensions between Church government and political powers.
Under the popes, Avignon became a cosmopolitan city and a great building site. Cardinals’ households, embassies, merchants and artists transformed daily life. Exchanges between French, Occitan and Italian cultures contributed to the city’s intellectual and artistic influence.