The Avignon Papacy was the period in which the popes lived in Avignon in southern France rather than in Rome. It began when Clement V, a Frenchman elected in the midst of conflict between the papacy and the French crown, chose not to go to Rome, which was torn by factional violence. Seven successive popes, all French, reigned from Avignon, where they built the great Palais des Papes and developed a large and efficient bureaucracy, which critics said made the Church corrupt and subservient to France. Voices such as Petrarch and Catherine of Siena urged a return to Rome, and Gregory XI went back in 1377. His death was followed by the Western Schism, in which rival popes reigned in Rome and Avignon.
Before and after
- 1303Founding of Sapienza University of Rome
- from 20 April 1303 to 22 April 1303Battle of Marj al-Saffar
- 24 February 1304Birth of Ibn Battuta
- 20 July 1304Birth of Petrarch
- from 1309 to 1377Avignon Papacy
- 1310Rise of ars nova
- 13 November 1312Birth of Edward III of England
- 1313Birth of Giovanni Boccaccio
- 1315Origins of Gračanica monastery
More in Wars, politics & history
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- 9th centuryHanbalism
- from 1096 to 1099First Crusade
- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 14th century.