What was the Avignon Papacy?
The Avignon Papacy refers to the 14th-century period when seven successive French popes resided in Avignon rather than Rome. The historical term recently resurfaced in media reports regarding a meeting between U.S. officials and a papal nuncio, though the accuracy of the reference remains debated. The relocation of the papacy began in 1304 following the election of Pope Clement V, who was influenced by the French Crown and chose to remain in France rather than travel to Rome. Avignon transformed from a minor town into a significant papal headquarters, marked by the construction of the massive Palace of the Popes.
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The Avignon Papacy refers to the period in the 1300s when the papal court was based in Avignon, France, rather than Rome. It began in the early 14th century and lasted through the reigns of seven consecutive popes, ending when the last pope returned to Rome and helped trigger the Western Schism. 1
In the 14th century, Avignon became known as the “City of the Popes” because the papacy was headquartered there for much of the century. 1
The Palace of the Popes in Avignon is described as one of the most important surviving papal buildings outside Rome. 1
The article traces the start of the Avignon Papacy to the death of Pope Benedict XI in 1304 in Perugia. 1
Cardinals were summoned to elect a successor, but the group split into pro- and anti-French factions, leading to a prolonged conclave that took nearly a year. 1
They chose a non-cardinal, Raymond de Got, who became Pope Clement V, and Clement V declined the plan to go to Rome for coronation, instead ordering a journey to Lyon for a ceremony attended by King Philip IV of France. 1
After Clement V, the narrative highlights his move to Avignon: he arrived there in 1309 at a Dominican priory, beginning the Avignon papacy. 1
After Clement V, the article describes further internal struggles among cardinals, now organized into three factions (Italian, Gascon, and Provençal), which prolonged the election of a successor. 1
A compromise candidate emerged in 1316: Jacques Duèze, who took the name John XXII. 1
The article then outlines the chain of Avignon popes: Benedict XII (began building the grand papal palace in Avignon), Clement VI (whose reign coincided with the Black Death, and who expanded the palace and commissioned artworks), and later Innocent VI, who ruled from 1352 to 1362. 1
It also notes Urban V as the only Avignon pope recognized as blessed, who traveled to Rome in 1367 but later died on his return to Avignon. 1
The last Avignon pope was Gregory XI, elected in 1370, and the article notes he received letters from St. Catherine of Siena urging him to return to Rome. 1
In 1377, Gregory XI left Avignon for Rome, died soon after arriving, and was succeeded by Urban VI, described as an Italian pope. 1
The article connects this to the Western Schism, when both Rome and Avignon factions produced rival claimants to the papacy, lasting until the election of Pope Martin V in 1417, who was recognized as the sole universally acknowledged pope. 1
The article states that no French pope has been elected since Gregory XI. 1
It also describes the Palace of the Popes as being sacked during the French Revolution, used as a barracks and prison under Napoleon, and converted into a museum in 1906. 1
Investigate the Avignon Papacy’s impact on Church sovereignty
The Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) reshaped how the Church exercised sovereignty in practice, especially in the temporal (political) sphere. Catholic sources describe a decisive shift: after violent conflict with the French monarchy, the papacy lived for decades “under the control of the French monarchy,” with the result that papal temporal predominance and political independence were sharply curtailed—even if the Church’s spiritual primacy could not simply be reduced to a mere French instrument.
In medieval debates, “sovereignty” was often discussed in two different registers:
A key Catholic theme in the sources is that the 14th–15th centuries saw “a radical change in the political sphere,” effectively “putting an end to papal temporal predominance,” following conflicts between Pope Boniface VIII and the king of France.
That matters because the Avignon period is best understood not as an instant collapse of papal spiritual authority, but as a long contraction of papal political freedom—especially where French power could determine the pope’s residence, administration, and leverage.
Catholic accounts connect the Avignon relocation to a prior confrontation over whether the pope could meaningfully claim supremacy in the temporal order.
The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity notes that Boniface VIII attempted to reaffirm papal supremacy in the temporal order in Unam Sanctam (1302), but this was “violently opposed by the king of France,” ending any French-friendly “pretension to rule the world politically.” This is the strategic pivot: sovereignty in the temporal realm ceased to be something the papacy could realistically enforce against a determined major monarchy.
The same source then states that the episode was followed by the exile of the papacy to Avignon, where “the popes lived for seventy years under the control of the French monarchy.” This phrase is decisive for your question: whatever spiritual claims remained, the papacy’s political location became a mechanism of constraint.
The Catholic Encyclopedia’s overview of the States of the Church is even more direct: once Avignon begins, “the papacy was now not only dependent upon the protection of France, but was also entirely at its mercy.” It further explains that Clement V “did not venture to go to Italy,” and instead the papal court resided in Avignon until 1376.
The Catholic Encyclopedia also highlights the struggle’s climax at Anagni, where a French lawyer struck Pope Boniface VIII, and it follows that “the migration…to the prison-palace of Avignon” came a few years later. While the moral language is strong, the historical point aligns with the “control” theme: French confrontation did not merely influence policy; it helped produce the conditions under which papal residence itself became politically conditioned.
Avignon’s impact on sovereignty was not only about geopolitics; it also involved institutional governance and perceptions of who benefited.
A Catholic Encyclopedia article on France describes how the election of Clement V occurred “under Philip’s influence,” followed by “the removal of the papacy to Avignon,” and “the nomination of seven French popes in succession,” which “weakened the influence of the papacy in Christendom.” It also adds an important nuance: Avignon popes did not always allow “the independence of the Holy See to waver or disappear in the game of politics,” but the political environment still harmed papal influence.
Complementing this, the Catholic Encyclopedia on Pope John XXII explains that the transfer “was esteemed to have taken place in the interests of France,” strengthened by “the preponderance of French cardinals.” Even where papal independence was not fully destroyed, the credibility of independence suffered—an essential dimension of sovereignty in public life.
The same source states that under John XXII, “centralized overmuch the ecclesiastical administration,” and that “financial measures…made the Curia of Avignon generally detested.” Here sovereignty is affected in a double way:
The States of the Church article adds that during the residence in Avignon, “the papal dominion in the States of the Church almost ceased,” and it describes Roman conflicts among powerful families as a competing center of power. This suggests a structural consequence: if the papacy’s political freedom declines, its practical ability to govern its temporal sphere also diminishes.
A major question is whether Avignon’s constraints helped produce deeper instability within the Church’s unity.
The Catholic Encyclopedia article on “Union of Christendom” describes how a schism resulted in “a papacy at Rome and another at Avignon,” with countries choosing based on their sovereigns: “politics in some degree determining their choice.” Even if schisms have complex causes, the sources treat Avignon as a real rival center whose existence was intertwined with political alignment.
The article on “Pedro de Luna” (Benedict XIII, Avignon obedience) illustrates how monarchical politics and clerical obedience interacted: only some cardinals remained faithful; there were withdrawals of obedience by French clergy; and multiple negotiations aimed at ending the schism failed because “neither pope would consent.” The key sovereignty-related takeaway is that Avignon’s papal government remained deeply enmeshed in power structures of the realm(s) that supported it.
A tension appears across sources: while Avignon entailed serious temporal constraint, other Catholic historical writing argues that these trials did not destroy the spiritual character of the papacy. For example, in the Western Schism article, Gregorovius is quoted: “A temporal kingdom would have succumbed thereto; but the organization of the spiritual kingdom was so wonderful…that…this…schism, served only to demonstrate its indivisibility.” This quote supports a more nuanced conclusion: Avignon constrained temporal freedom, but the papacy’s spiritual identity proved more durable than purely political empires.
So, Avignon’s impact on “Church sovereignty” is not one-dimensional. It weakened independence in the political realm and complicated legitimacy, yet Catholic historiography insists the spiritual institution was not simply reducible to temporal domination.
If Avignon was a contraction of sovereignty, did later popes restore independence?
The “Brief History” account of Blessed Urban V says he was elected in Avignon but worked to restore the papacy to Rome and made “a historic decision to return the papal seat to Rome” in 1367. This shows that Avignon was not the Church’s last word; recovery was attempted.
Another “Brief History” notes that Gregory XI’s most notable effort was “to end the Avignon Papacy and return the papal seat to Rome after nearly 70 years of exile,” culminating in his return to Rome in 1377. However, it also states that efforts to solidify the papacy in Italy faced challenges and ultimately led to the Great Schism of 1378. That is consistent with sovereignty’s deeper problem: residence and political freedom could be changed, but the Church’s crisis of unity and credibility had been shaped over decades of political entanglement.
From the Catholic sources provided, the most defensible conclusion is:
In short, the Avignon Papacy diminished the papacy’s practical independence in the temporal order, produced widespread distrust and deeper political entanglement, and contributed to conditions in which later legitimacy crises erupted—while the Church’s spiritual identity and organizational unity endured in ways that Catholic sources interpret as evidence of the papacy’s deeper indefeasibility.