The Avignon captivity of the popes. The Beginning of the Avignon Captivity of the Popes

What is the Avignon captivity of the popes? At what period of world history did these events take place, what was the reason for them and what was the result of all this? It would seem that everything is clear, but at the same time, as in the case of any other historical event, there is no unambiguous answer to many questions, neither right nor guilty. But first things first.

The Avignon captivity of the popes. How did it all start?

In the late Middle Ages, in the 13th and 14th centuries, the centralization of European states begins. France was no exception. At this time, all the townspeople, even the clergy, unquestioningly obeyed the king.

Therefore, we can safely say that in the 13-14th centuries the authority of the church began to weaken, as the monarchs became more influential than in times of feudal disunity. Naturally, in such circumstances, King Philip IV declares war against the eternal enemy - England. But a big war is a big expense. Therefore, in order to cover the costs of the military company, Philip raised taxes and ordered even the clergy to give part of the income to the treasury. But that is not all. Philip made a huge mistake - he did not agree with the Pope. In response, the pope came out with harsh criticism of the king, and also threatened that he would excommunicate those who force the clergy to pay taxes. The king did not remain in debt and forbade the export of jewelry from the country. As a result, the Vatican has lost the funds coming from France.

Change the policy of the pope as an attempt to ease the tension in relations with the monarch

At the end of the 13th century, Pope Boniface VIII somewhat changed his position and allowed the clergy to voluntarily pay taxes in accordance with a government decree. But as soon as the pope had a new source of income, the criticism of the king resumed.

The beginning of the company for the overthrow of the Pope and its results

It is not at all difficult to guess that the campaign for the overthrow of the Pope, who was beaten and died at his residence, soon began. Pope Benedict XI, who ascended the throne, was poisoned after 8 months. The Cardinals in 11 months elected Pope Bertrand de Guo. Since that time, Avignon has become a new papal residence. By a strange coincidence, he was kindly granted a king. Let us note that the first thing the new Pope did was return France to the bosom of the church.

Avignon captivity of the popes - the period from 1309 to 1377, when the residence was not in Rome, but in France, in Avignon. There, the popes felt much calmer than in Rome, where clashes between constantly arisen aristocratic families of Italy happened every now and then. By the same time, the papal state had already in fact begun to disintegrate.

The Avignon captivity of the popes. Date: 1309

It is not necessary to understand the term "captivity" too literally. It was, rather, not the Avignon capture of popes in the usual sense, but a change in the policy of the popes in favor of France. This is confirmed by the fact that all the popes of that period were French, like the majority in the College of Cardinals, and it was the cardinals' board who chose the popes. Many cardinals used to serve in the French court. During the Avignon captivity, the popes acted in the interests of the king and carried out various diplomatic missions.

Naturally, in such conditions, the political influence of the popes weakened. At the same time inside the church their power acquired a truly monarchical character. If earlier the abbots and bishops were elected, now they were appointed by the pope. The papacy, in fact, controlled all spheres of life.

Avignon captivity - a reflection of the general tendency of the weakening of the church

The situation described above was a reflection of the main factor that determined the history during the Middle Ages, namely, the struggle of popes and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire for supremacy in the entire Christian world. Confrontation between the church and secular elites with varying success lasted several centuries. But everything changed radically when the Hapsburgs ascended to the throne. They changed the direction and character of imperial policy, focusing not on conquering Italy, but on resolving pressing problems in the issue of German territories.

At first glance, the popes now have a good opportunity to engage directly in strengthening their state and their power. But in reality everything turned out differently. After the German threat was eliminated, Italy was swallowed up by anarchy and chaos. Now nothing restrained the cities and estates, which previously had to unite in the face of an external enemy. Among themselves, even neighboring towns were at war, not to mention the constantly feuding clans of the Italian aristocracy. It's not at all difficult to guess that Rome in this matter was no exception. Moreover, the popes on several occasions were even forced to flee Rome, for fear of rebellious townspeople, the troops of a neighboring state, or mercenaries of hostile clans.

The eternal city became simply dangerous for the life of the higher hierarchs of the Catholic Church. Therefore, many popes instead of Rome made their residences Naples, Aquila, Ananju and other cities, fearing for their lives. The beginning of the Avignon capture of the Roman popes is connected with the transfer of the residence to Avignon. But first things first. In such a situation it is not at all surprising that even among cardinals there was no unity, and elections became a real war of warring clans. The newly elected pope, naturally, tried to surround himself with supporters - relatives and friends, and therefore appointed them to leadership positions. Losing clans had a hard time, as the newly elected pope sought to quickly deal with opponents. With all this, in the midst of chaos, the Pope continued to behave as if he were still the head of a church standing above the monarchs and rulers. Naturally, such a policy could only lead to an aggravation of relations with the king.

The weakening of papal authority

The peak of the confrontation, as noted earlier, occurred during the reign of Philip the Beautiful, when Pope Boniface VIII went on an open conflict with the king. In the conditions of the weakened power of the Pope, the outcome of the struggle was predetermined. In response to the Pope's threat to betray the king to anathema, he sent Chancellor Guillaume Nogaret to the papal palace. A couple of days before the anathema, the chancellor and a hundred knights broke into the Pope's palace. They stole the old man from the throne, beating him and humiliating him. Without bearing such a thing, Boniface VIII died, damning both Guillaume Nogaret and Philip. Nevertheless, his successor, Benedict IX, declared the soldiers who had beaten the old Pope innocent. It happened exactly what earlier it was impossible to think about - the Pope was not just beaten, but beaten by the order of the Christian king. This showed that without the support of secular authority, the Pope can no longer effectively perform the functions of head of the Catholic Church.

France as an ally of the papacy

In this situation, the pope turned to the most powerful ruler of that time - to the French king. In addition, there was a need to choose a place for a new residence, where the Pope could manage the church without fear of external and internal enemies. At the same time, for greater security, the residence should be located near the French borders, but in no case on French territory.

If not in France, then where to make a residence?

The ideal option was Avignon in Provence, so what has happened in history is called "the Avignon captivity of the popes." In due time the Pope helped the Neapolitan king to occupy the throne, therefore he was formally not in the territory of the hostile Italy state, but in the possessions of his suzerain.

The Avignon captivity of the popes allowed them to calmly rule the church, which benefited the authority and authority of popes and cardinals. Moving to Avignon, the popes thereby made this small city the capital of the entire Catholic world. Thus, the beginning of the Avignon captivity of the Pope was not such a terrible event as it could have seemed at the very beginning.