| Papal Palace at Avignon |
When Pope Clement V came to power, he set up a[n initially] temporary papal headquarters in Avignon, France. There, he also established a College of Cardinals followed by a secondary Church court. Avignon became a very popular spot for those looking to give their lives to the Church, and as more people cycled through the College, Clement V built more extensions and lavish facilities. Gradually, nearly all of the Church leaders were relocated to Avignon, and the Vatican was left abandoned.
The cardinals that arose from the College of Cardinals at Avignon were more popular among the entire Christian population due to the fact they were not tangled up in the political debuggery of the papal italian states.
Avignon declared many (and even more) power than the Vatican. They claimed the power to, but certainly not limited to, appoint candidates to clerical offices, collect all vacant and unclaimed revenues, heard all appeals of ecclesiastical courts, and more.
Because Clement V was unable to collect Church money toward building Avignon, money had to come by other means. The authorities at Avignon began using secular means (read trade and taxation) to gather funds. The papal seat gradually turned to a bureaucratic-like state, and attracted many secular business conducts.
Italians among other Christians saw the corruption at Avignon and demanded that the papal seat return to Rome. At this time Pope Gregory XI was in power, and reluctantly gave into their will. After returning to Rome, he declared the place "not fit to live in", mostly due to the fact it had abandoned for nearly a century, and began to move back to Avignon. However this move was interrupted by his death.
An italian Pope was elected next, Pope Urban VI. The cardinals, who were mostly French, still wanted to live in Avignon. Defiantly, these French cardinals moved back to Avignon without the Pope!
No comments:
Post a Comment