Avignon
About this date: The conventional Avignon-papacy period is 1309-1377. The Western Schism began in 1378 and should not be assigned the same start date.
Avignon preserves the material setting of a fourteenth-century papal court outside Rome. The residence of the popes there and the later Western Schism are connected but not identical episodes: one concerns residence, the other rival claims to the papal office.
Historical context
Study the politics and institutions of the medieval papacy without equating a change of residence with the beginning or end of the Roman church.
Key points
- The surviving palace documents the scale and administration of the papal court.
- A pope residing outside Rome did not make Avignon a newly founded apostolic see replacing Rome.
Sources and further reading
- UNESCO: Avignon and the Papal Palace
A source about the actual palace and court, replacing a general page about Jubilees.