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This usergroup is open to French speakers and enthusiasts of French culture for discussion, be it related to language, culture, France as a country, smoking in cafés while wearing a beret and eating a baguette, etc.
How about logging in? Pontiff d'Avignon Provincial Prelude Somewhere near the meandering Lot River, overseen by Mont Saint-Cyr lying south of Souillac, which is on the Dordogne River, is the idyllic bucolic Cahors. This is where Jacques D'Euse was born in 1249. In his hometown as a youth he studied under the Dominicans. (Who knows what would happen if these monks would have been Franciscans,...but let one not get ahead of oneselves.) He then furthered his education at Montpellier with legal and religious disciplines, and improved that with schooling in Paris. Religious Law Professor He returned to the south of France with first a teaching position at Toulouse, specializing in canon and civil law and finally came home to Cahors to teach. Charles II of Naples became his benefactor, and helped in 1300 Jacques become Bishop of Frejus, nine years later was elevated to become his Chancellor, and in another year he was made See of Avignon. Stormy See It is better to be a hammer than an anvil. ----Dominic To understand this man, it might help to understand the dynamics of this late 13th Century era. In 1296, the growing battle of Kings versus the Church authority became heated, with Boniface VII's Clericis laicos attempt to stop royal taxation of clergy, and escalated when he demanded a release of a bishop arrested in France. This led to the bull, Ausculta fili which declared papal power was superior to secular, and increased his adamancy to King Philip IV's anti-Papal propaganda. Legally oriented like his Pontiff Jacques D'Euse gave official support to his decrees, and though patriotically French, he showed his independant streak. Can We be Frank? In 1303, following Boniface's death just four weeks after fleeing Nogaret and the Colonnas, the French strongly cajoled the College of Cardinals to pick an ameliable Bishop of Rome (or wherever). Benedict XI only lived a year, and in this pro-con franco factional environment, the Archbishop of Bordeaux became Clement V. Preferring his southern French homeland (he was from Gascony) over Rome, and to please the Gallic King, he established his throne at Avignon (which though officially not French territory, they had influence there). The confidence in the leadership of the Popes was seriously challenged during these times, while they increased in power. Tower of Power of Babel The collision and collusion course were lining up. It really was not safe in Rome while literal battles waged over heading the Holy Roman Empire. While the Italian Renaissance writer Petrarch assayed and essayed in protest against this "Avignon (or Babylonian) Captivity", the French Kings were coveting the accumulated wealth and power of the Knights Templar. Their French Pope complied, and with spurious charges of blasphemy, corruption and immorality they were ordered disbanded. While much of the money and property passed to organizations like the Hospitallers in most areas; in France the King absorbed it. Strong measures by the authorities were used to extract the proper guilty plea, and even Bishop Jacques D'Euse, with his law and business expertise, oversaw fervently in his jurisdiction what legal and financial sanctions could be brought against those in the Order of the Knights of the Temple. Moving Up His expertise was not overlooked, and Clement V elevated him to Cardinal-Bishop of Porto two days before the Christmas of 1312. And when Clement V died two years later in April of 1314 there was so much confusion that it was not until almost twenty-eight months passed when the College of Cardinals met divisively in Carpentras. Was it any wonder that the electoral college could not come to any agreement when it was comprised of eight Italians, with the remainder Frenchmen being ten members from Gascony and three from Provence. It was not until Philip V came to power that there was a successful election assisted by this French King's collection of two dozen cardinals in Lyons that easily chose Jacques D'Euse as Head Prelate of the Church on June 26, 1316. He was coronated in Lyons on September 5, and then he moved into the palace in Avignon. Fleshly Pseudo-Spiritual Chess Game In that interim period the Pope had been petitioned --by both Frederick of Austria coronated in Bonn on November 25, 1314; and Louis of Bavaria who was made King on September 5 the following year-- to who should be considered King of Germany (and thus the Imperial heir). John wrote both Kings begging them to resolve this political royal altercation. In that second spring that John XXII was in Peter's Chair, he was defied by first Italian Imperial Vicar, Jean de Belmont and then Galeazzo Visconti of Milan who both had been backed by Louis. And in July 1317 Visconti thought his power was what was left of the Roman Empire and then he in turn used it to pick King Robert of Sicily Imperial Vicar for Italy. Five years later Louis of Bavaria gave word to John that he had militarily superceded his old foe, Frederick of Austria, and at this time John sent him a reconcilitory correspondence. The warm fuzzies were not reciprocated by Louis, however, and the Bavarian King continued to promote the excommunicated Galeazzo, as well as the Ghibellines, while this monarch assumed the unsanctioned role of Emperor, and in March of 1322 he additionally appointed another Imperial Vicar of Italy, someone from closer to home, Berthold von Neiffen. King Breaker Probably thinking along Jeremiah's lines of "Peace, peace, there is no peace!" John now had to break bad on this Louis, Lou-eye. Just like Innocent III he had to remind that King-making lied in the authority of the Pope, and warned him to reverse decisions made, especially the support of John's enemies, like the already declared heretical, Visconti or face the pain of excommunication.Look Out for the Bull! On November 16, 1323, after Louis' several months stalling action to the John's demands to appear in three months to the Papal court in Avignon, Louis in Nuremburg instead countered with charges of John's tolerance of heretics, and a refutation of Papal authority over canonizing German Kings; and furthermore called for a general council to convene to judge this. So by March 23 of the next year, and no repentance on Louis' part, John banished him from the good Grace offered in the Church. Louis, from Sachsenhausen, retaliated with another appeal by way of a general council to consider John an enemy of the Empire and a heretic; and he arrested any of the few of his local cardinals who went along with this Papal Bull. John now upped the ante on this high stakes game and officially forfeited all Louis' rights to Imperial authority; and ratified the treaty between Duke Leopold of Austria and his patron King Charles I Rolling Up Those Purple Sleeves... This Pope was a workaholic. He had to stay deeply involved in European politics from Kings of France, Naples or England. He mulitplied Bishops' Sees in Spain as well as France. He helped learning and the arts, being wide read himself, helping students and universities, and built a legal library nearby. He sent missionaries far abroad, even to China. Critically examining writings, such Petus Olivi, brought his thumbs down, and Meister Eckhardt fared only a little better with help of 14th century white-out. His incorporation of the Corpus Juris Canonici in his publishing of the Clementines. Of his numerous decretals (besides the one mentioned following, was "Extravagantes johannis XX" in Corp. Jur. Can. He wrote a decree against alchemy (that was also another revenue windfall) in 1317, De Crinine Falsi Titulsu VI --I Joannis XXII. (circa annum 1317 Avenioni) : --and even wrote his views on music (that echo mine from American Idol):
Though John spent a lot in his revamping the Papacy, he still left almost a million gold florins for his estate when he died, though not the five times that amount boasted by some. To the Head Vicar Go the Spoils Knowing how much of a tightrope it was to exact more money out of the royalty without backlash, especially in France, which prospered him the most, (somewhat to keep Louis of Bavaria at bay whom he excommunicated) John nethertheless also made use of the jus spolii, or right of spoils whereby he got the inheritance of recently dead Bishops' estates. He managed to increase his money from tributary kingdoms, and servita communia; and his annata, a small tax was supplemented by his reserving to himself in 1319 all the convenient vacant benefices. The palace at Avignon housed a big bureaucracy, and expenses were weighty. He started a centralized governmental jaugernaut that his re-structured expanded Curia successors further made it infamous. Don't Poormouth Me The more we despise poverty the more the world will despise us and the greater need will we suffer. But if we embrace Holy Poverty very closely, the world will come to us and will feed us abundantly. ----Francis of Assisi In the ninety years since their Assisian founder's death, the Franciscans, who emphasized completely embracing aceticism, divided into two groups, the relatively moderate Conventuals, and the Spirituals (later split into Observant, and Capuchins, united in 1897 by Leo XIII). It was the latter that came into conflict with the ecclesiastical adminstrative marriage with high finances that Jacques, now Pope John XXII had more than enough aptitude. 1 His enemies used the division and controversy to their advantage to regain power. The legal mind went to work to protect the big business end of his hands, and the power of his lands, 1322 he declared the statements of Berenger Talon: that Christ and the disciples owned nothing separate or together, and was backed by William Occam -- null and void. The next year John issued a denunciation that those assertions were heretical. But most strongly worded, was his Bull, Quia Quorundam given in 1324 basically calls the own-nothing extremists out of bounds liars in need of shunning. Part of the treatise defines the "key" of knowledge and power and proper use of loosing and binding, which obviously he thought this too leftward leaning bunch of friars misused. He cites explanations from previous Popes, Gregory, Innocent, Nicholas, and Alexander; and even Saint Augustine. The argument surrounds the issue that though like Jesus and the Disciple it was Scriptural and noble to have no ownership of "temporal civil and worldly lordship" and property individually, but:
After explaining that Christ and the Twelve came back and carried money, quoting Augustine, "The Lord had a bag keeping safe the offerings of the faithful, and distributed them..." Towards the end of the document things get serious dispersed with 75 cent words, calling it:
William of Occam refused to appear in Avignon, but Michael of Cesena responded to his summons, but when recalcitrant to John's demands escaped being arrested and jailed. Suffer Not a Witch John XXII had this growing fear that witches were casting spells on him, and maybe after his 1326 Decretal Supra illious specula "Magic and the Inquisition 23", they were retaliating against his threat of excommunication with those using images, rings, mirrors, phials or anything for magic purposes of helping them for "depraved lusts" that he knows "allay themselves with death and make a pact with hell." They are offered the chance of renewing their baptismal vows with the Savior, however. This document, typically law conscious, was the first to be this specific on deeds to be charged by the inquisitors. At this time, however, the Pope would need the help of a reluctant Louis to enforce it. The Anti-Pope In 1328 Louis of Bavaria, after a year's incursion in Italy and collusion with Italian Ghibellines, who supported the Spiritual Franciscans, had enough of John's contesting supremacy and after a military incursion into Italy, appointed a Spiritual, Pietro Rainalducci of Corbario as the Anti-Pope Nicholas V. Of course John forfeited all Louis' rights to the German Crown, and to all the fiefs below him, like the Duchy of Bavaria. The only successful result of this attempt was that John XXII eventually backed off his claim to Louis' secular authority. Pietro, after Louis increasing unpopularity in Italy, had eventually came to Avignon 1330 to seal his appeals for peace with a Holy Kiss, but was basically under house arrest there for the next three years left of his life. This same year Louis left Lombardy and his attempts to get Michael Cesena, Bonagratia, and William Occam to conspire against John. Louis successfully postponed his possible willingness to abdicate in 1333. The strength of John's Bull, Ne praetereat has mixed views. This divisive incident was prophetic forerunner to more divisive future events to come to world religion and politics. Another John's Vision A work started when he was Bishop concerning Beatific Vision came back to haunt him in his Papacy. In this work he explained that the baptized dead will not see God until after the Last Judgment. He was intensely debated by scholars who maintained the standard belief that souls did come into God's presence even before the Resurrection of the Body. Some even called his views heretical. In 1333 after a November inquiry to King Philip on the matter, Pope John XXII had to allow the theologians liberty to dissent since he had not made an official papal decision. In December the theologians in Paris agreed that the souls of the blessed departed will see God right after death, while tactfully pointing out that the Pope only was opinionating, and asked him to come to their side of this issue. In Avignon a commission appointed by John was given the task to sort out this controversy by delving into the Church Father's writings. When the results favored the traditional view, he officially recanted until finally re-asserting his orginial Beatific Vision just before his death (of natural causes) in December of that year, 1334. Assessment His legacy left can not be faulted as one of the soft, lazy popes that followed, he had no qualms at empowering his office any way he could, even though with more calculating than geneflecting. 1 Some consider him John XXI, because the one elected in 1410 who was also called Pope John XXII, yet again some historians call this later one John XXIII, who was put here by the Council trying to resolve which of three Popes would rule during this time called the Great Schism. (If it had not been for this rift, the Eastern Orthodox Church might have been re-emerged with their Western brethren.) This John XXIII after being tried in 1415 had to give the throne up (but unfortunately not before at the Council of Constance condemning religious muckracker, Jan Hus to death, but which had the blessed result of hundreds of years of a Hussite Church in Bohemia.). Finally, in 1958 the Catholic Church had another John, this one the real twenty-third. Source: Officially, the Avignon papacy began in the year 1309.This didn't mean much to the city itself at the time. True, there were more clerical visits, but such were commonplace for Avignon. It had been a possession of the Church since 1274 when the French king, Philip III, ceded it to Pope Gregory X. When Pope Clément V established the Holy See in this non-descript city on the Rhône River in the south of France, Avignon had a population of 5,000. It had been bigger; it had been smaller. It had been partially destroyed in 415 A.D. and totally razed in 737 A.D. It had belonged to the Roman Empire, the Goths, and the German Empire. It had been ruled by the Franks, the Capetians, and the comtes of Provence. It had been Pagan under the Romans, Muslim under the Spanish Arabs, and was now Christian. Its last period of great prosperity had been in the 1100's as a "free town". Nominally under the control of the Germanic Empire, the city established itself as a republic governed by its knights and prominent citizens. It was during this time (1185) that the Saint Bénezet Bridge was built across the Rhône. The bridge put Avignon squarely at the crossroads between Lyon and the sea; trade subsequently flourished. Double ramparts were built around the city to protect the solid mansions of rich merchants. In 1226 the city defied the king of France, Louis VIII, locking the city gates against his forces. The city lost the siege and it lost its independence. Louis had the ramparts pulled down and the moat filled in. Avignon became part of the Comtat Venaissin which later became Church property. The Comtat Venaissin, an area lying roughly between the Rhône, the Durance and Mont Ventox, covering in great part what is now the Vaucluse, was the ancient country of France. The capital was Carpentras, to the east of Avignon. The area is fertile plains, highly agricultural then as it is now. Clément V, the first of seven popes to rule from Avignon, was French by birth.Elected by the Cardinals Council in Lyon in 1305, he spent the years before 1309 as a guest in various cities near Avignon – Carpentras, Caromb, and Malaucène shared the honor. In 1309 he established his residence in the Episcopal Palace in Avignon but continued to divided his time between various cities of southern France. He died in Roquemaure on the other side of the Rhône in 1314. Clément's reluctance to establish himself in Rome has been attributed to the unstability of that city. While there was unrest and turmoil in the Vatican City, with invasions by "infidels", sacking, pillage and rape, the principal reason was doubtlessly political rather than a question of security and had more to do with France itself than with current events in Italy. Clément's election as Pope in 1305 was brought about, in part, by the influence of Philip IV of France. Known as Philip the Fair, the 11th king of the Capetian Dynasty, he had inherited a mountain of debts from his father, Philip III (the Bold). Searching for additional sources of income, he raided the coffers of the Church by taxing parishes in France and by banning the exportation of funds to Rome. Naturally this caused a rift between Philip the Fair and the then-current pope, Boniface VIII. In addition to the loss of the French monies, a good part of other revenues that would normally go to the Church were being diverted to the Knights Templar. This order began in 1120 under Pope Honoré II as a religious order with vows of poverty and chastity and was answerable only to the Pope. By 1305 the order had become more mercenary than religious and was very powerful. In France alone the Templars had roughly 1200 command posts. Their Temple in Paris was the center of their financial operations for all of Western Europe and they were about to establish a new base in the Languedoc region in what is now southwest France. This posed a political threat to Philip. The time frame is self-evident. Clément was elected Pope in 1305. In 1307 King Philip had all the Templars in France arrested. "Interrogations" went on for several years. In 1312 Pope Clément V issued a decree dissolving the Knights Templar. In 1314, after seven years of imprisonment, Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Templars, was condemmed to death by burning. Legend has it that at the instant of being consumed by the flames, he swore that the Pope and the King would both die in less than a year's time. Both men died that year, Clément only a month after de Molay. The Templar order is said to exist, albeit clandestine, in modern-day Europe. Clément's successor, John XXII, was not appointed immediately.Pope Clément's tenure at Avignon was to have been a temporary measure, which may have had a bearing on the reluctance of a new conclave of cardinals meeting in Carpentras to elect another French pope. The session was tumultuous with relatives of the former pope causing great disorder in the city. Finally, after 18 months, the cardinals were locked in the Dominican monastery by the king and, after six months of deliberation, they elected a Pope. He was Jacques Duèse, a 72-year-old cardinal who was not expected to be in office very long. He took the name John XXII. John XXII, second pope in Avignon, held the office for 18 years (1316 – 1334). During this time he perfected the pontifical tax system and made the Church much richer. Unlike his predecessor, Clément V, he spent those years in Avignon, although having the papacy there was still considered a temporary measure. The third Avignon pope, Bendict XII (1334-1342), started construction of the Palais des Papes.Like his predecessor, John XXII, he first tried to return the papacy to Rome. Unable to halt the revolts in the Church states, he finally decided to remain in Avignon. Under his leadership the Episcopal Palace was razed and construction started on the Palace des Papes. Four more popes resided in Avignon between the years 1342 and 1378. The seventh and last, Gregory XI (1370-1378), actually did succeed in returning the papacy to Rome. He died in the Vatican in March, 1378. His successor, having serious mental health problems, was instantly regretted by the cardinals who elected him. They quickly elected a second pope and the Great Schism began, a period of 25 years during which there existed two popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon. The title "antipope" refers to the Avignon popes during this era (Clement VII and Benoit XIII). Although Avignon was no longer the papal capital, it remained a possession of the Church until 1792, when it was ceded back to France. Avignon was the center of the Holy Roman Church for less than 70 years.Considering that the earliest traces of humans on the Avignon site go back 3,000 years before Jesus Christ, this is a blink in the eye of Time. But these 70 years changed Avignon forever and brought the entire area, the Comtat Venaissin, a cultural richness as well as immense economic advantages. In prior periods of its history Avignon had been invaded by and then assimilated people from Spain and North Africa, as well as Franks of Germanic descent. Now people from the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin were arriving, bring their cultures with them. The construction surge brought a great influx of workers to Avignon : stonemasons, painters, and tapestry weavers were needed – many came from Italy.1 As stated earlier, Avignon had a population of 5,000 in 1309. During the next 50 years this figure mounted to 40,000, an unprecendented growth for that time. The Italian banking houses, following the money of the Church, moved their head offices from Rome to Avignon. These gentleman bankers and members of the papal court itself commanded special and luxurious goods. Silk production became an industry in Provence and across the Rhône in what is now Ardèche. Mulberry trees were planted to feed the silkworms. This, again, was an area where the Italians were the leaders. 2 The Popes Palace today is one of the largest medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. It was constructed very quickly (1335 to 1364) and very solidly. Avignon's city walls, pulled down in 1226, were now replaced, but the Palais depended more on its own defenses than that of the ramparts. Built around a central cloister, it had four wings, each flanked by a high tower. The original building is known as the Palais Vieux (Old Palace) and under Popes Clement VI, Innocent VI, and Urban V (1342 thru 1370) this was expanded with three new towers, the Court d'Honneur and various attached sections. These additions are known collective as the Palais Neuf (New Palace). Today the total floor surface is 15,000 square meters. A third major building, known as Le Petit Palace (The Little Palace), was built between 1481 and 1495. It was first the Cardinals palace, later the Archbishops residence. Today it is a museum of medieval art. Other important buildings were constructed as a result of the Holy See being in Avignon, and nearby towns also benefited. The city of Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, on the opposite bank of the Rhône, has always been considered a suburb of Avignon. It contains the former summer palace of the popes and other related structures. The village of Chateauneuf-du-pape, a bit north on the west bank of the Rhône, also had a residence used by the popes, and a clerical residence was erected in the town of Sorgues. Avignon has, since the papal days, been a center of culture in the region. The Renaissance, coming as it did in the middle of the papal years, flourished there. Pope Clément VI (1342 – 1352) did much to encourage this. He attracted artists and men of science and of letters. He was responsible for one of the most beautiful parts of the palace, La Chambre du Cerf (The Stag room), his personal study, whose walls are covered with frescoes of staghunting with a richly painted ceiling. It was also Clément VI who dictated the decoration of La Grand Tinel (Grand Dining Room). Art is still an important element of Avignon culture. The "Petit Palais Museum" contains not only Italian paintings from the 13th to the 15th century but roman and gothic sculpture and paintings from Avignon artists (14th thru 16th centuries). Theatre has been a part of the Avignon scene down through the centuries and the Avignon Summer Festival is renown throughout Europe. The University of Avignon was established by Pope Boniface VII in 1303. There had been schools of theology, grammatical arts, and medicine from the Early Middle Ages. In 1793 it, like many others, was "supprimée" during French political unrest. Reinstated in 1963, different schools have been established every few years with a new physical plant opened in 1997. Today there are over 7500 students enrolled. Another interesting aspect of Avignon's history is that, as a papal city, pardon was granted to any criminals living within its walls. With Avignon a property of the Church until 1792, this meant that for centuries the population of Avignon was regarded as "different" by residents of the surrounding countryside. In effect, it was an outlaw city. 1Matteo Giovannetti painted the decorations in two of the papal chapels : the Chapel of Saint Martial in 1344-1345 and the chapel of Saint Jean in 1347-1348. As well as his work in Avignon, he did other work in the papal summer residence at Villeneuve-lez-Avignon on the other side of the Rhône. In the spring of 1367 he returned to Rome and several months later was at work on the paintings of the Vatican Palace. This was during a period when Urban V tried to return the papacy to Rome. Urban returned to Avignon and died there; there is no further trace of Giovannetti. 2Young women from northern Italy, principally Milanese, continued to migrate to Provence to work in the silk industry until late in the 19th century. My own Italian grandmother had done this work : her expertise was to dip the silkworm cocoons in boiling water to kill the worm before it ate its way out, thus destroying the silk filaments. My village in Provence, just north of Avignon, had a silk mill and pioneered in the construction of cardboard boxes, which were used to transport the silk cocoons between the producer and the mill. The silk mill is no longer in existence but the manufacture of specialized cardboard boxes is still one of the industries of the village. Part One: Avignon's early history www.avignon-et-provence.com |
Venerable members of this group:
Senso, Swap*, Helen4Morrissey, creases@, themanwho, LeoDV, unfettered, Palpz, drownzsurf, Diabolic, Altusmens, Berek, Mouesh, Noung$, dichotomyboi, futilelord, Oolong@*+, Posmella
This group of 18 members is led by Senso