AVIGNON EXILE. - It is customary to unjustly compare to the exile of the Hebrews in Babylon the sojourn in Avignon (1305-76) of the popes Clement V, John XXII, Benedict XII, Clement VI, Innocent VI, Urban V, and Gregory XI. Far from being a prisoner on the banks of the Rhône, the papacy enjoyed full freedom in a city that depended on its vassal, the king of Sicily, and that became its property in 1348.
To what must so long an absence from Rome, its natural seat, be attributed?
On 9 June 1305, the cardinals assembled at Perugia wrote to Clement V, immediately after having elected him pope: « The bark of Peter threatens to sink and the fisherman's net risks being broken. Instead of a secure peace, stormy clouds were announced; calamitous wars devastate the lands of the Roman Church; the sower of tares hurls his stinging darts against it » (Mansi, XXV, 127). This pathetic language depicted, in a veristic summary, the sad situation that presented itself in Italy at the beginning of the 14th century.
While the struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines raged, the Guelph party, in Tuscany, had split into two factions: Whites and Blacks. In vain had Benedict XI attempted to reconcile the warring brothers. He himself had not felt safe in Rome, where the Colonna and the Orsini waged war on one another, and had sought a temporary refuge at Perugia. The cardinals advised hastening immediately to the spot. Clement V often announced this decision, but circumstances independent of his will kept him far from Rome: first the necessity of a reconciliation between France and England for the organization of a crusade; then the pressure exerted by Philip II the Fair, who demanded the reopening of the trial instituted against the memory of Boniface VIII and the condemnation of the Templars. Clement V, after having decreed the convocation of a general Council at Vienne, in the Dauphiné, could not think of returning to Italy; in March 1309 he entered Avignon. After the closing of the Council (6 May 1312) he fell ill, and died on 14 April 1314. Moreover, even had he not fallen ill, he could not have re-entered Rome: bloody battles raged there between the troops of Henry VII and those of King Robert of Naples.
John XXII (and his successors all followed the same policy) thought that, before venturing to this side of the mountains, it was better to pacify the Italians and to establish solidly the authority of the Church in its own domains. The realization of this program encountered very numerous obstacles: first of all it clashed too much with the designs on Italy of the King of the Romans, of the Angevins of Naples and of the sovereigns of Hungary; moreover, it obstructed the projects of the Republic of Venice, of Florence, of the Visconti of Milan, and the calculations of the fortunate adventurers who hoped to create lordships for themselves to the detriment of the Communes and of the papacy. After having vainly attempted every means of reconciliation, the Holy See began war against its rivals, small and great, risking a serious compromise of the future of the temporal power. From 1320 to 1334 the legate Bertrand du Pouget rigorously conducted military operations against the Ghibellines of upper Italy. The successes obtained induced John XXII to choose, as a temporary residence, Bologna, where a citadel was erected for him, near the Porta Galliera. But the defeats suffered beneath the walls of Ferrara (14 April 1333), at Argenta (8 March 1334) and the insurrection of Bologna (17 March) caused his plans to fail.
The political situation did not improve under the pontificate of Benedict XII: Bologna was belatedly reconciled with the Church, but in Romagna some local tyrants made themselves independent. Clement VI had to resort to the war that had repelled his predecessor and that turned to his disadvantage. To crown his misfortunes, Giovanni Visconti acquired Bologna (16 Oct. 1350) from the Pepoli. Unable to obtain the restitution of the city, the Pope resigned himself to granting himself the title of vicar by means of the payment of a census. In Rome the revolution lasted from 1347 to 1354: Cola di Rienzo, Giovanni Cerroni, Francesco Baroncelli rose to power one after another.
Vigorous action was needed in Italy. Innocent VI entrusted the reconquest of the Papal States to a cardinal of genius, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz. After alternating vicissitudes of successes and failures, the pontifical army reduced its adversaries to impotence. Albornoz did not abuse the victory and demanded of the vanquished only the recognition of pontifical supremacy; moreover, he published certain constitutions conforming to local customs which, for the most part, remained in force until the end of the 18th century.
Urban V understood the necessity of consolidating with his presence the order established by Albornoz in Italy. Heedless of the recriminations of the French cardinals and of the intrigues of the King of France, he entered Rome on 16 Oct. 1367. Whatever A. Alessandrini may have said of it (Il ritorno dei papi da Avignone e s. Caterina da Siena, in Archivio della Società romana di storia patria, 56-57 [1933-34], p. 15), the manner of acting of the Romans did not take long to disturb him: in the spring of 1370 they favored the machinations of the Perugians who had revolted against the Church; on the other hand the prefect of Vico fomented disorders in the Patrimony of St. Peter and the mercenary troops of Hawkwood, hired by Perugia, marched on Viterbo, the residence of the Pontiff. The pontifical court reached Avignon again on 16 Sept. 1370. Some time earlier, on 26 June, Urban V had written to the Romans a letter that began with praises and ended with veiled reproaches and gave them a glimpse of his return if peace should endure in the city (O. Raynaldi, Annales ecclesiastici ad annum 1370, VII, Lucca 1752, p. 190 ff.).
Gregory did not deem it prudent to leave Avignon before 1374, until a truce had been concluded with Bernabò Visconti. As soon as he had obtained such a truce, he announced his departure. But the diplomatic negotiations that preceded and followed the truce of Bruges between England and France (27 June 1375) hindered his designs. The Italians imagined that the Pope was abandoning them; the States of the Church, united with Florence, jealous of the conquests of Albornoz, revolted. The Eight Saints declared war, invoking false pretexts: in reality they coveted Tuscany and feared the proximity of the Holy See. Gregory XI decided to hasten to Rome, where he arrived on 17 Jan. 1377.
Thus ended the so-called Avignon exile, occasioned by the insecurity that Italian soil offered for about 70 years.