If you enjoy historic novels and movies set in France, you understand there was a strong bond between the French monarchy and the Catholic Church.
That alliance took a treacherous turn in the early 1300's when King Philip IV plotted to eliminate the Knights Templar as part of his own selfish designs, which I wrote about in a blog from our Azamara Holy Lands cruise a few years ago. There's a link here, if you're interested in learning more about that.
Long story short, Philip the Fair --- that's "Fair" as in handsome rather than Honorable --- wanted a more pliable Pope. At that point, apparently the French monarch held more sway than the Catholic Church itself. Prior to Portugal and Spain beginning their explorations that led to great riches, the King of France was their most powerful and loyal ally.
By hook and by crook, the King managed to angle a French Bishop into the Papacy in 1305. Pope Clement V refused to report for duty at the Vatican in Rome, because, according to our guide, he said Rome had become too violent. Perhaps Rome was like one of our modern US big cities with a District Attorney funded by George Soros, but the primary reason was that Rome is about 900 miles from Paris.
In that era long before motorized vehicles or paved highways, an overland roundtrip that took about 40 days to two months was required for the King to get a fast-tracked answer from the Vatican. With his "yes man" Pope in place, Philip the Fair would want Papal approvals as soon as possible. Avignon is only 360 miles from Paris.
Construction of a new Bishop's Palace (Rook?) in Avignon had begun in 1252. Avignon became the Seat of Western Christianity, and upon completion of the palace in 1309, Pope Clement V moved into what became known as Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes).
The Popes that followed apparently found the original palace (which had been built on the site of a former fortress and church) too small for their purposes, which in addition to being the center for spiritual guidance for the Western Catholic Church apparently demanded large banquets for nobles and religious leaders who lived like the aristocracy. The new palace dwarfs the original one in ornateness as well as size.
Popes ruled the Western Catholic Church from Avignon from 1305 to 1376.
Between parties and ceremonies (or perhaps they should be seen more as conference tables where big decisions were hammered out), seven successive Popes who reigned from Avignon played important roles in the history of the Catholic Church and the world, including negotiating treaties and also several crusades, right up through the last Pope who led the church from Avignon.
Oddly, despite aiding and abetting the despicable devastation of the Knights Templars by King Philip IV, Pope Clement V launched another crusade to the Holy Lands. Led by the Knights Hospitaller, the plan changed en route. Instead of going to Jerusalem, the Knights conquered the island of Rhodes, which had been under Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) control.
My thought is that the Knights decided to take advantage of the chance to get out of France rather than possibly face the fate of the Templars.
Urban V, the sixth Avignon era Pope, tried to reunify the Western and Eastern Catholic Churches (in the Eastern Roman "Byzantine" Empire). They had been divided in 1054 in what was called the East-West Schism. He came closer than any other Pope had, but he died after 8 years of Papal power, in December of 1370.
His successor became Pope on December 30, 1370. After six years, Pope Gregory XI moved the papal court back to Rome in 1376. He died in 1378, succeeded by Pope Urban VI.
Another conclave that opposed Urban VI selected Robert of Geneva as Pope, to rule from Avignon, Pope Clement VII. The Rome-based church called him the Antipope, but much of Europe considered Clement VII the legitimate Pope.
This began a 40 year period called the Western Schism. Upon his death in 1394, Clement VII was succeeded in Avignon by Antipope Benedict XIII.
In 1409, a third Pope was named in Pisa. Suffice it to say that the Western Schism ended in 1417 with Benedict XIII ex-communicated, though even then Avignon had claimants to the Avignon title of Pope.
And you thought the 2020 election in the US was a mess!
Most of the lavish marble and gold finishes, artwork and furnishings were long ago carted off to the Rome, so for the most part the rooms are bare walls, but no doubt it was once as grand as anything at the Vatican.
The vaulted ceiling above the voluminous banquet room is now wood but once gave the effect of starlight above attendees, with shiny deep lapis lazuli jewels reflecting candle light from below.
From the exterior, the enormous Palais des Papes looks more like a majestic castle than a humble rectory for a man of God, and the Popes certainly lived like kings. Imagine how imposing it must have seemed hundreds of years ago, when most buildings in the town were one story and made of wood.
Circling the old town of Avignon is a tall, massive wall that stretches for 2 1/2 miles. The reason the wall looks ancient but remains in excellent condition is attributable to the restoration work led by 19th Century architect Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.
On the morning of our visit, various tour groups followed assigned guides from the ship through the city gate to Palais des Papes.
We enjoyed walking around and through Palais des Papes, hearing interesting tales and descriptions along the way. By the time we finished, we were pretty well worn out, but our guide took us around the village, coming to a 20-minute stop in the central market, which reminded us of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia.
Julie and I went outside to browse through antiques at an open air flea market and at shops with merchandise on sidewalks.
Just before arriving back to the ship, Julie and I bid farewell to our guide and walked along the water to see what remains of Pont d'Avignon, a 12th Century bridge known throughout the world ---- though I had never heard of it --- because of a children's song, "Sur le Pont d’Avignon," about people dancing on (or more correctly under) this bridge, which at the time of its construction, was the only way to walk across the Rhone between Lyon and the Mediterranean Sea.
We were exhausted. Standing for a few minutes after walking a hundred feet makes a long walk doubly tiring. After another delicious lunch on Viking Delling that included fine wine, we were ready to enjoy views of the river from lounge chairs on the sun deck with our faces in the shade and the golden Provençal sun warming our bodies beneath the azure blue sky.
The next thing I knew, Julie was waking me up to say that if we wanted to go back into the old town to see the free art museum I wanted to visit, we needed to get going.
The museum was easy to find, and while it certainly is not the Louvre in terms of quantity or quality of artworks, much less size and grandeur of the building itself, it was a great experience. We particularly appreciated the beautiful sculptures.
We had thought we'd see more of the village, but instead decided we would really rather return to the ship for 5:30 coffee, followed by happy hour and another feast of fabulous French foods.
I believe there was an excursion to the winery developed by the Popes, which makes delicious wines made from wines of that particular appellation, and also one to Pont du Gard, but I think we absorbed about as much as we could from our day in Avignon.
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| View from Behind of Palais des Papes |
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| High Kitchen Ceiling for Ventilation |
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| Taxes were based on the number of windows, so some windows were covered and replaced with pictures. |
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| The original palace was relatively plain. |
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| The tracings of art found beneath paint. |
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| Once hidden paintings restored pointed out by our guide. |
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| Musée Calvet |
