After a long conclave, the cardinals elected the French archbishop Bertrand de Got as Pope Clement V. His election followed intense conflict between the papacy and the French crown in the years before 1305, shaping where and how the papacy would govern. Clement’s reign set the stage for relocating the papal administration away from politically unstable Rome.
Clement V moved the headquarters of the papal government (the curia) from Rome to Avignon, beginning the Avignon Papacy. The move was driven largely by insecurity and factional violence in Rome, as well as political pressure in France. This shift changed how the Papal States were governed, because the pope now ruled central Italy from outside Italy.
With the papacy settled in Avignon, the city became the working capital of the Western Church, and large building programs followed. John XXII transformed existing episcopal structures, and later popes expanded the Palais des Papes into a major administrative and residential complex. The new center helped run the church efficiently, but it also deepened the sense that the papacy was distant from Rome and Italy.
Under Pope John XXII, the papal treasury and administration were strengthened and centralized at Avignon. He expanded papal control over church offices and fees, and he compiled a detailed schedule of chancery fees that shaped papal finance for centuries. These policies increased revenue, but also fueled criticism that the Avignon papacy was overly bureaucratic and expensive.
Pope Benedict XII launched reforms aimed at improving discipline and governance within religious orders. His bull Fulgens sicut stella matutina focused on the Cistercians, tightening rules on monastic life, finances, and study. These reforms show how Avignon popes pursued “internal reform” even while being criticized for living away from Rome.
During Pope Clement VI’s reign, the papacy bought Avignon from Joanna I of Naples, making the city directly controlled by the pope rather than by local rulers. Owning the city stabilized the papacy’s position in southern France and reinforced Avignon as an administrative hub. The purchase also symbolized how firmly the papacy had settled outside Rome.
Pope Innocent VI sent Cardinal Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz to Italy as papal legate with a mission to restore papal authority in the Papal States. Many cities and lords had weakened or broken papal control during decades of absentee rule and local conflict. Albornoz’s campaigns became a turning point in rebuilding a more workable papal state in central Italy.
Albornoz’s forces defeated Giovanni di Vico, a powerful local ruler who had seized influence across parts of Latium and Umbria. The victory helped reopen routes and restore papal claims over key territories. Military reconquest mattered because law and taxation depended on real control on the ground, not just papal documents issued from Avignon.
At an assembly in Fano, Albornoz issued the Constitutiones Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ (often called the Egidian Constitutions). This legal code organized the Papal States into provinces with papal-appointed officials and rules meant to limit corruption and standardize governance. It was a key “internal reform” because it turned wartime reconquest into a structured administrative system.
Pope Urban V left Avignon and reestablished the papal court in Rome for a short period. The move showed that returning to Italy was possible, but it also revealed how hard it was to keep order and secure alliances in central Italy. After continued instability and political pressure, Urban V later went back to Avignon.
After Urban V died in Avignon, the cardinals elected Pierre de Beaufort as Pope Gregory XI. His election mattered because he would face growing rebellion in the Papal States and renewed demands to return to Rome. Gregory XI became the final pope to govern primarily from Avignon before the return to Italy.
Florence and allied cities encouraged widespread revolt in the Papal States against papal officials and policies. The conflict—known as the War of the Eight Saints—showed how fragile papal control remained despite Albornoz’s earlier reconquests and legal reforms. The war increased pressure for the pope to be physically present in Italy to defend papal territory.
Gregory XI moved the papal court back to Rome, completing the long-planned return from Avignon. His return was closely tied to the ongoing war and the need to secure papal rule in central Italy. The move ended the Avignon papacy as a residence, but it did not end political division inside the Church.
Gregory XI died in Rome while the war continued, and the subsequent conclave elected Bartolomeo Prignano as Pope Urban VI. The election took place under high tension in Rome, where crowds demanded an Italian pope. Disputes over this election soon escalated into a wider crisis of authority.
After years of fighting, a compromise peace was concluded at Tivoli, easing the immediate conflict between Florence and the papacy. Although the war ended, the larger political damage remained: distrust of papal government in Italy and deep divisions among church leaders. The conflict’s aftermath helped set conditions for the next major rupture.
Later in 1378, a group of cardinals rejected Urban VI and supported a rival pope in Avignon, starting the Western Schism. Instead of resolving the Avignon-era problems, the return to Rome was followed by a split in papal leadership between Rome and Avignon. This marked a clear closing outcome of the 1305–1378 story: reforms and territorial recovery were overshadowed by a crisis of legitimacy.
Papal States: Avignon Papacy, Return, and Internal Reforms (1305–1378)