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Transfer of the Papal Court to Avignon (1309)

Type Event Region Europe Time 1309

In March 1309, Pope Clement V moved the papal seat from Rome to Avignon in southeastern France, marking the beginning of the Avignon Papacy, which la…

Timeline

  1. 1309Avignon · ProvenceIn March 1309, Clement V formally established the papal seat at Avignon; although Rome remained nominally the Holy See, the actual administrative and religious center of rule had shifted to French territory.
  2. 1309–1377Avignon · ProvenceFor the next seventy years, seven successive popes used Avignon as their actual seat; the papacy operated under French royal influence for nearly seventy years, and relations between the authority of the Roman papacy and the Italian states remained tense for a long period.

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