I papi di Avignone. Un secolo in esilio

by Edwin Mullins

Agli inizi del XIV secolo, nel 1308, l’anarchia in Italia portò la capitale del mondo cristiano a essere spostata da Roma per la prima e unica volta nella storia. Avignone, città prescelta per sostituirla, divenne così la nuova sede di un papato che in tal modo, anche da un punto di vista geografico, dipendeva sempre più dal regno di Francia.
La cosiddetta cattività avignonese, deplorata da molti cristiani del tempo (fra i quali santa Caterina da Siena), rappresentò un momento critico e discusso, che si tradusse nel papato di sette successivi pontefici rimasti in esilio per settant’anni. Fino a quando, nel 1377, Gregorio XI fece ritorno a Roma, provocando in tal modo il Grande Scisma d’Occidente.
Avignone fu pertanto testimone dei più turbolenti eventi nella storia cristiana: la soppressione dei Templari e dell’eresia dei catari, la prima ondata della Morte Nera, la fine del sogno delle crociate, i primi decenni della guerra dei Cent’anni tra Inghilterra e Francia.
Il ritratto narrativo di un’epoca affascinante e del suo contesto, che passa anche attraverso le posizioni politico-letterarie di Dante e Petrarca, ostili ai papi avignonesi. In un epilogo drammatico, la città divenne sede di numerosi antipapi, rivali e usurpatori del papato romano ristabilito.
Il quadro suggestivo di un intero secolo, con al centro una città relativamente insignificante sul Rodano divenuta, nell’arco di pochi decenni, una delle grandi capitali del mondo.

Genres: History, Religion, France, Nonfiction, European History, Travel, Medieval

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Vrixton Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, it didn't cover what I actually read the book for, the period when there were three popes at once, but it was still a most interesting read. A good balance between talking about the art and architecture of the time and the political and spiritual upheaval of the 14th century.

[Rev. M. M. Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a history of the popes of Avignon, the popes of the so-called "Babylonian Captivity". It is that, after a fashion, but it is much more a history of the city of Avignon. The acts of the seven popes are not really dealt with in as much detail as one would want; more ink is used to describe the buildings and the military endeavours. This book would be very informative for anyone who is planning a long stay in Avignon since it would take some time to explore all that the author writes about. For the casual visitor on a standard bus holiday, a Michelin or a similar guide would do just as well.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was on a reading list in preparation for a visit to Southern France which would include Avignon. I had heard that there was a time that Rome was not the head of the Catholic Church but did not know any facts concerning it. This is an excellent book on the subject but might be considered dull material for those who are not interested in church history.

I found it fascinating. Mullins made the historical times and characters come to life. Being able to walk through the remains of the papal palace in Avignon after having read the book made that experience more powerful.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalistic, lively prose informed by exhaustive research. Wonderful, hidden history of Avignon, The City That Was, which acted as nerve-centre/main stage of Western Christendom for nearly a century.

[Marvin Brauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read. Especially if like me you love 14th century France

[E.C. Ambrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great fun and included all sorts of tidbits not only about the popes, but also about the royals, heretics and artists of the period. I especially enjoyed Petrarch's snarky commentary on the papal court, and learning more about Joanna of Naples.

My only complaint is that the author tends to jump around a bit chronolgically in order to group events by topic. I can understand the need for this kind of thematic continuity, but sometimes he did not specify the new date a few paragraphs later, leading to a lot of flipping back and forth to find an empirical number instead of "four years later."

However, it's an engaging read, full of juicy medieval gossip and intriguing facts.

[Guclu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best historical book I have read so far. I cannot wait to discover the other books of the same author.

[Matt Nyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really solid history, in the sense that it covers what you would expect. Politics, war, personalities of the major figures. It's very readable and I think does a really good job of being fair to these Avignon popes. If anything, it is a bit too short, kind of fading out at the end, and not really covering the end period too well.

In my view, this is what a first history should be. Maybe a bit lacking in the perspective of others outside of Avignon. What Milan and Paris and Rome were doing and thinking in response to these popes, and what the cardinals were doing, isn't addressed too much.

But as far as the primary history. What happened, when and what the popes were like, I think this is excellent if a bit abbreviated.

[Diana Suddreth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this on a list of books to read if visiting France and I really liked it. I've heard the general outline of the history before in history classes, and Mullins brings in much more detail in a very easy to read style. I can't wait to go to Avignon!

[James Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Routine non-academic history of the hundred years during which Avignon was home of the popes and the antipopes (14th century). Mullins writing is a little purple and his analysis not very deep but the book served my purposes in giving me some background before visiting Avignon later this year.

[Micki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable, really enjoyed going through. Some of the transitions were more abrupt than they needed to be and the timeline was odd, skipped forward to the end a lot and a LOT of heavy foreshadowing.

[Francisco99999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introductory book about Avignon and the influence the papacy had over it. Provides an interesting glimpse on the Middle Ages from the perspective of the events surrounding the church and its popes.

[Niccolò · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendida descrizione dei 70 anni della "cattività avignonese", e di come i 7 papi (e 2 antipapi) avignonesi hanno influenzato buona parte della storia italiana ed europea del 14° Secolo.

[Rebecca Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Howell Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough tale. It wasn’t a real page-turner, but i made it through on many short bits of reading and learned a good amount about the subject.

[Tina Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate and I want to be clear I rated it on content not on the writing. The book was recommended to me after I made a trip to Avignon. The city had been the home of the papacy for seventy-five years and this book explains the history of that time. The details are rich. That said, this book is why people hate history. The writing is dry and a tough read. This was a fascinating period both for the Church and for Avignon and the author does not begin to do it justice. Although I learned a great deal, I was shocked that more wasn't written about the patron saint of Siena, Catherine. She is credited with persuading the Pope to return to Rome. Her story is a fascinating one, yet she got a few sentences in the book. I guess that's a story for another book.

[Timothy Urban · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book might have its faults but it's a wonderful read. Not really academic in its rigour it is however passionate and vivid and full of rich detail about what is a very unusual time and place in history.



I especially valued this book as I embarked on reading The Name of the Rose. In fact this book is great as the launching point for all sorts of other related subjects eg Knights Templar, Cathars, 100 Years War, the early renaissance...

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well written book about the flight of the popes from Rome in the 1300's to Avignon. It gives a short, interesting history of each of the seven French popes who were elected during their 70 years in France. The author did a good job of keeping the history interesting and not too dry. A good read for anyone interested in Papal history or planning a trip to the current day city of Avignon.

[Warwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an engaging and readable introduction to the subject, but it does have a few problems as history – very few actual quotations from primary sources, and more critically a complete lack of footnotes. That means it's impossible to follow up on something you're interested in or verify something you're uncertain of. Still, I enjoyed it, and as long as you don't require a serious work of history you should be fine with this as a starter text.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick overview of the 7 (or 9, depending on how you count) Popes who resided in Avignon and their impact on helping build the city. I liked the book, but wished there was a bit more detail about how events in the rest of Europe (aside from what was covered regarding the 100 Years War) affected the papacy.

[Rasmus Nord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it before a visit to Avignon. Excellent overview and with the right amount of threads to important historical events and people that are related to this period. It gave me extra pleasure to visit the Papal Palace, however with my little girl on the arm, I had less time to savour the experience and feel the presence of the popes in the grand audience chamber.

[Allysmom · Rating 5 out of 5]

In depth info on the reasons for having the papacy moved to Avignon and the many different popes that kept it there, up to when it finally was moved back to Rome.

[Ben Rothman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describes the fascinating period in Church history when the Church moved from Rome to France and then wouldn't move back.

[Nancy Bielski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. There was good detail without going so in-depth things got dry and/or irrelevant.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather dry narrative of the flight of the papacy from Rome to Avignon and its subsequent 70 years there.