AVIGNON, great city of the
popes, and for centuries one of the
major artistic centres of France,
can be dauntingly crowded in summer
and stiflingly hot. But it's worth
braving for its spectacular
monuments and museums, countless
impressively decorated buildings,
ancient churches, chapels and
convents, and more places to eat and
drink than you could cover in a
month. During the
Festival
d'Avignon in July and the
beginning of August, it is
the
place to be.
Immaculately preserved, central
Avignon is enclosed by medieval
walls, built in 1403 by the
Anti-Pope Benedict XIII, the last of
nine popes who based themselves here
throughout most of the fourteenth
century. The first pope to come to
Avignon was Clement V in 1309, who
was invited over by the astute King
Philippe le Bel ("the
Good"), ostensibly to protect
Clement from impending anarchy in
Rome. In reality, Philip saw a
chance to extend his power over the
Church by keeping the pope in the
safety of Provence, during what came
to be known as the Church's
"Babylonian captivity".
Clement's successors were a varied
group, from the villainous John XXII
(of Umberto Eco's Name of the
Rose fame), to the dedicated
Urban V, and later Gregory XI, who
managed to re-establish the papacy
in Rome in 1378. However, this was
not the end of the papacy here -
after Gregory's death in Rome,
dissident local cardinals elected
their own pope in Avignon, provoking
the Western Schism: a ruthless
struggle for the control of the
Church's wealth, which lasted until
the pious Benedict fled Avignon for
self-exile near Valencia in 1409.
As home to one of the richest
courts in Europe, fourteenth-century
Avignon attracted hordes of princes,
dignitaries, poets and raiders, who
arrived to beg from, rob, extort
money from and entertain the popes.
According to Petrarch, the
overcrowded, plague-ridden papal
entourage was "a sewer where
all the filth of the universe has
gathered". Burgeoning from
within its low battlements, the town
must have been a colourful, frenetic
sight.
The City
of Avignon
Avignon's low walls still form a
complete loop around the city.
Despite their menacing
crenellations, they were never a
formidable defence, even when
sections were girded by a
now-vanished moat. Nevertheless with
the gates and towers all restored,
the old...
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