Roman Catholic papacy during the period 1309–77, when the popes resided at Avignon, France. Elected pope through the machinations of Philip IV of France, Clement V moved the papal capital to Avignon four years later primarily for political reasons.
All seven popes of this period were French, as were most of the cardinals, which aroused English and German animosity. During the Avignon papacy the cardinals began to play a stronger role in church government, church and clergy were reformed, missionary efforts were expanded, and popes tried to settle royal rivalries and establish peace. The heavy French influence damaged the prestige of the papacy, however, and in 1377 Gregory XI returned to Rome. The cardinals elected a new pope who took the Avignon seat, becoming the first of a line of antipopes and beginning the Western Schism.
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