Avignon is one of those places that’s steeped in history. It would be a shame to see it without knowing something about its past, so before we go, let’s take a brief historical detour to Avignon.
Turn back the clock to the 14th century – the miserable 14th century. (See why here). Western civilization was bogged down in the Dark Ages. The pope had moved to Avignon, built a palace, and invited hundreds of his closest friends to do the same.
Our Old Friend, Petrarch
One of Avignon’s most famous citizens arrived on the scene about this time.
He was an Italian named Francesco Petrarca, better known by his pen name, “Petrarch.”
Petrarch was one of the few people outside the clergy who learned to read latin. He studied classical Greek literature at a time when the vast majority of people didn’t know the alphabet. He became the most famous writer of the day, and is thought to have helped to jump-start western civilization out of the Dark Ages toward the coming renaissance. (There’s more about Petrarch here).
A handful of popes ruled over the Christian world from Avignon. The one who had the biggest impact by far was John XXII. The Church had always done pretty well in the earnings department, but it was John XXII who turned it into a real money machine.
They used to call him “The Warren Buffet of Popes.” Well, that’s what they would have called him if Warren Buffet had been around back then.
Let’s Make Some Money
Under this pope’s watch, Church leaders came up with a brilliant idea for increasing revenues. Selling cookies door to door? Nope. Getting someone to donate an ox cart and then raffling it off? Nope. Selling mistletoe at Christmas? Nope.
OK. Here’s the idea… they’d made a list of every possible sin a person could commit. Then they’d assigned a price to each sin, depending on how bad it was. Telling a fib that didn’t really harm anyone? That wouldn’t cost much. Stealing a pig? That would cost more. Stealing from the Church? That would really set you back.
They wrote down all of the sins and corresponding penalties in an itemized list, like a menu. Back then, when the pope put something in writing, it was law. Here’s an example of one of them, translated from Latin…
“A husband who has struck his wife roughly shall pay 3 pounds, 4 sous. If he killed her, 17 pounds, 15 sous. If he committed this crime to marry another, he shall pay 52 pounds, 9 sous.”
They must have put a lot of thought into it to come up with such exact amounts. You’d think that for smacking your wife, they’d just round off to 3 pounds and forget about the 4 sous, eh?
They didn’t just assign penalties for sins that you already committed. For some sins, you could get a better deal by doing a little advance planning and paying up front. Get a load of this…
“Whoever would wish to buy in advance absolution for any accidental murder that he might commit in the future shall pay 178 pounds, 14 sous, 6 derniers.”
Such a deal. But remember — the murder is going to have to be “accidental”!
Let the Good Times Roll!
As you can imagine, money started flowing in like crazy. The guys who came up with this scheme had to be rolling on the ground, laughing. You can almost hear ’em…. “How couldst it be that we hadn’t thought of this before?”
With all that money rolling in, there was no need to be thrifty. The over-the-top parties at the Palace of the Pope in Avignon became the stuff of legend.
Petrarch was a religious guy, and he was disgusted with all the money-raising shenanigans and partying going on at the pope’s palace. He was also one of many Christians who thought the pope should be located in Rome. That was one of the big controversies at the time.
Meanwhile, the pope and his cardinals were raking in the pounds, sous, derniers, silver and gold, horses, land, and whatever else one could scrape up to pay to be absolved of his sins. Sinning was getting expensive!
Around this time an opportunity presented itself to the pope. The town of Avignon was owned by the Kingdom of Naples. The Kingdom of Naples was in financial straits, while the Church was awash with money.
An offer was made to the pope to purchase the town of Avignon for the Church at a good price. The pope jumped on it. Do you know who sold Avignon to the pope? Her name was Queen Joan I, Queen of Naples.
To be continued…
