More Photographs of Provence

Here's the first of two groups of photographs showing the exterior of the enormous Palais des Papes in Avignon, the home of the Popes from 1305 to 1378. The move from Rome was prompted by political and military upheavals caused by war in Italy between two powerful families contending for control of (or the defeat of) the Holy Roman Empire, which made stable government of the Holy See almost impossible. Avignon was chosen as the alternative residence because it was owned by the Count of Provence, who was also the King of Naples and thus the Pope's vassal; the Pope could therefore exercise temporal authority there without interference from other rulers.

Although the Papacy returned to Rome in 1378, a French Pope continued to hold sway in Avignon because the French cardinals disputed the circumstances of the Roman Pope's election; both factions had a high old time excommunicating each other until a Papal Council in 1409 declared both of them deposed and elected a third Pope. By that stage, the last French Pope had been driven from Avignon; he died penniless and forgotten in Spain in 1423, still convinced he was the rightful head of the Church.

These five photographs show, in order, the west facade of the New Palace, built between 1347 and 1351; the enormous buttress which supports the weight of the New Palace's Grand Chapel; a view of the Pope's Tower and the Trouillas Tower, on the rear (eastern) side of the Palais; a view of Notre Dame des Doms, the cathedral attached to the Palais, from the north; and a composite view (apologies for the odd curvature) of the western front the the complex -- the Old Palace, built from 1335 to 1346, on the left and the New Palace wings and towers on the right.