On the subject of the south of France, I would like to remember when the Catholic Church moved to Avignon.
A prominent part of western history, and world history as a whole, is the two splits that have occurred in the Catholic Church.
The first was in the year 1054, as what is now the Eastern Orthodox Church broke away due to controversy over the authority of the pope. The easterners were Christians, but did not see why they should have to submit to the distant pope having authority over them. Representatives from the church met with the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, and excommunicated him, but it ended up splitting the church in two rather than resolving the issue.
The second great split came nearly five hundred years later. This split is known as the Reformation, and was over the Catholic Church accumulating so much wealth as well as supposedly straying from the original principles of Christianity. The name most associated with the Reformation, which began in 1517, is Martin Luther. He was in the Augustinian order and only wanted to reform the church, not to create a new church. But his successors had no intention of reconciling with the Catholic Church, and the branch of Christianity known as Protestantism was born.
Protestants can be broken into four general traditions, Lutherans (Named for Luther), Anglicans, Baptists and, Calvinists ( or Reformed). Lutherans and Anglicans kept some of the ways of the Catholic Church, Baptists and Calvinists generally moved furthest away from the Catholic Church. When America declared independence from Britain, the Anglican Church network in America was renamed the Episcopal Church.
But there was also a third split. It isn't as well known as the other two simply because it wasn't permanent. The issues that led to this third split were eventually resolved.
The Third Split happened in between the above two splits, both of which proved to be permanent. This split was about the authority of the pope with regard to secular leaders. The pope had created the Holy Roman Empire, intended to be under his control, and with the primary mission of regaining control of the eastern Christians, who would ultimately split away to form the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1054. On Christmas Day of the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned in the Old St. Peter's Basilica as Holy Roman Emperor.
But it didn't always work that way. Many emperors of the Holy Roman Empire resisted the authority of the pope. The pope claimed the authority to assign and dispose of emperors at will, and it became known as the Investiture Controversy.
The controversy peaked with a clash between Pope Boniface VIII and King Phillip IV of France. Agents of the king attacked the pope, and he died not long after. Another pope reigned for a few months before dying The next pope after that was French, Clement V who had been the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
In contrast with all the popes before him, Clement V refused to live in Rome. He wanted to live in his native France, and moved the papacy there to the town of Avignon. This began what is known as the Avignon Papacy. This was not actually the breaking away into any new church, just a moving of the church from Rome to Avignon.
This Third Split in the Catholic Church lasted for most of the Fourteenth Century, nearly seventy years. Because the time frame was close to that of the exile of the Jews in Babylon, it is sometimes referred to as the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. There was a series of popes who reigned over the church from Avignon, all were French.
There was a return to Rome of the papacy, which didn't work out very well, and then a return to Avignon. From that point on, there was more than one pope and they were known as antipopes.
The Black Death, the plague, swept Europe during the Avignon Papacy. Possibly a third of the population of the continent died. Many saw it as a tribulation from God.
The move caused a lot of division in other countries as to whether the Avignon Papacy was legitimate or whether it should return to Rome. What is now Britain, which was still Catholic because this was before the Reformation, was divided. Scotland and Wales supported the Avignon Papacy but England didn't.
The division was finally resolved at the Council of Constance, in 1417. The papacy returned to Rome. The Lateran Palace, the traditional residence of the popes, had suffered fire damage and the papacy moved, for the first time, to the Vatican. The Old St. Peter's Basilica, where Charlemagne had been crowned more than six hundred years before, was still there.
There has never been a French pope since then.
Ironically, the new universally accepted pope would be named Martin. Exactly one hundred years later, in 1517, another Martin ( Martin Luther ) would lead another split of the church, the Reformation. One of the reasons that it would come about is the decision to replace the Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was falling into disrepair, with a great new St. Peter's Basilica. One of the ways that money was to be raised for the new St. Peter's was the sale of what is known as indulgences, a certificate that one's sins were forgiven. Martin Luther was outraged, and the rest is history.
This is what the Papal Palace in Avignon looks like today. The bridge that only goes halfway across the river is the remnant of a medieval bridge. The first three images are from Google Earth.
The first was in the year 1054, as what is now the Eastern Orthodox Church broke away due to controversy over the authority of the pope. The easterners were Christians, but did not see why they should have to submit to the distant pope having authority over them. Representatives from the church met with the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, and excommunicated him, but it ended up splitting the church in two rather than resolving the issue.
The second great split came nearly five hundred years later. This split is known as the Reformation, and was over the Catholic Church accumulating so much wealth as well as supposedly straying from the original principles of Christianity. The name most associated with the Reformation, which began in 1517, is Martin Luther. He was in the Augustinian order and only wanted to reform the church, not to create a new church. But his successors had no intention of reconciling with the Catholic Church, and the branch of Christianity known as Protestantism was born.
Protestants can be broken into four general traditions, Lutherans (Named for Luther), Anglicans, Baptists and, Calvinists ( or Reformed). Lutherans and Anglicans kept some of the ways of the Catholic Church, Baptists and Calvinists generally moved furthest away from the Catholic Church. When America declared independence from Britain, the Anglican Church network in America was renamed the Episcopal Church.
But there was also a third split. It isn't as well known as the other two simply because it wasn't permanent. The issues that led to this third split were eventually resolved.
The Third Split happened in between the above two splits, both of which proved to be permanent. This split was about the authority of the pope with regard to secular leaders. The pope had created the Holy Roman Empire, intended to be under his control, and with the primary mission of regaining control of the eastern Christians, who would ultimately split away to form the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1054. On Christmas Day of the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned in the Old St. Peter's Basilica as Holy Roman Emperor.
But it didn't always work that way. Many emperors of the Holy Roman Empire resisted the authority of the pope. The pope claimed the authority to assign and dispose of emperors at will, and it became known as the Investiture Controversy.
The controversy peaked with a clash between Pope Boniface VIII and King Phillip IV of France. Agents of the king attacked the pope, and he died not long after. Another pope reigned for a few months before dying The next pope after that was French, Clement V who had been the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
In contrast with all the popes before him, Clement V refused to live in Rome. He wanted to live in his native France, and moved the papacy there to the town of Avignon. This began what is known as the Avignon Papacy. This was not actually the breaking away into any new church, just a moving of the church from Rome to Avignon.
This Third Split in the Catholic Church lasted for most of the Fourteenth Century, nearly seventy years. Because the time frame was close to that of the exile of the Jews in Babylon, it is sometimes referred to as the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. There was a series of popes who reigned over the church from Avignon, all were French.
There was a return to Rome of the papacy, which didn't work out very well, and then a return to Avignon. From that point on, there was more than one pope and they were known as antipopes.
The Black Death, the plague, swept Europe during the Avignon Papacy. Possibly a third of the population of the continent died. Many saw it as a tribulation from God.
The move caused a lot of division in other countries as to whether the Avignon Papacy was legitimate or whether it should return to Rome. What is now Britain, which was still Catholic because this was before the Reformation, was divided. Scotland and Wales supported the Avignon Papacy but England didn't.
The division was finally resolved at the Council of Constance, in 1417. The papacy returned to Rome. The Lateran Palace, the traditional residence of the popes, had suffered fire damage and the papacy moved, for the first time, to the Vatican. The Old St. Peter's Basilica, where Charlemagne had been crowned more than six hundred years before, was still there.
There has never been a French pope since then.
Ironically, the new universally accepted pope would be named Martin. Exactly one hundred years later, in 1517, another Martin ( Martin Luther ) would lead another split of the church, the Reformation. One of the reasons that it would come about is the decision to replace the Old St. Peter's Basilica, which was falling into disrepair, with a great new St. Peter's Basilica. One of the ways that money was to be raised for the new St. Peter's was the sale of what is known as indulgences, a certificate that one's sins were forgiven. Martin Luther was outraged, and the rest is history.
This is what the Papal Palace in Avignon looks like today. The bridge that only goes halfway across the river is the remnant of a medieval bridge. The first three images are from Google Earth.
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