Bavaria and used antipapal legislation to pressure the clergy into helping fund his
campaigns.
When Benedict died in 1342, the cardinals quickly agreed on Pierre-Roger de
Beaufort, who reigned as Clem-ent VI from 1342 to 1352. Pierre-Roger had been a
Benedictine, a theologian and preacher, an archbishop of Rouen, and a servant of the
French crown. Despite the ravages of the Hundred Years’ War and the eruption of the
Black Death in 1348, Clement’s pontificate would be regarded as the great age of the
papal court at Avignon. The city of Avignon was purchased from the Angevins, as if the
papacy never would leave. The papal palace was expanded, harboring an elegant court,
one that contrasted sharply with Benedict’s austerity. The best artists, musicians, and
writers were employed. In this period, Petrarch enjoyed papal benefactions, even as he
wrote poems about Laura, described his ascent of Mount Ventoux, and criticized his
master. The ceremonies of the papal chapel were conducted decorously under Clement’s
supervision, and he preached on important occasions. Nor did the pope neglect the
welfare of his subjects during the plague years, burying the dead and caring for the
survivors.
The papal palace, however, was not sufficient to contain the entire court and
bureaucracy. The papal household alone employed many lay and ecclesiastical
functionaries, who, besides caring for the pontiff, entertained his most important guests.
A Dominican served as master of the sacred palace, teaching theology and delivering
opinions on disputed points of doctrine. The cardinals had their own households, where
young clerics might start their quest for advancement. All of these households overlapped
with the curial apparatus.
The chancery handled the most important correspondence, including responses to
petitions for favors from throughout Christendom. The chancery also examined the
fitness of clerics lacking university degrees for the benefices they sought. All documents
concerned with private interests were subject to taxation on a set schedule of fees. The
chamber received revenues, audited accounts, and resolved disputes concerning these
transactions. The penitentiary handled cases concerning matters of conscience, granted
routine dispensations, and maintained a staff of confessors able to deal with the major
languages of Europe. The papal system of justice still employed judgesdelegate
conducting hearings throughout Christendom, but a liberal policy of receiving appeals
combined with a desire for decisions by the highest tribunals encouraged litigants to carry
an increasing volume of business to Avignon. Many princes, prelates, and ecclesiastical
corporations retained permanent proctors at the curia. Others employed those who
clustered around the tribunals. The highest court was the consistory, that is, the pope and
cardinals meeting as a tribunal; but most cases were handled by such bodies as the Rota,
whose decisions provided precedents for canonists to study. An entire tribunal existed
just to verify documents presented by litigants, but forgery remained common. Bribery
and nepotism flourished, helping to give the curia a bad name.
Clement’s reign, despite the purchase of Avignon, saw the papacy become
preoccupied with Italian politics, leading eventually to efforts to return it to Rome. Cola
di Rienzo rose and fell as tribune of the Roman people. Papal legates made efforts to gain
control of the turbulent cities of the papal states, many the domain of tyrants. The
Visconti rose to power in Milan, and the papacy vacillated over whether to accept their
regime as legitimate. Visconti domination drove Florence, once the heart of the Guelf
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