took pleasure in religious ceremonies and in preaching on state occasions. When the
Black Death struck Avignon, however, the pope remained in the city, seeing to the burial
of the dead and the welfare of the survivors. Clement was less kind to the bands of
flagellants who descended on Avignon in 1349, ordering them dispersed as a threat to
order.
In the political sphere, Clement, despite the ravages of the Hundred Years’ War,
formed a Latin League against Turkish pirates; but its initial success was insufficient to
spark a crusade. Clement opposed the intervention of Charles IV of Luxembourg in Italy.
Although Avignon was purchased from the Angevin monarchy, the pope welcomed the
collapse of Cola di Rienzo’s domination of Rome. His lack of interest in returning the
papacy to Italy was one reason for Petrarch’s denunciation of him.
Thomas M.Izbicki
[See also: AVIGNON PAPACY]
Clement VI. Clément VI (1342–1352): lettres closes, patentes et curiales se rapportant à la
France, ed. Eugène Déprez et al. 3 vols. Paris: Boccard, 1901–61.
——. Clément VI (1342–1352): lettres secrètes et curiales intéressant les pays autres que la
France, ed. Paul Lecacheux et al. 4 vols. Paris: Boccard, 1902–55.
Coogan, Robert, trans. Babylon on the Rhone: A Translation of Letters by Dante, Petrarch, and
Catherine of Siena on the Avignon Papacy. Potomac: Studia Humanitatis, 1983.
Wood, Diana. Clement VI: The Pontificate and Ideas of an Avignon Pope. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1989.
CLERIADUS ET MELIADICE
. A lengthy prose romance from the middle of the 15th century that deals with the love of
Clériadus, son of the Count of Asturias, and Méliadice, daughter of King Philippon of
England. The narrative, which takes place variously in England, Spain, and Cyprus, is
largely given over to adventures in which Clériadus proves himself worthy of the love of
Méliadice. The work, found in nine manuscripts and five early printed editions, was
popular in its day.
Keith Busby
Zink, Gaston, ed. Clériadus et Méliadice: roman en prose du XVe siècle. Geneva: Droz, 1984.
CLERICIS LAICOS
. In February 1296, Pope Boniface VIII issued his constitution Clericis laicos, which
forbade lay powers to tax the clergy without papal consent. This decree was intended to
deprive Philip IV the Fair of France and Edward I of England of the fiscal resources for
war. Clericis laicos closed loopholes in the canon law, which had permitted the clergy to
make “voluntary” offerings to kings. Its text also was inflammatory, opening with a claim
The Encyclopedia 435