Avignon and the Avignonese papacy 79Walter Frodl, Austria: Mediaeval Wall Paintings(Green-
wich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society by arrangement
with UNESCO, 1964); A. W. A. Leeper, A History of
Medieval Austria, ed. R. W. Seton-Watson and C. A.
Macartney (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1941).
Avars They were a people, probably of Asian origin,
who had advanced military tactics and WEAPONS, using
stirrups, long lances, and sabers, who settled in the area
of the lower Danube in HUNGARYin the early sixth cen-
tury and remained there until their defeat by CHARLE-
MAGNEin the ninth century. The BYZANTINEemperor
JUSTINIANI had hoped to use the Avars against another
tribal group, the Uturgurs. The Avars sent envoys to
Justinian in 562 to request land for settlement in
exchange for military aid, and the emperor began to
negotiate the transfer to the Avars of PANNONIA, a part
of which was inhabited by the LOMBARDS, a Germanic
people quickly displaced by the Avars and who later
settled in northern ITA LYand gave their name to Lom-
bardy. The Avars had, in the meantime, defeated the
SLAVSof the Vistula-Elbe-Oder region, as well as Sige-
bert (561–565) of the eastern MEROVINGIANEmpire,
with whom they afterward formed an alliance in 566.
In 570, they concluded a peace with Emperor Justin II
(r. 565–578) in exchange for an annual tribute. By then
his empire had spread from the Elbe and the eastern
Alps to the Don River. Their economic trade routes
then expanded over regions north, northwest, and
northeast of the BLACKSEA, reaching into the Far East,
Mongolia, and China.
After a failed attack on Constantinople with the
Persians in 626, Avar power began to decline in the
630s. The Bulgars in Pannonia revolted against the Avars
and by 660 were independent. At the same time, the
BYZANTINEemperor HERAKLEIOS(r. 610-641) isolated the
Avars by settling Croats and SERBSfrom the Elbe-Oder
region on the lower Danube.
In the early 790s after vanishing from written history
for more than a century, the Avars aided the rebel Bavari-
ans against Charlemagne, who then led three campaigns
against the fractured Avar state. The Avars fought the
FRANKSbut were soundly defeated. The Avars then tried
unsuccessfully to conclude peace with the Franks. Two
later Frankish armies, however, pursued the war and cap-
tured the Avars’ legendarily huge treasure, which they
took to AACHEN. As a result, the Franks now supposedly
suddenly became fabulously rich. The Avars revolted
against the provisions of this agreement but were
trounced again by the Frankish forces between 799 and
- In the Treaty of VERDUN, 843, all Avar territory fell
under the Franks’ rule.
See alsoAUSTRIA.
Further reading:Béla Köpeczi, ed., The History of
Transylvania, trans. Adrianne Chambers-Makkai et al.
(Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994); Pál Lipták, Avars and
Ancient Hungarians, trans. Bálint Balkay (Budapest:
Akadémiai Kiadó, 1983); S. Szádecky-Kardoss, “The
Avars,” in The Cambridge History of Inner Asia,ed. D.
Sinor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990),
206–228.Averroës and averroism SeeIBNRUSHD,ABU L-WALID
MUHAMMAD.Avicenna SeeIBNSINA,ABUALI AL-HUSAYN.Avignon and the Avignonese papacy Avignon is a
city in southern France or PROVENCEwhere the PAPACY
took up residence in the 14th century.EARLY HISTORY
Seized by CHARLESMARTELin the eighth century, the
town was taken again after a second siege, sacked, and
burned in 737. In the following century, Avignon was
incorporated in the kingdom of the emperors Lothair I (r.
840–855), then of Louis III the Blind (d. 928), who in
896 and 898 held a castle of Avignon.
Eventually under the authority of its bishop and
count, later a viscount, Avignon began to prosper. Well
situated at the confluence of the Rhone and the Durance
Rivers, it was contested among the rulers of TOULOUSE,
BARCELONA, and Forcalquier. Considerable urban devel-
opment and agricultural cultivation occurred during the
12th and 13th centuries. Suburbs for artisans were built,
and a bridge was constructed over the Rhone in about- The town was soon protected by a double wall of
ramparts. An urban patriciate was formed of knights,
lawyers, and merchants, who formed a commune with
ruling consuls; in addition, a PODESTÀ, or judge, from
outside the community was hired.
During the ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE and after the
Fourth Lateran Council, Avignon initially sided with
Count Raymond VI of Toulouse (d. 1222) against the
French crown and the crusaders. In 1226 it refused
passage to King Louis VIII (1187–1226), who had
marched down the Rhone Valley. It then underwent a
siege of three months but had to capitulate and accept
harsh terms from a papal legate. These included the
destruction of 300 small fortresses and the wall in
addition to the payment of a ransom. A later uprising
was suppressed in 1251 by Alphonse of Poitiers
(1220–71) and CHARLESI OFANJOU, the brothers of
King LOUISIX. The town then lost its communal status
and organization, autonomy, and even the archives
supporting its rights. In 1290 the king of France, PHILIP
IV THEFAIR, the heir to Alphonse, gave his rights over
the town to Charles II of Anjou (ca. 1250–1309), the
count of Provence.