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The popes · No. 201 of 267

Gregory XI

Seventy years in France, a young woman from Siena, and three men who all claimed to be pope.

Pope 1370 to 78

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The Palais des Papes in Avignon: massive Gothic towers and walls in pale stone under a blue sky.

Jean-Marc Rosier, 2008. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Home / The popes / Gregory XI

Avignon, southern France, 1309 to 1377

The pope no longer lives in Rome.1

Clement V settles at Avignon in 1309, and for nearly seventy years his successors stay.1

This is one of the hardest stretches in the papacy’s history. The Church has never pretended otherwise.

01Gregory XI

A letter-writer from Siena

Gregory XI finally brought the papacy back to Rome in 1377.2

Among those who urged him was Catherine of Siena, who went to Avignon in person.3

The Palais des Papes in Avignon: massive Gothic towers and walls in pale stone under a blue sky.
The Palais des Papes in Avignon, home of the popes for most of the fourteenth century. Jean-Marc Rosier, 2008. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

02Gregory XI

The Great Schism

After Gregory’s death in 1378, the cardinals elected Urban VI, then some of them rejected him and chose a rival, “Clement VII”, at Avignon.45

For almost forty years Catholics of good faith, and even saints, were divided over who the true pope was.4

The Council of Constance ended the schism with the election of Martin V in 1417.6

Konzilgebäude Konstanz 20230602 0079
The Council building at Konstanz on Lake Constance, where the conclave of 1417 elected Martin V. Tilman2007, 2023. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Church came through with her teaching intact. That is not a boast about the men in charge. It is a claim about who was keeping her.

Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church.7

A century later came the pope whose name became a byword for scandal.

Notes

  1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Pope Clement V”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  2. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Pope Gregory XI”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  3. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Catherine of Siena”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  4. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Pope Urban VI”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  5. Catholic Encyclopedia, “List of Popes” (New Advent edition, updated to 2025). New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  6. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Pope Martin V”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  7. Matthew 16:18, Douay-Rheims. read the chapter

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision (public domain). Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an error.