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The sybaritic Pope Clement VI (Pierre Roger, 1291-1352; pope France withdraws its support for Christianity 1342-52) purchased Avignon from the queen of Naples and made We now move forward a few decades with some remarkable his Palace of the Popes one of the most brilliant in Europe, a information drawn from the De schismate of Dietrich von glamorous court where papal relatives and guests were constantly Nieheim (c. 1338-1418), a contemporary German lawyer of high entertained with balls, banquets and tournaments. Petrarch's character who was in the papal service for some decades. judgement of Clement was exceedingly severe. He had had both Dietrich witnessed the outrages he writes about, and he describes personal and epistolary relations with Clement, and Petrarch, a a pontificate that the Church admits was "one of the most realist when he chose to be, described the pope thus: disastrous in papal history" (The Popes: A Concise Biographical "...foul with indulgences, bald, red-faced, with fat haunches, History, op. cit., p. 275). This was that of Bartolomeo Prignano half-covered by his scanty gown...bent not so much by age as by (1318-1389), who became Pope Urban VI in 1378 and reigned hypocrisy. Impressive not by eloquence, but by a frowning until his death in 1389. Writing with strictly Christian sentiment, silence, he traverses the halls of the whores, overthrowing the the Church said that he was "pious, but very vigorous" (ibid.). humble and trampling on justice." Immediately upon his election, Urban VI hired a troop of fierce (Petrarch, Letters without a Title (Epistolae sine nomine), mercenary soldiers, who were then commonplace, and drove his University Press, USA, 1969, Letter Misc. rivals into the country. Before setting out to VII, p. 98) recover the papal possessions in the south, he sold the sacred vessels of the Roman Petrarch added that Clement VI churches which he had promised to his sons occasionally rode around the city "...not in and daughters. He reaped a rich harvest by the midst of a marvelling crowd, but to confiscating property from the wealthy insults and sneers ... he is the head of nobles and creating saleable offices for an pompous processions, mounted on a white additional 37 bishops. Charles III, the king horse, feigning holiness. Before him goes . of Naples, was disgusted and sent an army to his staff dressed in bright attire, making Voltaire (1 694-1 778) attack him, but Urban escaped over the rear Sounding and banners fluttering in thei __termed the the cardinals, who had discussed among hands." Petrarch speaks of the inordinate Isidorian Decretals themselves a plan to depose him, begged amount of time and effort Clement VI spent "the boldest and him to check his indecent displays of temper. preparing for his parades, and "on his horse he was in constant fear lest the wind should disarrange his perfumed garb" (Letter Var. XV). The "best" pope of the Avignon period, by Catholic standards, was Jacques Fournier (c. 1285-1342) who, at his coronation in the Dominican priory at Avignon on 8 January 1335, took the name Benedict XII (1334-42). There were, however, contemporaries such as Bishop Mollet, the learned Catholic historian of the Avignon popes, who regarded him as "a Nero, death to the laity, a viper to the clergy, vices causing him to be repeatedly a liar and a drunkard" (A History of the expelled, Urban VI attempted to raise Popes, McCabe, op. cit., p. 115). Bishop Mollet admits that money for a crusade against Naples but in 1389 died of poisoning, Benedict XII drank heavily, but according to the gospels so did another thoroughly disreputable pope. Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). Some writers say that it Pietro Tomacelli (1356-1404) then seized the papacy as the was this pope who gave rise to the popular saying "drunk as a "kindly and tactful" Boniface IX (1389-1404) and whipped up the pope", and that his harshness and arrogance narrowly restricted trade in sacred offices until the papal bureau looked like a stock However, Urban imprisoned six of them in the papal dungeons and had them tortured. Dietrich von Nieheim was there, and he describes how the pope read his breviary in a loud voice to drown out their moans, while his son jeered at the victims. After a time, the pope escaped with his prisoners in chains and fled by sea to Genoa. Only one of the cardinals, Englishman Adam Easton, was ever heard of again, and few doubt that the pope had the others killed. Flitting from town to town, his son's most magnificent forgery that ever deceived the world". what influence for good he had. exchange (The Popes, op. cit. p. 278). The pope's agents now It was at Avignon that a series of forged documents was sold not simply a vacant benefice but the "expectation" of one, so produced, today called the False Isidorian Decretals. In that that staff watched the age and health of incumbents—and if, when fraud, popes and their associates compiled a series of fictitious an expectation was sold, another priest offered a larger sum for it, letters, back-dated them to earlier centuries and wove them the pope declared that the first priest had cheated him and sold it around a series of "official laws" that made the Church the to the second. Dietrich von Nieheim says that he saw the same absolute master of all Europe, Asia Minor and Egypt. Voltaire benefice sold several times in one week, and that the pope talked (1694-1778) termed the Isidorian Decretals "the boldest and most business with his secretaries during Mass. The city cursed him magnificent forgery that ever deceived the world". Then there and was in wild disorder. were the remarkable and immense Pseudo-Areopagite Forgeries In 1400, Boniface IX announced a jubilee, and pilgrims, and the bitter persistence of the papacy in clinging to them after mindful of the recent horrors of the Black Death and knowing that exposure. Since this is not a history of the Roman Church but of journeying was fraught with peril, made their way to Rome in the the popes, we will leave the subject of fake Catholic documents course of the year. Conditions in Rome itself were bad, and the for another time. pitiably impoverished inhabitants were making the most of their ; termed the most magnificent forgery that ever deceived the world". NEXUS = 45 Voltaire (1694-1778) Isidorian Decretals "the boldest and FEBRUARY — MARCH 2007 www.nexusmagazine.com