Editing Pope Gregory XI (section)

== Return to Rome ==
[[File:Bolognino Gregorio XI.jpg|thumb|right|A ''[[bolognino]]'' of Gregory XI]]The return to Rome from Avignon had been an issue since [[Pope Clement V]] moved the papacy to Avignon in 1309.{{Sfn|Rollo-Koster|2015}} From Popes Clement V to Urban V, the popes of the Avignon Papacy had their reasons to stay in France and not return to Rome. After 68 years of papal rule from France, Gregory XI moved the papacy back to its former seat of power of Rome in 1377.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.historyhit.com/the-popes-of-the-avignon-papacy-in-order/ | title=The Popes of the Avignon Papacy in Order }}</ref>

Gregory was constantly receiving pleas from [[Catherine of Siena]] through letters. In total, she wrote 14 letters between 1375 and 1378 until Gregory died. These letters dealt with different matters such as peace, church reform, and moving the papacy back to Rome. Catherine persuaded him by saying that it was easier to achieve Gregory's goal of peace among the city states in Italy by expanding the influence of the Papal states if the papacy were back in Rome.<ref name=":12"/>

The return of the [[Roman Curia|Curia]] to Rome began on 13 September 1376. Despite the protests of the French king and the majority of the cardinals, Gregory left Avignon on that day and made his way to [[Marseille]], where he boarded a ship on 2 October. Arriving at [[Corneto]] on 6 December, he decided to remain there until arrangements were made in Rome concerning its future government. On 13 January 1377, he left Corneto, landed at [[Ostia (Rome)|Ostia]] the next day, and from there sailed up the Tiber to the [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls|monastery of San Paolo]]. On 17 January he left the monastery to make a solemn entrance into Rome that same day.{{Sfn|Rollo-Koster|2008|p=182}}<ref>Francis Thomas Luongo, ''The Saintly Politics of Catherine of Siena'', xii.</ref><ref>Harvey, Margaret ''The English in Rome, 1362–1420: Portrait of an Expatriate Community'', (Cambridge University Press, 2004), 3.</ref>