Editing Papal States (section)

===Avignon Papacy===
{{Main|Avignon Papacy}}
From 1305 to 1378, the popes lived in the papal enclave of [[Avignon]], surrounded by [[Provence]] and under the influence of the French kings.{{sfn|Spielvogel|2013|pages=245–246}}{{sfn|Elm|Mixson|2015|page=154}}{{sfn|Watanabe|2013|page=241}}{{sfn|Kleinhenz|2004|pages=220, 982}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Butt |first1=John J. |title=The Greenwood Dictionary of World History |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0313327650 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greenwooddiction00butt_0/page/36 36] |url=https://archive.org/details/greenwooddiction00butt_0 |url-access=registration |quote=Term (coined by [[Petrarch]]) for the papal residence in Avignon (1309–1377), in reference to the Babylonian Captivity (...)}}</ref> This period was known as the "Avignonese" or "Babylonian Captivity".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Noble |title=Cengage Advantage Books: Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries |date=2013 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1285661537 |page=304 |edition=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Td4WAAAAQBAJ&q=avignon+babylonian+captivity+1309-1377 |quote=The Babylonian Captivity, 1309–1377 |display-authors=etal |access-date=2020-11-18 |archive-date=2021-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914043921/https://books.google.com/books?id=Td4WAAAAQBAJ&q=avignon+babylonian+captivity+1309-1377 |url-status=live}}</ref> During this period the city of Avignon itself and the surrounding [[Comtat Venaissin]] was added to the Papal States; it remained a papal possession for some 400 years even after the popes returned to Rome, until it was seized and incorporated into the French state during the [[French Revolution]].

During the [[Avignon Papacy]], local [[Despotism|despots]] took advantage of the absence of the popes to establish themselves in nominally papal cities: the [[Pepoli]] in Bologna, the [[Ordelaffi]] in [[Forlì]], the [[Manfredi family|Manfredi]] in [[Faenza]], and the [[House of Malatesta|Malatesta]] in [[Rimini]] all gave nominal acknowledgment to their papal overlords and were declared vicars of the Church.

In Ferrara, the death of [[Azzo VIII d'Este]] without legitimate heirs (1308{{sfn|Menache|2003|page=142}}) encouraged [[Pope Clement V]] to bring Ferrara under his direct rule: however, it was governed by his appointed vicar, King [[Robert of Naples]], for only nine years before the citizens recalled the [[House of Este|Este]] from exile (1317). Interdiction and excommunications were in vain because in 1332, John XXII was obliged to name three Este brothers as his vicars in Ferrara.{{sfn|Waley|1966|page=62}}

In Rome itself, the [[Orsini family|Orsini]] and the [[Colonna family|Colonna]] struggled for supremacy,{{sfn|Kleinhenz|2004|page=802}} dividing the city's ''[[Rioni of Rome|rioni]]'' between them. The resulting aristocratic anarchy in the city provided the setting for the fantastic dreams of universal democracy of [[Cola di Rienzo]], who was acclaimed Tribune of the People in 1347,{{sfn|Ruggiero|2014|page=225}} and met a violent death in early October 1354 as he was assassinated by supporters of the Colonna family.{{sfn|Ruggiero|2014|page=227}} To many, rather than an ancient Roman tribune reborn, he had become just another tyrant using the rhetoric of Roman renewal and rebirth to mask his grab for power.{{sfn|Ruggiero|2014|page=227}} As [[Guido Ruggiero]] states, "even with the support of [[Petrarch]], his return to first times and the rebirth of ancient Rome was one that would not prevail."{{sfn|Ruggiero|2014|page=227}}

The Rienzo episode engendered renewed attempts from the absentee papacy to re-establish order in the dissolving Papal States, resulting in the military progress of Cardinal [[Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz]], who was appointed papal legate, and his [[condottieri]] heading a small mercenary army. Having received the support of the [[archbishop of Milan]], [[Giovanni Visconti (archbishop of Milan)|Giovanni Visconti]], he defeated [[Giovanni di Vico]], lord of [[Viterbo]], moving against [[Galeotto Malatesta]] of Rimini and the [[Ordelaffi]] of Forlì, the [[Montefeltro]] of [[Urbino]] and the da Polenta of [[Ravenna]], and against the cities of [[Senigallia]] and [[Ancona]]. The last holdouts against full Papal control were [[Giovanni Manfredi]] of Faenza and [[Francesco II Ordelaffi]] of Forlì. Albornoz, at the point of being recalled, in a meeting with all the Papal vicars on 29 April 1357, promulgated the ''[[Constitutiones Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ]]'', which replaced the mosaic of local law and accumulated traditional 'liberties' with a uniform code of civil law. These ''Constitutiones Aegidianae'' (as they are informally known) mark a watershed in the legal history of the Papal States; they remained in effect until 1816. [[Pope Urban V]] ventured a return to Italy in 1367 that proved premature; he returned to Avignon in 1370 just before his death.{{sfn|Watanabe|2013|page=19}}