History: Avignon Papacy

1305- 1377 - Continuing his bid to quell papal power, Philip IV pressured French cardinals to elect a French pope in the wake of the death of Bonifice VIII. Clement~V, 1305- 1314 was elected and moved the seat of the Papacy to Avignon, southern France, citing political turmoil in Rome as the principal reason. The Avignon Papacy resulted in a decline in papal authority, essentially subordinating the Pope to the King of France.