Pope Clement V

Bertrand de Got, Pope in Avignon from 1305 to 1314


He was born in Gironde at Villandraut. After his coronation in Lyon, the pope decides to remain in France, not only because of the turmoils in Italy but above all to reconcile the kings of France and England (against Aquitaine) and to unite them for a new Crusade. 

He first goes to Bordeaux where he was the Archibishop. He arrives in Avignon on March 9, 1309 as a guest of the Dominicans whose monastery is the largest in the city. Successively, he resides in Malaucène, Carpentras and Caromb. In 1311, he prepares the Council of Vienna in the vicarage of Groseau near Malaucène (Mont Ventoux). On the demand of Philippe le Bel, he authorizes the suppression of the Templar Order. His weakness for the King is found in the measures obtained countering the acts of Boniface VII and his absolving of the attack of Anagni. 

Constantly ill during his pontificate and sensing the end of his life near (probably suffering from a cancer of the stomach or intestines) he wishes to return to Guyenne. He dies on April 20, 1314 in Roquemaure, across the Rhône, after having swallowed a dish of crushed emeralds destined to heal !


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