Comtat Venaissin | |||||||||||
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1274–1791 | |||||||||||
Motto: Per lo Papa, per la nacion ("For the Pope, for the nation") | |||||||||||
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Status | Papal enclave | ||||||||||
Capital |
44°5′N5°0′E / 44.083°N 5.000°E | ||||||||||
Common languages | |||||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||
Government | Feudal theocratic elective absolute monarchy | ||||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
• Death of Alphonse, Count of Poitiers | 21 August 1271 | ||||||||||
• Acquired by papacy | 1274 | ||||||||||
1320 | |||||||||||
1348 | |||||||||||
• French occupation | 1663, 1668, 1768–74 | ||||||||||
14 September 1791 | |||||||||||
1797 | |||||||||||
Currency | Roman scudo | ||||||||||
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Today part of | France |
The Comtat Venaissin (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃tavənɛsɛ̃] ; Occitan : lo Comtat Venaicin; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the Comtat for short, was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791, in what is now the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southern France.
The region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France, comprising the area around the city of Avignon (itself always a separate comtat) roughly between the Rhône, the Durance and Mont Ventoux , and a small exclave located to the north around the town of Valréas purchased by Pope John XXII. The Comtat also bordered (and mostly surrounded) the Principality of Orange. The region is still known informally as the Comtat Venaissin, although this no longer has any political meaning.
In 1096, the Comtat was part of the Margraviate of Provence that was inherited by Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse from William Bertrand of Provence. These lands in the Holy Roman Empire belonged to Joan, Countess of Toulouse, and her husband, Alphonse, Count of Poitiers. [1] Alphonse bequeathed it to the Holy See on his death in 1271. Since this happened during an interregnum, there was no Holy Roman Emperor to protect Joan's rights.[ citation needed ]
The Comtat became a Papal territory in 1274. The region was named after its former capital, Venasque, which was replaced as capital by Carpentras in 1320.
Avignon was sold to the papacy by Joanna I, Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence, in 1348, [2] whereupon the two comtats were joined to form a unified papal enclave geographically, though retaining their separate political identities.
The enclave's inhabitants did not pay taxes and were not subject to military service, making life in the Comtat considerably more attractive than under the French Crown. It became a haven for French Jews, who received better treatment under papal rule than in the rest of France. The Carpentras synagogue, built in the 14th century, is the oldest in France, and until the French Revolution preserved a distinctive Provençal Jewish tradition.
Successive French rulers sought to annex the region to France. It was invaded by French troops in 1663, 1668 and 1768–1774 during disputes between the Crown and the Church. It was also subjected to trade and customs restrictions during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV.
Papal control continued until 1791, when an unauthorized plebiscite, under pressure from French revolutionaries, was held and the inhabitants voted for annexation by France. The process was facilitated by Pierre-Antoine Antonelle, then mayor of Arles. A few years later, Vaucluse département was created based on Comtat Venaissin including the exclave of Valréas and a part of the Luberon for the southern half. The papacy did not recognise this formally until 1814.
Under the Counts of Toulouse, the chief officer of the Comtat Venaissin was the Seneschal. [3]
From 1294 to 1791 the chief administrator of the Comtat Venaissin was the Rector, who was appointed directly by the Pope. Most of the incumbents were in fact prelates, either Archbishops or Bishops, and the Rector therefore had the right to wear a purple garb, similar to that of an Apostolic Chamberlain. [4] His official residence was in Carpentras. He had no authority over Avignon, however, which was administered by a Cardinal Legate or a Vice-Legate, also appointed directly by the Pope. [5] Gradually, however, the power of the Vice-Legate encroached on that of the Rector, until the Cardinal virtually held the position of a governor, and the Rector had the functions of a judge. In both cases their tenure was for a period of three years, renewable. [6]
The Rector had the right to receive the feudal oaths of homage of all the papal vassals. He also had the right to receive the oaths of bishops who held property by virtue of their office which was in feudal tenure from the pope. The Rector named the Notaries of the Comtat. He presided at the negotiation and payment of revenues of the Apostolic Chamber. His court was the Supreme Court of the Comtat Venaissin, and he had both criminal and civil jurisdiction of the first instance, and appellate jurisdiction from the courts of the regular judges of the three judicial circuits. [7]
The Rector was seconded by a Vice-Rector, named the Lieutenant of the Rector, also a papal appointee. He had judicial powers similar to those of the Rector.
The administration of the Comtat was in the hands of the Estates of the Comtat, which consisted of the Élu (a nobleman), the Bishop of Carpentras, the Bishop of Cavaillon, the Bishop of Vaison, and eighteen representatives of the three judicial districts into which the Comtat was divided. The Estates held their meetings at Carpentras. [8]
The Apostolic Camera (Treasury of the Holy Roman Church) had a permanent office in Carpentras, with full jurisdiction in all financial matters concerning the rights of the Holy See in the Comtat. This included the obligations of bishops and other ecclesiastical persons to the papacy. [9]
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon rather than in Rome. The situation arose from the conflict between the papacy and the French crown, culminating in the death of Pope Boniface VIII after his arrest and maltreatment by Philip IV of France. Following the subsequent death of Pope Benedict XI, Philip forced a deadlocked conclave to elect the French Clement V as pope in 1305. Clement refused to move to Rome, and in 1309 he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. This absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian captivity" of the Papacy.
Carpentras is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
The Palais des Papes in Avignon, Southern France, is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was a seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century. Six papal conclaves were held in the Palais, leading to the elections of Benedict XII in 1334, Clement VI in 1342, Innocent VI in 1352, Urban V in 1362, Gregory XI in 1370 and Benedict XIII in 1394. In 1995, the Palais des Papes was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding architecture and historical importance for the papacy.
The Pont Saint-Bénézet, also known as the Pont d'Avignon, was a medieval bridge across the Rhône in the town of Avignon, in southern France. Only four arches survive.
Venasque is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association.
Valréas is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
The arrondissement of Carpentras is an arrondissement of France in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has 78 communes. Its population is 226,140 (2021), and its area is 1,839.8 km2 (710.4 sq mi).
The canton of Valréas, sometimes called the enclave des Papes, is a canton of the Vaucluse department, a part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in Southern France. It consists of four communes: Grillon, Richerenches, Valréas and Visan.
Monteux is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
The former French diocese of Cavaillon existed until the French Revolution as a diocese of the Comtat Venaissin, a fief of the Church of Rome. It was a member of the ecclesiastical province headed by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Avignon. Its seat was at Cavaillon, in the south-eastern part of what is now France, in the modern department of Vaucluse.
Carpentras was a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Provence region, from the later Roman Empire until 1801. It was part of the ecclesiastical province under the Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Arles. The bishop was a major figure in the Comtat Venaissin, and a member of the Estates of the Comtat. He was a direct appointee of the pope.
The massacres of La Glacière that took place during 16–17 October 1791 in the Tour de la Glacière of the Palais des Papes at Avignon, then recently united to France, were an isolated and early example of violence in the opening phase of the French Revolution; the massacres are interpreted by French historians not as presaging the September massacres of 1792 and the Reign of Terror but as a last episode in the struggle between partisans and advocates of the reunion of the papal enclave of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin with the state of France.
The ancient residential diocese of Orange in the Comtat Venaissin in Provence, a fief belonging to the papacy, was suppressed by the French government during the French Revolution. It was revived in 2009 as a titular see of the Catholic Church.
The Castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a château located in the town of the same name in southeastern France. Its presence has dominated the landscape around the village and its renowned vineyards for more than 800 years.
The following is a history of Avignon, France.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Avignon in southern France.
The walls of Avignon are a series of defensive stone walls that surround the city of Avignon in the south of France. They were built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history.
Following the unanimous declaration of the various district assemblies of Avignon on 12 June 1790, to secede from the Papal States and unite with France, war broke out between the municipal government of Avignon and the more conservative Comtat Venaissin, the larger county (comtat) which co-existed with Avignon and still pledged loyalty to the Papal States. Avignon, which had been inspired by the intentions of the French Revolution, soon received the support of French troops placed under its control, augmenting the Avignon forces that had laid siege to Carpentras, ending the government of the Comtat. However, hardline counter-revolutionary regions of the Comtat under the name the "Union of St. Cecilia" continued fighting until June 1791.
In the aftermath of a war between the pro-French Avignon municipal government and the papist Union of St. Cecilia, three mediators sent by the French National Assembly organized a series of votes to discern the true opinions of the people in the Papal territories of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin with respect to union with France.
The Hôtel de Ville is a historic building in Avignon, Vaucluse, southern France, standing on the Place de l'Horloge. It was designated a monument historique by the French government in 1862.