The Avignon papacy (1309-1377) was the period when seven consecutive popes lived in Avignon, France, instead of Rome, which made the papacy look like a tool of the French monarchy, eroded the Church's moral authority, and helped create the conditions for the Protestant Reformation.
The Avignon papacy is the roughly seventy-year stretch (1309-1377) when the popes packed up and ran the Catholic Church from Avignon, in southern France, instead of Rome. Because the popes in this era were French and sat right next door to the French king, the rest of Europe saw the papacy as a puppet of France rather than a neutral spiritual leader. Critics at the time called it the "Babylonian Captivity" of the Church, comparing it to the ancient Israelites' exile.
The damage didn't stop in 1377. When the papacy returned to Rome, a disputed election produced rival popes (eventually three at once) in the Great Western Schism (1378-1417). For AP Euro, the Avignon papacy is the opening domino in a chain of embarrassments, including the schism, the sale of indulgences, and worldly Renaissance popes, that drained the Church's credibility long before Luther showed up. That's exactly the kind of background Topic 2.1 wants you to know when it asks for the context of the Reformation.
This term lives in Unit 2 (Age of Reformation), Topic 2.1, supporting learning objective AP Euro 2.1.A, which asks you to explain the context for the religious, political, and cultural developments of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Avignon papacy is contextualization gold. KC-1.2 says religious pluralism challenged the idea of a unified Christian Europe, and that pluralism didn't appear out of nowhere. A papacy that looked French-controlled, followed by decades of competing popes, taught Europeans that papal authority could be questioned. It also previews KC-1.2.II, the tug-of-war between monarchs and religious institutions, because the whole episode started with a power struggle between the French crown and the pope. When an essay prompt asks why the Reformation succeeded in the 1500s when earlier reform movements failed, the Avignon papacy is part of your answer about a weakened, discredited Church.
Keep studying AP® Euro Unit 2
Catholic Church (Unit 2)
The Avignon papacy is step one in the Church's long credibility crisis. By 1517, the institution Luther attacked had already spent two centuries looking political, wealthy, and divided, which is why his criticisms landed so hard.
Erasmus (Units 1-2)
Christian humanists like Erasmus mocked clerical corruption and called for reform from within. The Avignon era's worldly, money-hungry papal court is exactly the kind of behavior that gave humanist critics their material.
Act of Supremacy (Unit 2)
Avignon proved a strong monarch could bend the papacy to national interests. Henry VIII took that logic to its endpoint in 1534 by cutting out the pope entirely and making himself head of the English Church.
Anglican Church (Unit 2)
Both the Avignon papacy and the Anglican Church show the same theme (KC-1.2.II) of state power absorbing religious authority. France pulled the papacy into its orbit; England built a national church under the crown.
You'll most likely meet the Avignon papacy as background, not as the main event. MCQ stems may pair a source criticizing the Church (a humanist satire, a reformer's complaint) with a question about long-term causes of the Reformation, and the Avignon papacy plus the Great Western Schism are classic answer choices. On FRQs, it's a contextualization tool. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but a Unit 2 LEQ or DBQ on the causes or success of the Reformation rewards an opening that mentions the Avignon papacy and schism as evidence the Church's authority was already weakened. The move to practice is one clean sentence linking 1309-1377 to declining papal prestige to openness to Protestant ideas.
The Avignon papacy (1309-1377) is one papacy in the wrong city. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) is what came next, when a botched return to Rome produced two, then three, rival popes each claiming to be the real one. Avignon damaged the pope's independence; the schism damaged the very idea that there was one legitimate pope. On the exam, keep the order straight. Avignon caused the schism, not the other way around.
The Avignon papacy (1309-1377) was the period when popes lived in Avignon, France, and were widely seen as controlled by the French monarchy.
Critics called it the 'Babylonian Captivity' because the papacy seemed exiled from Rome and held captive by French interests.
It directly led to the Great Western Schism (1378-1417), when multiple rival popes split Christendom's loyalty.
For AP Euro, its main job is contextualization (LO 2.1.A): it explains why papal authority was weak enough for the Protestant Reformation to take hold in the 1500s.
It also previews the Unit 2 theme of state power versus church power, since a monarch effectively capturing the papacy foreshadows rulers like Henry VIII taking control of religion in their own kingdoms.
It was the period from 1309 to 1377 when seven popes ruled the Catholic Church from Avignon, France, instead of Rome, making the papacy look like an arm of the French crown and weakening its authority across Europe.
No. The Avignon papacy (1309-1377) came first and involved one pope living in France. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417) happened after the return to Rome, when rival elections produced two and eventually three competing popes.
Critics compared the popes' time in Avignon to the ancient Israelites' exile in Babylon, arguing the papacy was being held 'captive' by French influence and cut off from its rightful home in Rome.
Not directly, since it ended about 140 years before Luther's 95 Theses in 1517. But it started the long decline in papal prestige, followed by the schism and corruption scandals, that made Europeans receptive to Protestant criticism. That's why it shows up as context in Topic 2.1.
It appears as context for Unit 2 rather than as a standalone topic. You're most likely to use it for contextualization points on a Reformation LEQ or DBQ, or to recognize it in an MCQ about long-term causes of religious change.
Connect this key term to the AP exam workflow: review the course, practice questions, and check related study tools.
Review units, study guides, and course resources.
Check this vocabulary in multiple-choice context.
Apply key concepts in written AP responses.
Estimate the exam score you are working toward.
Review the highest-yield facts before practice.
Put the full course together before test day.