International Medieval Society, Paris
Société Internationale des Médiévistes, Paris

Symposium 2009 - Space/l'Espace
Abstract

This paper will examine the architectural patronage of the Antipope Clement VII (1378-1394) in light of the religious and political context of Avignon during the Great Western Schism. Throughout his contested reign, Clement VII sought to establish his legitimacy by means of lavish artistic and architectural commissions, including two monastic foundations that reshaped the urban space of late medieval Avignon (as demonstrated by surviving accounts of procession routes in the city).  These two institutions – the Cluniac college of St. Martial and a convent of Celestine monks – were created as much for their political utility as for their spiritual merits, for both orders were popular with Clement’s principal supporters, the Valois kings of France. At the same time, both foundations were associated with important aspects of regional popular devotion: the collegial church’s patron, St. Martial, had a robust Provençal following, and the Celestine convent was constructed to house the tomb of the Blessed Pierre of Luxembourg, a recently deceased cardinal with a rapidly developing local cult.

Both of Clement VII’s foundations were constructed by the architect Pierre Morel and were in fact part of a larger group of churches designed on the model of Louis IX’s Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. While considering the role and function of Clement’s architectural commissions in Avignon, this paper will also explore how this schismatic pope manipulated Louis IX’s architectural iconography of sacred kingship. More broadly still, the paper investigates the means by which medieval rulers politicized religious space and sacralized politics.