Challenging the Pope: The Avignon Papacy
Gone Medieval
History Hit
4.5 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Who would pick a fight with the Pope?? Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega dive into the explosive clash between Pope Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France, a head of state who dared to challenge papal power. From taxes and excommunication to arrest and humiliation, this is a gripping story of ambition, authority, and the Avignon Papacy.
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Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From long-lost Viking ships and kings buried in unexpected places to tales of murder, |
| 0:07.7 | power, faith, and the lives of ordinary people across medieval Europe and beyond. |
| 0:13.2 | Join me, Matt Lewis, Dr. Eleanor Jarniger and some of the world's leading historians, |
| 0:18.0 | as we bring history's most fascinating stories to life only on |
| 0:22.3 | History Hit. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries |
| 0:27.2 | with a brand new release every week exploring everything from the ancient world to World War II. |
| 0:33.6 | Just visit historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. |
| 0:41.7 | Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanorianica, and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history. |
| 0:51.1 | We uncover the greatest mysteries, the gobsmacking details, and the latest |
| 0:57.0 | groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans, from kings to popes, to the crusades. |
| 1:03.9 | We delve into the rebellions, plots, and murders that tell us who we really were. |
| 1:10.7 | And how we got here. |
| 1:18.9 | The Avignon Pabacy has been in the news. |
| 1:22.2 | If you ask me, it probably always should be, given that it has to be one of the most interesting facets of church history. |
| 1:30.1 | So, what I noticed people talking about it, I decided that was as good an excuse as any to attempt that rare thing in emergency medieval history podcast. |
| 1:41.2 | Because the thing about the Avignon PEPC is that the phrase itself might ring a lot of |
| 1:47.0 | bells for people, but most don't actually quite understand what it was. And look, this makes a lot of |
| 1:55.1 | sense, as not everyone has had the opportunity to do a lot of in-depth learning about the medieval |
| 1:59.7 | church. And even those who have done might fall prey to the propaganda surrounding this period. |
| 2:07.5 | After all, it isn't unusual to see this 77-year period from about 1309 to 1376 as the Babylonian |
| 2:16.3 | captivity. |
| 2:24.3 | A pejorative indicating what people see as a specifically politicized and profligate era. This is a seductive view, and let's face it, the Babylonian captivity is an incredibly fun epithet to throw around. |
... |
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