Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1895-12-28
BenedIet xII. John xxu

-NAs Sohm NAH
iand or the olive and vine and the
precious altar Of roses
1t was Nov. IA, 1909. when Tho frst
of the Avignon popes. Clement T. on.
tered the town over ~ Renzana,
bridge. a solid structure Of stone
arches that spanned the broad. brown
river. Three arches are stiIl standing
and one Of the b..ttrrsSes supuorts a
chapel. The town must have looked
much as II does today. II sin nre-
serves It's medieval character beneath
cracked aud warped modernism Thai
overlays 1t. II forms a cobweb Of mar.
row, gloomy. winding lanes. walled IN
and overshadowed by stone houses
huge and tiled and TALL" and filed
with dim inches and recesses ana
angles. recalling at first glance tho
"reu-air cataeembs which pass for
streets in Northern italy.
All along one side Of the narade
ground rises q vast, gloomy building az
daFk gray stone. wearying the eve
WITH The profusion Of Gothic arches
massive towers. battlements. bnttress.
- turrets. carved gafewavs and
hteites without end There are mar.
row slits for windows aud wrought
IRON gratlngst for the place il used as
nlilitary prison as well as bar
racks. II stretches for a mile In any
direction and vast areas are empty or
hiied with army stores or refuse. In
majesty ana air of pprmanence III
rivals the Roman theater at Orange
yer u served the use for which ii was
Dtilit scarce a hundred wears The
titanic palace dwarfs and dominates
the town: aud without tile gates Vile
neuHe stands guard like the castle ~
san Angelo browning on the fair dome
OF -. Peters. The pope resident In
Aylgnon was glad to take refuge in
the kings fort. little as he liked tho
KING $ favor. wnen Bertrand dc Gues.
Gin. freebooter, afterward constable
OF France, appeared at the papaI nal.
ace aud demanded tribute
ne whole story reads like the wild.
est romance. The popes had suffered
many ylclssitudes, and continuous res.
iaehce In the eternal city was rather
the exception to the rule. For yarious
pohtieai reasons some six or eight out
or the thirty-three from the eighth 10
the fourteenth century suffered exile
from Rome. But Philip le Bel Of
France conceived OF the IDan Of con.
strncting 40 luxurious and cunning =
PRISON palace that the pontiffs would
ne content 10 remain In exile from
Rome.
This beautiful Philippe de- Bourbon
was no submissive son of the church
re denied the temporal and even tho
spiritual power of the popes, and no
liayed so badly that he was finally ex.
communicated by Benedict NJ. who
dled so soon after that Phillips agency
III me aIfaif WAS more than SIIsppttpd
ne election of a successor was held
IN France and while the collage az
cardinals was In session The king call.
Gu the archbishop of Bordeaux to him
TO wood near st. Jean d'AnpaIy and
oHered TO make him pope provided he
would make six promises. The story
runs that these were: Hig own rss.
torati0n TO the church and removal NJ
the ban; the resignation of the Frencb .
utlieS to the crown for five wears. =
thorough yilification Of Bonffoce wiz
the bestowal Of the cardinals int an !
tWo OF the Col0nnas. and, sixth como.
thlng which he was not then rrndy ~
1iyiilge. The final power liz stnposed ". 4
ne The removal of the pat,al see h
Avignon. ~ y
III must be remembered that the npe 1
was nnspeakably corrupt. The rigid /
rule OF the middle ages waa NOT vat /
IN force, and the church was often IN /
me power Of INSCRIPTIONS princes
rms Clement v. was elected III LYONS
u i5oo, and -four years after rode info
avignon shortly afterward ii, con.
iemned the Templars. MI ~ which 40
preyed on his mind that he died.
Ills successor, John MIL, began
ne building Of the palace. He raised
me north facade aud the Tour ST
'ean, now detached. riding about on .