In 1309 Clement officially moved the headquarters of the papacy from Rome to the city of Avignon, theoretically in the independent kingdom of Arles but in reality strongly influenced by France. Seven popes, all of them French, would reside there in what was known as “Babylonian captivity,” until Gregory XI returned the papal seat to Rome in 1376. A further two antipopes subsequently attempted to rule the church from Avignon between 1378 and 1410.
