AVIGNON EXILE 207
lay dying at the age of ninety and was no longer able to speak, the cardinals induced him to sign a written disavowal of that sermon.
During the next forty years of the exile, the French Papacy con- tinued to cling to its traditional policy. It had few friends either in the Church or among the rulers of states. In Germany, where the dreadful weight of the interdict lay like lead on all the living, the pious substituted a mystical religion of the soul for the empty houses of worship. France and the Pope were identified. The tension be- tween Rome and Avignon grew deeper and gave rise to a political and cultural antagonism between Italy and France. In England the old trend towards a state Church waxed stronger particularly after the last of the Capets died (1328) , and the hundred years of war with the Valois monarchs embittered people towards the country that was serv- ing as Papal host. In addition the Curia carried out an uncompromis- ing administrational measure by which the indigenous Church was potted with an alien clergy. France itself was losing the grip on power and compelled the Pope to share its fate.
Benedict XII (13341342), a jovial, hard-drinking Cistercian of plebeian ancestry, was vastly more than "the helmsman of the bark o Peter, put asleep by wine,*' whom Petrarch described in his satirical letters. The Romans invited him to return, but he was kept in France because the King feared the loss of Papal influence. Then he began to build the great palace in Avignon which, with its spare and forbid- ding walls, even today frowns on the loveliness of the surrounding landscape. He honestly strove to reach a settlement with Ludwig of Bavaria, but Philippe VI threatened that if the reconciliation were effected he would resort to a second Anagni. The German Imperial princes gave the title of German Emperor a new resonance when they formed an association of electors at Rense, and at the same time mani- fested increased hostility to Avignon. The King and Emperor (they said) was he who had been chosen by the Prince-Electors, even though the Pope might not confirm their choice. To the Papacy there was reserved only the right to crown the Emperor. All negotiations ulti- mately proved bootless when Ludwig, who knew no bounds in his attempts to strengthen his dynasty and who could appeal for support to Ockham and his conception of the state, proceeded on his own -
208
