Enabling the Avignon papacy. The implicit legitimation of a contested institution (1309-1377)

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The project analyses the Avignon papacy in the 14th century as a contested institution. Contemporarily, the papacy was the object of contingency observations, which placed it within a horizon of possibilities that was defined by the actual actions of the popes, cardinals and curials as well as by existing options for alternative actions. In this way, papal secular and spiritual rule could be observed as contingent with regard to possible alternatives. As a result, the papacy saw itself as being challenged, not as an institution, but in its actions. It legitimised its actions by demonstrating that they were justified. The people to whom the action was addressed were expected to recognise this justification. By following principles of action, the papacy justified its claim to be entitled to rule: That the popes were well-informed and well-advised, that they acted according to general principles and at the same time in a manner appropriate to the situation, that they possessed the necessary means of power and knew how to use them beneficially and were thus able to act with foresight, was emphasised in papal letters and charters. In this way, the papal power claims were secured through their practical realisation. The contingency of papal decisions and actions was thus not negated but acknowledged. For the papacy of the 14th century, it was precisely its ability to take advantage of the available space of possibilities that ensured its legitimacy.