The Beaufort Tapestry – a celebration of a wedding or a treatise on the Avignon Papacy?

Keywords: Western Schism, Tapestry, Christianity, 14th century, pope

Dr Richard JohnstonDr Richard Johnston

5 minutes to read

6 December, 2023

Origins of the tapestry

In our previous blog on the Beaufort tapestry, we discussed how it was divided into different fragments that can now be found in various museums around the world.

The theme of division is also relevant to the tapestry in that it has a link to the Great Western Schism, a tumultuous and extremely divisive period for Catholicism.

The Beaufort tapestry primarily celebrates the marriage of Guillaume III Rogier de Beaufort and Alienor de Commignes in 1349. The brother of Guillaume III Rogier was Pope Gregory XI, the man responsible for ending the Avignon Papacy and causing the Great Western Schism.

The Avignon Papacy describes a period where the balance of power within the Church was based in Avignon, from the years 1309 to 1377 seven popes and many of the cardinals lived in Avignon and were thus considered to be at a remove from the influence of Rome and so it was felt that the influence of Rome over the management of the Church was diminishing.

The theory is that the tapestry could be a subtle celebration of the Avignon Papacy. The lion, elephant, unicorn and stag represent the qualities of rulership, dignity, purity and courageous polity respectively. The walls and the angels symbolise earthly and spiritual protection and the storks are a reminder of St Agricola—the patron of Avignon.

The Great Western Schism and its Origins

This divisive period in the Roman Catholic Church covers the time from 1378 to 1417 when the fall of the influence of Avignon after the sudden death in Rome of Gregory XI led to a papal conclave ( a meeting of cardinals) to elect a new Pope.

After such a long period of influence from Avignon, the mood in Rome was tense and there was rioting in the streets by Romans who did not want another French Pope. At one point, the Cardinals were warned by various guards that unless an Italian was elected as Pope, they could not guarantee their safety. The frightened Catholics unanimously chose to elect a man called Bartolomeo Prignano from Naples who was in charge of the funds for the papal army. He was crowned Pope Urban VI on Easter Sunday, 18th of April 1378.

 

16th century engraving of Pope Urbanus VI

Portait engraving of Pope Urbanus VI, Onofrio Panvinio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At first, his papacy ran successfully. However, he gradually became filled with bitterness and hostility as he felt that he was not accepted by either the French or the Romans. The conclave members began to regret their choice and claimed that they had been under duress when electing Bartolomeo. Therefore, on September 20th they elected one of their own as an alternative pope: Clement VII. 

To complicate matters even more, a third pope was elected in 1409 by the Council of Pisa ( a secret and arguably unlawful meeting of Cardinals), the so-called Antipope John XXII.

The consecration of Benedict XIII. Avignon, September 28, 1394.

The eventual end of the Great Western Schism

The dual papacy resulted in confusion and division, and the loss of legitimacy to Rome, Avignon, and Pisa although eventually the dominance of Rome and the legitimacy of the Roman popes was reinstated. The schism was concluded when the Pisan Antipope John XXIII called the Council of Constance (1414–1418). In agreement, the Council renounced both Roman Pope Gregory XII and Pisan Antipope John XXIII, leading to the excommunication of some of the claimants of the papacy.

 

This illustrates just how much history is woven into our Beaufort tapestry fragment!

Read more stories about objects in our collection by clicking here

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