"Babylonian Capitivity"

“Babylonian Captivity”

Who: phrase coined by Francesco Petrarch

What: Petrarch compares the papacy to the Jews of biblical times who were exiled by Babylonian captives and criticizes the papacy for its decadence and the French monarchy’s increasing influence on it—an opinion shared by many Europeans.

When: 1305-1378 (reign of the French popes)

Where: southern France (where all five popes from 1305-1378 were from), Rome

Significance: Popes at this time were originally lawyers and made it their mission to secure financial and legal powers for the papacy. They had control over benefices (property or income that supported clerical position)—large and small by 1350 and clergymen throughout western and central Europe and created a papal taxation system and bureaucratic monarchy (called the curia).