
Episode 95: Sur le Pontife d’Avignon
From Ask a Medievalist by Ask a Medievalist
August 24, 2025 · 1h 13m · Season 6 · Episode 95
About this episode
The episode discusses the Avignon Papacy and its historical context, including notable figures and events.
Summary Avignon! A city where there is a bridge, and a song about the bridge. And, once, the pope lived there. Why? Let’s talk about this weird century. Notes 1/ Avignon: it has a bridge! And a song about the bridge: “Sur le pont d’Avignon.” The bridge is medieval; the song dates from the fifteenth century: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sur_le_Pont_d%27Avignon 2/ Boniface VIII (Pope 24 December 1294–11 October 1303). He was…something. Definitely check out Dante’s thoughts! 3/ Dr. Jesse: we can all recognize that in the past there have been different times when a third party has interfered in an election… Em: … Em: oh my god, we recorded this in April 2024. She was talking about the 2000 election. [A lot has happened in a year. Now it could also be the NYC mayoral race!–Jesse] 4/ The episode on Catherine of Siena is number 6 . Jesse and I went to Siena at one point! I don’t remember if we saw her head. I’m guessing we did? We also saw a horse race, which means we were there on August 16, 2003? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena [That was a great Palio! There were many, many false starts, and then someone fell (or was…
People in this episode
Host: Dr. Jesse
Guest: Em
Topics covered
- Avignon Papacy
- medieval history
- Catherine of Siena
- elections
- historical events
Keywords
- Avignon
- Boniface VIII
- Catherine of Siena
- medieval
- elections
- history
- Palio di Siena
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Avignon, Siena
More episodes of Ask a Medievalist
- Episode 100: What I’m Tolkien About · May 1, 2026 · 1h 24m
- Episode 99: Respect My Authority · January 21, 2026 · 1h 25m
- Episode 98: In Rome for the Calends · January 6, 2026 · 1h 13m
- Episode 97: Non-Roman Calendars · November 25, 2025 · 1h 17m
- Episode 96: Pope Joan · October 27, 2025 · 1h 16m
- Episode 94: Popes and Antipopes · June 27, 2025 · 1h 14m
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