The Avignon papacy – the period from 1305 to 1378 when the papacy resided in southern France rather than Rome – remains one of the most instructive episodes in the history of the Holy See. It represented the victory of France over the masterful Pope Boniface VIII, who had tried to stop Philip the Fair in his dictatorial career as King of France. Speaking more widely, it displays the results that follow when the papacy starts playing politics, and when secular rulers decide to take charge in ecclesiastical affairs.