|
RESIDENCES OF THE POPES
While the popes today make their official home in the
Vatican, throughout most of papal history they resided at
the Lateran Palace, which became their home in the early
fourth century. During the Middle Ages, they spent many
years away from Rome owing to squabbles with the Romans, the
dangers posed by ever-scheming noble families of Rome, or
the frequent seizure of the city by Holy Roman emperors as
part of some struggle with the papacy. The longest period
during which the Vicars of Christ lived outside of the
Eternal City was from 1309 to 1377, when they were ensconced
in Avignon. Other cities that served as a residence, perhaps
for a few years, to wandering popes included Anagni,
Orvieto, and Viterbo (which had its own papal palace). From
the time that Gregory XI (1370-1378) finally went back to
Rome, the popes have resided at the Vatican, with a few
notable exceptions. Clement VII (1523-1534) first fled Rome
following the sack of the city by imperial troops in 1527
and lived for a time in Orvieto. Pius VI (1774-1799) and
Pius VII (l800-1823) were both arrested, in 1798 and 1809
respectively, by the French and deported. Pius VI lived in
Florence, Briancon, and Valence, dying in exile, and Pius
VII was incarcerated in Savona and Fontainebleau, and hid in
Genoa briefly in 1815 when Napoleon returned from Elba to
launch his 100 days campaign. Pius IX (1846-1878) had to
flee a revolution in Rome in 1848, escaping to Gaeta, near
Rome, dressed as a simple priest.
In Rome, popes have lived in the Lateran Palace and the
Vatican Palace, but they also have resided in Castel Sant'
Angelo (when things became rather politically
uncomfortable), theQuirinal Palace (which had better air in
the summer and which was taken by King Victor Emmanuel II in
1870, proimpting Pius IX to declare that buckets of holy
water could not wash clean such a desecration), anol Castel
Gandolfo (allowing the popes to escape Rome's oppressive
heat) in the cool Alban Hills, just outside the city. (See
also Avignon; Castel Gandolfo; Castel Sant'Angelo; and
Lateran Palace.)
|