Views During the Third Period (750-1517 A.D.) (28): The Supremacy of the Pope: The Decline of the Papacy and the Avignon Exile A.D. 1294-1377

Introductory Survey Introductory Survey The two centuries intervening between 1294 and 1517, between the accession of Boniface VIII and the nailing of Luther's Ninety-five Theses against the church door in Wittenberg, mark the gradual transition from the Middle Ages to modern times, from the universal acceptance of the papal theocracy in Western Europe to the assertion of national independence, from the supreme authority of the priesthood to the intellectual and spiritual freedom of the...