Gregory XI

Overview

Gregory XI was the pope whom Catherine of Siena urged to return the papacy from Avignon to Rome.

Current Profile

356: The Blood-Drinking Bride of Christ places Gregory at the junction between Avignon papal residence and the crisis that became the Great Western Schism. Catherine wrote urging him to return and traveled to Avignon in 1376 amid Florentine diplomacy; Gregory entered Rome in January 1377, but his death the following year exposed rather than resolved the papacy’s institutional divisions.

Key Characteristics

• Pope associated with the end of the Avignon residence.
• Recipient of Catherine’s exhortation and diplomacy.
• Returned to Rome in 1377.
• His death preceded the rival papal elections of the Great Western Schism.

Evidence

• Catherine relationship: 356: The Blood-Drinking Bride of Christ describes her letters and 1376 Avignon mission.
• Rome and succession: 356: The Blood-Drinking Bride of Christ dates his return to January 1377 and connects his later death to the rival-popes crisis.

Qualifications

The episode says many people credited Catherine with influencing Gregory, but it does not isolate her causal weight from his own aims, advisers, Italian conditions, diplomacy, or broader church politics. Exact dialogue and private motive remain source-scoped.

What Changed

• Created a bounded profile linking the return to Rome with Catherine’s advocacy and the subsequent schism.

Relationships

• Catherine of Siena - religious and diplomatic advocate for his return to Rome.
• 阿维尼翁教廷 / Avignon Papacy - papal residence he ended by returning to Rome.
• Great Western Schism - succession crisis that followed his death.
• Urban VI - Roman successor supported by Catherine.