Clement V (1264-1314) reigned as pope from 1305 to 1314. He was the first pope of the "Babylonian Captivity," when the papacy was located in Avignon, France.

Bertrand de Got, who became Pope Clement V, was a nobleman and a native of Gascony, France. He became archbishop of Bordeaux in 1299. His election to the papacy in 1305 followed the pontificate of Boniface VIII (and the brief rule of Benedict XI), during which a long quarrel between France and the papacy culminated in Boniface's capture and mistreatment by henchmen of the French king, Philip IV, at Anagni, Italy, in 1303. France had humiliated the papacy, and the cardinals chose de Got as a compromise candidate who had neither opposed Boniface nor displeased Philip. Although Clement V was not a mere tool of France, throughout his reign he was pressured by Philip IV. At Philip's request Clement was crowned at Lyons; there he suffered...