Papal conclaves have featured calls of election fraud and bribery so gauche that riches were wheeled in on donkey carts.

France has not had a pope since the 14th century. The last pontiff from the country was Pope Gregory XI, who died in 1378. Meanwhile, Pope Francis' death and the upcoming conclave, set for next ...

But this did not prevent them from continuing their scheming. At the death of Gregory XI in 1378, the cardinals elected Pope Urban VI, but soon regretted it. A few months later, they deposed him ...

For much of the 14th century, the papacy resided in France, until Pope Gregory XI decided to relocate to Rome. When he died in 1378, the mostly French cardinals repaired to the Lateran Palace to ...

St. Catherine of Siena has a reasonably earned reputation as a spitfire. She famously persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon, and she played a critical political role between the ...

In 1377, Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome. By then, the Lateran Palace had fallen into disrepair, damaged by fire, earthquakes and invasions. Instead, the papacy made its home at the Vatican ...