The Avignon Papacy and the King of France

83% of cardinals created during this period were French, so was more than 70% of the papal curie. For what was supposed to be a trans-European institution, the highest levels of the church looked suspiciously French. More than anything else, the Avignon popes wanted to retake the territory in Central Italy that they'd left behind when they fled for the safety of Avignon. The biggest reason they went along with the Kings of France was because the Kings shared that goal.