Clement, by this time, having had enough, retired to his chamber,
where, lest he might faint for lack of refreshment during the night, wine
and spices were brought to him; the entertainment ended with dances and
distractions of many kinds.
There is no reason to believe that the Avignon popes, either in their
household expenditure or in their personal luxury, were more extravagant
than their Roman predecessors or successors. Yet amid all this luxury,
strange defects of comfort appear to the modern sense. Windows, as we have
seen, were generally covered with wax cloth or linen, carpets were rare,
and rushes were strewn on the floors of most of the rooms. From May to
November, 1349, more than 300 loads of rushes were supplied for use in the
dining-rooms and chambers of the apostolic palace. Subsequently mats were
introduced, and in 1352 Pierre de Glotos, mat-maker to the palace of our
lord and pope, was paid for 275 cannae of matting for the palace of
Avignon and for the palace beyond the Rhone and the new chapel.
The Walls of Avignon
By Thomas Oakey
[Footnote: From "The Story of Avignon.
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