The court of Clement VI at Avignon is notable for nepotism and extravagance but also for charitable works during the Black Death, for protection of the Jews, and for patronage of artists and scholars.

Cola di Rienzo, who appears at Avignon in August 1352, is tried by three cardinals, and is sentenced to death, but this judgment is not carried out, and he remains in prison in spite of appeals from Petrarch for his release.

Freedom, however, is at hand.

Clement dies on December 6, 1352; his successor Innocent VI, is anxious to strike a blow at the baronial rulers of Rome.

Seeing in the former tribune an excellent tool for this purpose, he pardons and releases his prisoner.

Giving him the title of senator, he sends him to Italy with the legate, Cardinal Albornoz.