Palaces Burn, Too On Some of the Traces Left by the Fires That Occurred in the Palais des Papes in Avignon in the 14th Century

This article discusses the history of destructive fire through the prism of a building long presented as a Gothic anti-cathedral: the Pope’s Place of Avignon. The two major events, the fire that broke out in the Trouillas tower in 1354 and the fire of the Great Chapel in 1369, offer two rich case studies that help shed light on the origin of the disasters, the techniques used to fight the fire, and the memory of the fire.