e papal seat. In 1348
the city was sold by Joanna, countess of Provence, to Clement VI. After
Gregory XI. had migrated to Rome, two antipopes, Clement VII. and Benedict
XIII., resided at Avignon, from which the latter was expelled in 1408. The
town remained in the possession of the popes, who governed it by means of
legates, till its annexation by the National Assembly in 1791, though
during this interval several kings of France made efforts to unite it with
their dominions. In 1791 conflicts between the adherents of the Papacy and
the Republicans led to much bloodshed. In 1815 Marshal Brune was
assassinated in the town by the adherents of the royalist party. The
bishopric, founded in the 3rd century, became an archbishopric in 1475.

See Fantoni Castrucci, _Istoria della citta d'Avignone e del Contado
Venesino_ (Venice, 1678); J. B. Joudou, _Histoire des souverains pontifes
qui ont siege a Avignon_ (Avignon, 1855); A. Canron, _Guide de l'etranger
dans la ville d'Avignon et ses environs_ (Avignon, 1858); J. F. Andre,
_Histoire de la Papaute a Avignon_ (Avignon, 1887).

AVILA, GIL GONZALEZ DE (_c._ 1577-1658), Spanish biographer and antiquary,
was born and died at Avila. He was made historiographer of Castile in 1612,
and of the Indies in 1641. Of his numerous works, the most valuable are his
_Teatro de las Grandezas des Madrid_ (Madrid, 1623, sqq.), and his _Teatro
Eclesiastico_, descriptive of the metropolitan churches and cathedrals of
Castile, with lives of the prelates (Madrid, 1645-1653, 4 vols. 4to).

AVILA, a province of central Spain, one of the modern divisions of the
kingdom of Old Castile; bounded on the N. by Valladolid, E. by Segovia and
Madrid, S. by Toledo and Caceres, and W. by Salamanca. Pop. (1900) 200,457;
area, 2570 sq. m. Avila is naturally divided into two sections, differing
completely in soil, climate, productions and social economy. The northern
portion is generally level; the soil is of indifferent quality, strong and
marly in a few places, but rocky in all the valleys of the Sierra de Avila;
and the climate alternates from severe cold in winter to extreme heat in
summer. The population of this part is mainly agricultural. The southern
division is one mass of rugged granitic sierras, interspersed, however,
with sheltered and well-watered valleys, abounding with rich vegetation.
The winter here, especially in the elevated region of the Paramera and the
waste lands of Avila, is long and severe, b