The late medieval period was marked by a series of crises in the authority of the Catholic Church. The crises began with the war between Philip IV of France (r. 1285–1314) and Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294–1303), which led to the humiliating capture of the pope, followed shortly thereafter by his death. In 1309 the French ruler forced the papacy to relocate to the city of Avignon in southern France. The “Avignon Papacy” was widely viewed as corrupt and under the thumb of the king of France, inappropriate for the purported ruler of the universal church. Pressure for the pope to return to Rome culminated in 1377, when Pope Gregory XI (r. 1370–1378) returned for what was originally planned as a temporary visit to settle the unrest that had become a serious problem in the Papal States. Gregory died in Rome, however, and pressure from the Roman mob contributed to the election of an Italian candidate. The new pope, Urban VI (r. 1378–1389), promised to keep the papacy in Rome.