Comtat Venaissin

Comtat Venaissin Comtat Venaissin (French) Comtat Venessin (Occitan) Pagus Vendascinus/Venuxini Comitatus (Latin)
1274–1791
Flag of the Papal States Coat of arms of the Avignon Papacy
Motto: Per lo Papa, per la nacion ("For the Pope, for the nation")
Status	Papal enclave
Capital	Venasque (1274-1320) Carpentras (1320–1791)
Common languages	Provençal French Latin
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Feudal theocratic elective absolute monarchy
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Death of Alphonse, Count of Poitiers	21 August 1271
• Acquired by papacy	1274
• Capital moved to Carpentras	1320
• Avignon purchased from Joanna, Countess of Provence	1348
• French occupation	1663, 1668, 1768–74
• Reversed into France by plebiscite	14 September 1791
• Treaty of Tolentino	1797
Currency	Roman scudo
Preceded by Succeeded by County of Toulouse Avignon Papacy French First Republic
Today part of	France

The Comtat Venaissin (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃ta vənɛsɛ̃]; Occitan: lo Comtat Venaicin; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the Comtat for short, was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791, in what is now the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southern France.

The region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France, comprising the area around the city of Avignon (itself always a separate comtat) roughly between the Rhône, the Durance and Mont Ventoux, and a small exclave located to the north around the town of Valréas purchased by Pope John XXII. The Comtat also bordered (and mostly surrounded) the Principality of Orange. The region is still known informally as the Comtat Venaissin, although this no longer has any political meaning.