[Tossrock]

This is hilarious. You think middle school students know about the Avignon papacy? They don't even know about the Ford presidency.

[dekhn]

This was definitely covered in my middle school classes (although those were 40 years ago). Standard US public school. We spent a fair amount of time discussing the Antipope, it always sounded like such a cool job name.

We also read Genesis in English classes (from a literary perspective).

[ecshafer]

I think you are missing the key qualifier with a passing interest in history. I absolutely knew of the avignon papacy in middle school.

[the_af]

I have more than a passing interest in history and this is the first I heard of the Avignon Papacy, which I of course never heard of in middle school.