La Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction owes its beginnings to Pope Innocent VI. After his election in 1352, the then cardinal donated his lands & private residence he owned at Villeneuve lez Avignon. Originally planned for twelve monks, the monastery was granted numerous privileges. The decoration of its private chapel was entrusted to Matteo Giovannetti, who had painted the frescoes in the Palace of the Popes. Pope Innocent VI had close ties with the monastery and, at his request, he was buried there when he died in 1362. His mausoleum, a monument which was removed after the Revolution, was returned to the church in 1959. The work begun by Innocent VI was carried on by his nephew, Pierre Selva de Montirac, Cardinal of Pampelona, who finished the St John Cloister in 1372. Its three cloisters made it the biggest Carthusian monastery in France. At the time of the French Revolution, it was divided into lots and sold, its library & works of art scattered, the monastery was severely damaged.