Western Schism
|
Historical map of the Western Schism. |
The
Western Schism or
Papal Schism (also known as the Great Schism of Western Christianity) was a split within the
Catholic church in
1378. Lacking any real theological or doctrinal underpinnings, being rather driven by politics, it was ended by the
Council of Constance in 1417. It is occasionally called the
Great Schism, though this term is more often applied to the
East-West Schism of
1054.
The schism in the western church resulted from the return of the
papacy to
Rome under
Pope Gregory XI in 1378, ending the
Avignon Papacy.
After Gregory XI died, the Romans rioted to ensure an
Italian was elected; the cardinals, fearing the crowds, elected an Italian,
Pope Urban VI, in
1378. Urban had been a respected administrator in the papal
chancery at Avignon, but as pope he proved suspicious, overbearing, and prone to violent outbursts of temper. The cardinals who had elected him soon regretted their decision: the majority of them removed themselves from Rome to
Fondi, where they elected Robert of Geneva as a rival pope on
September 20 of the same year. Robert took the name
Pope Clement VII and reestablished a papal court in Avignon. The second election threw the church into turmoil. There had been
antipopes, rival claimants to the papacy, before, but most of them had been appointed by various rival factions; in this case, the legitimate leaders of the church themselves had created both popes.
The conflict quickly escalated from a church problem to a diplomatic crisis that divided Europe. Secular leaders had to choose which pope they would recognize.
France,
Aragon, Castile and León,
Cyprus,
Burgundy,
Savoy,
Naples, and
Scotland chose to recognize the Avignon claimant;
Denmark,
England,
Flanders, the
Holy Roman Empire,
Hungary, northern
Italy,
Ireland,
Norway,
Poland, and
Sweden recognised the Roman claimant. In the Iberian Peninsula there were the Fernandine wars (Guerras fernandinas) and the
1383-1385 crisis in
Portugal, during which dynastic opponents supported rival popes. Even future saints were caught up in the schism: St
Catherine of Siena defended Urban's papacy, while St
Vincent Ferrer was in Clement's camp.
Sustained by such national and factional rivalries throughout Catholic
Christendom, the schism continued after the deaths of both initial claimants;
Boniface IX, crowned at Rome in
1389, and
Benedict XIII, who reigned in Avignon from
1394, maintained their rival courts. When Boniface died in
1404, the eight cardinals of the Roman conclave offered to refrain from electing a new pope if Benedict would resign; but when his legates refused on his behalf, the Roman party then proceeded to elect
Pope Innocent VII.
A
church council was held at
Pisa in
1408 to try to solve the dispute but added to the problem by electing a third pope,
Alexander V. He reigned briefly from
June 26,
1409, to his death in 1410, when he was succeeded by
John XXIII.
Finally, the
Council of Constance in
1417, advised by the theologian
Jean Gerson, deposed John XXIII and the
Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, secured the formal resignation of the Roman
Pope Gregory XII (who had abdicated in
1415), and elected
Pope Martin V, thereby permanently ending the schism.
The line of Roman popes was now recognized as the legitimate line. Consistent with this outcome, from this time forward the Catholic church decreed explicitly that no council had power over the popes; and so there is no way to undo a papal election by anyone but the pope.
The alternate papal claimants have become known in history as
antipopes.
*The Three Popes: An Account of the Great Schism, by Marzieh Gail;
*The Great Schism: 1378, by John Holland Smith (New York 1970);
*The Origins of the Great Schism: A study in fourteenth century ecclesiastical history, by Walter Ullmann.
*
Catholic Encyclopedia article
