Western Schism (1378-1417): When Rival Popes Divided Europe

The Western Schism was the crisis from 1378 to 1417 in which rival popes, first in Rome and Avignon and later also in Pisa, each claimed to lead the Catholic Church. It began with a disputed papal election just after the papacy returned to Rome, and it divided the kingdoms of Europe along political lines for almost forty years. The schism ended only when the Council of Constance elected Martin V in 1417, but it permanently damaged the prestige of the papacy.

Background: the return from Avignon

For most of the fourteenth century the popes lived not in Rome but in Avignon, in southern France, a period known as the Avignon Papacy. Critics complained that the popes had become too close to the French crown, and the papal court was resented for its taxes and wealth.

Pope Gregory XI returned the papal court to Rome in January 1377, partly under the pressure of reformers such as Catherine of Siena and partly to protect the Papal States in Italy. He died there on 27 March 1378. The cardinals who gathered to elect his successor were mostly French, and many hoped to return to Avignon.

The disputed election of 1378

Romans feared that a French pope would take the papacy back to France. As the conclave met in April 1378, crowds surrounded the building demanding a Roman, or at least an Italian, pope. On 8 April the cardinals elected Bartolomeo Prignano, Archbishop of Bari, a Neapolitan official of the papal court, who took the name Urban VI.

At first the cardinals treated Urban as pope. But he quickly turned on them, attacking their wealth and behaviour in violent language and threatening to appoint a majority of Italian cardinals. Within months most of the cardinals had left Rome.

Meeting at Anagni and then Fondi, they declared that the election had been made under fear of the mob and was therefore invalid. On 20 September 1378 they elected Cardinal Robert of Geneva, who took the name Clement VII. After failing to establish himself in Italy, Clement settled in Avignon in 1379.

A divided Christendom

Europe split largely along existing political alliances. France, Scotland, and in time Castile, Aragon and Navarre supported Clement VII and his Avignon successors. Most of the Holy Roman Empire, England, Hungary, Poland, Scandinavia and much of Italy recognised Urban VI and the Roman line. Some regions, such as the Kingdom of Naples, changed sides more than once.

The division reached into every diocese and monastery. Rival bishops and abbots were appointed to the same posts, religious orders split, and even future saints took opposite sides: Catherine of Siena backed Urban, while the Dominican preacher Vincent Ferrer long supported the Avignon line.

The Roman line continued with Boniface IX (1389), Innocent VII (1404) and Gregory XII (1406). In Avignon, Clement VII was succeeded in 1394 by the Aragonese cardinal Pedro de Luna as Benedict XIII, a determined man who refused every plan for joint resignation.

Attempts at a solution

Theologians at the University of Paris proposed three ways to end the schism: both popes could resign, the dispute could be settled by arbitration, or a general council could decide. France tried pressure, withdrawing its obedience from Benedict XIII between 1398 and 1403, without success.

In 1409 cardinals from both sides, frustrated by their popes, summoned a council at Pisa. On 5 June 1409 it declared both Gregory XII and Benedict XIII deposed, and later that month it elected Alexander V. Neither of the existing popes accepted this, so there were now three claimants. Alexander died in 1410 and was succeeded by Baldassare Cossa as John XXIII.

The Council of Constance

The decisive push came from Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of the Romans and later Holy Roman Emperor. He persuaded John XXIII to summon a general council to Constance, in southern Germany, which opened in November 1414 and drew thousands of clergy, princes and scholars.

When John realised the council might depose him, he fled the city in March 1415. The council responded with the decree Haec Sancta on 6 April 1415, declaring that it held its authority directly from Christ and that even a pope must obey it in matters of faith, the ending of the schism and reform. John XXIII was captured and deposed on 29 May 1415.

Gregory XII, the Roman claimant, then formally authorised the council and resigned on 4 July 1415, allowing his line to end with dignity. Benedict XIII refused to yield. After his supporters in Spain abandoned him, the council deposed him on 26 July 1417. He withdrew to the castle of Peñíscola on the Spanish coast and maintained his claim until his death, probably in 1423.

On 11 November 1417 an electoral body of cardinals and representatives of the council’s nations elected the Roman cardinal Oddone Colonna, who took the name Martin V. He was accepted throughout Latin Christendom. The same council condemned the teachings of John Wycliffe and sent the Bohemian reformer Jan Hus to the stake in July 1415.

Key people

• Urban VI (pope 1378–1389): An experienced administrator whose temper and suspicion turned the cardinals against him. In 1385 he had several cardinals arrested on suspicion of plotting, and some of them disappeared, probably killed.
• Clement VII (pope at Avignon 1378–1394): Robert of Geneva, a cousin of the French king, who as papal legate had been blamed for a massacre at Cesena in 1377. He built a court in Avignon backed by France.
• Benedict XIII (pope at Avignon 1394–1423): Pedro de Luna, a skilled Aragonese canon lawyer who insisted to the end that he alone was the lawful pope.
• Sigismund of Luxembourg: King of Hungary and King of the Romans, who saw ending the schism as a duty of the imperial office and travelled widely to win support for the Council of Constance.
• Martin V (pope 1417–1431): Oddone Colonna, from a leading Roman noble family, who restored the papacy to Rome and rebuilt its authority.

Consequences and legacy

The schism ended, but at a cost. Four decades of rival popes excommunicating each other’s followers had weakened respect for the papal office and encouraged critics such as Wycliffe, who called both popes antichrists. Many Christians had been unsure whether their sacraments and clergy were valid.

The crisis also gave rise to conciliarism, the belief that a general council could stand above the pope. The decree Frequens of 1417 required councils to meet regularly. Later popes worked hard to limit the movement, and the struggle came to a head at the Council of Basel (1431–1449). The Catholic Church today recognises the Roman line as legitimate and regards the Avignon and Pisan claimants as antipopes.

Timeline

• January 1377: Gregory XI returns the papal court from Avignon to Rome.
• 8 April 1378: Urban VI is elected in Rome under pressure from crowds.
• 20 September 1378: Dissenting cardinals elect Clement VII at Fondi.
• 1394: Pedro de Luna becomes the Avignon pope Benedict XIII.
• 1398–1403: France withdraws obedience from Benedict XIII.
• 5 June 1409: The Council of Pisa declares both popes deposed and soon elects Alexander V.
• November 1414: The Council of Constance opens.
• 6 April 1415: The council issues the decree Haec Sancta.
• 4 July 1415: Gregory XII resigns.
• 11 November 1417: Martin V is elected, ending the schism.

Why it matters

The Western Schism showed that the medieval papacy could be paralysed by politics and personal rivalry. By forcing a council to resolve the crisis, it raised lasting questions about who held final authority in the Church, questions that fed the reform movements of Wycliffe and Hus and, a century later, the Protestant Reformation.