the great schism, Miscellaneous, College Term Papers.com


		Data Bases
		• Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism?

		Links
		• Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com

		Free Essays
		• Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers

Search Lots of Essays

Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous

the great schism

the great schism During the late 14th century and the early 15th century there was a great division in the Catholic Church. The Papacy was becoming blurred. The center of the Roman Catholic Church had been moved from Rome to the city of Avignon during the reign of Pope Clement V; and there was now a movement to return the center of power back to Rome. This movement was first truly seen under Pope Gregory XI and his successor Pope Urban VI. Earlier Pope Urban V had moved the center to Rome but it had been proven to be no more than a temporary idea; he had gone back to Avignon to die and there his replacement, Pope Gregory XI was elected . This along with other political problems and circumstances created a split in the loyalty among different cities and countries between the two popes. In 1377 Pope Gregory XI had reestablished the Papacy in Rome which had previously been in Avignon. In the uncertainties of the events that followed the death of Pope Gregory XI, the conclave that was to elect his successor proved to be very much a struggle for control of the papacy between the different groups within the College of Cardinals. A conclave was formed and elected in his place an Italian who took one the name Pope Urban VI. He took over in 1378 and immediately decided to reform the curia. At this time the cardinals, who were mostly French, were not happy with the election of Pope Urban VI. The cardinals then went to the king of France, Charles V, and asked for his support in a movement against this new Pope. The Pope gave approval and supported the schism, which later became known as the "Great Schism". Once the cardinals gained support they quickly moved to elect their own Pope. The French cardinals' goal was to keep the church under French influence, so they obviously wanted to elect a French Pope. The Cardinals formed a conclave and from there elected Pope Clement VII in September of 1378. Pope Clement VII was also the cousin of the French king, which insured that the church would be under French influence. The cardinals insisted that they had to elect a new pope, Pope Clement VII, because the election of Pope Urban VI was not valid. They were coerced into electing the Roman pope for fear of their lives; a mob of Italians outside of the conclave that elected Pope Urban VI had threatened to massacre the cardinals if a foreigner was chosen as the replacement for Gregory XI. None the less the Papacy was now divide. The saying "United we stand, while divided we fall." is very valid in this instance. The church is having many problems around this time period and many people are converting, or shale we say shifting, to other forms or Christianity. Whereas before these problems occurred the church was the central power in Western Europe and had great influence over the governments in their sphere of power. This event, the schism, caused a split in the Catholic Church and divided countries among the two popes. "Everyone realized that the schism resulting from the counter-election of Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII . . . was a tragedy for the church . . ." England, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary Roman Empire, Bohemia, and Poland supported Pope Urban VI. While Pope Clement VII had gained support from France, Napales, Scotland, Castile, and Aragon. This two-sided papacy and the division among the Church lasted for thirty years. A council finally was called in Pisa in 1409. "They were vain hopes, subsequent events proved. The conclave was a long and stormy one, lasting from June 15 to 26." This council deposed both Pope Urban VI in Rome and Pope Clement VII in Avignon, they then elected a new Pope Alexander V. In theory this should have fixed the schism but neither pope would step down, they both felt that they were legit. This was the most confusing time during the Great Schism for the people, there were three popes and they all claimed proper rights to the title. Western Europe was now divided among the three popes, these divisions also had political ties. Pope Alexander and his successor John XXIII were supported by the majority of the Latin Christendom. The Great Schism was finally resolved in 1414 when a council was called and asserted supremacy over the popes. They used the declaration Sacrosancta to proclaim themselves over the popes. They elected a new pope, Pope Martin V who was the "true" pope of the Catholic Church. Pope John XXII and Pope Gregory XII were then removed and Pope Benedict XIII, who succeeded Pope Clement VII, was deposed. The council agreed from here on out that there was a need to meet within five years, then seven, and from there after every ten years. These meetings were to hopefully keep something like this from happening in the future. Although there were many popes during this time period the Roman Catholic Church only acknowledges the line of popes that were in Rome. The line would go as follows: Pope Gregory XI, Pope Urban VI, Pope Bonaface IX, Innocent VII, and Pope Gregory XII and after the Council of Constance Pope Martin V. The "Great Schism" was a struggle not only over religious power but also of political power. The French and The Italians both wanted to keep the church under their influence; this is why it was so important to each of them to have a pope who was from their country and to have the center of the church in their country. Eventually this was all resolved in the Council of Constance, but during the "Great Schism" the church and its' followers were in a state of confusion. Bibliography:

Word Count: 976